and Ishāq ibn Rāhawayh, Ibn al-Mundhir, and other hadith jurists. This is the correct view, as we have discussed at length elsewhere. If a woman who obtains release from marriage in return for compensation is not required to observe the waiting period of a divorced woman, since she is not divorced, but only a precautionary waiting period—which is also called a waiting period—then this applies all the more to a woman with whom intercourse took place under an appearance of lawfulness, and still more to a woman who committed unlawful sexual intercourse.

There is also the case of a woman who emigrates from a land of disbelief, such as the woman whose faith was tested, concerning whom Allah revealed:

“O you who believe, when believing women come to you as emigrants, test them”—to the end of the verse.

Elsewhere, we have mentioned the hadith transmitted concerning her and explained that this would take place after she had observed a precautionary waiting period of one menstrual period, even though she had been married. The separation, however, resulted from her embracing Islam and choosing to leave her husband, not from his divorcing her.

Likewise, His words:

“And married women, except those whom your right hands possess.”

Thus, when they took a woman captive, intercourse with her became permissible after the precautionary waiting period. According to the Sunnah and scholarly consensus, a captive woman is required to observe only the precautionary waiting period, which may also be called a waiting period. In the Sunan collections, the hadith concerning Barīra upon her emancipation states: “The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered her to observe a waiting period.” For this reason, some literalist scholars, such as Ibn Hazm, held that a woman who is not divorced need only observe a precautionary waiting period of one menstrual period, except for this woman. This view is weak, however, because in their usage, “observe a waiting period” means observing the precautionary waiting period, as we have mentioned, sū (1). Ibn Mājah also narrated from ‘Ā’isha that “the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered her to observe a waiting period of three menstrual periods.” That is how he worded it, but this hadith is defective.