Does a wife inherit from her husband if he suspends a revocable divorce upon a condition, and the condition that prevents the divorce (which would make the divorce final) is met while he is terminally ill?
Chapter on Explicit Divorce and Others
Al-Mughni
Book of Divorce
Primary text
If a husband suspends a revocable divorce upon a condition, and the condition that prevents the divorce occurs during his terminal illness, the divorce does not take effect to invalidate inheritance, and the wife inherits from him. This ruling is affirmed by Ahmad in one narration, which extends to the case where the husband says, "You are divorced three times if I do not marry another woman," and he dies without marrying another. The basis is that the divorce is averted by the husband's action (or lack thereof, which is equivalent to an action in the second scenario), resembling the divorce occurring during his sound health, or because the husband intentionally postponed the divorce until the condition was met during his illness, equating it to a direct act of divorce in that state. This is supported by the views of 'Ata and Yahya al-Ansari.
Supporting text
The ruling that the wife does not inherit is held by Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, Al-Hasan, Al-Sha'bi, and Abu 'Ubayd. Their reasoning is that he only suspended the divorce during his health, but the condition for its fulfillment (which makes it final) occurred during his illness, thus preventing inheritance, similar to when the divorce is suspended upon an act by the wife, and she performs it while he is ill.