Salim also narrated it from Ibn Umar, who said: “Command him to take her back; then let him divorce her while she is in a state of purity or while she is pregnant.” (1)

Yunus ibn Jubayr and Anas ibn Sirin also narrated it from Ibn Umar, but they did not say: “then she menstruates and then becomes pure.” (2)

Abd al-Wahhab ibn Muhammad al-Khatib informed us; Abd al-Aziz ibn Ahmad al-Khallal informed us; Abu al-Abbas al-Asamm informed us; al-Rabi informed us; al-Shafi'i informed us; Muslim and Sa'id ibn Salim informed us, from Ibn Jurayj, who said: Abu al-Zubayr told me that he heard Abd al-Rahman ibn Ayman, the client of Azza, asking Abdullah ibn Umar, while Abu al-Zubayr was listening: “What is your view regarding a man who divorces his wife while she is menstruating?” Ibn Umar replied: “Abdullah ibn Umar divorced his wife while she was menstruating, and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: ‘Command him to take her back. Then, once she becomes pure, let him divorce her or keep her.’” Ibn Umar said: “Allah, exalted is He, says: ‘O Prophet, when you divorce women, divorce them at the outset of their waiting period’—or, ‘for the outset of their waiting period.’” Al-Shafi'i was uncertain which wording it was.

Hajjaj ibn Muhammad also narrated it from Ibn Jurayj, and said: Ibn Umar said: “The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, recited: ‘O Prophet, when you divorce women, divorce them at the outset of their waiting period.’” (3)

Know that divorce during menstruation or postnatal bleeding is a prohibited departure from the Sunnah. The same applies to divorce during a period of purity in which the husband has had intercourse with her, due to the Prophet’s saying, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: “If he wishes, he may divorce her before having intercourse with her.”

A divorce in accordance with the Sunnah is for him to divorce her during a period of purity in which he has not had intercourse with her. This applies in the case of a woman whose waiting period is reckoned by menstrual cycles.

However, if he divorces a wife with whom the marriage has not been consummated while she is menstruating; or divorces a young girl who has never menstruated; or a postmenopausal woman after having intercourse with her; or a pregnant woman after having intercourse with her or while she is bleeding, then it is not deemed an innovative divorce. The divorce of these women is classified as neither Sunnah-compliant nor innovative, for the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “Then let him divorce her while she is in a state of purity or while she is pregnant.”

A khul' divorce during menstruation, or during a period of purity in which he has had intercourse with her, is not deemed innovative, because the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, permitted Thabit ibn Qays to enter into khul' with his wife without first determining her condition. Had it not been permissible in every circumstance, one would have expected him to ascertain her condition.

If he deliberately divorces his wife while she is menstruating, or during a period of purity in which he has had intercourse with her, he disobeys Allah Most High; but it nevertheless takes effect.