Abu Thawr and Ibn al-Mundhir. Malik and the scholars of opinion said: If he does so, he has erred against the Sunnah, but the separation is valid and the child is disavowed from him, because Allah Almighty conjoined her li'an with his li'an using the letter "wa" (and), which does not necessitate sequential order. Furthermore, the li'an has been produced by both of them, so it is similar to a case where she did observe the order. According to al-Shafi'i, the li'an is not complete except through sequencing, but in his view, the man's li'an alone suffices for the disavowal of the child, and that result is achieved even with his failure to observe the order and the lack of completeness in the woman's formulas of li'an. Our argument is that he has performed the li'an in a manner contrary to what has been conveyed in the Qur'an and the Sunnah, so it is not valid, just as if he had limited himself to only one phrase. Moreover, the man's li'an is his evidence for establishing her adultery and disavowing her child, while the woman's li'an is for denial, so the evidence of establishment is prioritized, just as witnesses are prioritized over oaths. Also, the woman's li'an is for averting the punishment from herself, and this is not addressed to her except through the man's li'an; so if she presented her li'an before his, she has presented it before its time, and therefore it is not valid, just as if she had presented it before the accusation. The fourth condition is that he must mention the disavowal of the child in the li'an. If he does not mention it, he is not disavowed, unless he repeats the li'an and mentions his disavowal. This is the apparent meaning of the words of al-Khiraqi, the preference of the Qadi, and the school of al-Shafi'i. Abu Bakr said: He does not need to mention the child or his disavowal, as he is disavowed by the termination of the marital bed (firash), because the hadith of Sahl ibn Sa'd, in which he described the li'an, did not mention the child in it, and he said therein: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) separated them and decreed that her child should not be attributed to a father, nor should her child be reviled." Narrated by Abu Dawud. In a hadith narrated by Muslim from 'Abd Allah, a man performed li'an with his wife during the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) separated them and attached the child to his mother.