for menstruation has a duration, the minimum of which is a day and a night, and it has a half in reality, and ignorance of that amount does not prevent its existence, nor the attachment of the ruling to it, just like pregnancy.

Chapter: If he says to his two wives, 'When you both menstruate one menstruation, you are both divorced,' neither of them is divorced until each one of them has menstruated one menstruation. The intended meaning is: 'If each one of you menstruates one menstruation, you are both divorced,' like the saying of Allah Almighty: {Then lash them with eighty lashes} (14), meaning: lash each one of them eighty (15). It is also possible that the divorce is attached to the menstruation of one of them; because when the existence of the action from both of them is impossible, it is necessary to attribute it to one of them, like His saying: {From both of them emerge pearl and coral} (16), and it only emerges from one of them. Al-Qadi said: His statement 'one menstruation' is void, because one menstruation from two women is impossible, so it remains as if he said: 'If you both menstruate, you are both divorced.' This is one of the two opinions of the followers of al-Shafi'i, and the other opinion (17) is that this qualification does not take effect, because it is impossible, so it becomes like suspending divorce upon impossibilities. The first opinion is better, because it involves validating the speech of the legally responsible person by interpreting it in a permissible manner, and distancing the occurrence of the divorce, while the certainty is the continuation of the marriage; so it does not cease until there is found that which causes the divorce with certainty, and other than this opinion, certainty is not obtained. If he intended one of these meanings with his words, it is interpreted accordingly, and if he claims that, it is accepted from him. And if he says: 'I intended that the one menstruation be from both of them,' it is a suspension of divorce (19) upon an impossibility, so it is possible that his statement 'a menstruation' is void, and it is possible that the divorce does not occur; because this qualification is not found, so there is not found that which