447 – He replied, “In matters hidden from our view, this is all we have; each person—though his act and his verdict may differ from another’s—has fulfilled what is required of him.

448 – I said, “That is precisely what we have been saying.”

449 – I continued: Allah, exalted is He, says, “Two men of upright character from among you shall judge, directing a sacrificial animal to the Kaʿbah” (al-Māʾidah 5:95). If two just men in one locality issue a ruling, and two others elsewhere issue a ruling that is greater or less than it, then each pair has exercised ijtihād and discharged their duty, even though they disagree.

450 – He also cited: “As for those wives from whom you fear nushūz (rebellion), admonish them, forsake them in their beds, and strike them; but if they obey you, do not seek a course against them. Indeed, Allah is Most High…” (al-Nisāʾ 4:34).

451 – And Allah, exalted is He, says: “If you fear that the two of them will not keep within the limits set by Allah, then there is no blame on either of them if she ransoms herself” (al-Baqarah 2:229).

452 – Tell me: if two women commit the identical act, yet the husband of one of them fears her nushūz while the husband of the other does not, what is the ruling?

453 – He answered, “The husband who fears nushūz may admonish, forsake, and strike her, whereas the other is not permitted to strike.”

454 – I said, “Likewise, the husband who fears that his wife will not observe Allah’s limits may accept compensation from her (khulʿ), while the other may not—even though the two women’s actions are the same?”

455 – He replied, “Yes.”

456 – He then said, “Even though I have stated this, someone else may well disagree with both you and me and refuse to accept it from us. Where, then, is the Sunnah that demonstrates the breadth of permissible disagreement?”

457 – I replied, “ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muḥammad narrated to us from Yazīd ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Hād, from Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm, from Busr ibn Saʿīd, from Abū Qays, the freedman of ʿAmr ibn…"