for the wives, according to one of the two narrations. This is the opinion of al-Shafi'i, may Allah be pleased with him, and of Abu Hanifah and his companions. The other narration is that the inheritance is for the four [wives]. According to Malik, the entire inheritance is for the divorced woman. If he had four wives and he divorced one of them three times during his illness, then married another during the waiting period ('idda) of the divorced woman, or divorced one woman and married her sister during her waiting period, and died during her waiting period, then the marriage is invalid, and the inheritance is divided between the divorced woman and the remaining first wives. This is the opinion of Abu Hanifah and Malik. Al-Shafi'i said: The marriage is valid, and the inheritance is for the new wife along with the remaining wives, excluding the divorced woman. Two opinions are derived from his old [school] opinion; one is that the inheritance is between the divorced woman and the remaining wives, as per the opinion of the majority, and the new wife receives nothing. The second is that it is shared between them in five parts, with each one receiving a fifth. If he died after the expiration of the waiting period of the divorced woman, there are two narrations regarding her inheritance; one of them is that she has no inheritance, so the inheritance is for the remaining wives. This is the opinion of Abu Hanifah and the people of Iraq. The second is that she inherits along with them, and the new wife receives nothing. Al-Shafi'i, may Allah be pleased with him, said: The inheritance is for all the wives, and the divorced woman receives nothing. If he married a fifth woman after the expiration of the waiting period of the divorced woman, her marriage is valid. Does the divorced woman inherit? There are two narrations; one of them is that she does not inherit. This is the apparent view of Ahmad's words; for he said: It would necessitate for one who says that the marriage is valid during the waiting period that eight wives should inherit, or that two sisters should inherit from him, so that a Muslim would have eight wives or two sisters inheriting from him (72). Making the divorced women inherit after the waiting period would necessitate this, or [necessitate] depriving the wives whose inheritance is explicitly mentioned, and thus he would be denying it and not claiming it. Based on this, the inheritance is for the wives excluding the divorced woman. The second narration is that the divorced woman inherits. Two opinions are thus derived; one of them is that the inheritance is shared among the five. The second is that it is for the divorced woman and the first wives, excluding the new one; because the sick person is prohibited from depriving them of their inheritance by divorce, so he is likewise prohibited from reducing it. Both of these opinions are far-fetched; as for the first, it is rejected by the text of the Book regarding the inheritance of wives, so it is not permissible to contradict it without a text, consensus, or analogy to a specific case from the text in its meaning; and as for the other, it is because Allah, the Almighty, did not...