{For those who swear [an oath of Ila'] from their wives, a waiting period of four months [is expected]} (67). And because a non-wife has no right to his intercourse, he cannot be a Muli (one who has sworn Ila') regarding her, just like a stranger. If he swears to refrain from intercourse with his slave woman, he is not a Muli, for the reason we mentioned. If he swears to refrain from intercourse with a stranger and then marries her, he is not a Muli, for the same reason. This is the opinion of al-Shafi'i, Ishaq, Abu Thawr, and Ibn al-Mundhir. Malik said: He becomes a Muli if more than four months remain of his oath's duration, because he is prevented from having intercourse with his wife by the ruling of his oath for the duration of the Ila', so he is a Muli, just as if he had sworn it while within the marriage. It is narrated from the As-hab al-Ra'y (the Hanafis) that if a woman passes by him and he swears not to approach her, then he marries her, he is not a Muli. If he says, "If I marry so-and-so, then by Allah I will not approach her," he becomes a Muli, because he has attached the oath to the state of marriage, so it is similar to if he had sworn it after marrying her (68). As for our position, it is the saying of Allah the Exalted: {For those who swear [an oath of Ila'] from their wives}. These are not his wives. Also, because Ila' is one of the rulings of the marriage contract, it cannot precede it, like divorce and division (qasam). Furthermore, the period is fixed for him because of his intention to cause harm to her by his oath, and if the oath is before the marriage, he cannot be intending harm, so it is like one who refrains without an oath. Al-Sharif Abu Ja'far said: Ahmad has indeed said: Zihar is valid before marriage, because it is an oath. Therefore, based on this reasoning, Ila' should be valid before marriage. The explicitly stated view, however, is that it is not valid, for the reason we have mentioned.

Section: If he swears an Ila' from a wife in a revocable divorce (raj'iyya), his Ila' is valid. This is the opinion of Malik, al-Shafi'i, and the As-hab al-Ra'y. Ibn Hamid mentioned that there is another narration that his Ila' is not valid, because divorce cuts off the period of Ila' if it occurs, so it is more appropriate that it should prevent its validity from the outset. As for our position, she is a wife (69) to whom his divorce applies, so his Ila' from her is valid, just like the non-divorced woman. And if he swears an Ila' from her, the period is calculated