What is the meaning of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “O you who believe, when you marry believing women and then divorce them before you touch them…”

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good, our Shaykh. What is your opinion? Is “entering” intercourse, or is it considered entering if the man is alone with the woman?

The Shaykh : Yes. As for the noble verse , this means intercourse. However, the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), or most of them, said: If a man is alone with a woman, then the waiting period is established. The waiting period is established because being alone with her gives him the opportunity for intercourse. This is the well-known position of the three schools of jurisprudence, even though some scholars say: If there was no intercourse, then there is no waiting period. But the more cautious view is that the waiting period is established by being alone with her. Yes.