What is the Suraiji stratagem in divorce, and to whom is it attributed?

The Surayjiyyah issue is when a man says to his wife: "If I divorce you, then you are divorced three times before it." If he then divorces her, what is the ruling? It was named after Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Umar ibn Surayj al-Shafi'i, who was the first to issue a fatwa (definition) in it that no divorce occurs, which would negate the entire concept of divorce.

There are two different opinions regarding this matter:

The first opinion: No divorce occurs, neither the immediate nor the conditional. This is the choice of Ibn Surayj. Their argument is that the occurrence of the immediate divorce triggers the conditional one before it, and the occurrence of the conditional divorce prevents the occurrence of the immediate one. This is what they call a "cycle" (dawr) that invalidates the ruling of any divorce issued after this statement.

The second opinion: Divorce does occur, and this "cycle" is not considered valid. This is the view of the majority of scholars. Their evidence is that divorce is issued by a competent, volitional person in a valid marriage, so its occurrence is obligatory. Furthermore, the legal texts necessitate the occurrence of divorce, such as the Almighty's saying: (And if he has divorced her [for the third time], then she is not lawful to him afterward until she marries another husband). Also, Allah legislated divorce for a benefit, and this opinion would prevent that and invalidate the legitimacy.

As for Ibn Taymiyyah, he holds that the "cycle" is invalid and that the condition is invalid because it contains an impossible scenario in Islamic law (the occurrence of a single divorce preceded by three). He favors the occurrence of the immediate divorce, not the conditional one; because if the conditional (three divorces) were to occur, the immediate one would not. This is the preponderant opinion.