the divorcer does not deserve to take her back; this is because reversion (raj'ah) only occurs during the waiting period ('iddah), and there is no waiting period before consummation, based on the saying of Allah, Glorified be He: "O you who believe! When you marry believing women, and then divorce them before you have sexual intercourse with them, no 'Iddah [waiting period] have you to count in respect of them. So give them a present, and set them free, i.e. divorce, in a handsome manner" (Quran 33:49). Thus, Allah, Glorified be He, clarified that there is no waiting period for her, so she becomes irrevocably divorced upon the mere pronouncement of her divorce, and she becomes like one who has been consummated with after the expiration of her waiting period; there is no reversion for her, and she has no maintenance. If her divorcer desires her, he is like any other suitor; he marries her with her consent [with a new marriage contract], and she returns to him with two remaining pronouncements. If he divorced her twice, then married her [again], she returns to him with one pronouncement, without any disagreement among the scholars. If he divorced her three times with a single utterance, she becomes unlawful to him until she marries a husband other than him, according to the opinion of the majority of scholars. We have already mentioned this previously. There is no disagreement among them that the woman divorced three times after consummation is not lawful for him until she marries a husband other than him, due to the saying of Allah, Glorified be He: "And if he has divorced her [the third time], then she is not lawful unto him thereafter until she has married another husband" (Quran 2:230). Aisha narrated that Rifa'ah al-Qurazi divorced his wife, and he finalized her divorce, so she married Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Zubayr after him. She came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said: "She was with Rifa'ah, and he divorced her, finalizing the last of three divorces. Then she married Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Zubayr after him, and by Allah, he has nothing with him except like this fringe." And she took a fringe of her jilbab. She said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) smiled and said: "Do you wish to return to Rifa'ah? No, not until you taste his sweetness and he tastes your sweetness." (Agreed upon). In the consensus of the scholars on this matter, there is sufficiency and no need to prolong the discussion. The majority of scholars hold that she is not lawful for the first husband until the second husband has sexual intercourse with her, an intercourse in which the meeting of the two circumcised parts occurs, except that Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab from among them said: If...