regarding the act of intercourse, except by his own admission. If he says: "I had intercourse with her, knowing that I had divorced her three times," it is an admission of adultery on his part, and the same rules that apply to an admission of adultery apply to him.

1286 - Issue: He said: "And if he divorces his wife fewer than three times, and she completes the waiting period ('idda), then she marries another man, and he has intercourse with her, then he divorces her, or dies leaving her, and she completes the waiting period, then the first husband marries her, she is with him based on what remains of the three [divorces]."

The summary of this is that when a divorcer is separated from his wife, then marries her again, he is in one of three states. The first: that she marries another man and he has intercourse with her, then the first husband marries her; she returns to him with a tally of three divorces by the consensus of the scholars, as stated by Ibn al-Mundhir. The second: that he divorces her fewer than three times, then she returns to him through a revocation (raj'a) or a new marriage contract before a second husband [is involved]; she returns to him with what remains of her divorces, without any disagreement that we know of. The third: he divorces her fewer than three times, she completes her waiting period, then she marries another man, then the first husband marries her. There are two reports from Ahmad regarding this. One of them is that she returns to him with what remains of her divorces. This is the opinion of the elders among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace): 'Umar, 'Ali, Ubayy, Mu'adh, 'Imran ibn Husayn, and Abu Hurayra. It is also narrated from Zayd and 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As. This is the view of Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, 'Abida, al-Hasan, Malik, al-Thawri, Ibn Abi Layla, al-Shafi'i, Ishaq, Abu 'Ubayda, Abu Thawr, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan, and Ibn al-Mundhir. The second report from Ahmad is that she returns to him with a tally of three divorces. This is the view of Ibn 'Umar, Ibn 'Abbas, 'Ata', al-Nakha'i, Shurayh, Abu Hanifa, and Abu Yusuf; because the intercourse of the second husband establishes lawfulness (hill), so it establishes a lawfulness that can accommodate three divorces, just as it does after three [divorces], because the intercourse of the second [husband] demolishes the three divorces, so it is more fitting that it should demolish those less than them. Our position is that the intercourse of the second...