What happens if the husband, after lot drawing designated one wife as divorced, later claims the divorced wife was someone else?
Chapter on Divorce by Calculation
Al-Mughni
Book of Divorce
Primary text
If the husband states that the wife designated by lot drawing was not the one he divorced, the divorce takes effect from the moment he originally uttered the divorce statement, not from the moment of his subsequent clarification. His statement in this regard is accepted because it is a self-incrimination. The woman designated by lot drawing reverts to him because it has become clear she was not the divorced one, as lot drawing itself is not divorce. If she has not remarried, she returns to him, and his statement regarding this is accepted as it pertains to a matter only known by him. However, if she has remarried or if a judge issued a ruling of separation, his statement is not accepted regarding the dissolution of the second marriage.
Supporting text
According to a narration from Al-Maimooni concerning Ahmad, if the husband later names the specific divorced woman, that named woman incurs the divorce, and the one designated by lot drawing reverts to him. If a judge performed the lot drawing, Ahmad preferred not to have the lot-designated wife return to the husband, viewing the judge's ruling as superior. Abu Bakr and Ibn Hamid held that if he performs lot drawing and later names another, both divorces stand, and the one he names is confirmed as divorced (and inherits if he dies, and he does not inherit from her), requiring maintenance and forbidding intercourse unless she remarries.