Impotence (inna) as a ground for the wife's option to end the marriage

العِنّة

In the jurists' usage, 'inna is the inability to have intercourse through the front passage while the organ is sound; the man is called 'anin for the softness and bending of his organ ¹. Impotence is a defect that gives the wife the right to ask for separation, according to the majority; the judge gives the husband a lunar year from the day of the claim, after the practice of 'Umar ^{2 3 4}. The time is not counted while a lawful barrier stops intercourse, such as menstruation, fasting, sickness, pilgrimage or travel, on the detail set by each school ^{5 6}. Impotence is established by the husband's admission, by his oath, or by evidence before the judge; the judge or his deputy takes the decision ^{3 7}. If the year ends without consummation, the wife chooses; the Hanafis hold the separation is an irrevocable divorce, the Shafi'is and Hanbalis hold it an annulment, and the Malikis draw distinctions ^{8 9 10}. The wife is due the full dower according to the Malikis and, in general, the Hanafis; she observes a waiting period, which the Hanafis, Hanbalis and Malikis hold as a precaution ^{11 12}.