Professor Ahmed Ibrahim, rahimahullah, states in his book علم أصول الفقه, that
was abrogated by
He says that the majority have ruled that the waiting period for a pregnant divorced woman is until she delivers, even if that is less than four months and ten days. The story of
Abus-Sanaabil confirms the majority ruling. Professor Ibrahim says that Ali, may God have been pleased with him, ruled the longer of the periods.
I don't quite understand. 2:240 speaks of widows, not divorcées. I suppose the extension to divorcées is warranted by the next verse, 2:241? If we concede that 2:240 applies to divorcées too, then I do not see this as an abrogation case, but as a completion of the ruling. The two verses make up the following consistent ruling,
"
Divorce is not final until a waiting period expires. For pregnant wives, the waiting period is until her pregnancy ends. For non-pregnant wives, the waiting period is four months and ten days."
The remaining question is where Ali differed with the majority. Both opinions are valid and can be concluded from these two verses, but the decision of which opinion to go with has no bearing on the abrogation claim. As Professor Ibrahim put it, Ali's ruling hedges against possible injustice.