And when he placed between the number of these admonishing statements a sign of their greatness, urging adherence to them and hastening towards them, and concluded with the estimation, he followed that with a clarification of the quantities of the number in a manner that made clear that the previous speech was concerning the waiting periods of the divorced women. He said: "And those who have ceased menstruating," meaning from the divorced women, "from menstruation," meaning the period of it, for their reaching an age that exceeds the amount which women hope to menstruate in, so they have become in a state where they do not hope for it. That age is fifty-five years or sixty years, and it is said seventy. They are the elderly women. As for the one whose menstruation has ceased at a time when she hopes for menstruation, then she waits for the age of despair.

And when this ruling was specific to the wives of the Muslims due to the sanctity of their beds and the preservation of their lineage, he said: "From your women," meaning, O Muslims, whether they are Muslim women or from the People of the Book. And since the cause for the waiting period is indeed the entering upon them, not merely the divorce, he said: "If you doubt," by having delayed considering their matter, which led you to doubt whether they are pregnant or not. This is due to the entering upon them, which is the cause of doubt regarding pregnancy in general. "So their waiting period is three months," each month taking the place of a menstruation, because the majority of women's cycles is that each purity occurs in a month.

And when he completed the two categories of those who menstruate with indication and expression, he said: "And those who have not menstruated," meaning due to their young age or because they do not have menstruation at all, even if they are mature, then their waiting period is also three months. This indicates that those who menstruate, whether they are divorced or not, their waiting period is three purities as previously mentioned in Al-Baqarah, because these months are a substitute for it. Either the purity occurs between two menstruations or between divorce and menstruation. All of this is concerning the divorced woman. As for the one whose husband has passed away, then her waiting period is four months and ten days, as mentioned in Al-Baqarah.

And when he finished with the waiting periods of the pregnant women, he followed it with the mention of the pregnant women and said: ﴿And those who are pregnant﴾ meaning from all of the Muslim and non-Muslim wives who are divorced in every case and those who have passed away from them. If their pregnancy is from a husband who is Muslim or not, ﴿their term﴾ meaning for the end of the waiting period, whether they have menstruation with the pregnancy or not. ﴿That they should give birth﴾. And since the unification of pregnancy does not lead to confusion, and the plural might imply that it is not permissible for one of them until she gives birth to a plurality, he said: (p-157) ﴿their pregnancy﴾. And this, in its generality, is specified by the verse ﴿And they should wait for themselves for four months and ten﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 234] because preserving the generality of it is preferable to preserving the generality of that in His saying: 'wives' because the generality of this specifically is due to the relative pronoun being one of the forms of generality, and the generality of 'wives' is by extension because it is a substitute that does not apply to all wives in one state. And the ruling here is justified by the description of pregnancy being different from that. And because Subay'ah bint Al-Harith gave birth to her pregnancy after the death of her husband by nights, the Prophet ﷺ permitted her to marry. And because this verse was revealed later than the verse of Al-Baqarah, its precedence over that is specification, and the precedence of that in acting upon its generality is an abrogation of what is in the specific ruling. Thus, the first is the preferred opinion due to consensus upon it. If the pregnancy is from fornication or suspicion, then there is no prohibition for it, and the waiting period is by menstruation.

And when the affairs of women in marriage and separation are extremely difficult, nothing compels justice in it and chastity except the fear of Allah. It was repeated as a reminder to encourage piety, indicating that, and encouraging adherence to what He has ordained, glorified and exalted is He. So he said, adding to [what -] you estimate: So whoever does not preserve these limits, Allah will make his affairs difficult: ﴿And whoever fears Allah﴾ meaning there exists the fear of the Greatest King continuously to create between him and His wrath a protection through obedience, bringing about what is commanded and avoiding what is prohibited. ﴿He will make for him﴾ meaning there exists a continuous creation with the continuity of (p-158) piety: "Indeed, Allah does not tire until you tire." ﴿Of His affairs﴾ meaning all of it in marriage and otherwise. ﴿Ease﴾ meaning ease and relief and goodness in both abodes by giving and benefiting, and that is greater than the absolute extraction mentioned in the first verse.