Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 2026
حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عُمَرَ بْنِ هَيَّاجٍ، حَدَّثَنَا قَبِيصَةُ بْنُ عُقْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنْ عَمْرِو بْنِ مَيْمُونٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنِ الزُّبَيْرِ بْنِ الْعَوَّامِ، أَنَّهُ كَانَتْ عِنْدَهُ أُمُّ كُلْثُومٍ بِنْتُ عُقْبَةَ فَقَالَتْ لَهُ وَهِيَ حَامِلٌ طَيِّبْ نَفْسِي بِتَطْلِيقَةٍ . فَطَلَّقَهَا تَطْلِيقَةً ثُمَّ خَرَجَ إِلَى الصَّلاَةِ فَرَجَعَ وَقَدْ وَضَعَتْ . فَقَالَ مَالَهَا خَدَعَتْنِي خَدَعَهَا اللَّهُ ثُمَّ أَتَى النَّبِيَّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ فَقَالَ " سَبَقَ الْكِتَابُ أَجَلَهُ اخْطُبْهَا إِلَى نَفْسِهَا " .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn ʿUmar ibn Hayyaj narrated to us: Qabisah ibn ʿUqbah narrated to us: Sufyan narrated to us, from ʿAmr ibn Maymun, from his father, from al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwam: Umm Kulthum bint ʿUqbah was married to him. While pregnant, she said to him, ‘Please grant me one divorce.’ He divorced her once, then went out to pray. When he returned, she had given birth. He said, ‘What is this? She deceived me—may Allah deal with her as a deceiver!’ Then he went to the Prophet, who said, ‘The Decree has overtaken its appointed term. Propose to her anew.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report’s phrase سَبَقَ الْكِتَابُ أَجَلَهُ is rendered literally; the birth had occurred, so the pregnancy-related waiting period had ended.
فَقَالَ مَالَهَا خَدَعَتْنِي خَدَعَهَا اللَّهُ ثُمَّ أَتَى النَّبِيَّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ فَقَالَ " سَبَقَ الْكِتَابُ أَجَلَهُ اخْطُبْهَا إِلَى نَفْسِهَا " .
The saying سَبَقَ الْكِتَابُ أَجَلَهُ is terse and may refer to the divine decree bringing the birth before the expected end of the waiting period; ‘The Decree has overtaken its appointed term’ preserves the wording closely.
Should this phrase remain literal, or be rendered explicitly as the birth ending the waiting period?