A woman irrevocably divorced has no maintenance unless she is pregnant

Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, says: "And if they are pregnant, then spend on them until they deliver their burden." [Surah al-Talaq: 6]
So Allah Almighty fixed maintenance for them on the basis of a particular condition (i.e. pregnancy).

Abu Salamah bin Abd al-Rahman narrates from Sayyidah Fatimah bint Qays (may Allah be pleased with her) that Abu Amr bin Hafs (may Allah be pleased with him) divorced her irrevocably while he was absent. He (Abu Amr bin Hafs) sent his agent to her (Fatimah bint Qays, may Allah be pleased with her) with barley, and she was displeased with it. He said: By Allah, you have no claim on us at all. She came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and mentioned all this to him. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You have no maintenance due from him." And he (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered her to spend her waiting period ('iddah) in the house of Umm Sharik (may Allah be pleased with her); then he said: "She is a woman whom my Companions visit (i.e. people come and go there). Spend your waiting period in the house of Ibn Umm Maktum (may Allah be pleased with him), for he is a blind man; you can put off your garments (with ease). And when you become free (to marry), inform me." She said: When I became free, I mentioned to him that Mu'awiyah bin Abi Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) and Abu Jahm (may Allah be pleased with him) had proposed to me. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "As for Abu Jahm, he does not put his stick down from his shoulder; and as for Mu'awiyah, he is a poor man with no wealth. Marry Usamah bin Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him)." She said: I disliked him. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said (again): "Marry Usamah bin Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him)." So I married him, and Allah Almighty placed good in it, and I came to be envied. Imam Muslim (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated it in his Sahih from Yahya bin Yahya, from Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him).

Abu Salamah (may Allah have mercy on him) asked Fatimah bint Qays (may Allah be pleased with her), and she informed me that her husband from (Banu) Makhzum divorced her and refused to spend on her. She came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and informed him, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There is no maintenance for you. Move, and go to Ibn Umm Maktum (may Allah be pleased with him) and stay with him, for he is a blind man; you can put off your garments in his presence." Muslim (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated it from Qutaybah bin Sa'id (may Allah have mercy on him).

It is narrated from Sayyidah Fatimah bint Qays (may Allah be pleased with her) that her husband divorced her in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he had been giving her a meagre maintenance. When she saw that, she said: (By Allah,) I will certainly speak to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); if I am entitled to maintenance, I will take what suits me, and if I am not entitled to maintenance, I will not take anything. She said: I mentioned this to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There is no maintenance for you, and no housing for you either." Imam Muslim (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated it from Qutaybah, and likewise Yahya bin Abi Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated it from Abu Salamah (may Allah have mercy on him) regarding both housing and maintenance.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Fatimah bint Qays (may Allah be pleased with her) that she was married to a man from Banu Makhzum, and he divorced her irrevocably. She sent a messenger to his family seeking maintenance, and they said: You have no maintenance due from us. She came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and informed him, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You have no maintenance due from him, and you must observe the waiting period ('iddah); move to Umm Sharik." Then he said: "Umm Sharik is a woman whom her brothers from the early Muhajirun visit. Move to Ibn Umm Maktum, for he is a blind man; if you put off your garment, he will not see anything. And do not decide about yourself without (consulting) us." She said: When she became free (to marry), men mentioned her (with proposals), and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "What about Usamah?" He said: It was as if her family disliked that. She said: By Allah, I will marry no one except the one he (peace and blessings be upon him) named. So she married him. Muhammad bin Amr said: Muhammad bin Ibrahim narrated to me that Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) used to say: "O Fatimah, fear Allah, for I know the reason for that." Imam Muslim (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated it in his Sahih from Ali bin Hujr and others, without the statement of Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her).

Sayyidah Fatimah bint Qays (may Allah be pleased with her), the sister of al-Dahhak bin Qays (may Allah be pleased with him), reported that she was married to Abu Amr bin Hafs (may Allah be pleased with him), and he divorced her three times. He ordered his agent to give her maintenance, but she disdained it. His agent said to me: You have no maintenance due from us. She came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and asked him about that, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "He has spoken the truth," and he moved her to (the house of) Ibn Umm Maktum (may Allah be pleased with him). People objected to what she used to narrate about her leaving (her house) before she became free (to marry).

It is narrated from Ubaydullah bin Abdullah bin Utbah that Abu Amr bin Hafs bin al-Mughirah went out with Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) to Yemen, and he sent to his wife (Fatimah bint Qays, may Allah be pleased with her) the divorce that remained of her divorces. Al-Harith bin Hisham and Ayyash bin Abi Rabi'ah (may Allah be pleased with them both) ordered maintenance for her (to be given). Then they both said: By Allah, you have no maintenance; had you been pregnant, you would have had maintenance. She came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and mentioned their statement to him. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There is no maintenance for you." She asked his permission to move, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) gave her permission. She said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), where (shall I move)?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "To Ibn Umm Maktum; he is a blind man; you will put off your garments in his presence and he will not be able to see you." When her waiting period ended, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) married her to Usamah bin Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him). Marwan sent Qabisah bin Dhu'ayb to her to ask her about this hadith, and she narrated it to him. Marwan said: I have not heard this hadith except from a woman; we shall hold to the safeguard upon which we found the people. Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) spoke when this statement of Marwan reached her; she said: Between me and you is the Qur'an. Allah Almighty said: "Do not expel them from their houses, nor should they (themselves) leave, unless they commit a clear immorality" [Surah al-Talaq: 1], until he reached: "Perhaps Allah will bring about after that a (new) matter" [Surah al-Talaq: 1]. (Meaning:) "Do not expel these women from their houses, nor should they (themselves) leave, unless they commit a clear immorality (then expel them). You do not know; perhaps Allah Almighty will bring about a new matter after that." She said: This is for the one who has (the right of) taking back; so what matter can arise after three (divorces)? How can you say that she has no maintenance when she is not pregnant? On what basis, then, are you confining her?

Abd al-Razzaq mentioned the hadith to us with the same chain, except that he said in the hadith: I went to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There is no maintenance for you unless you are pregnant."

It is narrated from Abu Bakr bin Abi al-Jahm (may Allah have mercy on him) that he said: Abu Salamah bin Abd al-Rahman (may Allah have mercy on him) and I went to Fatimah bint Qays (may Allah be pleased with her), and she had made her brother's daughter leave (her house) in a state of purity. We said to her: What made you do this? She said: My husband, during the expedition of Najran, sent me my third divorce with Ayyash bin Abi Rabi'ah (may Allah be pleased with him), and he sent me five sa' of barley and five sa' of dates. I said: Is this the only maintenance I get? I gathered my garments about me and came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "How many times did he divorce you?" I said: Three. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "He has spoken the truth; there is no maintenance for you. Spend your waiting period in the house of Ibn Umm Maktum (may Allah be pleased with him); you can put off your garments (there)."
Muslim (may Allah have mercy on him) recorded it in his Sahih from the hadith of Abd al-Rahman bin Mahdi (may Allah have mercy on him) and Abu Asim (may Allah have mercy on him), from Sufyan (may Allah have mercy on him); and Shu'bah (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated it from Abu Bakr regarding both maintenance and housing together.

It is narrated from Imam al-Sha'bi (may Allah have mercy on him) that he said: I went to Sayyidah Fatimah bint Qays (may Allah be pleased with her) and asked her about the judgement of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that had been made regarding her. She said: Her husband gave her an irrevocable divorce (al-battah). I brought my claim against him before the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) concerning housing and maintenance, but he (peace and blessings be upon him) did not grant me housing or maintenance, and he ordered me to spend my waiting period in the house of Ibn Umm Maktum (may Allah be pleased with him).
It is reported from al-Sha'bi (may Allah have mercy on him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to her: "Housing and maintenance are only for the one whose (husband) has the right of taking her back."

Likewise (through another chain).

It is reported from al-Sha'bi, concerning the story of Fatimah bint Qays (may Allah be pleased with her), that the two of them brought their dispute before the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). The man said: He has divorced her three times. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Housing and maintenance are only for the one regarding whom there is (a right of) taking back." And he (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered her to spend her waiting period with Ibn Umm Maktum.

Likewise (through another chain).

It is reported from Fatimah bint Qays (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: My husband divorced me three times, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not grant me housing or maintenance. Muslim narrated it in his Sahih from al-Hulwani.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Fatimah bint Qays (may Allah be pleased with her): "O Fatimah, housing and maintenance are only for the one over whom her husband (still) has the right of taking her back." This is how al-Aswad bin Amir Shadhan brought it, and the correct (version) is the first one.
Imam al-Bayhaqi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The narration of the majority from Abu Salamah bin Abd al-Rahman (may Allah have mercy on him), from Fatimah bint Qays (may Allah be pleased with her), negates maintenance but not housing; and likewise is the narration of Ubaydullah bin Abdullah bin Utbah (may Allah have mercy on him) from Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her). In the narration of some of them from Abu Salamah (may Allah have mercy on him), and in the narration of al-Sha'bi (may Allah have mercy on him) and al-Bahi (may Allah have mercy on him), both are negated together; and there is disagreement about it in the narration of Abu Bakr bin Abi al-Jahm (may Allah have mercy on him) from Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her). What best fits the context of the hadith is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) negated maintenance, and permitted her to move because of a reason which perhaps she was shy to mention, and others mentioned it, as we have mentioned earlier in 'Kitab al-Idad'. The negation of housing was not narrated (soundly) at all. Do you not see that he (peace and blessings be upon him) did not say to her: "Spend your waiting period wherever you wish"? Rather, he sheltered her where he approved, since her husband was absent and had no agent to shelter her. As for his saying: "Housing and maintenance are only for the one regarding whom there is (a right of) taking back," it is not known in this hadith, and it has not come through any route that establishes the like of it. As for the objection of those who objected to Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her), it was only because she concealed the reason for her moving.

Amr bin Maymun bin Mihran (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from his father that he said: I came to Madinah and asked about the most knowledgeable of its people, and I was directed to Sa'id bin al-Musayyib (may Allah have mercy on him). I asked him about the irrevocably divorced woman, and he said: She is to spend her waiting period in her husband's house. I said: Then what about the hadith of Fatimah bint Qays (may Allah be pleased with her)? He said: Alas for that! And he (my father) described that he was angry, and he said: Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) caused trouble for people; she had a sharp tongue (i.e. she was outspoken), and she was abusive towards her in-laws, so the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered her: "to spend her waiting period in the house of Ibn Umm Maktum (may Allah be pleased with him)." Likewise, Abu Mu'awiyah al-Darir narrated it from Amr bin Maymun (may Allah have mercy on him).

Habib bin Salih said: Muhammad bin Abbad al-Makki narrated to me that he said: I was sitting with Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) when a man asked him: Does a woman divorced three times have maintenance? I said: She has no maintenance. Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: You are right, O son of my brother, and I am with you.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both): "The maintenance of a divorced woman is (due) as long as she has not become unlawful (to him); once she has become unlawful, then (she is owed) a provision (mut'ah) in a fair and customary manner."

Ata' (may Allah have mercy on him) said: There is nothing for the irrevocably divorced woman; nothing at all, except for the pregnant one: he is to spend on her because of her pregnancy; and if she is not pregnant, she has no maintenance.