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

A man acknowledged before upright witnesses that he had divorced his wife longer ago than the legally prescribed waiting period. May they now marry her to him again?

He answered:

Praise be to Allah. If the man making this acknowledgment is openly sinful or of unknown moral standing, his statement is not accepted as grounds for dispensing with the waiting period, which involves a right of Allah. This is not merely an admission against himself, such that it would be accepted even from an openly sinful person. Rather, it also involves a right of Allah, for the waiting period involves both Allah’s right and the husband’s right.

If, however, he is upright and not under suspicion—for example, he was away and, upon returning, told her that he had divorced her such-and-such a time earlier—must she reckon her waiting period from when he informed her, if no evidence establishes his claim, or from the time of the divorce, as she would if evidence established it?

There is a well-known disagreement on this, with differing views reported from Ahmad and others. The well-known position reported from him is the second. And Allah knows best.

He was asked:

A man married a woman but neither consummated the marriage nor had intercourse with her, and she gave birth two months later. Is the marriage valid, and is he obliged to pay the bridal due or not?