Rifa`a Al-Qurazi married a lady and then divorced her whereupon she married another man. She came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said that her new husband did not approach her, and that he was completely impotent. The Prophet (ﷺ) said (to her), "No (you cannot remarry your first husband) till you taste the second husband and he tastes you (i.e. till he consummates his marriage with you).
The Case of Rifa`a's Former Wife
This narration from Sahih al-Bukhari 5317 addresses a complex marital situation involving a woman who was divorced by Rifa`a Al-Qurazi, then married another man named `Abd al-Rahman bin Az-Zubair Al-Qurazi.
The Legal Principle of Consummation
The Prophet's ruling establishes that a thrice-divorced woman cannot return to her first husband until she has experienced a valid, consummated marriage with another. This prevents the misuse of divorce and remarriage as a means to circumvent Islamic law.
The phrase "till you taste the second husband and he tastes you" refers to actual marital relations (nikah sahih), not merely the marriage contract. This ensures the second marriage is real, not a temporary arrangement to make the first marriage permissible again.
Scholarly Commentary on Impotence
Classical scholars explain that if the second husband is proven impotent and unable to consummate the marriage, the wife may seek annulment through judicial process. However, she cannot automatically return to her first husband without this being legally established.
The ruling protects the sanctity of marriage by requiring genuine marital life in the second union, preventing deceptive practices where marriages are contracted solely to make former spouses permissible to each other again.
Application in Islamic Jurisprudence
This hadith forms the basis for the ruling on al-tahleel (intervening marriage) in all schools of Islamic law. It demonstrates the wisdom of Shariah in preserving family structure while providing solutions for genuine marital difficulties.
The case emphasizes that Islamic divorce procedures have divine wisdom in maintaining social order and preventing the trivialization of marriage bonds.