Shaykh al-Islām—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked:

A man married, and it was stipulated in the marriage contract that every woman he subsequently married would be divorced, and every slave woman he took as a concubine would become free. He then married another woman and took a concubine. What is the ruling according to the four schools of law?

He replied:

This condition is not binding according to the school of Imam al-Shāfiʿī. According to the school of Abū Hanīfa, it is binding upon him: whenever he marries another woman, she is divorced, and whenever he takes a slave woman as a concubine, she becomes free. This is also the position of Mālik’s school.

According to Ahmad’s school, neither divorce nor manumission takes effect through this condition. However, if he marries another woman and takes a concubine, the decision rests with his wife: if she wishes, she may remain with him, and if she wishes, she may leave him. This is based on the saying of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“The stipulations most deserving of fulfilment are those by which marital intimacy has become lawful for you.”

It is also based on the report that a man married a woman on condition that he would not marry another woman alongside her. The matter was brought before ʿUmar, who said: “Rights are determined by the stipulations.”

Thus, there are three positions on this issue:

“The first”: divorce and manumission take effect through this condition.

“The second”: neither takes effect through it, and his wife has no right to leave him.

“The third”—which is the most just position—is that neither divorce nor manumission takes effect through it, but his wife is entitled to what he stipulated for her: if she wishes, she may remain with him, and if she wishes, she may leave him. This is the most balanced of the positions.