Qatada said: He addressed with this the authorities: 'that they will not be able to keep the limits of Allah, then there is no blame upon them for what she ransoms herself with. Those are the limits of Allah,' meaning: the custom of Allah and His command regarding divorce, 'so do not transgress them,' meaning: do not overstep them to other than them. 'And whoever transgresses the limits of Allah, then it is they who are the wrongdoers' to their own selves.
Muhammad said: The meaning of the limits of Allah (hudud Allah) is that which He has set, from which it is not permissible to move beyond to something else. The root of 'al-hadd' (the limit) in the language is prevention. It is said: 'I defined (haddadtu) the house,' meaning: I delineated the locations that prevent others from entering therein; and 'I punished (haddadtu) the man,' meaning: I applied the legal punishment (hadd) upon him. The 'hadd' is that by which people are restrained from entering into that which brings punishment upon them.
His saying, the Almighty: 'Then if he divorces her,' meaning: the third time, 'she shall not be lawful to him thereafter until she marries a husband other than him.'
Yahya: From Sa'id, from Qatada: 'That Tamima bint 'Ubayd ibn Wahb al-Quraziya was divorced by her husband, then 'Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Zubayr married her and divorced her. She came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and asked him: Could she return to her first husband? He said to her: Has he had intercourse with you? She said: It has not happened; what he possesses is no more satisfying to him than the fringe of my garment. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: No, until you taste the sweetness of another. She then said: O Messenger of Allah, he has indeed had intercourse with me. He said: O Allah, if she is a liar, then deny her of him. She came to Abu Bakr after him and he did not permit her, then she came to 'Umar and he did not permit her.'
