And whoever follows it is more correct and has stronger evidence, because it is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) as an explicit text (nass sarih). What, then, could contradict this except something equal to it from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who is the one clarifying the intent of Allah? There is nothing that repels this. It is known that he is most knowledgeable of the interpretation of the saying of Allah the Exalted: {Lodge them where you dwell, according to your means}. As for the statement of Umar and those who agreed with him, Ali, Ibn Abbas, and those who agreed with them have opposed it, and the proof lies with them. Even if no one among them had opposed it, his statement—which contradicts the statement of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)—would not be accepted, for the statement of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is a proof against Umar and others. It has not been authentically established from Umar that he said: "We will not abandon the Book of our Lord and the Sunnah of our Prophet for the saying of a woman." Ahmad rejected this and said: "As for this, no." Rather, he said: "We do not accept the statement of a woman in our religion." This is a matter rejected by the consensus (ijma') on the acceptance of a woman's testimony in narration, so what proof is there in something contradicted by consensus, refuted by the Sunnah, and opposed by the scholars of the Companions? Isma'il ibn Ishaq said: We know that Umar would not say "We will not abandon the Book of our Lord" except regarding what is present in the Book of Allah. What is in the Book is that she is entitled to maintenance if she is pregnant, based on His saying, the Almighty: {And if they are pregnant, then spend on them until they deliver their burden}. As for those who are not pregnant, the Book does not indicate that they have no maintenance except through its stipulation of pregnancy in the command to spend. Abu Dawud and other Imams have narrated with their chain of authority from Ibn Abbas, who said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) separated them"—meaning the couple engaged in li'an (imprecation)—"and ruled that she has no house upon him and no provision." This is because she is prohibited to him with a prohibition that revocation (raj'ah) does not remove, so she has neither housing nor maintenance, like the woman in li'an or a foreign woman, and she differs from the revocable divorcée (raj'iyyah) in that regard. As for the revocable divorcée, she is entitled to housing and maintenance due to the verse, the report, consensus, and because she is a wife whose divorce, zihar, and ila' apply to her.