What is the ruling if the wife returns the delegated authority without expressing a choice?
Chapter on Explicit Divorce and Others
Al-Mughni
Book of Divorce
Primary text
No divorce occurs merely from the wife returning the delegated authority unless she intends therein to enact her divorce immediately or divorces herself. The position of the majority of scholars, including Ibn 'Umar, Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab, 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, Masruq, 'Ata, Mujahid, Al-Zuhri, Al-Thawri, Al-Awza'i, and Al-Shafi'i, is that if she returns the authority, nothing happens. The rationale is that it is a delegation or ownership grant that has not been accepted by the empowered party, hence nothing occurs, consistent with all other forms of delegation and ownership grants.
Supporting text
Qatadah stated that if she returns it, it counts as one revocable divorce. The core reasoning for the majority is that since it is an unaccepted delegation or ownership transfer, no legal effect follows, unlike the husband's explicit statement, 'Your rope is on your own neck' (meaning full freedom), which effects an immediate divorce without her acceptance.