Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: A man submitted, "O Messenger of Allah! Has Allah Almighty not said: 'Divorce is twice.' Then why is there a ruling for the third (divorce)?" The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "(Allah has also said:) 'Then either retain (her) in a fair manner or release (her) with kindness.'"

Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: A man said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): I have heard the command of Allah: "Divorce is twice." Then where did the command for the third divorce come from? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (Allah Almighty has also said) "Then either retain [her] in a fair manner or release [her] with kindness (this refers to the third divorce)." The narrator has transmitted this from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), however, the correct version is that this narration is transmitted from Isma'il bin Sumai', from Abu Razin, as a mursal narration from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said:“There are four ways of giving divorce; two of them are lawful and two are unlawful. One lawful way is that a man gives divorce to a woman when she is in a state of purity (tuhr) and during that period of purity he has not had intercourse with her. (The second way is) a man gives divorce to a pregnant woman when her pregnancy has become apparent. (One) unlawful way is that a man gives divorce to a woman when she is in a state of menstruation. (The second unlawful way is) a man gives divorce to a woman in a state of purity after having had intercourse with her, and it is not known whether there is a child in the womb or not.”

Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The Sunnah method of giving divorce is that a man gives his wife one divorce during each period of purity; when this is completed, then this is the waiting period about which Allah has commanded."

Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: "Whoever wants to give divorce according to the Sunnah should give divorce to the woman when she is in a state of purity, and he has not had intercourse with her during that period of purity, (and he should also) take witnesses when giving the divorce."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: I divorced my wife while she was in her menstrual period. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) went to the service of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and asked him (about this issue). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Tell him to take her back. When she becomes pure, if he wishes, he may divorce her then." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: "Will you count this divorce as effective?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: Sayyiduna Umar asked the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) (after that he mentioned the hadith as previously stated).

Salim narrates from his father (Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both): He divorced his wife during the blessed time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while she was in her menstrual period. Sayyiduna Umar asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about this issue, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) expressed intense displeasure. He said: "Tell him to take her back, and keep her with him until she becomes pure, and after that, when she experiences another menstruation and becomes pure again, then if he wishes, he may divorce her while she is in a state of purity without having had intercourse with her. This will be a divorce according to the method that Allah has commanded."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: I divorced my wife while she was in her menstrual period. Sayyiduna Umar mentioned this to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) expressed displeasure and said: "He should take her back, then keep her with him until she gets her next period, other than the period in which he divorced her. Then, if he wishes, he may divorce her when she becomes pure from that next period, and this divorce should be before he has intercourse with her. This divorce will be according to the method that Allah has commanded." Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) had given her one divorce, and it was counted as such. Then Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) took her back, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had commanded him.

This narration is also transmitted with another chain, however, in it the words are: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) mentioned this matter to the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), so the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) expressed displeasure regarding it. The narrator named Salih has transmitted these words: The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) expressed displeasure regarding Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him). (After this, the narrator mentioned the hadith as previously stated.)