How many divorces does a free man have, and how many does a slave have, concerning their free or enslaved wives?
Chapter on Divorce by Calculation
Al-Mughni
Book of Divorce
Primary text
Divorce rulings are contingent upon the status of the husband. If the husband is free, he possesses three divorces, regardless of whether his wife is free or a slave woman. If the husband is a slave, he possesses two divorces, regardless of whether his wife is free or a slave woman. When a husband pronounces two divorces, his wife becomes permanently unlawful to him until she marries another husband. This is reported from 'Umar, 'Uthman, Zayd, and Ibn 'Abbas, and is the view of Sa'id ibn Al-Musayyab, Malik, Al-Shafi'i, Ishaq, and Ibn Al-Mundhir. This is because Allah the Exalted addressed men regarding divorce, so the ruling is considered according to their status. Furthermore, divorce is exclusively the right of the husband, and since it differs based on slavery or freedom for the husband, it should also differ based on the number of wives he can legally possess (four for a free man, two for a slave).
Supporting text
Ibn 'Umar held that the divorce count is diminished by the status of either spouse: a slave's divorce is two, even if his wife is free, and a slave woman's husband's divorce is two even if the husband is free. 'Ali and Ibn Mas'ud held that divorce is contingent upon the status of the wife: a slave woman's divorce is two, whether her husband is free or a slave, and a free woman's divorce is three, whether her husband is free or a slave. This is the view of Al-Hasan, Ibn Sirin, 'Ikrimah, 'Ubaydah, Masruq, Al-Zuhri, Al-Hakam, Hammad, Al-Thawri, and Abu Hanifah. This is based on the narration of 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) from the Prophet (peace be upon him) stating: 'The divorce of a slave woman is two pronouncements, and her purity period (qu'r) is two menstrual cycles.' Furthermore, the analogy is drawn that since the woman is the subject of the waiting period ('iddah), she should be considered, just as 'Iddah is contingent upon the woman. The counter-evidence relies on the Hadith of 'A'ishah, while asserting that free men are permitted to marry four wives, thus they are granted three divorces, just as if his wife were free. There is no dispute that a free man whose wife is free has three divorces, and a slave whose wife is a slave has two divorces; the dispute pertains to cases where one spouse is free and the other is enslaved. Furthermore, the Hadith of 'A'ishah is deemed weak by Abu Dawud, whose narrator, Mudhar ibn Aslam, is considered a narrator of rejected Hadith.