a captive, a captive may secure his ransom with his own money or with money provided by someone else. Likewise, a slave may obtain his freedom in return for money provided either by himself or by a third party. A settlement may likewise be concluded with the defendant or with a third party. All these involve the relinquishment of rights and the dissolution of legal ties. Since khul‘ terminates the marriage and does not count as one of the three divorces, it makes no difference whether the money is provided by the woman or by a third party.

The analogy between annulment of marriage and rescission of a sale is questionable. A sale can be rescinded only with the consent of both parties; neither may rescind it unilaterally. Marriage is different: the woman does not have the authority to dissolve it, whereas the husband may do so unilaterally. Nevertheless, her ransoming herself from him is equivalent to a third party ransoming her. Questions of divorce, including the points of consensus and disagreement concerning them, are discussed at length elsewhere.

The point here is that once three divorces have taken effect, the woman becomes unlawful to him by the consensus of the Muslims, as indicated by the Quran and Sunnah. According to the overwhelming majority of earlier and later scholars, she becomes lawful to him again only after marrying a second husband and having intercourse with him. For when marriage is prescribed, both the contract and intercourse are prescribed, whereas when it is prohibited, both the contract and intercourse are prohibited. Thus, in an obligatory or recommended marriage, intercourse pursuant to the contract is prescribed, whereas in a prohibited marriage, even the contract alone is forbidden.

It is established in the Sahīh that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to the wife of Rifā‘a al-Qurazī, when she wanted to return to Rifā‘a without having had intercourse with her second husband:

“No, not until you taste his sweetness and he tastes yours.”

No disagreement on this is reported except from Sa‘īd ibn al-Musayyib. Although he was the most learned of the Successors, the Sunnah concerning this matter had not reached him.

The marriage that makes her lawful again is the marriage recognized among Muslims: the marriage in which Allah has placed between