among these scholars: Is taking her back obligatory or recommended? May he take her back during the first or second period of purity? And what is the wisdom behind this prohibition? There are several views, which we have discussed, together with their grounds, elsewhere.

Another group understood that the divorce had not taken effect. Rather, he had physically separated from her, as customarily happens when a man divorces his wife: he withdraws from her, and she withdraws from him. Thus, the Prophet “said to ʿUmar: ‘Tell him to resume life with her.’” He did not say, “Tell him to take her back.” The term murājaʿah (returning to one another) has a reciprocal form involving both parties: she returns to him physically, and they are reunited as before, because his divorce had not taken effect. Then, when the time at which Allah permits divorce arrives, he may divorce her if he wishes.

These scholars argued: Had the divorce taken effect, there would have been no benefit in commanding him to take her back so that he could divorce her a second time. Rather, this would harm them both. Explicit scriptural evidence and scholarly consensus establish that he may divorce her after taking her back. In that case, adding this divorce to the first would only increase the number of divorces, prolong the waiting period, and torment both spouses. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not oblige him to have intercourse with her before divorcing her. Indeed, if he had intercourse with her, he would not be permitted to divorce her until her pregnancy became apparent or she reached the second period of purity. He might have no desire for her and be reluctant to have intercourse with her lest she conceive by him. How, then, could he be obliged to have intercourse with her? For this reason, none of the four imams or comparable leading Muslim scholars held intercourse to be obligatory. Rather, the Prophet deferred the divorce until the second period of purity. Had he not initially divorced her, he would have been permitted to divorce her during the first period of purity; for, had he been permitted to divorce her during