Marriage (Kitab Al-Nikah)

‘Alqamah said “I was going with ‘Abd Allaah bin Mas’ud at Mina where ‘Uthman met him and desired to have a talk with him in privacy”. When ‘Abd Allaah (bin Mas’ud) thought there was no need of privacy, he said to me “Come, ‘Alqamah So I came (to him)”. Then ‘Uthman said to him “Should we not marry you, Abu ‘Abd Al Rahman to a virgin girl, so that the power you have lost may return to you?” ‘Abd Allaah (bin Mas’ud) said “If you say that , I heard the Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) say “ Those of you who can support a wife, should marry, for it keeps you from looking at strange women and preserve from unlawful intercourse, but those who cannot should devote themselves to fasting, for it is a means of suppressing sexual desire.

Abu Hurairah reported the Prophet (ﷺ) as saying “Women may be married for four reasons: for her property, her ranks, her beauty and her religiosity. So get the one who is religious and prosper (lit. may your hands cleave to the dust).”

Jabir bin ‘Abd Allah said “The Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) said to me “Did you marry?” I said “Yes”. He again said “Virgin or Non Virgin (woman previously married)?” I said “Non Virgin”. He said “Why (did you) not (marry) a virgin with whom you could sport and she could sport with you.

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas: A man came to the Prophet (ﷺ), and said: My wife does not prevent the hand of a man who touches her. He said: Divorce her. He then said: I am afraid my inner self may covet her. He said: Then enjoy her.

Narrated Ma'qil ibn Yasar: A man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said: I have found a woman of rank and beauty, but she does not give birth to children. Should I marry her? He said: No. He came again to him, but he prohibited him. He came to him third time, and he (the Prophet) said: Marry women who are loving and very prolific, for I shall outnumber the peoples by you.

Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As: Marthad ibn AbuMarthad al-Ghanawi used to take prisoners (of war) from Mecca (to Medina). At Mecca there was a prostitute called Inaq who had illicit relations with him. (Marthad said:) I came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said to him: May I marry Inaq, Messenger of Allah? The narrator said: He kept silence towards me. Then the verse was revealed:"....and the adulteress none shall marry save and adulterer or an idolater." He called me and recited this (verse) to me, and said: Do not marry her.

Narrated AbuHurayrah: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: The adulterer who has been flogged shall not marry save the one like him. AbuMa'mar said: Habib al-Mu'allim narrated (this tradition) to us on the authority of Amr ibn Shu'ayb.

Abu Dawud reported the Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) as saying “Anyone who sets his slave girl free and then marries her, will have a double reward.”

Anas bin ‘Malik said “The Prophet(ﷺ) manumitted Safiyyah and made her manumission her dower.”

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: What is unlawful by reason of consanguinity is unlawful by reason of fosterage.

Umm Salamah reported Umm Habibah said “Are you interested in my sister, Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ)?” He said “What should I do?” She said “You marry her” He said “Your sister?” She said “Yes”. He said “Do you like that?” she said “I am not alone with you of those who share me in this good, my sister is most to my liking. He said “She is not lawful for me.” She said “By Allaah, I was told that you were going to betroth with you Darrah to Durrah , the narrator Zuhair doubted the daughter of Abu Salamah. He said “The daughter of Umm Salamah? She said “Yes”. He said “(She is my step daughter). Even if she had not been my step daughter under my protection, she would not have been lawful for me. She is my foster niece (daughter of my brother by fosterage). Thuwaibah suckled me as well as his father (Abu Salamah). So do not present to me your daughters and your sisters.

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin: Aflah ibn AbulQu'ays entered upon me. I hid myself from him. He said: You are hiding yourself from me while I am your paternal uncle. She said: I said: From where? He said: The wife of my brother suckled you. She said: The woman suckled me and not the man. Thereafter the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) entered upon me and I told him this matter. He said: He is your paternal uncle; he may enter upon you.

A’ishah said the Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) visited her when a man was with her. The narrator Hafs said “this grieved him and he frowned”. The agreed version then goes, She said “He is my foster brother Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ)”. He said “Consider, who are you brethren, for fosterage is consequent on hunger.”

‘Abd Allaah bin Mas’ud said “Fosterage is not valid except by what strengthens love and grows flesh.” Abu Musa said “Do not ask us so long as this learned man is among us”

The aforesaid tradition has also been narrated by Ibn Mas’ud through a different chain of narrators and to the same effect from the Prophet (ﷺ). This version has the words anshaz al-‘azma meaning which nourishes bones and makes them sturdy and vigorous.

A’ishah wife of the Prophet(ﷺ) and Umm Salamah said “Abu Hudaifah bin ‘Utbah bin Rabi’ah bin ‘Abd Shams adopted Salim as his son and married him to his niece Hind, daughter of Al Walid bin ‘Utbah bin Rabi’ah. He (Salim) was the freed slave of a woman from the Ansar (the Helpers) as the Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) adopted Zaid as his son. In pre Islamic days when anyone adopted a man as his son, the people called him by his name and he was given a share from his inheritance. Allaah, the Exalted, revealed about this matter “Call them by (the name of) their fathers, that is juster in the sight of Allaah. And if ye know not their fathers, then (they are) your brethren in the faith and your clients. They were then called by their names of their fathers. A man, whose father was not known, remained under the protection of someone and considered brother in faith. Sahlah daughter of Suhail bin Amr Al Quraishi then came and said Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ), we used to consider Salim(our) son. He dwelled with me and Abu Hudhaifah in the same house, and he saw me in the short clothes, but Allaah the Exalted, has revealed about them what you know, then what is your opinion about him? The Prophet (ﷺ) said give him your breast feed. She gave him five breast feeds. He then became like her foster son. Hence, A’ishah(may Allaah be pleased with her) used to ask the daughters of her sisters and the daughters of her brethren to give him breast feed five times, whom A’ishah wanted to see and who wanted to visit her. Though he might be of age; he then visited her. But Umm Salamah and all other wives of the Prophet (ﷺ) refused to allow anyone to visit them on the basis of such breast feeding unless one was given breast feed during infancy. They told A’ishah by Allaah we do not know whether that was a special concession granted by the Prophet (ﷺ) to Salim exclusive of the people.

A’ishah said “In what was sent down in the Qu’ran ten suckling’s made marriage unlawful, but they were abrogated by five known ones and when the Prophet (ﷺ) dies, these words were among what was recited in the Qur’an.”

A’ishah reported “The Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) as saying One or two sucks does not make marriage unlawful”.

Narrated Hajjaj ibn Malik al-Aslami: I asked: Messenger of Allah, what will remove from me the obligation due for fostering a child? He said: A slave or a slave-woman.

Abu Hurairah reported The Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) as saying “ A woman should not be married to one who had married her paternal aunt or a paternal aunt to one who had married her brother’s daughter or a woman to one who had married her maternal aunt or maternal aunt to one who had married her sister’s daughter. A woman who is elder (in relation) must not be married to one who had married a woman who is younger (in relation) to her nor a woman who is younger (in relation) must be married to one who has married a woman who is elder (in relation) to her.”

Abu Hurairah said “The Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) forbade that a woman and her maternal aunt and a woman and her paternal aunt are joined in marriage.”

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas: The Prophet (ﷺ) abominated the combination of paternal and maternal aunts and the combination of two maternal aunts and two paternal aunts in marriage.

Ibn Shihab said “’Urwah bin Al Zubair asked A’ishah , wife of the Prophet(ﷺ) about the Qur’anic verse “And if ye fear that ye will not deal fairly by the orphans, marry of the women, who seem good to you.” She said “O my nephew, this means the female orphan who is under the protection of her guardian and she holds a share in his property and her property and beauty attracts him; so her guardian intends to marry her without doing justice to her in respect of her dower and he gives her the same amount of dower as others give her. They (i.e., the guardians) were prohibited to marry them except that they do justice to them and pay them their maximum customary dower and they were asked to marry women other than them (i.e., the orphans) who seem good to them. ‘Urwah reported that A’ishah said “The people then consulted the Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) about women after revelation of this verse. Thereupon Allaah the Exalted sent down the verse “They consult thee concerning women. Say Allaah giveth you decree concerning them and the scripture which hath been recited unto you(giveth decree) concerning female orphans unto whom you give not that which is ordained for them though you desire to marry them. “ She said “The mention made by Allaah about the Scripture recited to them refers to the former verse in which Allaah has said “And if ye fear that ye will not deal fairly by the orphans, marry of the women, who seem good to you.” A’ishah said “The pronouncement of Allaah , the Exalted in the latter verse “though you desire to marry them” means the disinterest of one of you in marrying a female orphan who was under his protection, but she said little property and beauty. So they were prohibited to marry them for their interest in the property and beauty of the female orphans due to their disinterest in themselves except that they do justice )to them). The narrator Yunus said “Rabi’ah said explain the Qur’anic verse “And if ye fear that ye will not deal fairly by the orphans” means “Leave them if you fear (that you will not do justice to them), for I have made four women lawful for you.”

‘Ali bin al-Hussain said that when they returned to Madeenah from Yazid bin Mu’awiyah the place of massacre of Al Hussain bin Ali(may Allaah be pleased with him) Al Miswar bin Makhramah met them and said “tell me if you have any need for me. I said to him “No”. He then said Will you not give me the sword of the Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ)? I fear the people may not take it from you by force. (He said) By Allaah if you give it to me no one can take it from me so long as I am alive. Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allaah be pleased with him) asked for the hand of Abu Jahl’s daughter in marriage after the marriage with Fathima. I heard the Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) say while he was addressing the people about this matter on the pulpit and I was mature in those days. Fathima is from me and I am not afraid that she will be tried in respect of her religion. He then mentioned his other son-in-law who belonged to Banu ‘Abd Shams. He admired him immensely for his relationship with him and extolled him well. He said “He talked to me and talked truly and he made promise with me and fulfilled it. I do not make lawful what Is unlawful and unlawful what is lawful. But, by Allaah the daughter of the Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) and the daughter of the enemy of Allaah can never be combined together.

The aforesaid tradition has also been transmitted by Ibn Abi Mulaikah. He said “’Ali (Allaah be pleased with him) then kept silence about the marriage (i.e., marrying Abi Jahl’s daughter)

Al Miswar bin Makramah said that he heard the Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) say on the pulpit Banu Hashim bin Al Mughirah sought permission from me to marry their daughter to ‘Ali bin Abi Talib. But I do not permit, again, I do not permit, again, I do not permit except that Ibn Abi Talib divorces my daughter and marries their daughter. My daughter is my part, what makes her uneasy makes me uneasy and what troubles her troubles me. The full information rests with the tradition narrated by Ahmad.

Al Zuhri said “we were with ‘Umar bin ‘Abd Al Aziz, there we discussed temporary marriage. A man called Rabi bin Saburah said “I bear witness that my father told me that the Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) had prohibited it at the Farewell Pilgrimage.”

Rabi' b. Saburah reported on the authority of his father: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) prohibited temporary marriage with women.

Ibn ‘Umar said “The Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) prohibited shighar marriage. Musaddad added in his version “I said to ‘Nafi “What is shighar?” (It means that) a man marries the daughter of another man and gives his own daughter to him in marriage without fixing dower; and a man marries the sister of another man and gives him his sister in marriage without fixing dower.

Abdur Rahman ibn Hurmuz al-A'raj said: Al-Abbas ibn Abdullah ibn al-Abbas married his daughter to Abdur Rahman ibn al-Hakam, and AbdurRahman married his daughter to him. And they made this (exchange) their dower. Mu'awiyah wrote to Marwan commanding him to separate them. He wrote in his letter: This is the shighar which the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) has forbidden.