, during her ʿiddah (waiting period), he has the stronger claim to her; no fresh act of return is required and no dowry is due. His conversion within her ʿiddah is treated like the Sunnah-compliant revocation by which a man who has divorced his wife takes her back while her waiting period still runs.

A woman whose marriage has not been consummated has no ʿiddah. If she enters Islam first, the separation is effected immediately by way of annulment, with no formal divorce and no dowry, because consummation never took place.

If the marriage had been consummated and the husband later adopts Islam, claiming that his conversion occurred during her ʿiddah, the burden of proof rests with him, not with her. Should he produce conclusive evidence, the marriage stands—provided she has not married another man.

If she has already married someone else and the first husband establishes that he became Muslim during her ʿiddah, then: if the second husband has consummated the marriage, the first husband has no right to her; but if consummation with the second husband has not yet occurred, Mālik reports two opinions—one giving precedence to the first husband, the other to the second.

When a polytheist accepts Islam while married to more than four women, he may retain any four of them and must part with the rest, whether the four he chooses are from among his first wives or his last, and whether the marriages were contracted all at once or at different times. Likewise, if he embraces Islam while married to two sisters, he must release whichever of the two he prefers.