of the estate between the divorced wife and the other, as Abū Hanīfa maintains? Or should the matter be suspended until the two reach a settlement, as al-Shāfiʿī maintains? Or should lots be drawn between the divorced wife and the other, as Ahmad and other hadith jurists maintain? These are three opinions. Drawing lots after death concerns property; hence, it is accepted even by some who do not accept drawing lots to identify a divorced wife.

The correct view in this case—whether the divorced wife was unspecified or her identity was unknown—is that lots should be drawn between the two wives. If the lot falls to the Muslim wife, neither she nor the protected non-Muslim wife inherits anything: the former because she is divorced, and the latter because a non-Muslim does not inherit from a Muslim. If the lot falls to the non-Muslim wife, the Muslim wife receives a wife’s full share of the inheritance. This applies when the divorce precludes inheritance, as when he divorces her irrevocably while in good health.

If, however, the divorce was revocable, whether pronounced during health or illness, and he dies before the waiting period ends, she remains his wife and inherits from him. By agreement of the imams, she must observe the waiting period following a husband’s death. According to the majority of them—including Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī and Abū Hanīfa—her waiting period ends upon its completion. This is also one of the two opinions reported from Ahmad. The well-known opinion reported from him is that she must observe whichever of the two waiting periods, for bereavement or divorce, ends later.

If the divorce was irrevocable and pronounced during his final illness, the majority of scholars hold that a woman so divorced inherits if he divorced her with the intention of depriving her of her inheritance. This is Mālik’s view: he holds that she inherits even if her waiting period has ended and she has remarried. It is also the position of Abū Hanīfa, who holds that she inherits as long as she remains in her waiting period. The well-known view reported from him is that she inherits so long as she has not remarried. Al-Shāfiʿī likewise has three opinions, but his later position is that she does not inherit.