This article analyzes the jurisprudence of six prominent third/ninth-century ḥadīth scholars by examining the chapters on divorce in their compilations. This comparative study shows that only six legal topics on divorce were common to the books of al-Dārimī, al-Bukhārī, Muslim, Ibn Māja, Abū Dāwūd, and al-Tirmidhī. It also demonstrates that: 1) Some ḥadīth scholars regularly expressed their personal legal opinions; 2) ḥadīth scholars developed three distinct utility for certain fields of jurisprudence in the early ʿAbbasid period.