A missing man who returns after his wife has married

Abd al-Rahman bin Abi Layla said: I was present with Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) when he gave a man who had gone missing, and whose wife had remarried, the choice: if he wished he could take back his wife, or he could take back the dowry he had given the woman.

Sayyiduna Umar and Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: When the woman's husband returns, he will have the choice between his wife and the dowry he had given.

Al-Sha'bi said: Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) was asked about a man who was absent from his wife, and news reached her that he had died, so she married. Then the first husband came back: what is the ruling? Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The first husband will be given the choice between the dowry and the woman. If he chooses the dowry, the woman will remain with the second husband, and if he wishes he may choose his wife. Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The woman will receive the dowry from the second husband, in return for what he made lawful of her private parts, and the two of them will be separated; then she will observe a waiting period of three menstrual periods and will be returned to the first husband.

Ata bin al-Sa'ib said: A man came to Ibrahim and said that he had married a woman who had been told of her husband's death, and now a letter had come from him saying that he was alive. Ibrahim said: Keep away from her. Then when he arrives, if he wishes he may take the dowry he gave her, and the woman will remain your wife as she is; and if he chooses the woman, then once her waiting period from you is over she will be the wife of the first husband. However, she will certainly receive the dowry from you, in return for what was made lawful of her private parts. The man said: May I eat with this woman? He said: Yes, but do not go in to her without first informing her.

Suhaymah bint Umayr al-Shaybaniyyah said: News of my husband's death reached me from Qandabil. Afterwards I married al-Abbas bin Tarif, the brother of Banu Qays. Later my first husband also returned. We went to Sayyiduna Uthman bin Affan (may Allah be pleased with him) to ask about the matter, and at that time he was under siege. He said: How can I judge between you in this condition of mine? We said: We are content with your judgement. So he gave the husband the choice of one of two things: the dowry or the woman. When Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) was martyred, we went to Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and related the whole incident, and he gave the first husband the choice between the dowry and the woman. He chose the dowry and took two thousand from me and two thousand from the other husband.

Al-Sha'bi said: The wife of a missing man who has remarried is, if the husband returns, the wife of the first one.

Al-Qasim bin Muhammad said: A case was brought to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) concerning a freedwoman of their family who had been told of her husband's death and had married. Then her first husband also came back, so Abdullah bin al-Zubayr ruled that her first husband would be given the choice: if he wished he could take his wife, and if he wished he could take back the dowry he had given.

Umar bin Hamzah said: Al-Qasim also used to say the same.

Humayd bin Abd al-Rahman said: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) gave a man who had gone missing, and whose wife had married, the choice between the dowry and the wife. He chose the dowry, and he (Sayyiduna Umar) made that money due from the second husband.

Humayd said: I went to the woman about whom this judgement had been made, and she said: I helped my second husband (to pay it) with a slave girl.