By that. If he takes her back, she has the option of annulment at that time. If she annuls it, then he returns and marries her again, she remains with him with one divorce; for the divorce of a slave is two. If he marries her after he is emancipated, she returns with him with two divorces; for he has become free and thus possesses three divorces, like all other free men.
Section: If he divorces her after her emancipation and before she has made her choice, or if he divorces a minor or an insane woman after [her] emancipation, his divorce takes effect and her option becomes void; for this is a divorce by a husband who has legal capacity, within a valid marriage, so it is operative just as if he had not been emancipated. The judge (al-qadi) said: His divorce is suspended (mawquf); if she chooses annulment, the divorce does not take effect, because his divorce entails the invalidation of her right to the option, and if she does not choose [annulment], it takes effect. Al-Shafi'i has two opinions analogous to these two views. They based the non-occurrence on the fact that the annulment traces back to the moment of emancipation, so the divorce would be occurring within an annulled marriage. Our argument is that it is a divorce from a legally competent, choosing husband, within a valid marriage, so it takes effect, just as if he had divorced her before her emancipation, or as if she had not chosen [annulment]. We have already mentioned that the annulment necessitates separation [from its time], and it is not permitted to advance the separation before it, [since the ruling] does not precede its cause. Furthermore, the waiting period begins from the time of the annulment, not from the time of the emancipation, and the sexual intercourse that preceded it is intercourse within a valid marriage, which establishes both the state of being muhsan (chaste/married) and the legality of remarriage for the first husband; if the annulment had preceded it, the situation would be reversed. The judge's statement that it invalidates her right to annulment is incorrect, for through the divorce, the objective of the annulment is achieved, along with the additional [effect] of the obligation of half the dowry and the shortening of the waiting period for her, since its beginning is from the time of his divorce, not from the time of
(10) Omitted from the original. (11) In manuscripts A and B: "al-ikhtiyar" (the choice). (12) In manuscript B: "fa-yanfudh" (then it is operative). (13) Omitted from the original, A, and B. (14) In manuscript M: "hina'idhin" (at that time). (15) In manuscript M: "wa-l-hukm" (and the ruling). (16) In manuscript A: "tabda'u" (it begins). (17) In manuscript M: "min" (from).
