Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 2031
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو خَالِدٍ الأَحْمَرُ، سُلَيْمَانُ بْنُ حَيَّانَ عَنْ سَعْدِ بْنِ إِسْحَاقَ بْنِ كَعْبِ بْنِ عُجْرَةَ، عَنْ زَيْنَبَ بِنْتِ كَعْبِ بْنِ عُجْرَةَ، وَكَانَتْ، تَحْتَ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ أَنَّ أُخْتَهُ الْفُرَيْعَةَ بِنْتَ مَالِكٍ، قَالَتْ خَرَجَ زَوْجِي فِي طَلَبِ أَعْلاَجٍ لَهُ فَأَدْرَكَهُمْ بِطَرَفِ الْقَدُومِ فَقَتَلُوهُ فَجَاءَ نَعْىُ زَوْجِي وَأَنَا فِي دَارٍ مِنْ دُورِ الأَنْصَارِ شَاسِعَةٍ عَنْ دَارِ أَهْلِي فَأَتَيْتُ النَّبِيَّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ فَقُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ إِنَّهُ جَاءَ نَعْىُ زَوْجِي وَأَنَا فِي دَارٍ شَاسِعَةٍ عَنْ دَارِ أَهْلِي وَدَارِ إِخْوَتِي وَلَمْ يَدَعْ مَالاً يُنْفِقُ عَلَىَّ وَلاَ مَالاً وَرِثْتُهُ . وَلاَ دَارًا يَمْلِكُهَا فَإِنْ رَأَيْتَ أَنْ تَأْذَنَ لِي فَأَلْحَقَ بِدَارِ أَهْلِي وَدَارِ إِخْوَتِي فَإِنَّهُ أَحَبُّ إِلَىَّ وَأَجْمَعُ لِي فِي بَعْضِ أَمْرِي . قَالَ " فَافْعَلِي إِنْ شِئْتِ " . قَالَتْ فَخَرَجْتُ قَرِيرَةً عَيْنِي لِمَا قَضَى اللَّهُ لِي عَلَى لِسَانِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ حَتَّى إِذَا كُنْتُ فِي الْمَسْجِدِ - أَوْ فِي بَعْضِ الْحُجْرَةِ - دَعَانِي فَقَالَ " كَيْفَ زَعَمْتِ " . قَالَتْ فَقَصَصْتُ عَلَيْهِ فَقَالَ " امْكُثِي فِي بَيْتِكِ الَّذِي جَاءَ فِيهِ نَعْىُ زَوْجِكِ حَتَّى يَبْلُغَ الْكِتَابُ أَجَلَهُ " . قَالَتْ فَاعْتَدَدْتُ فِيهِ أَرْبَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ وَعَشْرًا .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us: Abu Khalid al-Ahmar, Sulayman ibn Hayyan, narrated to us, from Saʿd ibn Ishaq ibn Kaʿb ibn ʿUjrah, from Zaynab bint Kaʿb ibn ʿUjrah, who was married to Abu Saʿid al-Khudri, that his sister al-Furayʿah bint Malik said: ‘My husband went out looking for some laborers of his. He caught up with them at the edge of al-Qadum, and they killed him. News of my husband’s death reached me while I was in a house of the Ansar, far from my family’s home. I went to the Prophet and said, “Messenger of Allah, news of my husband’s death has reached me while I am in a house far from my family’s and my brothers’ homes. He left no money from which I could support myself, no inheritance for me, and no house that he owned. If you think fit to permit me, I would join my family and brothers, for that is dearer to me and would better help me manage some of my affairs.” He said, “Do so, if you wish.”’ She said: ‘I left delighted by what Allah had decreed for me through the words of His Messenger. But when I was in the mosque—or in one of the rooms—he called me and said, “What was it you claimed?” I recounted it to him, and he said, “Stay in the house where news of your husband’s death reached you until the prescribed term reaches its end.”’ She said: ‘I observed my waiting period there for four months and ten days.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The wording أَعْلاَجٍ لَهُ is rendered broadly as ‘laborers of his’; the exact status of the men is not specified here.
قَالَتْ خَرَجَ زَوْجِي فِي طَلَبِ أَعْلاَجٍ لَهُ فَأَدْرَكَهُمْ بِطَرَفِ الْقَدُومِ فَقَتَلُوهُ فَجَاءَ نَعْىُ زَوْجِي وَأَنَا فِي دَارٍ مِنْ دُورِ الأَنْصَارِ شَاسِعَةٍ عَنْ دَارِ أَهْلِي فَأَتَيْتُ النَّبِيَّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ فَقُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ إِنَّهُ جَاءَ نَعْىُ زَوْجِي وَأَنَا فِي دَارٍ شَاسِعَةٍ عَنْ دَارِ أَهْلِي وَدَارِ إِخْوَتِي وَلَمْ يَدَعْ مَالاً يُنْفِقُ عَلَىَّ وَلاَ مَالاً وَرِثْتُهُ .
The term أَعْلاَجٍ refers to men, often non-Arabs or laborers, but this brief wording does not make their precise relationship to the husband clear.
Does ‘some laborers of his’ preserve the wording without over-specifying who they were?