Is a return (rujūʿ) valid if the husband said to his wife, "Marry yourself to me," with the intention of returning, due to his ignorance at the time of the precise wording for a return, and is this phrase considered an allusion (kināyah) to a return, given that there was a valid seclusion (khalwah ṣaḥīḥah) but consummation (dukhūl) had not yet occurred?

Scholars have differed on whether raj'a (revocation of divorce) can occur without explicit verbalization. Ibn Qudamah holds that raj'a occurs with phrases like: "I revoke my divorce of you," "I take you back," "I return you," or "I retain you." As for the phrases "I married her" or "I took her as a wife," there are two views: raj'a does not occur because it is an indirect expression (kinaya), or raj'a does occur if the husband intended it. The preponderant view is that raj'a occurs with an indirect expression accompanied by intention. Accordingly, the husband's statement "Marry yourself to me," intending thereby raj'a, is valid. It should be noted that the divorce of a woman with whom consummation has not occurred is considered an irrevocable divorce (bain) by the majority of scholars, unless there was a valid seclusion (khalwa sahiha) according to the Hanbalis.