Is it permissible for a man married to four women to marry a fifth after divorcing one of them with a third, irrevocable divorce (talaq al-bainunah al-kubra), and before the completion of her waiting period (iddah)?

If a man divorces his wife with a revocable divorce, it is not permissible for him to marry another woman or her sister until her 'iddah (waiting period) expires, by agreement of the jurists. As for an irrevocable divorce, the Hanafis and Hanbalis hold that it is not permissible until the 'iddah expires. However, the Malikis and Shafi'is — and this is the more preponderant view — deem it permissible to marry another woman or her sister because the divorced woman is irrevocably separated and no longer considered a wife.