a prostitute with whom one intends to have intercourse for a day or two. This differs from a man who marries intending to remain married: the choice rests with him, and no one has stipulated that he divorce her, as is stipulated for a man marrying her to make her lawful again for her former husband.

Suppose a man marries her in an unrestricted marriage, involving neither a condition nor a promise, but intends to enjoy marital relations with her for a few days and then divorce her, without intending that she return to her former husband. This is the case under discussion. Even if this makes her lawful again for her former husband, he is not regarded as marrying her for that purpose unless he intends it or a condition to that effect is imposed upon him, explicitly or by custom, whether before or after the marriage contract. If there is neither any intention to make her lawful again for her former husband nor any condition whatsoever, then this is a marriage like other marriages.

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

“Is this practice of ‘tahlīl’ (marrying a divorced woman to make her lawful again for her former husband), as people practise it today, valid when carried out through asserting claims, having witnesses attest, and the various other familiar stratagems they employ? If someone follows the opinion of those who permit it, is a distinction to be made between one belief and another? Is it preferable to keep the woman as one’s wife, or not?”

He replied:

Tahlīl in which they agree with the husband—explicitly or by custom—that he will divorce the woman, or in which the husband himself intends this, is forbidden. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, cursed