1284 - Issue: He said: "And when he divorces one of his wives and forgets which one she is, she shall be brought forth by drawing lots."

Most of our companions are of the view that if he divorces a woman from among his wives and forgets her, she is determined by drawing lots, whereby the ruling of divorce is established upon her, and the remaining ones become permissible for him. It has been narrated by Ismail ibn Sa'id from Ahmad what indicates that drawing lots is not utilized here for the purpose of establishing permissibility [of marital relations], but is only utilized for the purpose of determining inheritance. For he said: I asked Ahmad about a man who divorces a woman from among his wives and does not know which of them he divorced? He said: "I dislike saying that divorce is determined by lots." I said: "What if he dies?" He said: "I would say [to determine it] by lots." That is because the drawing of lots then pertains to [the distribution of] wealth. The group from whom the drawing of lots regarding the forgotten divorcee has been narrated, it is only in the context of inheritance; as for regarding permissibility [of relations], it is not proper that it be established by drawing lots. This is the opinion of the majority of scholars. The discussion regarding this issue therefore pertains to two matters: The first is regarding the utilization of lots for the forgotten [divorcee] for the purpose of inheritance. The second is regarding the utilization of it for her for the purpose of permissibility [of relations]. As for the first, its basis is what was narrated by Abd Allah ibn Humayd, who said: I asked Abu Ja'far about a man who arrived from Khurasan, and he had four wives, and he arrived in Basra and divorced one of them, and then married [another], and then died, and the witnesses did not know which of them he had divorced? He said: Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "I draw lots among the four, and I remove one of them, and I divide the inheritance among them." And because when rights are equal in a manner where it is not possible to distinguish except by drawing lots, its utilization is valid, like [the case of] partners in division, and [the case of] slaves regarding freedom. As for the drawing of lots regarding the permissibility [of relations] for the forgotten one, its utilization is not valid, because his wife became ambiguous to him, [so it does not become permissible for him to have relations with one of them by drawing lots, just as if she were confused] with a stranger over whom he had no marriage contract, and because drawing lots does not remove the prohibition of...