should he abandon his wife and remain away for years without approaching her, no ilāʾ is incurred. He is, however, urged to fear Allah and not to detain her merely out of spite.

If a traveler deliberately prolongs his absence in order to harm his wife, the court orders him to return; if he refuses, the judge separates them. The decisive factor is the absence of intercourse, whether that comes about by an oath or without one, just as separation is ordered for a muʿlī, for a husband unable to provide maintenance, and for an impotent (ʿannin) man.

Whoever swears that he will not touch his wife until she has weaned their child—so as to avoid ghayl (the presumed harm to a suckling infant should the mother conceive while nursing)—and does not intend any injury to her during the nursing period, may not, according to Mālik, be compelled by her to resume relations before the term of nursing ends. The same ruling applies to a sick man for whom intercourse would be harmful and who therefore refrains from his wife, and likewise to someone who becomes impotent after previously having relations with her: no ilāʾ is counted against him.