, when her husband divorced her for the third and final time, to observe a waiting period. He instructed her to observe it in the house of Ibn Umm Maktūm, then instructed her to move to the house of Umm Sharīk.” Although the hadith does not explicitly state that she was to observe a waiting period of three menstrual periods, this is the established position among the scholars whose views have reached us.

If there is consensus on this, then it is the truth, for the Muslim community does not agree upon error. If, however, some scholars have held that a woman divorced three times need only establish freedom from pregnancy, rather than observe a waiting period of three menstrual periods, this position has a strong rationale: the length of the waiting period would correspond to the husband’s right to take her back, this being the reason it was set at three cycles. Thus, a woman whom her husband has no right to take back would not have to wait three cycles. The apparent meaning of the Quran contains only what accords with this position, not what contradicts it. Likewise, its apparent meaning contains only what accords with the established position, not what contradicts it. Whichever of the two positions the Sunnah establishes is therefore true and consistent with the apparent meaning of the Quran.

The established position among scholars is the first. This differs from the case of a woman who obtains a separation in return for compensation, for the Sunnah has prescribed for her what was mentioned above. This is also established from leading Companions and several of the early generations, and is the position of several leading scholars. Nothing in the Quran contradicts it; rather, it accords with it. The two cases therefore cannot be treated as analogous. If we understand the reasons for distinguishing a waiting period of three cycles from merely establishing freedom from pregnancy, well and good; otherwise, it suffices to follow what the pure, well-known scriptural evidence indicates.

This is further clarified by the case of captive women who are newly enslaved. Reference has already been made to the hadith of Abū Saʿīd, which states that Allah permitted the Muslims to have intercourse with them when they felt scruples about