Is it permissible for a husband to take back his wife whom he has divorced after legitimate seclusion with her, but without consummation, and does this necessitate a new contract and dower?
If a divorce occurs before consummation and before seclusion, it is an irrevocable divorce, and reconciliation is not possible except with a new contract and a new dower, and by fulfilling the conditions of the contract. However, if the divorce occurs after seclusion but before consummation, the majority of scholars hold that it is an irrevocable divorce, whereas the Hanbalis maintain that it is a revocable divorce, and the husband can reconcile with his wife during her waiting period (). Reconciliation after consummation with a divorced wife is a condition agreed upon by jurists, based on the Almighty's saying: (O you who have believed, when you marry believing women and then divorce them before you have touched them, then there is no iddah [period] for you to calculate concerning them). The Hanbalis considered a valid seclusion to be equivalent to consummation in terms of the validity of reconciliation. The most cautious approach is to adopt the view of the majority and enter into a new contract with a small dower.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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