Eighth: Separation from one of two sisters and from any wives beyond four is specifically required by Islamic law. Allah, however, has never made divorce itself the sole obligation; rather, He has required either retaining the wife honourably or releasing her graciously.

Ninth: Divorce is, in principle, disliked. For this reason, Allah has permitted it only three times and has made the wife unlawful to her husband after the third divorce, as a punishment intended to deter him from divorcing. Here, however, separation is something Allah and His Messenger have commanded. How, then, can something Allah and His Messenger love be classified as something they dislike?

This is comparable to shunning fellow Muslims: it was originally prohibited, but the Lawgiver permitted it for three days. As for shunning that is commanded—such as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and his Companions shunning the three who were left behind for fifty nights—this was something Allah and His Messenger loved. It therefore does not belong to the category of disliked conduct of which three days were permitted out of need.

Likewise, since mourning other than that of a wife for her husband was originally prohibited, three days of it were permitted out of need. As for a wife’s mourning for four months and ten days, since it is something Allah and His Messenger have commanded, it does not belong to the category of mourning that Allah disliked but permitted for three days out of need. Similarly, separation commanded by Allah and His Messenger does not belong to the category of divorce that Allah and His Messenger dislike, but have permitted three times out of need.

Khulʿ (marital dissolution in return for compensation) falls into this category. Al-Bukhārī narrated in his Sahīh, through Khālid al-Hadhdhā’, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbās:

“The wife of Thābit ibn Qays came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, I find no fault with Thābit ibn Qays in either his character or his religion