among the forms of marriage over which the early generations differed.

In any event, the Companions are the best of this community, followed by the Successors, as established in an authentic report from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), who said:

“The best generation is the generation among whom I was sent, then those who follow them, then those who follow them.”

A marriage whose permissibility the early generations disputed is therefore closer to being permissible than one whose prohibition they unanimously affirmed, even if later generations dispute it, for the former possessed greater knowledge and piety. What they unanimously regarded as gravely forbidden has an even stronger claim to prohibition than what they simply agreed was forbidden, even if its prohibition was unclear to those who came after them. And Allah Most High knows best.

He—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked:

A man married an orphan girl whose mother testified that she had reached puberty. She remained with him for four years, after which she became irrevocably divorced from him through three divorces. Her sisters and other women then testified that she had not reached puberty until nine days after her husband consummated the marriage with her. Her mother also testified to this account. The mother has since died, and the husband wishes to take her back. What is the ruling?

He replied:

Praise be to Allah.

According to the majority of scholars, the husband may not marry her after divorcing her three times. The position of Abū Hanīfah and the well-known position reported from Ahmad is that her marriage is valid even if it took place before puberty. The well-known position of Mālik and Ahmad is that divorce takes effect in a defective marriage over whose validity scholars differ. Such questions are reprehensible, for they are