it is from the second, [it is invalid]; and if it becomes clear it is from the first, it is possible that it is valid; because he took her back while she was in her iddah from him. It is also possible that it is not valid, because he took her back while in doubt regarding the permissibility of the return. The first [view] is more correct; for the return (raj'ah) is not an act of worship that is invalidated by doubt in its validity. Furthermore, acts of worship can be valid despite doubt, such as when one forgets a prayer from a day and does not know which one it is, so he prays five prayers, for in each prayer [he doubts] whether it is the forgotten one or another. Likewise, if one doubts whether he has broken his wudu (hadath), then he purifies himself intending to remove the hadath, his purification is valid and his hadath is removed; this case is more appropriate [for validity]. If he takes her back after the delivery, and it becomes clear that the pregnancy was from the second, his return is valid. If it becomes clear it was from the first, the return is not valid, because the iddah has expired with her delivery.

1293 - Issue: He said: "The return (raj'ah) is for him to say to two Muslim men: 'Bear witness that I have taken back my wife,' without a guardian (wali) present, and without any additional dowry. It has been narrated from Abu Abd Allah, may Allah have mercy on him, another narration that the return is permissible without testimony."

The entirety of the matter is that the return does not require a guardian, nor a dowry, nor the woman's consent, nor her knowledge, by the consensus of the scholars; this is based on what we have mentioned, that a woman in a revocable divorce (raj'iyyah) is under the rulings of wives, and the return is an act of withholding her and preserving her marriage. For this reason, Allah, Glory be to Him and Exalted, called the return "withholding" (imsak) and leaving it "parting" (firaq) and "releasing" (sarah), as He said: "Then when they have reached their term, either take them back in a fair manner or part from them in a fair manner," and in another verse: "either withholding in a fair manner or releasing with kindness."