prohibition of combination. Thus, if he divorces his wife by a revocable divorce (talaq raj'i), the prohibition remains (6) in its current state according to all of them. If the divorce is final (ba'in) or an annulment (faskh), it is likewise according to our Imam until her waiting period has ended. This has been narrated from Ali, Ibn Abbas, and Zayd ibn Thabit. This is also the position held by Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, Mujahid, al-Nakha'i, al-Thawri, and the People of Opinion (Ashab al-Ra'y). Al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, 'Urwah, Ibn Abi Layla, Malik, al-Shafi'i, Abu Thawr, Abu 'Ubayd, and Ibn al-Mundhir said: He may marry any of those we mentioned regarding the prohibition of combination. This has also been narrated from Zayd ibn Thabit, because the prohibited act is combining them in marriage, as evidenced by the Almighty's statement: "Forbidden to you are your mothers"—meaning, marrying them—then He said: "And that you combine two sisters [in marriage], except what has passed" (7), which is conjoined to it. The woman who is separated by a final divorce is not in his marriage, and because she is separated, she is like the woman divorced before the consummation of marriage. Our evidence is the statement of Ali and Ibn Abbas. It is narrated from 'Abidah al-Salmani that he said: The Companions did not reach a consensus on anything like their consensus on [the limit of] four before the noon prayer, and that a woman should not be married while in the waiting period of her sister. It is narrated from the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, that he said: "Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him not combine his water in the wombs of two sisters" (8). It is narrated from Abu al-Zinad, who said: Al-Walid ibn 'Abd al-Malik had four wives, and he divorced one of them completely and married [another] (9) before she became lawful [for others], and many jurists criticized him for that, though not all of them did (10). Sa'id ibn Mansur said: If Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib criticized him for it, then what else is left! This is also because she is restrained from marriage for his sake, so she is like the case if the divorce were revocable, and because she is in a waiting period regarding his right, she is like a revocable wife, and she differs from the woman divorced before consummation (11).