And because his statement, 'Choose,' is an absolute delegation, it therefore encompasses the least of what the term signifies, which is a single divorce. It is not permissible for it to be an irrevocable divorce, because it is a divorce without compensation, and the count has not been completed by it after consummation, so it resembles the case where he divorces her once. This differs from his statement, 'Your affair is in your hand,' for that is for generalization; as it is a generic noun that is possessed, it encompasses her entire affair. However, if he grants her more than that, she has whatever he granted her, whether he grants it with his explicit expression, such as if he says, 'Choose what you wish,' or 'Choose three divorces if you wish.' In such cases, she may choose that. But if he says, 'Choose from the three whatever you wish,' she may choose one or two, but she has no right to choose all three completely; because 'from' (min) implies partitive division, so he has granted her the choice of some of the three, and thus she does not have the right to choose all of them. Or, if he makes his intention the determining factor—that is, if he intends by his statement 'Choose' a specific number—then it reverts to what he intended; because his statement 'Choose' is an implicit metonymy, so it reverts to his intention regarding the amount that occurs through it, like other implicit metonymies. If he intends three, or two, or one, it is according to what he intended. If he makes the intention absolute, it is one. If he intends three, and she divorces less than that, what she chose occurs; because the statement of both of them is considered, so that which they agree upon occurs, just like two agents if one of them divorces one [time] and the other divorces three.

Section: If he gives her the choice and she chooses her husband, or rejects the choice, or the affair, nothing occurs. Ahmad has explicitly stated this in a narration of the group. This has also been narrated from Umar, Ali, Zayd, Ibn Mas'ud, Ibn Abbas, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, Ibn Shubrumah, Ibn Abi Layla, al-Thawri, al-Shafi'i, and Ibn al-Mundhir. According to al-Hasan, it is one revocable divorce, and this is also narrated from Ali. Ishaq ibn Mansur narrated it from Ahmad, who said: 'If she chooses her husband, it is one [divorce] and he retains the right of revocation, and if she chooses herself, it is three.' Abu Bakr said: 'Ishaq ibn Mansur is alone in this, and the practice is upon what the group narrated.' The rationale for this [minority] narration is that the 'choice' is a metonymy by which he intended divorce, thus it occurs by its mere utterance, like his other metonymies, such as his saying, 'Marry whom you wish.' As for us, we rely on the statement of Aisha: 'The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) gave us the choice; was it then a divorce?' She also said: 'When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was commanded to give his wives the choice, he began with me and said: "I am informing you of a matter, so there is no harm if you do not hasten until you consult your parents." Then he said: "Allah the Exalted said: 'O Prophet, tell your wives, if you desire the life of the world and its adornment...' until he reached: '...then Allah has prepared for the good-doers among you a great reward.'" I said: "In what matter here should I consult my parents? For I desire Allah, His Messenger, and the Last Abode." She said: Then the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did the same as I did.' [The Hadith is] agreed upon. Masruq said: 'I do not care whether I give my wife a choice of one, or one hundred, or a thousand, as long as she chooses me.' And because she is a woman given a choice who chose marriage, therefore no divorce occurs through it, like a slave woman emancipated while under a slave. However, if she says, 'I have chosen myself,' it requires his intention; because it is a metonymic expression from her. If one of them intends it without the other, it does not occur; because if the husband does not intend it, he has not delegated the divorce to her, so it is not valid for her to execute it. If he intends it but she does not, he has delegated the divorce to her but she did not execute it, so nothing occurs, as if he appointed an agent for divorce and he did not divorce. If they both intend it, what they intended of the number occurs if they agree on it. If one of them intends less than the other, the lesser occurs; because the excess is something only one of them held, so it did not occur.