Statement on the ruling regarding the wife of a missing man waiting for ninety years

The questioner:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, is the opinion that the wife of a missing man waits for her husband for ninety years the stronger position in your view?

The Shaykh:
My brother, she does not wait ninety years. No, no, ninety years from his birth. It is possible that we lose track of him when he is eighty-nine years old, and only one year remains. She waits one year, or if he is seventy-five or eighty-five, she waits five years, or if he is seventy, she waits twenty years. No, no, ninety years only from his birth. We do not say that she waits ninety years from his disappearance. Generations would come after him, and she would die and be gone. Yes.

The questioner:
He says: Honorable Shaykh.

The Shaykh:
You should reflect on the phrases of the jurists; do not take them without reflection. They said, “also ninety years,” not “she waits ninety years.”