Sunan Ibn Majah
The Chapters on Marriage
كتاب النكاح
Chapter 23
تَهْنِئَةِ النِّكَاحِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Hurairah reported that when the Prophet (ﷺ) congratulated a newly married couple, he said: ‘May Allah bless you, bestow blessings upon you, and bring you together in goodness.’
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Aqil ibn Abi Talib married a woman from Banu Jusham, and people said to him, ‘May you live in harmony and have sons.’ He said, ‘Do not say that. Rather, say what the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “O Allah, bless them and bestow blessings upon them.”’
Chapter 24
الْوَلِيمَةِ
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Anas ibn Malik reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) saw a yellow mark on Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf and asked, ‘What is this?’ He replied, ‘Messenger of Allah, I have married a woman for a gold dower weighing as much as a date stone.’ The Prophet said, ‘May Allah bless you. Hold a wedding feast, even if with one sheep.’
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Anas ibn Malik said: I never saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) hold a wedding feast for any of his wives as lavish as the one he held for Zaynab; he slaughtered a sheep.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Anas ibn Malik reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) held a wedding feast for Safiyyah with sawiq and dates.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
Sawiq is a roasted grain preparation, usually ground into flour and mixed with liquid.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Anas ibn Malik said: I attended a wedding feast for the Prophet (ﷺ) at which there was neither meat nor bread. Ibn Majah said: Ibn Uyaynah alone transmitted this report.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Aishah and Umm Salamah said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) ordered us to prepare Fatimah so that we could bring her to Ali. We went to the house and spread soft earth from the outskirts of al-Batha‘ on the floor. We stuffed two cushions with palm fiber and fluffed it with our hands. We served dates and raisins and gave them fresh water. We set a pole along the side of the house so that a garment could be hung over it and a water-skin suspended from it. We saw no wedding better than Fatimah’s wedding.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
Al-Batha‘ is a place name for a sandy area near Mecca/Medina; it is retained in transliteration.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Sahl ibn Sa‘d al-Sa‘idi said: Abu Usayd al-Sa‘idi invited the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) to his wedding, and the bride served the guests. She said, ‘Do you know what I gave the Messenger of Allah to drink? I soaked some dates overnight, then strained them in the morning and served him their drink.’
Chapter 25
إِجَابَةِ الدَّاعِي
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Hurairah said: ‘The worst food is the food of a wedding feast to which the rich are invited while the poor are left out. Whoever does not accept an invitation has disobeyed Allah and His Messenger.’
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘When one of you is invited to a wedding feast, let him accept the invitation.’
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The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘The wedding feast on the first day is a duty; on the second day it is an accepted custom; and on the third day it is showing off and seeking a reputation.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The word ma‘ruf can mean something recognized as good or customary; ‘accepted custom’ is used here.
قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " الْوَلِيمَةُ أَوَّلَ يَوْمٍ حَقٌّ وَالثَّانِي مَعْرُوفٌ وَالثَّالِثُ رِيَاءٌ وَسُمْعَةٌ " .
The precise nuance of ma‘ruf for the second day is not specified beyond its general sense of recognized good/custom.
Should ma‘ruf here mean customary/acceptable or an act of kindness?
Chapter 26
الإِقَامَةِ عَلَى الْبِكْرِ وَالثَّيِّبِ
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The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘A previously married bride has three nights, and a virgin bride has seven.’
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Umm Salamah reported that when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) married her, he stayed with her for three nights and said, ‘Your family is not slighting you. If you wish, I will stay with you for seven; and if I stay with you for seven, I will stay with my other wives for seven as well.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The phrase laysa biki ‘ala ahlika hawān is rendered literally as ‘your family is not slighting you’; its contextual force is unclear.
أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ لَمَّا تَزَوَّجَ أُمَّ سَلَمَةَ أَقَامَ عِنْدَهَا ثَلاَثًا وَقَالَ " لَيْسَ بِكِ عَلَى أَهْلِكِ هَوَانٌ إِنْ شِئْتِ سَبَّعْتُ لَكِ وَإِنْ سَبَّعْتُ لَكِ سَبَّعْتُ لِنِسَائِي " .
The expression laysa biki ‘ala ahlika hawān is unusual and its intended reassurance is unclear from the wording alone.
Is the sense that Umm Salamah’s family is not treating her as insignificant, or that she need not feel slighted by them?
Chapter 27
مَا يَقُولُ الرَّجُلُ إِذَا دَخَلَتْ عَلَيْهِ أَهْلُهُ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘When one of you acquires a woman, a servant, or a riding animal, let him take hold of its forelock and say: “O Allah, I ask You for her/its good and the good of the disposition You created in her/it, and I seek refuge in You from her/its evil and the evil of the disposition You created in her/it.”’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic pronouns are feminine and apply grammatically across the listed items, including the servant and riding animal.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘If, when one of you approaches his wife, he says, “O Allah, keep Satan away from me and keep Satan away from what You provide for me,” and a child is born to them, Allah will not allow Satan to gain power over the child—or, in another wording, will not let Satan harm him.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source gives two alternative wordings: Satan will not be given power over the child, or Satan will not harm him.
عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ " لَوْ أَنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ إِذَا أَتَى امْرَأَتَهُ قَالَ اللَّهُمَّ جَنِّبْنِي الشَّيْطَانَ وَجَنِّبِ الشَّيْطَانَ مَا رَزَقْتَنِي ثُمَّ كَانَ بَيْنَهُمَا وَلَدٌ لَمْ يُسَلِّطِ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ الشَّيْطَانَ - أَوْ لَمْ يَضُرَّهُ - " .
The report gives two alternatives for the result: Allah will not give Satan power over the child, or Satan will not harm the child.
Are these intended as equivalent explanations or as distinct variant wordings?
Chapter 28
التَّسَتُّرِ عِنْدَ الْجِمَاعِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
The narrator said: I asked, ‘Messenger of Allah, what should we cover of our private parts, and what may we leave uncovered?’ He replied, ‘Guard your private parts except from your wife or those whom your right hand possesses.’ I asked, ‘Messenger of Allah, what if people are among one another?’ He replied, ‘If you can keep anyone from seeing them, then do so.’ I asked, ‘What if one of us is alone?’ He replied, ‘Allah is more deserving that you feel modesty before Him than people are.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The question about people being ‘among one another’ is rendered literally as a situation where people are together.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘When one of you approaches his wife, let him cover himself and not strip naked like two donkeys.’
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Aishah said: ‘I never looked at—or, according to another wording, never saw—the private parts of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).’ Abu Bakr said: Abu Nu‘aym transmitted it through a female client of Aishah.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source gives two verb choices, ‘looked at’ and ‘saw,’ and a variant in the chain: an unnamed client of Aishah, identified by Abu Nu‘aym as a female client.
Chapter 29
النَّهْىِ عَنْ إِتْيَانِ النِّسَاءِ، فِي أَدْبَارِهِنَّ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘Allah will not look upon a man who has anal intercourse with his wife.’
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Allah is not shy of the truth.’ He said it three times, then added: ‘Do not approach women through their anuses.’