For scholars hold three views concerning irrevocable divorce.

The first is that a husband may pronounce either an irrevocable or a revocable divorce as he wishes, on the grounds that the right to take his wife back belongs to him: he may retain that right or waive it. This is the position of Abū Hanīfah and one view reported from Ahmad. I believe it is also a view reported from Mālik.

The second is that he has no power to pronounce an irrevocable divorce on his own initiative, but may do so if she asks him to make the separation irrevocable. This is a well-known position reported from Mālik and one view reported from Ahmad, preferred by al-Khiraqī.

The third is that he has no power to make the separation irrevocable without compensation, whether she requests it or not; he may do so only in return for compensation. This is the position of most jurists versed in hadith. It is the position of al-Shāfiʿī and the apparent position of Ahmad’s school, followed by the majority of his adherents. It is also the view of Ishāq, Abū Thawr, Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Khuzaymah, Dāwūd and others. Most of the reliably transmitted reports from the majority of the Companions support it. This view is also supported by the Quran and Sunnah. For Allah has prescribed divorce only as revocable, and in Allah’s Book there is no irrevocable divorce that counts as one of the three except in return for compensation, not without it. Rather, every irrevocable separation falls outside the three divorces.

Furthermore, the imams agree that khulʿ and divorce are valid when expressed in a language other than Arabic. It is well known that non-Arabic languages have no wording that, when compensation is involved, distinguishes khulʿ from a divorce that is not khulʿ. The distinction rests solely on what is particular to khulʿ: the inclusion of compensation and the wife’s request for separation.

The word for divorce may also be used in relation to something other than a woman, as when people say, “I have renounced the world,” or “I have renounced your affection.” Even when used in relation to a woman, it may mean release from something other than her husband, as when one says, “You are released from bonds,” or “You are released from worries and sorrows.”