Sunan Ibn Majah

Sunan Ibn Majah 1985

The Chapters on Marriage Search within the hadiths
Sunan Ibn Majah 1985
Arabic hadith text

حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الصَّبَّاحِ، أَنْبَأَنَا سُفْيَانُ بْنُ عُيَيْنَةَ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عُمَرَ، عَنْ إِيَاسِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ أَبِي ذُبَابٍ، قَالَ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ ‏ "‏ لاَ تَضْرِبُوا إِمَاءَ اللَّهِ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ فَجَاءَ عُمَرُ إِلَى النَّبِيِّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ فَقَالَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ قَدْ ذَئِرَ النِّسَاءُ عَلَى أَزْوَاجِهِنَّ فَأْمُرْ بِضَرْبِهِنَّ ‏.‏ فَضُرِبْنَ فَطَافَ بِآلِ مُحَمَّدٍ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ طَائِفُ نِسَاءٍ كَثِيرٍ فَلَمَّا أَصْبَحَ قَالَ ‏"‏ لَقَدْ طَافَ اللَّيْلَةَ بِآلِ مُحَمَّدٍ سَبْعُونَ امْرَأَةً كُلُّ امْرَأَةٍ تَشْتَكِي زَوْجَهَا فَلاَ تَجِدُونَ أُولَئِكَ خِيَارَكُمْ ‏"‏ ‏.‏

Translation

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Muhammad ibn al-Sabbah narrated to us: Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah informed us, from al-Zuhri, from ʿAbdullah ibn ʿAbdullah ibn ʿUmar, from Iyas ibn ʿAbdullah ibn Abi Dhubab, who said: The Prophet said, ‘Do not strike the women servants of Allah.’ Then ʿUmar came to the Prophet and said, ‘Messenger of Allah, women have become bold toward their husbands,’ and he ordered that they be struck. They were struck, and many women came around the household of Muhammad. When morning came, he said, ‘Seventy women came around the household of Muhammad last night, each complaining of her husband. You will not find those men among the best of you.’

Notes and open questions — unreviewed

  • The phrase ذئر النساء على أزواجهن is rendered as ‘women have become bold toward their husbands’; its precise shade can also be understood as becoming defiant toward them.

  • ‏ فَجَاءَ عُمَرُ إِلَى النَّبِيِّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ فَقَالَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ قَدْ ذَئِرَ النِّسَاءُ عَلَى أَزْوَاجِهِنَّ فَأْمُرْ بِضَرْبِهِنَّ ‏.

    The precise nuance of ذئر النساء is uncertain; ‘become bold’ may understate the sense of becoming defiant toward their husbands.

    Would ‘become defiant toward their husbands’ better convey the phrase here?