not approach her until he is certain of the extent of the divorce; for he is certain of the prohibition and doubtful of the permissibility.

In summary, if he divorces and is in doubt regarding the number of divorces, he should base his position on certainty. Ahmad stated this in a narration from Ibn Mansur regarding a man who pronounced the divorce of his wife and does not know whether it was one or three. He said: "As for the one, it is binding upon him, and she remains with him until he is certain." Abu Hanifa and al-Shafi'i also said this, because that which exceeds the amount he is certain of is a divorce that is doubted, so it is not binding upon him, just as if he were to doubt the occurrence of the divorce itself. Once this is established, the rulings regarding one who has divorced less than three remain, including the lawfulness of reconciliation. When he reconciles, maintenance and marital rights become obligatory. Al-Khiraqi said: "It is prohibited for him to have intercourse with her." Malik holds a similar view, except that it has been narrated from him that the greater number of the doubted divorce is binding upon him. The argument of the two [Al-Khiraqi and Malik] regarding the certainty of prohibition is that he is certain of its occurrence through the divorce and doubts its removal by reconciliation, so it is not removed by doubt, just as if impurities were to touch his garment and he doubted their location; the ruling of impurity does not cease by washing a portion [of the garment], and it only ceases by washing the entirety of it. This differs from the obligation of maintenance, for it is not removed by a single divorce; thus, it remains because it was already present and he is not certain of its cessation. The manifest position of other companions of ours, excluding al-Khiraqi, is that if he reconciles with her, she becomes lawful for him. This is the position of Abu Hanifa and al-Shafi'i, and it is the apparent meaning of Ahmad's words in the narration of Ibn Mansur; because the prohibition that is related to what he negates is removed by reconciliation with certainty. For prohibition is of various types: a prohibition removed by reconciliation, a prohibition removed by a new marriage contract, and a prohibition removed by a marriage contract after a husband and consummation. One who is certain of the lower degree does not have the ruling of the higher degree established against him, just as one who is certain of minor ritual impurity does not have the ruling of major ritual impurity established against him, and the prohibition of prayer is removed by minor ablution. It differs from the garment, for washing part of it does not remove what he was certain of concerning the