1. Is it recommended for the Shafi‘is and Hanbalis for a husband to divorce his wife when there is doubt about whether a divorce has occurred? 2. Do they mean by that the initiation of a new divorce, or the ratification of the divorce about which there is doubt? 3. What is the status of children born during this period; are they attributed to their father or not?

The Hanbalis and Shafi'is hold that doubt concerning divorce does not constitute a divorce, because marriage is established with certainty and is not removed by doubt. However, it is recommended for the doubter, out of caution and piety (wara'), to consider the divorce as having occurred and act accordingly, such as by revoking the divorce if it was revocable. As for the children, they are unanimously attributed to the husband, and doubt about the divorce does not affect their lineage. The person afflicted by obsessive doubts (al-muwaswis) is advised to disregard these doubts and pay no attention to them, for caution and piety are specific to those who are not afflicted by obsessive doubts.