He said: Ibn Abbas said: He does not perform li'an and is flogged. Ibn Umar said: He performs li'an as long as she is within the 'idda (waiting period) (49). He said: The opinion of Ibn Umar is better, because she is still his wife (50), and he inherits from her and she inherits from him, so he performs li'an. This is the view of Jabir ibn Zayd, al-Nakha'i, al-Zuhri, Qatada, al-Shafi'i, Ishaq, Abu 'Ubayd, Abu Thawr, and the people of ra'y (school of reasoned opinion). It is also reported from Ibn Umar that because the revocably divorced woman is a wife, it is permissible for him to perform li'an regarding her, just as if he had not divorced her.

Section: If he accuses his wife then separates from her, he may perform li'an regarding her. Ahmad stated this explicitly, whether he has a child or not. This is reported from Ibn Abbas, and it is the view of al-Hasan, al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, Makhul (51), Malik, al-Shafi'i, Abu 'Ubayd, Abu Thawr, and Ibn al-Mundhir. Al-Harith al-'Ukli, Jabir ibn Zayd, Qatada, and al-Hakam said: He is flogged. Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman and the people of ra'y said: There is neither a hadd punishment nor li'an, because li'an only occurs between spouses, and these two are not spouses, and he is not to be flogged because he did not accuse a foreign woman. Our evidence is the saying of Allah the Almighty: "And those who accuse their wives..." This man has indeed accused his wife (52), so he enters into the generality of the verse. When (53) he does not perform li'an, the hadd punishment becomes mandatory due to the generality of His saying: "And those who accuse chaste women and then do not bring four witnesses, lash them with eighty lashes." Also, because he is an accuser of his wife, it is mandatory that he be allowed to perform li'an, just as if they remained in a state of marriage up to the moment of li'an.

Section: If she says: He accused me before he married me, and he says: Rather, it was after. Or she says: He accused me after I was separated from him (51), and he says: Rather, it was before. Then his statement is accepted, because his statement is accepted regarding the origin of the accusation, and thus it is also accepted regarding its timing.