Is a man entitled to revoke his divorce (Raj'a) upon a woman with whom he was in seclusion (Khalwa) but did not consummate the marriage?

Primary text

The ruling, according to the apparent position of Al-Khiraqi, is that seclusion establishes the husband's right of revocation over the divorced woman, just as consummation (Isaba) does. This aligns with the old position of Al-Shafi'i. The evidence for this is the statement of Allah: {And divorced women shall keep themselves waiting, keeping themselves [from marriage] for three menstrual periods. And it is not lawful for them to hide what Allah has created in their wombs...} [Quran 2:228] up to the phrase {And their husbands, in such period, have more right to take them back in that} [Quran 2:228]. Furthermore, she is in the waiting period (Iddah) following a revocable divorce for which no compensation was stipulated, and she has not completed her term; thus, the right of revocation is established for her, similar to one with whom intercourse occurred. Also, since divorce issued by the husband is effective against her during her Iddah, he possesses the right to revoke the divorce, like one with whom he had intercourse.