adult or not yet of age, and even a woman who has ceased to menstruate—whether or not she has a husband, whether she is pregnant or not.

A few jurists went to the extreme of declaring that a man’s “milk” produces the same prohibition. Such a substance, however, does not exist in reality, still less can it carry any legal force; and were something of the sort ever found, it would be called “milk” only by a loose use of the word.

They also differed, within this same topic, over the milk of a deceased woman. The dispute turns on whether the general wording of the proofs covers her case or not. In fact, a dead woman has no milk; whatever might be found would be termed “milk” merely by homonymy. The question is virtually hypothetical, existing only in academic discussion.

SECTION FOUR: The Prohibitive Factor of Fornication

The jurists disagreed about marrying a woman guilty of fornication. The majority allowed it, while others forbade it.

The source of their disagreement is how they understand the verse:

“A woman guilty of fornication—only a man guilty of fornication or an idolater may marry her, and that is forbidden to the believers” (al-Nūr 24:3).

Did the verse come merely as censure, or as an actual prohibition? And in the phrase “and that is forbidden to the believers,” is the reference to the fornication itself or to the marriage?

The majority construed the verse as censure rather than prohibition, relying on the ḥadīth in which

“a man said to the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—about his wife that she did not resist the hand of anyone who touched her. The Prophet said to him, ‘Divorce her.’ The man replied, ‘But I love her.’ He said, ‘Then keep her.’”

Some scholars went further and held that fornication annuls the marriage altogether; this was the view of al-Ḥasan.

As for a woman who has undergone mutual imprecation (liʿān) remarrying the husband who imprecated her, that will be discussed in the Book of Liʿān.

SECTION FIVE: The Prohibitive Factor of Number

All Muslims agree that a free man may be married to four women at one time.

They disagreed in two matters: the ruling for slaves, and whether more than four wives can ever be allowed.

Concerning slaves, Mālik—according to his well-known position—and the literalists permit him to marry four. Abū Ḥanīfah and al-Shāfiʿī restrict him to two.

The reason for the disagreement is whether slavery affects the permissible number, just as it reduces the fixed penalty for fornication to half that of a free man, and—as some maintain—reduces the number of divorce pronouncements. The Muslims are unanimous that the slave’s hadd for fornication is half that of the free man, but they differ on other matters.

With regard to taking more than four wives, the majority hold that a fifth is not permissible, citing His words:

“Marry whichever women you like, two at a time, three, or four” (al-Nisāʾ 4:3),

and the report that when Ghaylān embraced Islam while he had ten wives, the Prophet—peace be upon him—said to him, “Keep four and part with the rest.”

A minority, however, allowed up to nine.