Sunan Ibn Majah
The Chapters on Marriage
كتاب النكاح
Chapter 37
لاَ رِضَاعَ بَعْدَ فِصَالٍ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Aishah reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) came in while a man was with her and asked, ‘Who is this?’ She replied, ‘He is my brother.’ He said, ‘Be careful whom you allow to come in to you, for breastfeeding counts only when it is due to hunger.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The phrase al-rada‘ah min al-maja‘ah literally says breastfeeding is ‘from hunger’; the report does not further explain its scope.
قَالَ " انْظُرُوا مَنْ تُدْخِلْنَ عَلَيْكُنَّ فَإِنَّ الرَّضَاعَةَ مِنَ الْمَجَاعَةِ " .
The phrase ‘breastfeeding is from hunger’ is concise and does not specify the exact age or legal scope in this report.
Should the phrase be rendered literally or expanded to specify infant feeding?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Breastfeeding counts only when it opens the intestines.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report uses the figurative phrase fataqa al-am‘a’ (‘opens the intestines’) without further explanation.
أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ " لاَ رَضَاعَ إِلاَّ مَا فَتَقَ الأَمْعَاءَ " .
The expression ‘opens the intestines’ is figurative, with no clarification of its precise physiological or legal meaning in this report.
Should this be rendered literally or interpreted as feeding that nourishes the child?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Zaynab bint Abi Salamah reported that all the wives of the Prophet (ﷺ) disagreed with Aishah and refused to allow anyone to visit them through breastfeeding like that of Salim, the client of Abu Hudhayfah. They said, ‘How do we know? Perhaps that was a concession granted to Salim alone.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report describes the other wives’ position concerning the case of Salim; it does not state that they disputed the report’s wording.
Chapter 38
لَبَنِ الْفَحْلِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Aishah said: My uncle through breastfeeding, Aflaḥ ibn Abi Qays, came and asked permission to enter after the veiling rules had been instituted. I refused to let him in until the Prophet (ﷺ) came to me and said, ‘He is your uncle, so let him enter.’ I said, ‘The woman breastfed me; the man did not.’ He replied, ‘May your hands be covered with dust—or your right hand.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The closing expression taribat yadaki is an idiom, retained literally; the source gives ‘your hands’ or ‘your right hand.’
فَقُلْتُ إِنَّمَا أَرْضَعَتْنِي الْمَرْأَةُ وَلَمْ يُرْضِعْنِي الرَّجُلُ قَالَ " تَرِبَتْ يَدَاكِ أَوْ يَمِينُكِ " .
Taribat yadaki is an idiomatic expression whose force is not straightforwardly literal; the source also gives an alternative, ‘or your right hand.’
Should the idiom be rendered literally or with an English equivalent?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Aishah said: My uncle through breastfeeding came and asked permission to enter. I refused to let him in, but the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, ‘Let your uncle come in.’ I said, ‘The woman breastfed me; the man did not.’ He said, ‘He is your uncle, so let him come in.’
Chapter 39
الرَّجُلِ يُسْلِمُ وَعِنْدَهُ أُخْتَانِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Al-Daylami said: I came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) while I had two sisters whom I had married during the pre-Islamic period. He said, ‘When you return, divorce one of them.’
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Al-Dahhak ibn Fayruz al-Daylami reported from his father: I came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, ‘Messenger of Allah, I have accepted Islam while I have two sisters as wives.’ The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) told me, ‘Divorce whichever one of them you wish.’
Chapter 40
الرَّجُلِ يُسْلِمُ وَعِنْدَهُ أَكْثَرُ مِنْ أَرْبَعِ نِسْوَةٍ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Qays ibn al-Harith said: I accepted Islam while I had eight wives. I came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and told him about it. He said, ‘Choose four of them.’
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ibn Umar said: Ghailan ibn Salamah accepted Islam while he had ten wives. The Prophet (ﷺ) told him, ‘Keep four of them.’
Chapter 41
الشَّرْطِ فِي النِّكَاحِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘The condition most deserving of fulfillment is the one by which you made sexual relations lawful.’
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: ‘Whatever is given as a bridal dower, a gift, or a present before the marriage contract belongs to her; whatever is given after the marriage contract belongs to the person to whom it was given or gifted. The person a man most deserves to honor is his daughter or sister.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic uses separate terms for bridal dower, a gift, and a present; the distinction is retained.
Chapter 42
الرَّجُلِ يَعْتِقُ أَمَتَهُ ثُمَّ يَتَزَوَّجُهَا
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Musa reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Whoever has an enslaved woman, educates her and does so well, teaches her and does so well, then frees her and marries her will have two rewards. Any man from the People of the Book who believes in his prophet and then believes in Muhammad will have two rewards. Any enslaved person who fulfills Allah’s due upon him and the due of his masters will have two rewards.’ Salih said: Al-Sha‘bi said, ‘I have given this to you for nothing; a rider would travel to Medina for less than that.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The final remark is attributed to al-Sha‘bi by Salih and appears to praise the value of the report; ‘for less than that’ leaves the comparison unstated in the source.
إِنْ كَانَ الرَّاكِبُ لَيَرْكَبُ فِيمَا دُونَهَا إِلَى الْمَدِينَةِ .
The comparison ‘a rider would travel to Medina for less than that’ does not specify what ‘that’ refers to.
Does ‘that’ refer to the report’s value or to a smaller reward or distance?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Anas said: Safiyyah first became Dihyah al-Kalbi’s share, then later became the Messenger of Allah’s (ﷺ). He married her and made her emancipation her bridal dower. Hammad said: Abd al-Aziz asked Thabit, ‘Abu Muhammad, did you ask Anas what bridal dower he gave her?’ He replied, ‘He gave her herself.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report states that the Prophet made Safiyyah’s emancipation her bridal dower; Thabit paraphrases this as giving her herself.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Aishah reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) freed Safiyyah, made her emancipation her bridal dower, and married her.
Chapter 43
تَزْوِيجِ الْعَبْدِ بِغَيْرِ إِذْنِ سَيِّدِهِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ibn Umar said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘If an enslaved man marries without his master’s permission, he is an adulterer.’
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ibn Umar said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Any enslaved person who marries without the permission of his masters is an adulterer.’
Chapter 44
النَّهْىِ عَنْ نِكَاحِ الْمُتْعَةِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ali ibn Abi Talib reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade temporary marriage on the day of Khaybar and the meat of domesticated donkeys.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Rabi‘ ibn Sabrah reported from his father: We went out with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) on the Farewell Pilgrimage. They said, ‘Messenger of Allah, being without wives has become difficult for us.’ He said, ‘Seek temporary enjoyment with these women.’ We approached them, but they refused to marry us unless we set a term between us and them. They mentioned this to the Prophet, and he said, ‘Set a term between yourselves and them.’ My cousin and I went out. He had a cloak and I had a cloak; his cloak was better than mine, but I was younger than he was. We met a woman, and she said, ‘A cloak in exchange for a cloak.’ I married her and stayed with her that night. The next morning I went out, and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was standing between the Corner and the Door, saying, ‘People, I had permitted you to seek temporary enjoyment with women. But Allah has now forbidden it until the Day of Resurrection. Whoever has any of these women with him, let her go, and do not take back anything you gave them.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report gives a temporary term for the marriage and then states that the Prophet announced its prohibition until the Day of Resurrection.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ibn Umar said: When Umar ibn al-Khattab became caliph, he addressed the people and said, ‘The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) permitted temporary marriage for us for three [days], then forbade it. By Allah, I will not find anyone engaging in temporary marriage while muhsan except that I will stone him, unless he brings me four witnesses who testify that the Messenger of Allah made it lawful after he had forbidden it.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source says ‘for three’ without stating the unit. Muhsan is retained because its precise legal nuance in this context is not fully expressed by a single English word.
قَالَ لَمَّا وَلِيَ عُمَرُ بْنُ الْخَطَّابِ خَطَبَ النَّاسَ فَقَالَ إِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ أَذِنَ لَنَا فِي الْمُتْعَةِ ثَلاَثًا ثُمَّ حَرَّمَهَا وَاللَّهِ لاَ أَعْلَمُ أَحَدًا تَمَتَّعَ وَهُوَ مُحْصَنٌ إِلاَّ رَجَمْتُهُ بِالْحِجَارَةِ إِلاَّ أَنْ يَأْتِيَنِي بِأَرْبَعَةٍ يَشْهَدُونَ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ أَحَلَّهَا بَعْدَ إِذْ حَرَّمَهَا .
The term muhsan can denote a person who is married or otherwise legally protected/chaste; the report gives no further definition.
Should muhsan here be rendered ‘married,’ ‘chaste,’ or ‘legally protected’?
Chapter 45
الْمُحْرِمِ يَتَزَوَّجُ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Maymunah bint al-Harith reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) married her while he was in a state of lawful release, not ihram. The narrator said: She was my maternal aunt and the maternal aunt of Ibn Abbas.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source says the Prophet was halal (‘in a lawful state’); this is rendered as being outside the state of ihram.