they disappear and others emerge, and touching them does not invalidate ritual purity.

The second section: If he divorces her by half a divorce, or a part of one even if it is small, a full divorce occurs according to the general consensus of the scholars, with the exception of Dawud, who said: She is not divorced by that. Ibn al-Mundhir said: Everyone I remember among the scholars agreed that she is divorced by that; among them are al-Sha'bi, al-Harith al-'Ukli, al-Zuhri, Qatada, al-Shafi'i, the Ashab al-Ra'y (Hanafis), and Abu 'Ubayd. Abu 'Ubayd said: It is the opinion of Malik, the people of the Hijaz, al-Thawri, and the people of Iraq. This is because mentioning a part of something that is not divisible [in divorce] is a mention of the whole, just as if he said: 'Half of you is divorced.'

Section: If he says: 'You are divorced two halves of a divorce,' one divorce occurs; for two halves of a thing constitute the whole. If he says: 'Three halves of a divorce,' she becomes divorced by two divorces; for three halves are one divorce and a half, so the half is completed, and they become two divorces. This is one opinion among the Ashab al-Shafi'i (Shafi'i school). They have another opinion, that she is not divorced by more than one; because he assigned the halves to a single divorce, so that which is not part of it is dropped, and one divorce occurs. This is incorrect, for there is no way to drop a divorce that has been effected by the one entitled to do so upon the subject matter. Moreover, the attribution to a single divorce is not valid, so the attribution becomes void. If he says: 'You are divorced half of two divorces,' she is divorced by one; for half of two divorces is one divorce. The Ashab al-Shafi'i mentioned another opinion, that two divorces occur; because the wording necessitates half of each of the two, then it is completed. What we have mentioned is more appropriate, because the division by half is achieved by it, and it involves acting upon certainty, discarding doubt, and effecting what he has stipulated without addition, so it is more appropriate. If he says: 'You are...'