A man who gives his wife the choice, and she chooses him or chooses herself

Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: If a man gives his wife the choice and she chooses herself, it will be one irrevocable (ba'in) divorce; and if she chooses her husband, nothing happens.

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: If she chooses herself, it will be one irrevocable (ba'in) divorce; and if she chooses her husband, it will still be one divorce, and the man has more right to take her back.

Masruq (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I do not care whether I give my wife the choice once, a hundred times or a thousand times, once she has chosen me. I went to Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) and asked her about this, and she said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave us the choice and we chose him (peace and blessings be upon him); was that a divorce?

Ikrimah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Sayyiduna Abu al-Darda' (may Allah be pleased with him) was in Syria when he was asked: A man gave his wife the choice and she chose her husband; what is the ruling? He said: This is nothing.

He said: And Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) used to give the same fatwa.

And Aban bin Uthman (may Allah have mercy on him) gave the same judgement in Madinah.

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: When a man takes the matter of his wife off his own neck, one divorce has taken place, even if the woman chooses her husband.

Zadhan (may Allah have mercy on him) said: We were sitting with Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) when he was asked about the choice (given to a wife). He said: The Commander of the Believers, Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), asked me about it, and I said: If she chooses herself, it is one irrevocable (ba'in) divorce; and if she chooses her husband, it will be one divorce, and the husband has more right to take her back. He said: What you have said is not correct. If she chooses herself, it will be one divorce and the man has more right to take her back; and if she chooses her husband, nothing is incurred, and that man has more right to her. After the Commander of the Believers had said this, I had no option but to follow him. When I was made ruler and marriage cases began to be brought to me, I went back to my earlier view. It was said to him: The view that you both agreed upon is dearer to us than the view you hold alone in disagreement. At this Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) laughed and said: He sent for Sayyiduna Zayd bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) and asked him about this question, and he said: If she chooses herself, three divorces have taken place; and if she chooses her husband, it will be one irrevocable (ba'in) divorce.

Ata (may Allah have mercy on him) said: If a man says to his wife, "Choose," then if she chooses herself, one divorce has taken place; and if she chooses her husband, nothing happens.

Sayyiduna Zayd bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) said: If the woman chooses herself, three divorces take place; and if she chooses her husband, one divorce takes place.

Sayyiduna Zayd bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) said: If the woman chooses herself, one divorce takes place and the man has more right to take her back; and if she chooses her husband, nothing is incurred.

Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave us the choice. We chose him (peace and blessings be upon him), and he did not count this choice as a divorce.

Abu Ishaq (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I asked Abu Ja'far (may Allah have mercy on him): If a man gives his wife the choice and she chooses her husband, what is the ruling? He said: This is nothing. I said: If the woman chooses herself, what is the ruling? He said: It will be one divorce, and the man has more right to take her back.

Sa'id bin al-Musayyib (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked: If a man gives his wife the choice, and the woman returns the choice to the man and makes no decision about it, what is the ruling? He said: This is nothing.

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) used to say concerning the choice the same as Sayyiduna Umar and Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) said.