If the legitimate seclusion (al-khalwa al-shar'iyya) without consummation is considered as entry and necessitates the dowry and 'idda (waiting period), then why is it not counted in the case of al-muhallil (the one who makes lawful)? And do the divorce oaths sworn by the husband in the two aforementioned cases take effect, taking into account that he swore three times in one sitting, and his psychological state at the time of the last oath?

We have previously issued a fatwa that a valid khalwa (private seclusion) is equivalent to consummation, and that the questioner has become irrevocably separated from her husband. Her inquiry about the validity of returning to him without a new mahr (dowry) and aqd (contract) after the divorce stems from following her whims. We advise her to abandon following her whims, separate from the man, and observe the limits set by Allah. As for khalwa in the case of a muhallil (one who marries a divorced woman to make her lawful for her previous husband), a tahlil marriage is invalid. The marriage by which a woman becomes lawful for the one who divorced her three times is a marriage of genuine desire, and it requires sexual intercourse for its validity.