What is the condition for divorce when a conditional statement links speech with a concomitant state?

Chapter on Explicit Divorce and Others

Al-Mughni

Book of Divorce

Book 39 · Issue 1 · Bab 2

Open in Qurani

Primary text

Divorce is decreed only when the condition stipulated in the oath is fully met. If the statement is, "You are divorced if you speak to Zaid, while Muhammad is with Khalid," the divorce takes effect only when Zaid is spoken to at the exact time Muhammad is with Khalid. This is because connecting the clauses is preferred over severing them, provided connection is possible. The subordinate clause stating the condition ("while Muhammad is with Khalid") can function as a circumstantial clause (*hal*), similar to instances found in the Quran, such as where a sentence composed of a subject and predicate acts as a circumstantial description, for example, Quran 21:1, and Quran 21:2, and Quran 12:13. It is impermissible to sever this descriptive clause from the main action it modifies when connection is possible.

Supporting text

One opinion, attributed to Al-Qadi, holds that divorce is triggered merely by speaking to Zaid, considering the statement "and Muhammad is with Khalid" as a separate, independent statement (*isti'naf*) due to its nominative structure (*raf*). This view is rejected.