apostates who deny the obligatory nature of duties, the prohibition of forbidden acts, or the lawfulness of permissible things known to be part of the religion of Islam, as established by the community’s transmission from its Prophet through numerous independent channels—may the finest blessings and peace be upon him—and widely known among scholars and laypeople alike. Examples include someone who denies the obligatory nature of “the pillars of Islam,” namely the two testimonies of faith, the five daily prayers, fasting the month of Ramadan, and pilgrimage to the Sacred House; or denies “the prohibition of injustice in its various forms,” such as usury and gambling; or denies the prohibition of shameful acts, whether open or concealed. This includes the prohibition of “marriage to relatives,” other than female cousins on either the paternal or maternal side, and the prohibition of marriage to “women forbidden through marital ties”: the mothers and daughters of one’s wives, and the wives of one’s fathers and sons, along with other such prohibitions. The same applies to denying the lawfulness of bread, meat, marriage, clothing, and other things whose permissibility is necessarily known to be part of the religion of Islam.

These are matters over which Muslims have not disagreed, whether adherents of the Sunnah or adherents of innovation. They have, however, disagreed over many questions concerning “divorce and marriage” and other legal rulings. For example, the Companions and the jurists after them disagreed over “a declaration that one’s wife is forbidden to oneself”: does it constitute a divorce, an oath, or something else?

They also disagreed over “clear allusions to divorce,” such as “You are free,” “You are released,” and “It is final”: do these effect a single revocable divorce, an irrevocable divorce, or three divorces? Or does the ruling vary according to the circumstances?

They likewise disagreed concerning “a man who swears to abstain from intercourse with his wife”: does divorce take effect when the prescribed period expires if he has not resumed marital relations within it? Or, after it expires, must he be required either to resume marital relations or to divorce her?

Scholars also disagreed concerning divorce pronounced by an intoxicated person or a person under coercion, divorce in writing, and divorce pronounced by