“You are divorced, then divorced, then divorced if you enter the house,” no divorce would take effect until she entered the house. She would then be divorced three times if the marriage had been consummated, or once if it had not. This is the position of Abū Yūsuf and Muhammad. Another position attributed to Abū Yūsuf and Muhammad is that a woman whose marriage has not been consummated is divorced three times, just as they hold when wāw (“and”) is used. This is also al-Shāfi‘ī’s position and the stronger of the two opinions within Ahmad’s school.

Abū Hanīfa, Judge Abū Ya‘lā of Ahmad’s school, and a group who agreed with him said: Rather, only the final clause is subject to the condition. If the marriage has been consummated, two divorces take immediate effect, while one remains subject to the condition. If the marriage has not been consummated, one divorce takes immediate effect, ending the marriage without a right of revocation. The other two therefore cannot validly be effected, either immediately or conditionally.

They argued: This is because thumma (“then”) indicates sequence with an interval. It is therefore as though he said, “You are divorced,” then paused, then said, “You are divorced if you enter the house.”

Those holding the first position, however, said: Thumma is a conjunction which, like wāw, gives the conjoined expression the same ruling as the expression to which it is conjoined. Yet wāw indicates only conjunction and a shared ruling, without indicating precedence, succession, or simultaneity, whereas thumma indicates a shared ruling together with succession. Their difference in meaning does not entail a difference in the shared ruling itself.

As for the claim that thumma indicates an interval, there are two answers. The first is that it signifies sequence as such; it can therefore connect both what follows immediately and what follows after an interval