If a man says to his wife, “You are divorced, you are divorced, you are divorced,” the utterance counts as three divorces, unless he merely intended repetition; some jurists maintain that no intention is considered in this situation.

Likewise, if he states, “You are divorced—then you are divorced—then you are divorced,” it is three divorces and no account is taken of any claimed intention.

Should he say to her, “You are divorced when you become pregnant,” two narrations from Mālik exist. According to the first, once he has intercourse with her a single time the divorce follows immediately afterward. According to the second, he may have intercourse with her once during every period of purity and then desist; if she conceives, the divorce is effected, but if she menstruates it is not. He then waits for the next period of purity, has intercourse once more, and so on indefinitely until pregnancy becomes apparent.

If he tells her, “You are divorced if you are not pregnant,” the divorce takes effect at once—whether she is actually pregnant or not—according to Mālik.

If he says, “You are divorced when I have intercourse with you,” she is not divorced until he actually consummates the union. When penetration occurs, the divorce is triggered, yet he may simultaneously intend to take her back, in which case the marriage remains in force.

If he adds, “If I have intercourse with you, you are divorced three times,” it becomes unlawful for him to approach her, for she is rendered forbidden to him upon the very first penetration; he may not have marital relations with her. This is the position selected by ʿAbd al-Malik, who maintained that the withdrawal is what is unlawful, not the penetration itself. Another report from Mālik states that she is not divorced until intercourse occurs; once penetration happens the divorce is effected, and the withdrawal is not considered sinful because it is unavoidable.

If he declares, “You are divorced every time I have intercourse with you,” the first two acts of intercourse each bring about a single divorce, and on each occasion he may revoke the divorce during the act itself. A third act of intercourse is unlawful, however, because she would then become irrevocably forbidden to him until she has married another husband.

Suppose a man with four wives says, “Whichever of you I lie beside tonight and then rise without having intercourse with her—her co-wives are divorced.” He lies next to one of them and rises without intercourse, then does the same with the second and the third. He must now abstain from the fourth and may not lie beside her, for she has already been separated from him by three divorces, and the divorces of her co-wives are binding.