she performs a ritual bath, if she is able to do so; otherwise, she must perform dry ablution. This is the view of the majority of scholars, including Mālik, Ahmad, and al-Shāfiʿī. This is also the meaning of the reports transmitted from the Companions. More than ten Companions—including the caliphs—are reported to have said concerning a woman observing her waiting period: “Her husband has the greater right to take her back so long as she has not bathed following her third menstrual period.”

The Quran supports this. Allah Most High says:

“Do not approach them until they become pure. Then, when they have purified themselves, approach them as Allah has commanded you.”

Mujāhid said that “until they become pure” means until the bleeding ceases, while “when they have purified themselves” means when they have bathed with water. It is exactly as Mujāhid explained.

Allah mentions two endpoints according to the majority reading because His words, “until they become pure,” mark the end of the prohibition arising from menstruation—a prohibition that cannot be lifted by bathing or by any other means. This prohibition ends when the bleeding ceases. Thereafter, intercourse is permissible on condition that she bathes; it does not remain unconditionally forbidden. Hence His words:

“Then, when they have purified themselves, approach them as Allah has commanded you.”

This is comparable to His words:

“If he divorces her, she is not lawful to him thereafter until she marries another husband.”

Marriage to the second husband marks the end of the prohibition arising from the three divorces. Once she marries the second husband, that prohibition ends. However, she is now married to the second husband and is therefore forbidden to the first because of the second husband’s marital right, not because of the three divorces. If the second husband divorces her, the first may marry her.