What is the legal ruling when a husband tells his two wives, "If you both menstruate one period, you are both divorced?"
Chapter on Explicit Divorce and Others
Al-Mughni
Book of Divorce
Primary text
Divorce does not occur until each of the two wives has completed one menstrual period. The condition is interpreted as: If each one of you menstruates one period, then you are both divorced. This interpretation aligns with the usage in the Quran, such as in the verse stating the punishment: {Fajludūhum thamānīna jaldatan} (Quran 24:4), meaning strike each individual eighty times. The ruling prefers the interpretation that validates the speaker's statement by placing it on a permissible footing and delaying the occurrence of divorce, as certainty requires the continuation of the marriage contract until that which certainly causes divorce is met.
Supporting text
A possibility exists that the divorce is contingent upon only one of them menstruating one period, as when the fulfillment of the action by both is impossible, it must be attributed to one of them, analogous to the verse: {Yakhruju minhumā al-luʼluʼu wa-l-marjān} (Quran 55:22), where pearls and coral emerge from one of the two seas. Another view holds that the clause "one period" is void because one period from two women is impossible; thus, the statement reverts to: If you both menstruate, you are both divorced.