It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her); she said: (Formerly) a man would divorce his wife as many times as he wished, even if he divorced her a hundred times or more (he still retained the right to take her back), provided that he took her back before her waiting period ('iddah) ended. Eventually a man said to his wife: By Allah, I will neither divorce you so that you become separate from me, nor will I keep you with me (as a wife). She asked: How can that be? He said: I will divorce you, and whenever your waiting period is about to end, I will take you back; then I will divorce you again, and I will keep doing this. The woman complained about this to Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), and she mentioned it to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). He (peace and blessings be upon him) remained silent until this verse of the Qur'an was revealed: "Divorce (that can be revoked) is twice; then either retain her in an honourable manner or release her with kindness" [Surah al-Baqarah: 229] . After that the people began the matter of divorce anew: whoever wished divorced, and whoever wished kept (the marriage). This hadith has a sahih (authentic) chain of narration, and no one has criticised Ya'qub bin Humayd with a valid proof. My shaykh Abu Ahmad al-Hafiz debated this with me and mentioned that al-Bukhari narrated from him in the "Sahih". I said: That is Ya'qub bin Muhammad al-Zuhri. But he remained firm on what he had said.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ma'qil bin Yasar (may Allah be pleased with him) that his sister was divorced by her husband. Then (after the waiting period) he wanted to remarry her, but Ma'qil (may Allah be pleased with him) prevented her. So Allah Almighty sent down this verse concerning that: "And when you divorce women and they have completed their waiting period, do not prevent them from marrying their (former) husbands when they agree between themselves in an acceptable manner" [Surah al-Baqarah: 232] . This hadith has a sahih (authentic) chain of narration, and the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.