What is the effect of lot drawing when divorce applies to an unspecified woman among several, concerning the permissibility of relations?
Chapter on Divorce by Calculation
Al-Mughni
Book of Divorce
Primary text
If lot drawing is used to determine which wife is divorced when the identity is forgotten, it is not valid for establishing permissibility (halal). Since the man was uncertain about which specific wife he divorced, lot drawing does not resolve the uncertainty regarding the one who became unlawful (haram) to him, similar to if the wife was confused with a non-related woman. Lot drawing does not remove the prohibition from the designated woman, nor does it remove the divorce from the one who was actually divorced, and it does not account for the possibility that the lot fell upon someone other than the divorced wife. This is analogous to the case where a man swears not to eat a date and then eats one from a pile; his wife remains unlawful until he knows for certain that the date he ate was not the one related to the oath. This principle applies whenever a divorce is directed at a specific but indeterminate woman (like in cases of 'tari' al-bird' or a general statement like 'You are divorced' directed at a specific location where several wives are present). All his wives remain unlawful until the divorced one is identified, and he must provide maintenance for all of them as they are restrained by him. Lot drawing in this scenario is ineffectual for establishing a ruling.
Supporting text
The opinion of the majority of our associates states that if lot drawing is performed and a specific wife is designated, the divorce takes effect upon her, and she becomes permissible for the husband after observing her waiting period ('iddah), and the other wives become permissible for him, treating the matter as if he had initially specified one divorced wife. This is argued by citing the narration of Ali concerning inheritance and because it involves removing one of two established rights. However, the sounder view is that lot drawing is inapplicable here because the divorce certainly occurred upon one specific woman, and lot drawing cannot remove the ruling from her or place it upon another with certainty.