As for the compensatory gift that the authority adjudicates, it is that due to a woman divorced before a dower has been stipulated and before consummation. This is indicated by His saying, “a duty upon those who do good.” The compensatory gift that remains binding upon the husband as a matter between him and Allah, exalted is He, but which the authority does not adjudicate, is that due to a woman divorced after consummation. This is indicated by His saying, “a duty upon the God-fearing.”

Al-Hasan and Saʿid ibn Jubayr held that every divorced woman is entitled to a compensatory gift, whether she is divorced before a dower has been stipulated and before consummation, or after the dower has been stipulated but before consummation, because Allah, exalted is He, says: “For divorced women there is a fitting provision” (241, al-Baqarah), and because He says in Surat al-Ahzab: “Then provide for them and release them graciously” (49, al-Ahzab). They said that the meaning of His saying, “There is no blame upon you if you divorce women whom you have not touched or for whom you have not assigned a dower,” is: or if you have not assigned them a dower. Some held that the compensatory gift is not obligatory, and that the command to give it is one of recommendation and encouragement.

It is related that a man divorced his wife after consummating the marriage with her. She brought a claim against him before Shurayh concerning the compensatory gift, and Shurayh said: “Do not refuse to be among those who do good, and do not refuse to be among the God-fearing.” Yet he did not compel him to give it.

They differed concerning the amount of the compensatory gift. It is reported from Ibn ʿAbbas that its highest amount is a servant, its middle amount is three garments—a chemise, a head-covering, and a waist-wrapper—and below that is a head-covering or some silver coinage. This was also the view of al-Shaʿbi and al-Zuhri, and it is the school of al-Shafiʿi. Al-Shafiʿi said: for a man of ample means, its highest amount is a servant; its middle amount is one garment; and its least amount is anything of value. Thirty dirhams is a suitable amount. ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn ʿAwf divorced his wife and gave her a black slave-girl as a compensatory gift. Al-Hasan ibn ʿAli gave one of his wives 10,000 dirhams as a compensatory gift, whereupon she said: “A small provision from a beloved who is departing.”

Abu Hanifah said: if the spouses dispute the amount, it is to be half the customary dower of a woman of her standing, without exceeding it. The verse indicates that the husband’s circumstances, whether hardship or ease, are to be taken into account. Among the rulings derived from the verse is that if a man marries an adult woman with her consent without stipulating a dower, the marriage is valid. The woman may demand that he assign her a dower. If he consummates the marriage before doing so, she is entitled to the customary dower of women of her standing. If he divorces her before stipulating the dower and before consummation, she is entitled to a compensatory gift.

If either spouse dies before a dower has been stipulated and before consummation, the scholars differed over whether she is entitled to a dower. One group held that she is not entitled to a dower. This was the view of Ali, Zayd ibn Thabit, ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar, and ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbbas, just as if he had divorced her before stipulating the dower and before consummation. Another group held that she is entitled to the dower, because death is like consummation in confirming a stipulated dower; likewise, it makes the customary dower obligatory when no dower was stipulated in the contract. This was the view of al-Thawri and the proponents of legal reasoning. They cited the report from ʿAlqamah, from Ibn Masʿud, that he was asked about a man who married a woman without stipulating a dower for her and did not consummate the marriage with her before he died. Ibn Masʿud said: “She is entitled to the dower customary for women of her standing, without diminution or excess; she must observe the waiting period, and she is entitled to inheritance.” Thereupon Maʿqil ibn Sinan al-Ashjaʿi stood and said: “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, ruled concerning Barwaʿ bint Washiq, a woman from among us, the same as—”