Sunan Ibn Majah
The Chapters on Divorce
كتاب الطلاق
Chapter 10
الْمُطَلَّقَةِ ثَلاَثًا هَلْ لَهَا سُكْنَى وَنَفَقَةٌ
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: Jarir narrated to us, from Mughirah, from al-Shaʿbi, who said: Fatimah bint Qays said, ‘My husband divorced me three times during the Messenger of Allah’s lifetime, and the Messenger of Allah said, “You have no housing and no maintenance.”’
Chapter 11
مُتْعَةِ الطَّلاَقِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ahmad ibn al-Miqdam Abu al-Ashʿath al-ʿIjli narrated to us: ʿUbayd ibn al-Qasim narrated to us: Hisham ibn ʿUrwah narrated to us, from his father, from ʿAishah: ʿAmrah bint al-Jawn sought refuge from the Messenger of Allah when she was brought to him. He said, ‘You have sought refuge with the One who grants refuge.’ He divorced her and instructed Usamah—or Anas—to give her three Raziqi garments.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The response لَقَدْ عُذْتِ بِمُعَاذٍ is rendered to retain the wordplay between seeking refuge and the One who grants refuge. Raziqi is retained as the name of a garment type.
فَطَلَّقَهَا وَأَمَرَ أُسَامَةَ أَوْ أَنَسًا فَمَتَّعَهَا بِثَلاَثَةِ أَثْوَابٍ رَازِقِيَّةٍ .
The adjective رَازِقِيَّةٍ identifies a specific garment or fabric type that is not described further in the source.
Should ‘Raziqi garments’ remain transliterated, or should the textile type be paraphrased?
Chapter 12
الرَّجُلِ يَجْحَدُ الطَّلاَقَ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn Yahya narrated to us: ʿAmr ibn Abi Salamah Abu Hafs al-Tinnisi narrated to us, from Zuhayr, from Ibn Jurayj, from ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather, from the Prophet, who said: ‘If a woman claims that her husband divorced her and produces one upright witness for it, her husband is to be put under oath. If he swears, the witness’s testimony is invalidated; but if he refuses to swear, his refusal counts as another witness, and his divorce is established.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
نَكَلَ is rendered as refusing to take the oath; the report treats that refusal as equivalent to an additional witness.
عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ " إِذَا ادَّعَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ طَلاَقَ زَوْجِهَا فَجَاءَتْ عَلَى ذَلِكَ بِشَاهِدٍ عَدْلٍ اسْتُحْلِفَ زَوْجُهَا فَإِنْ حَلَفَ بَطَلَتْ شَهَادَةُ الشَّاهِدِ وَإِنْ نَكَلَ فَنُكُولُهُ بِمَنْزِلَةِ شَاهِدٍ آخَرَ وَجَازَ طَلاَقُهُ " .
The phrase فَنُكُولُهُ بِمَنْزِلَةِ شَاهِدٍ آخَرَ is a procedural formulation: the husband’s refusal to swear is treated as another witness.
Does ‘his refusal counts as another witness’ accurately express the procedural wording?
Chapter 13
مَنْ طَلَّقَ أَوْ نَكَحَ أَوْ رَاجَعَ لاَعِبًا
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: Hatim ibn Ismaʿil narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Habib ibn Ardak narrated to us: ʿAtaʾ ibn Abi Rabah narrated to us, from Yusuf ibn Mahak, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah said, ‘There are three matters whose serious pronouncement is serious and whose joking pronouncement is serious: marriage, divorce, and taking a wife back.’
Chapter 14
مَنْ طَلَّقَ فِي نَفْسِهِ وَلَمْ يَتَكَلَّمْ بِهِ
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: ʿAli ibn Mushir and ʿAbdah ibn Sulayman narrated to us; and Humayd ibn Masʿadah narrated to us: Khalid ibn al-Harith narrated to us. All reported from Saʿid ibn Abi ʿArubah, from Qatadah, from Zurara ibn Awfa, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah said, ‘Allah has pardoned my community for what their selves whisper to them, so long as they do not act upon it or speak of it.’
Chapter 15
طَلاَقِ الْمَعْتُوهِ وَالصَّغِيرِ وَالنَّائِمِ
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: Yazid ibn Harun narrated to us; and Muhammad ibn Khalid ibn Khidash and Muhammad ibn Yahya narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi narrated to us: Hammad ibn Salamah narrated to us, from Hammad, from Ibrahim, from al-Aswad, from ʿAishah, that the Messenger of Allah said: ‘The Pen is lifted from three: from the sleeper until he wakes, from the child until he grows up, and from the mentally incapacitated until he comes to reason or recovers.’ Abu Bakr added in his version: ‘and from the afflicted person until he recovers.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
‘The Pen is lifted’ is the source’s figurative expression for the suspension of accountability. The final wording about the afflicted person is attributed specifically to Abu Bakr’s version.
قَالَ أَبُو بَكْرٍ فِي حَدِيثِهِ " وَعَنِ الْمُبْتَلَى حَتَّى يَبْرَأَ " .
The word الْمُبْتَلَى means an afflicted or tested person, but this addition does not specify the condition.
Should ‘the afflicted person’ remain broad, or is a particular illness intended?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn Bashshar narrated to us: Rawh ibn ʿUbadah narrated to us: Ibn Jurayj narrated to us: al-Qasim ibn Yazid informed us, from ʿAli ibn Abi Talib, that the Messenger of Allah said: ‘The Pen is lifted from the child, the mentally incapacitated person, and the sleeper.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The phrase ‘the Pen is lifted’ preserves the report’s figurative expression for accountability.
Chapter 16
طَلاَقِ الْمُكْرَهِ وَالنَّاسِي
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Firyabi narrated to us: Ayyub ibn Suwayd narrated to us: Abu Bakr al-Hudhali narrated to us, from Shahr ibn Hawshab, from Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, who said: The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Allah has pardoned my community for mistakes, forgetfulness, and what they are compelled to do.’
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: Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah narrated to us, from Misʿar, from Qatadah, from Zurara ibn Awfa, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Allah has pardoned my community for what their hearts whisper, so long as they do not act upon it or speak of it, and for what they are compelled to do.’
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn al-Musaffa al-Himsi narrated to us: al-Walid ibn Muslim narrated to us: al-Awzaʿi narrated to us, from ʿAtaʾ, from Ibn ʿAbbas, from the Prophet, who said: ‘Allah has removed from my community the burden of mistakes, forgetfulness, and what they are compelled to do.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
وَضَعَ عَنْ is rendered as ‘removed the burden of,’ preserving the wording’s sense of relief.
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: ʿAbdullah ibn Numayr narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn Ishaq, from Thawr, from ʿUbayd ibn Abi Salih, from Safiyyah bint Shaybah, who said: ʿAishah told me that the Messenger of Allah said: ‘There is no divorce and no emancipation in a state of ighlaq.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
Ighlaq is retained as a transliterated term because it has been explained as coercion, intense anger, or a state in which one is mentally shut off.
أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ " لاَ طَلاَقَ وَلاَ عَتَاقَ فِي إِغْلاَقٍ " .
The term إِغْلاَقٍ has several interpretations, including coercion or extreme anger that closes off judgment; this report does not define it.
Should ighlaq remain transliterated, or should one interpretation such as coercion be used?
Chapter 17
لاَ طَلاَقَ قَبْلَ النِّكَاحِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Kurayb narrated to us: Hushaim narrated to us: ʿAmir al-Ahwal informed us; and Abu Kurayb narrated to us: Hatim ibn Ismaʿil narrated to us, from ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn al-Harith. Both reported from ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather, that the Messenger of Allah said: ‘There is no divorce regarding what one does not possess.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The legal maxim is translated literally; the object of possession is left unstated in the Arabic.
أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ " لاَ طَلاَقَ فِيمَا لاَ يَمْلِكُ " .
The phrase فِيمَا لاَ يَمْلِكُ means ‘in what one does not possess,’ but does not name the object being possessed in this short report.
Should the maxim remain general, or should ‘a wife’ be supplied from its likely legal context?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ahmad ibn Saʿid al-Darimi narrated to us: ʿAli ibn al-Husayn ibn Waqid narrated to us: Hisham ibn Saʿd narrated to us, from al-Zuhri, from ʿUrwah, from al-Miswar ibn Makhramah, from the Prophet, who said: ‘There is no divorce before marriage and no emancipation before ownership.’
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn Yahya narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Razzaq narrated to us: Maʿmar informed us, from Juwaybir, from al-Dahhak, from al-Nazzal ibn Sabrah, from ʿAli ibn Abi Talib, from the Prophet, who said: ‘There is no divorce before marriage.’
Chapter 18
مَا يَقَعُ بِهِ الطَّلاَقُ مِنَ الْكَلاَمِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Ibrahim al-Dimashqi narrated to us: al-Walid ibn Muslim narrated to us: al-Awzaʿi narrated to us, saying: I asked al-Zuhri, ‘Which of the Prophet’s wives sought refuge from him?’ He said: ʿUrwah informed me, from ʿAishah, that when the daughter of al-Jawn entered upon the Messenger of Allah and he approached her, she said, ‘I seek refuge in Allah from you.’ The Messenger of Allah said, ‘You have sought refuge in the Almighty. Go back to your family.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The response عُذْتِ بِعَظِيمٍ is rendered as ‘You have sought refuge in the Almighty,’ retaining the verbal echo of her invocation.
Chapter 19
طَلاَقِ الْبَتَّةِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah and ʿAli ibn Muhammad narrated to us; they said: Wakiʿ narrated to us, from Jarir ibn Hazim, from al-Zubayr ibn Saʿid, from ʿAbdullah ibn ʿAli ibn Yazid ibn Rukanah, from his father, from his grandfather, that he divorced his wife irrevocably. He came to the Messenger of Allah, who asked him, ‘What did you intend by it?’ He said, ‘One divorce.’ The Prophet asked, ‘By Allah, did you intend by it nothing but one?’ He said, ‘By Allah, I intended nothing but one.’ So he returned her to him. Muhammad ibn Majah said: I heard Abu al-Hasan ʿAli ibn Muhammad al-Tanafisi say, ‘How excellent this hadith is!’ Ibn Majah said: ‘Abu ʿUbayd left it aside, and Ahmad was apprehensive about it.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report includes Ibn Majah’s comments after the narration; these are rendered as part of the source text. The phrase الْبَتَّةَ is translated as ‘irrevocably.’
أَنَّهُ طَلَّقَ امْرَأَتَهُ الْبَتَّةَ فَأَتَى رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ فَسَأَلَهُ فَقَالَ " مَا أَرَدْتَ بِهَا " .
The term الْبَتَّةَ can describe an irrevocable or final divorce, while the man says he intended only one; the report does not further explain the formula.
Does ‘divorced his wife irrevocably’ preserve the term without deciding its legal effect?
قَالَ ابْنُ مَاجَهْ أَبُو عُبَيْدٍ تَرَكَهُ نَاحِيَةً وَأَحْمَدُ جَبُنَ عَنْهُ .
The phrase وَأَحْمَدُ جَبُنَ عَنْهُ literally says Ahmad was afraid or held back from it; ‘was apprehensive about it’ leaves the reason unstated.
Does ‘Ahmad was apprehensive about it’ best preserve the brief editorial comment?
Chapter 20
الرَّجُلُ يُخَيِّرُ امْرَأَتَهُ
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 Muʿawiyah narrated to us, from al-Aʿmash, from Muslim, from Masruq, from ʿAishah, who said: ‘The Messenger of Allah gave us the choice, and we chose him. We did not regard it as anything.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The final phrase فَلَمْ نَرَهُ شَيْئًا is rendered literally; the object of ‘regard’ is not explicit in this short text.
فَلَمْ نَرَهُ شَيْئًا .
The pronoun in فَلَمْ نَرَهُ شَيْئًا refers back to an unstated matter; the text does not explicitly say whether they mean they did not count it as a divorce or considered the choice insignificant.
Should ‘We did not regard it as anything’ remain general, or should a specific referent be supplied?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn Yahya narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Razzaq narrated to us: Maʿmar informed us, from al-Zuhri, from ʿUrwah, from ʿAishah, who said: When the verse ‘And if you desire Allah and His Messenger…’ was revealed, the Messenger of Allah came to me and said, ‘ʿAishah, I am going to tell you something. You need not hurry about it until you consult your parents.’ She said, ‘By Allah, he knew that my parents would never tell me to part from him.’ She said: He recited to me, ‘O Prophet, say to your wives: If you desire the life of this world and its adornment…’ and the verses that follow. I said, ‘About this should I consult my parents? I have chosen Allah and His Messenger.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
Only the opening phrase of the first verse and the beginning of the next verse are quoted in this source; the text then says ‘the verses.’
Chapter 21
كَرَاهِيَةِ الْخُلْعِ لِلْمَرْأَةِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Bakr ibn Khalaf Abu Bishr narrated to us: Abu ʿAsim narrated to us, from Jaʿfar ibn Yahya ibn Thawban, from his paternal uncle, ʿUmarah ibn Thawban, from ʿAtaʾ, from Ibn ʿAbbas, that the Prophet said: ‘A woman should not ask her husband for divorce without due cause, lest she fail to smell the fragrance of Paradise—for its fragrance can be sensed from a distance of forty years.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The term كُنْهِهِ is rendered as ‘due cause’; it refers to the proper or real basis for seeking divorce.
أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ " لاَ تَسْأَلُ الْمَرْأَةُ زَوْجَهَا الطَّلاَقَ فِي غَيْرِ كُنْهِهِ فَتَجِدَ رِيحَ الْجَنَّةِ .
The phrase فِي غَيْرِ كُنْهِهِ is concise; it means without the matter’s proper basis or genuine cause, but does not specify what would count as sufficient cause.
Does ‘without due cause’ capture this phrase without narrowing the grounds?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ahmad ibn al-Azhar narrated to us: Muhammad ibn al-Fadl narrated to us, from Hammad ibn Zayd, from Ayyub, from Abu Qilabah, from Abu Asmaʾ, from Thawban, who said: The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Any woman who asks her husband for divorce without a genuine cause will be forbidden the fragrance of Paradise.’