‘Abd al-‘Aziz, al-Hasan, al-Zuhri, Qatadah, al-Layth, ‘Ali ibn al-Madini, and ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Abi Salamah. Malik and al-Shafi‘i in his early view also held this, except that Malik said: There is no set time for waiting for someone who goes missing in battle. Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyab said regarding the wife of a man missing between two battle lines: She waits for one year, because the probability of his destruction is greater here than the probability of others due to the presence of its cause. It has been narrated from Ahmad that he said: [I used to say]: If she waits for four years, then observes the waiting period for death of four months and ten days, she may remarry. But I have doubted this, and I have refrained from giving an answer on it, [because people differed] regarding it, so it is as if I prefer safety. This is a suspension (tawaqquf) which could imply a retraction of what he said—that she must wait indefinitely—or it could imply caution (tawarru’), and the established school of thought remains what he said initially. The Judge (al-Qadi) said: Most of our companions hold that the school of thought has only one narration, whereas in my view, the issue involves two narrations. Abu Bakr said: What I hold, if the disagreement on the issue is confirmed, is that no second ruling should be applied unless there is evidence of a change [of position], and if consensus is established, the ruling follows what was explicitly stated. The manifest view of the school of thought is what we narrated first. A group narrated it from Ahmad, and Ahmad denied the report of the one who narrated to him the retraction, based on what we narrated from the report of al-Athram. Abu Qilabah, al-Nakha‘i, al-Thawri, Ibn Abi Layla, Ibn Shubrumah, the People of Opinion (Ashab al-Ra’y), and al-Shafi‘i in his new view said: The wife of a missing person does not remarry until his death or separation is made clear, because of what al-Mughirah narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "The wife of the missing person is his wife until the news comes to her." Al-Hakam and Hammad narrated from ‘Ali: The wife of the missing person does not marry until his death or divorce comes to her.