1280 - Issue: He said: "And if he says to her: 'Your hair or your nail is divorced,' she is not divorced."

This is because hair and nails are subject to shedding and are replaced by others, so they are not like permanent bodily organs. The jurists (Ashab al-Ra'y) held this view. Malik and al-Shafi'i said: She becomes divorced by that. A similar view is reported from al-Hasan, because it is a part that is enjoyed through marriage, so it is divorced by its divorce, just like a finger. Our evidence is that it is a part that separates from her in a state of health, so it is not divorced by its divorce, like a fetus or saliva; there is no disagreement regarding these two. It differs from the finger, for it [the finger] does not separate in a state of health. Also, because hair has no soul in it, it does not become impure upon the death of an animal, and touching it does not invalidate ablution, so it resembles sweat, saliva, and milk. Furthermore, the fetus is attached to her, and it is not divorced by its divorce only because it is destined to separate, and this [hair and nails] is the same. The tooth is in the same category as them, because it falls out from a young person and is replaced by another, and it is pulled out from an adult.

Section: If he attributes it to saliva, tears, sweat, or a fetus, she is not divorced. We are not aware of any disagreement regarding this, because these are not parts of her body. Rather, saliva, tears, and sweat are secretions that exit her body, so it is like her milk. The fetus is deposited within her; God Almighty says: "He it is Who has produced you from a single soul, then there is a place of lodging and a place of deposit." It is said: "A place of deposit in the mother's womb." If he attributes it to the spirit, Abu Bakr said: There is no difference of opinion in Ahmad's statements regarding divorce, emancipation (i'taq), zihar, and prohibition (haram), that these things do not take effect if he mentions four things: the hair, the tooth, the nail, and the spirit. Muhanna ibn Yahya and al-Fadl ibn Ziyad al-Qattan extracted the statement from him, and this is what I hold. The reasoning is that the spirit is not an organ, nor is it something that is enjoyed.