he decided to punish them by holding them bound by all three divorces, to deter them from doing so. This was either a temporary discretionary punishment imposed when needed—just as he would administer eighty lashes for drinking intoxicants, shave the offender’s head and exile him, and just as the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) prohibited the three who had stayed behind from being with their wives—or because he thought that counting the three as one had depended upon a condition that no longer existed. He took a similar view concerning combining ‘umrah with Hajj, either generally or specifically by converting Hajj into ‘umrah.

Compelling separation when someone fails to fulfil his obligations is a matter open to independent legal judgment. Sometimes separation is a right belonging to the wife, as in the case of an impotent husband or one who has sworn to abstain from marital relations, according to the majority of scholars, and a husband unable to provide maintenance, according to those who hold this view.

At other times, it is said to be a right of Allah. Examples include the two arbiters’ separation of a married couple, according to the majority, when the arbiters are not treated as agents; and divorce taking effect against a husband who has sworn to abstain from marital relations if he does not resume them within the waiting period, according to those among the earlier and later scholars who hold this view. Likewise, some jurists among Ahmad’s followers and others have stated that if both spouses willingly engage in anal intercourse, they are to be separated.

If a righteous father orders his son to divorce because he considers it to be in his son’s best interests, the son must obey him, as Ahmad and others have stated, just as:

“The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) instructed ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Umar to obey his father when his father ordered him to divorce his wife.”

Thus, compelling separation—whether by the Lawgiver or by the ruler—when the husband fails to fulfil his obligations is a matter open to independent legal judgment. Since people would commit the forbidden act unless they were held bound by all three divorces, ‘Umar decided to hold them bound by them, because they had failed to remain obedient to Allah and His Messenger while the marriage remained intact. Yet many of the Companions