Imaam Zufar (rahimahullah), the student of Imaam Abu Hanifah (rahimahullah), reports that he once heard Imaam Abu Hanifah (rahimahullah) mention the following, explaining how he had commenced acquiring the knowledge of Fiqh. Imaam Abu Hanifah (rahimahullah) said:

Initially, I commenced studying and acquiring the knowledge of ‘Aqaa’id, until the time came when I was well known and renowned in this field. We would sit close to the gathering of Imaam Hammaad bin Abi Sulaimaan (rahimahullah).

One day, a woman came to me and asked me a mas’alah saying, “A man has a wife and he intends to divorce her in the correct Shar‘ee manner. How many talaaqs should he issue to her?” I did not know the answer, and so I instructed her to go to Imaam Hammaad (rahimahullah) and pose the question to him. I also told her to thereafter return to me and inform me of the answer that he gave. The woman went to Imaam Hammaad (rahimahullah) and enquired regarding the same mas’alah. Imaam Hammaad (rahimahullah) answered, “He should wait for her menses to complete and thereafter issue the talaaq in the state of purity wherein he did not engage in relations with her. He should thereafter allow her to complete her ‘iddat, after which it will be permissible for her to marry another man.”