Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 2059
حَدَّثَنَا هِشَامُ بْنُ عَمَّارٍ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ أَبِي الرِّجَالِ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ عَمْرَةَ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ، قَالَتْ أَقْسَمَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ أَنْ لاَ يَدْخُلَ عَلَى نِسَائِهِ شَهْرًا فَمَكَثَ تِسْعَةً وَعِشْرِينَ يَوْمًا حَتَّى إِذَا كَانَ مَسَاءَ ثَلاَثِينَ دَخَلَ عَلَىَّ فَقُلْتُ إِنَّكَ أَقْسَمْتَ أَنْ لاَ تَدْخُلَ عَلَيْنَا شَهْرًا . فَقَالَ " شَهْرٌ هَكَذَا " . يُرْسِلُ أَصَابِعَهُ فِيهَا ثَلاَثَ مَرَّاتٍ " وَشَهْرٌ هَكَذَا " . وَأَرْسَلَ أَصَابِعَهُ كُلَّهَا وَأَمْسَكَ إِصْبَعًا وَاحِدًا فِي الثَّالِثَةِ .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Hisham ibn ʿAmmar narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Abi al-Rijal narrated to us, from his father, from ʿAmrah, from ʿAishah, who said: ‘The Messenger of Allah swore that he would not visit his wives for a month. He stayed away for twenty-nine days, then, on the evening of the thirtieth, he came to me. I said, “You swore not to visit us for a month.” He said, “A month is like this,” extending his fingers three times, “and a month is like this.” He extended all his fingers and held one back on the third count.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The final gesture contrasts counting ten fingers three times with holding one back on the third count, indicating that a lunar month may be twenty-nine days.
وَأَرْسَلَ أَصَابِعَهُ كُلَّهَا وَأَمْسَكَ إِصْبَعًا وَاحِدًا فِي الثَّالِثَةِ .
The account describes a finger-counting gesture; the sequence seems to indicate a thirty-day month and a twenty-nine-day month, but its exact staging is compressed.
Does ‘held one back on the third count’ convey the gesture without overexplaining it?