her womb, and this has been achieved by one menstrual cycle. For this reason, he, peace be upon him, said: "A pregnant woman shall not be engaged in intercourse until she delivers, and a non-pregnant woman shall not [be engaged in intercourse] until she has been cleared by one menstrual cycle" (31). This means: her freedom [from pregnancy] is known by one menstrual cycle. Furthermore, that by which freedom is known in the case of a slave woman and a free woman is one and the same; for it is an objective reality that does not differ based on freedom or servitude. As for the waiting period ('iddah), it contains a type of devotional act that may not be extended by analogy (qiyas).

Whether she is cleared (istibra’) before the conclusion of the oath or by the menstrual cycle in which he swore the oath are two viewpoints, the most correct of which is that it is counted; because what is attained by it is what is attained by the istibra’ after the oath. The second is that it is not counted, because the istibra’ cannot precede its cause, and because it is not counted in the istibra’ of a slave woman (33). Ahmad said: If he says to his wife, "When you become pregnant, you are divorced," he may have intercourse with her once in every period of purity. This means that if she menstruates and then becomes pure, intercourse with her becomes lawful; because the menstruation is a sign of her freedom from pregnancy, and having intercourse with her is a cause for it [pregnancy]. Thus, if he has intercourse with her, he should refrain from her thereafter, due to the possibility that she may have become pregnant from his intercourse, in which case she would be divorced by it.

Section: If he says, "If you are pregnant with a boy, you are divorced once, and if you give birth to a girl, you are divorced twice." She then gives birth to a boy; it was determined that she was pregnant with him at the time of the oath, so we realize she was divorced once at the time he swore, and her 'iddah ended upon her delivery. If she gives birth to a girl, she is divorced twice by her birth, and she completes her 'iddah by the menstrual cycles. If she gives birth to a boy and a girl, and the boy was the first to be born, we realize she was divorced once, and she became irrevocably separated by the birth of the girl, and she is not divorced by her. If the girl was the first to be born, she is divorced three times; once for the pregnancy of the boy, and twice for the birth of the girl, and her 'iddah ended with the birth of the boy. If he says to her: "If you are pregnant with a boy, you are divorced once, and if you are pregnant with a girl, you are divorced twice." She gives birth to a boy and a girl, she is divorced three times. If he says: "If your pregnancy is a boy, you are divorced once, and if your pregnancy is a girl, you are divorced twice." She gives birth to a boy and a girl, she is not divorced; because her entire pregnancy is neither a boy nor is it a girl. Al-Qadi mentioned this in