the time for which the abandonment of the action was sworn is determined by his intention and will, so it becomes as if it were explicitly stated in his speech; for the basis of oaths rests upon intention, according to the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Actions are only by intentions."

Section: He is not prevented from having intercourse with his wife before performing what he swore upon. Abu Hanifa and al-Shafi'i stated this. Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, al-Hasan, al-Sha'bi, Yahya al-Ansari, Rabi'a, Malik, and Abu 'Ubayd said: He shall not have intercourse until he performs it, because the default state is the absence of the action and the occurrence of the divorce. Al-Athram narrated the like of this from Ahmad. Al-Ansari, Rabi'a, and Malik said: A grace period is set for him, like that of an ila' (oath of abstinence), as if he had sworn not to have intercourse with her. Our view is that this is a valid marriage in which neither a divorce nor any other cause of prohibition has occurred, so intercourse is permissible for him therein, just as if he had said: "If I divorce you, you are divorced." Regarding their argument that the default is the absence of the action and the occurrence of the divorce, we say: This default does not require the occurrence of the divorce, and thus does not entail its legal ruling. If the divorce were to occur after his intercourse, it would not cause harm, just as if he had divorced her immediately. Moreover, the divorce here only occurs at a time when intercourse is no longer possible afterwards, unlike in his statement: "If I have intercourse with you, you are divorced."

Section: If what is suspended is an irrevocable divorce and she dies, he does not inherit from her, because his divorce separated her from him, so he does not inherit from her, just as if he had divorced her immediately at the time of her death. And if he dies, she inherits from him. Ahmad stated this in a narration from Abu Talib, when he said to his wife: "You are divorced three times if I do not marry [another woman] over you." If he died and did not marry over her, she inherits from him, and if she died, he does not inherit from her; this is because she is divorced at the very last moment of his life, so it is similar to his divorcing her in that state. 'Ata' and Yahya al-Ansari held a similar view. It is also deduced for us that she does not inherit from him either. This is the position of Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, al-Hasan, al-Sha'bi, and Abu 'Ubayd, because he only divorced her while in health, and the condition for its occurrence was only realized during illness, so she does not inherit from him, just as if he had suspended it on her action, and she performed it in his illness.