in An Exposition of the Evidence for the Invalidity of Marriages Contracted to Make a Woman Lawful Again for Her Former Husband. Undoubtedly, abrogated provisions of the Sacred Law and matters over which the early generations differed are better than anything of this sort. Had the Sacred Law prescribed no limit to the number of divorces, that would have been conceivable, even though such a provision has been abrogated. But to say that a man who divorces his wife cannot lawfully remarry her until he hires someone to have intercourse with her is something no divine law would prescribe.

Many of those involved in such marriages engage in practices that are forbidden by Muslim consensus. No one other than a woman’s husband may explicitly propose marriage to her during her waiting period, whether that period follows divorce or her husband’s death. Allah Most High says:

“There is no blame upon you for hinting at a proposal of marriage to women or keeping it concealed within yourselves. Allah knows that you will think of them, but do not make secret promises to them; you may only speak to them in a proper manner. And do not resolve to conclude the marriage contract until the prescribed period has come to an end.”

Allah Most High thus forbids making secret promises and resolving to conclude the marriage contract before the prescribed period has ended. If this applies to the waiting period following a husband’s death, it applies even more strictly to the waiting period following divorce, by Muslim consensus, since a divorced woman may return to her husband, unlike a woman whose husband has died.

As for indirect proposals, they are permissible during a widow’s waiting period, but not during the waiting period following a revocable divorce or in other cases. Thus, by Muslim consensus, no one may make secret promises to a woman divorced three times or resolve to conclude a marriage contract with her before her prescribed waiting period has ended. If she marries a second husband and he divorces her three times, then, by Muslim consensus, her first husband may not make secret promises to her or resolve to conclude a marriage contract with her before her prescribed waiting period has ended. That is more serious still.