Wedlock, Marriage (Nikaah)

Saʿīd ibn Abī Maryam narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar informed us: Ḥumayd ibn Abī Ḥumayd al-Ṭawīl informed us that he heard Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) say: Three men came to the homes of the Prophet’s wives, asking about the Prophet’s worship. When they were told about it, they seemed to regard it as too little. They said, ‘How can we compare with the Prophet, when his earlier and later sins have been forgiven?’ One said, ‘As for me, I shall pray all night forever.’ Another said, ‘I shall fast continually and never break my fast.’ A third said, ‘I shall keep away from women and never marry.’ The Messenger of Allah came and said, ‘Are you the ones who said such-and-such? By Allah, I am the most God-fearing and mindful of Allah among you. Yet I fast and break my fast, I pray and sleep, and I marry women. Whoever turns away from my practice does not belong to me.’

ʿAlī narrated to us: He heard Ḥassān ibn Ibrāhīm, from Yūnus ibn Yazīd, from al-Zuhrī, who said: ʿUrwah informed me that he asked ʿĀʾishah about the words of the Exalted: ‘If you fear that you will not deal justly with orphan girls, then marry women who are good to you, two, three, or four. But if you fear that you will not be just, then one, or those whom your right hands possess. That is more likely to keep you from acting unjustly.’ She said: ‘Nephew, an orphan girl may be in the care of her guardian, who desires her wealth and beauty and wishes to marry her for less than the customary bridal gift for a woman of her standing. They were forbidden to marry such girls unless they dealt justly with them and gave them the full bridal gift, and they were commanded to marry other women instead.’

ʿUmar ibn Ḥafṣ narrated to us: My father narrated to us: al-Aʿmash narrated to us, saying: Ibrāhīm narrated to me, from ʿAlqamah, who said: I was with ʿAbd Allāh when ʿUthmān met him at Minā. He said, ‘Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, I have something to discuss with you.’ They went aside. ʿUthmān said, ‘Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, would you like us to marry you to a virgin who would remind you of the things you used to know?’ When ʿAbd Allāh saw that he had no need of this, he gestured to me and said, ‘ʿAlqamah.’ I went over to him while he was saying, ‘Since you have said that, the Prophet said to us: “Young men, whoever among you is able to marry should marry; whoever is unable should fast, for fasting is a restraint for him.”’

ʿUmar ibn Ḥafṣ ibn Ghiyāth narrated to us: My father narrated to us: al-Aʿmash narrated to us, saying: ʿUmārah narrated to me, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Yazīd, who said: ʿAlqamah and al-Aswad and I entered upon ʿAbd Allāh. He said: We were young men with the Prophet and had nothing. The Messenger of Allah said to us, ‘Young men, whoever among you is able to marry should marry, for that better helps lower the gaze and guard chastity. Whoever is unable should fast, for it is a restraint for him.’

Ibrāhīm ibn Mūsā narrated to us: Hishām ibn Yūsuf informed us that Ibn Jurayj informed them, saying: ʿAṭāʾ informed me: We attended with Ibn ʿAbbās the funeral of Maymūnah at Sarif. Ibn ʿAbbās said, ‘This is the wife of the Prophet. When you lift her bier, do not jostle or shake it; be gentle. The Prophet had nine [wives]; he assigned turns to eight of them and did not assign a turn to one.’

Musaddad narrated to us: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ narrated to us: Saʿīd narrated to us, from Qatādah, from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet used to go around to his wives in a single night, and he had nine wives. Khalīfah also said to me: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ narrated to us: Saʿīd narrated to us, from Qatādah, that Anas related it to them from the Prophet.

ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥakam al-Anṣārī narrated to us: Abū ʿAwānah narrated to us, from Raqabah, from Ṭalḥah al-Yāmī, from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās said to me, ‘Are you married?’ I replied, ‘No.’ He said, ‘Then marry, for the best of this community had the most wives.’

Yaḥyā ibn Qa zaʿah narrated to us: Mālik narrated to us, from Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, from Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ḥārith, from ʿAlqamah ibn Waqqāṣ, from ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Prophet said, ‘Deeds are by intention, and each person will have only what he intended. Whoever emigrated to Allah and His Messenger, his emigration is to Allah and His Messenger. Whoever emigrated for some worldly gain or to marry a woman, his emigration is to that for which he emigrated.’

Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā narrated to us: Yaḥyā narrated to us: Ismāʿīl narrated to us, saying: Qays narrated to me, from Ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: We used to campaign with the Prophet and had no wives with us. We said, ‘Messenger of Allah, should we castrate ourselves?’ He forbade us to do that.

Muḥammad ibn Kathīr narrated to us, from Sufyān, from Ḥumayd al-Ṭawīl, who said: I heard Anas ibn Mālik say: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf arrived, and the Prophet established a bond of brotherhood between him and Saʿd ibn al-Rabīʿ al-Anṣārī. The Anṣārī had two wives and offered to share his family and wealth equally with him. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān said, ‘May Allah bless you in your family and wealth. Show me the marketplace.’ He went to the market and earned some dried curds and some ghee. A few days later, the Prophet saw him with a yellow stain on him and asked, ‘What is this, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān?’ He replied, ‘I married an Anṣārī woman.’ He asked, ‘What bridal gift did you give?’ He replied, ‘Gold weighing a date stone.’ He said, ‘Hold a wedding feast, even if with one sheep.’

Aḥmad ibn Yūnus narrated to us: Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿd narrated to us: Ibn Shihāb informed us that he heard Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab say: I heard Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ say: The Messenger of Allah rejected celibacy for ʿUthmān ibn Maẓʿūn; had he permitted him, we would have castrated ourselves.

Abū al-Yamān narrated to us: Shuʿayb informed us, from al-Zuhrī, who said: Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab informed me that he heard Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ say: The Prophet rejected that for ʿUthmān. Had he permitted celibacy to him, we would have castrated ourselves.

Qutaybah ibn Saʿīd narrated to us: Jarīr narrated to us, from Ismāʿīl, from Qays, who said: ʿAbd Allāh said: We used to campaign with the Messenger of Allah and had nothing. We said, ‘Should we castrate ourselves?’ He forbade us from that, then permitted us to marry a woman for a garment. Then he recited to us: ‘You who believe, do not forbid the good things Allah has made lawful for you, and do not transgress. Allah does not love transgressors.’

Aṣbagh said: Ibn Wahb informed me, from Yūnus ibn Yazīd, from Ibn Shihāb, from Abū Salamah, from Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I said, ‘Messenger of Allah, I am a young man and fear falling into hardship, but I cannot afford to marry women.’ He remained silent. I repeated the same words, and he remained silent. I said the same again, and he remained silent. I repeated it a fourth time, and the Prophet said, ‘Abū Hurayrah, the pen has dried concerning what you will encounter. So castrate yourself over that, or leave it.’

Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd Allāh said: My brother narrated to me, from Sulaymān, from Hishām ibn ʿUrwah, from his father, from ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her), who said: I asked, ‘Messenger of Allah, suppose you came to a valley with a tree that had been grazed, and found other trees that had not been grazed. Which would you let your camel graze from?’ He replied, ‘From the one that had not been grazed.’ She meant that the Messenger of Allah had not married any virgin besides her.

ʿUbayd ibn Ismāʿīl narrated to us: Abū Usāmah narrated to us, from Hishām, from his father, from ʿĀʾishah, who said: The Messenger of Allah said, ‘I saw you twice in a dream. A man was carrying you in a piece of silk and said, “This is your wife.” I uncovered it, and there you were. I said, “If this is from Allah, He will bring it to pass.”’

Abū al-Nuʿmān narrated to us: Hushaym narrated to us: Sayyār narrated to us, from al-Shaʿbī, from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, who said: We were returning with the Prophet from a campaign. I hurried ahead on a sluggish camel of mine. A rider caught up behind me and prodded my camel with a spear he had with him. It then went off as swiftly as the finest camel you could see. Then I saw that it was the Prophet. He said, ‘Why are you in such a hurry?’ I said, ‘I have only recently married.’ He asked, ‘A virgin or a previously married woman?’ I said, ‘Previously married.’ He said, ‘Why not a young woman, so that you could play with her and she with you?’ When we were about to enter [the city], he said, ‘Wait until you enter at nightfall, so that the woman with disheveled hair may comb it, and the woman whose husband has been away may use a razor.’

Ādam narrated to us: Shuʿbah narrated to us: Muḥārib narrated to us, saying: I heard Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh (may Allah be pleased with them both) say: I got married. The Messenger of Allah said to me, ‘Whom did you marry?’ I replied, ‘A previously married woman.’ He said, ‘What have you to do with virgins and their playfulness?’ I mentioned this to ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, who said: I heard Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh say: The Messenger of Allah said to me, ‘Why did you not marry a young woman, so that you could play with her and she with you?’

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūsuf narrated to us: al-Layth narrated to us, from Yazīd, from ʿIrāk, from ʿUrwah: The Prophet asked Abū Bakr for ʿĀʾishah’s hand in marriage. Abū Bakr said, ‘I am only your brother.’ He replied, ‘You are my brother in Allah’s religion and His Book, and she is lawful for me.’