Does the dissolution of marriage between mutually imprecating spouses occur based only on the husband's imprecation, even if the wife does not curse?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Mutual Imprecation (Li'an)
Primary text
This position is attributed to Al-Shafi'i, who stated that the separation occurs upon the husband's imprecation alone, like divorce, because the dissolution is established by speech. However, no scholar is known to have agreed with Al-Shafi'i on this. The correct view is that the dissolution requires the completion of the imprecation by both parties, as the Prophetic precedent involved the Prophet (peace be upon him) separating them after both had completed the process, establishing a Sunnah for those who followed them.
Supporting text
The view attributed to Al-Batti states that no separation is established by the imprecation at all, based on the narration that when Al-'Ujalani cursed his wife, the Prophet (peace be upon him) implemented his three divorces, which would not have been permissible if separation had already occurred. Both these views are rejected because the Prophet (peace be upon him) legislated separation following the completion of the mutual cursing.