he has a free woman under him, and the divorce of a slave woman is two, even if her husband is free. It is narrated from 'Ali and Ibn Mas'ud that divorce is determined by women; thus, the divorce of a slave woman is two, whether the husband is free or a slave, and the divorce of a free woman is three, whether her husband is free or a slave. This is the opinion of al-Hasan, Ibn Sirin, 'Ikrimah, 'Abidah, Masruq, al-Zuhri, al-Hakam, Hammad, al-Thawri, and Abu Hanifah, due to what 'A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, narrated from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), that he said: "The divorce of the slave woman is two, and her waiting period ('idda) is two menstrual cycles." Recorded by Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah. Also, because the woman is the subject (mahall) of the divorce, it is determined by her, like the waiting period. Our argument is that Allah the Almighty addressed men regarding divorce, so its ruling is determined by them. Furthermore, divorce is the exclusive right of the husband, and it is among the matters that vary by servitude and freedom; thus, its variation is due to that, like the number of permissible spouses. Regarding the hadith of 'A'ishah, Abu Dawud said: Its narrator is Muzahir ibn Aslam, who is munkar al-hadith (denied/unreliable in hadith). Al-Daraqutni recorded it in his "Sunan" from 'A'ishah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "The divorce of the slave is two, and she is not lawful for him until she marries a husband other than him, and the 'idda of the slave woman is two menstrual cycles, and the free woman is married over the slave woman, but the slave woman is not married over the free woman." This is a definitive text (nass). Also, because a free man possesses the right to marry four, he possesses three divorce counts, just as if he had a free woman under him. There is no disagreement that a free man whose wife is free has a divorce count of three, and that a slave who has a slave woman under him has a divorce count of two. The disagreement only concerns the case where one of the two spouses is free and the other is enslaved.

Section: Ahmad said: The mukatab (an enslaved person with a contract of manumission) is a slave as long as a dirham remains owed by him; his divorce and all his rulings are the rulings of slaves. This is correct, for it appeared in the hadith: "The mukatab is a slave as long as a dirham remains owed by him."