Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 1902
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا وَكِيعٌ، عَنْ هِشَامِ بْنِ عُرْوَةَ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ زَيْنَبَ بِنْتِ أُمِّ سَلَمَةَ، عَنْ أُمِّ سَلَمَةَ، أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ دَخَلَ عَلَيْهَا فَسَمِعَ مُخَنَّثًا وَهُوَ يَقُولُ لِعَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ أَبِي أُمَيَّةَ إِنْ يَفْتَحِ اللَّهُ الطَّائِفَ غَدًا دَلَلْتُكَ عَلَى امْرَأَةٍ تُقْبِلُ بِأَرْبَعٍ وَتُدْبِرُ بِثَمَانٍ . فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " أَخْرِجُوهُ مِنْ بُيُوتِكُمْ " .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Zaynab bint Umm Salamah reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) came to her mother, Umm Salamah, and heard an effeminate man saying to Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah, ‘If Allah grants victory at Taif tomorrow, I will point you to a woman who comes forward with four and turns away with eight.’ The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, ‘Expel him from your homes.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The description ‘comes forward with four and turns away with eight’ is preserved literally; its intended physical meaning is not made explicit in the report.
أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ دَخَلَ عَلَيْهَا فَسَمِعَ مُخَنَّثًا وَهُوَ يَقُولُ لِعَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ أَبِي أُمَيَّةَ إِنْ يَفْتَحِ اللَّهُ الطَّائِفَ غَدًا دَلَلْتُكَ عَلَى امْرَأَةٍ تُقْبِلُ بِأَرْبَعٍ وَتُدْبِرُ بِثَمَانٍ .
The expression tuqbilu bi-arba‘ wa-tudbiru bi-thaman (‘comes forward with four and turns away with eight’) is a figurative physical description whose exact meaning is unclear.
What physical features are being described by ‘four’ and ‘eight’?