the duration of her waiting period, just like the nine months for the woman whose menstruation has ceased and she does not know its cause, and like pregnancy itself; thus, their analogy is invalidated by this. As for a male slave, if his wife is a free woman, her waiting period is like that of a free woman married to a free man, and if she is a slave woman, she is like a slave woman married to a free man, because the waiting period is considered based on women, not men, and likewise is the duration of waiting. It is narrated from al-Zuhri and Malik that he is given half the term of a free man, but the most correct view is what we have stated, because it is a waiting period legislated for the wife due to the separation from her husband, so it resembles the waiting period.

Section: If a man is absent from his wife, and reliable witnesses testify to his death, and his wife observes the waiting period for death, she is permitted to marry. If the husband returns after that, his status is that of the missing person: her husband is given the choice between taking her back or leaving her, and he is entitled to the dowry (sadaq). Likewise, if reports of his death are corroborated. Al-Athram narrated with his chain of transmission from Abu al-Malih, from Suhayya, that her husband, Sayfi ibn Fasil, was announced dead to her from Qandabil, so she married after him. Then her first husband arrived, so we came to Uthman while he was being besieged, and he looked out at us and said: "How can I judge between you while I am in this state!" We said: "We are satisfied with your decision." He judged that the first husband be given a choice between the dowry or the woman. We returned. When Uthman was killed, we came to Ali, and he gave the first husband the choice between the dowry or the woman. He chose the dowry, so he took two thousand from me and two thousand from my other husband. If the separation occurred through limited testimony, then what