anyone else. Mālik further stated that the father may conclude a mubārāʿah (mutual release divorce) on behalf of his virgin daughter, just as he is entitled to forego half of her dower. Concerning the Almighty’s words, “unless they remit it, or he in whose hand is the knot of marriage remits it” (Quran 2:237), Mālik and his followers interpret “he in whose hand is the knot of marriage” to mean the father in the case of a virgin daughter and the master in the case of his bondwoman; this is also the opinion of al-Layth.