Sunan Ibn Majah
The Chapters on Marriage
كتاب النكاح
Chapter 59
الْوَلَدِ لِلْفِرَاشِ وَلِلْعَاهِرِ الْحَجَرُ
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: Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah narrated to us, from ʿUbaydullah ibn Abi Yazid, from his father, from ʿUmar, that the Messenger of Allah ruled that the child belongs to the marital bed.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
الولد للفراش is rendered as ‘the child belongs to the marital bed,’ preserving the legal maxim’s concise wording.
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 al-Zuhri, from Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib, from Abu Hurayrah, that the Prophet said: ‘The child belongs to the marital bed, and the adulterer gets the stone.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The phrase وللعاهر الحجر is kept close to its literal wording as a legal maxim.
وَلِلْعَاهِرِ الْحَجَرُ " .
‘The adulterer gets the stone’ is literal; الحجر may idiomatically convey that the adulterer has no claim or share, while also retaining the word ‘stone.’
Should the literal ‘stone’ remain, or should the maxim be rendered by its idiomatic sense?
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: Ismaʿil ibn ʿAyyash narrated to us: Shurahbil ibn Muslim narrated to us, saying: I heard Abu Umamah al-Bahili say: I heard the Messenger of Allah say, ‘The child belongs to the marital bed, and the adulterer gets the stone.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The phrase وللعاهر الحجر is kept close to its literal wording as a legal maxim.
يَقُولُ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ يَقُولُ " الْوَلَدُ لِلْفِرَاشِ وَلِلْعَاهِرِ الْحَجَرُ " .
‘The adulterer gets the stone’ is literal; الحجر may idiomatically convey that the adulterer has no claim or share, while also retaining the word ‘stone.’
Should the literal ‘stone’ remain, or should the maxim be rendered by its idiomatic sense?
Chapter 60
فِي الزَّوْجَيْنِ يُسْلِمُ أَحَدُهُمَا قَبْلَ الآخَرِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ahmad ibn ʿAbdah narrated to us: Hafs ibn Jumayʿ narrated to us: Simak narrated to us, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbas: A woman came to the Prophet and accepted Islam. A man then married her. Her first husband came and said, ‘Messenger of Allah, I had accepted Islam with her, and she knew that I had become Muslim.’ The Messenger of Allah took her from her other husband and returned her to her first husband.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Bakr ibn Khallad and Yahya ibn Hakim narrated to us; they said: Yazid ibn Harun narrated to us: Muhammad ibn Ishaq informed us, from Dawud ibn al-Husayn, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbas, that the Messenger of Allah returned his daughter to Abu al-ʿAs ibn al-Rabiʿ after two years, on the basis of her original marriage contract.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The phrase بِنِكَاحِهَا الأَوَّلِ is translated as ‘on the basis of her original marriage contract.’
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Kurayb narrated to us: Abu Muʿawiyah narrated to us, from Hajjaj, from ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather, that the Messenger of Allah returned his daughter Zaynab to Abu al-ʿAs ibn al-Rabiʿ with a new marriage contract.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
This wording explicitly says ‘with a new marriage contract,’ in contrast to the preceding report’s wording about her original contract.
أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ رَدَّ ابْنَتَهُ زَيْنَبَ عَلَى أَبِي الْعَاصِ بْنِ الرَّبِيعِ بِنِكَاحٍ جَدِيدٍ .
This report states a new marriage contract, whereas another report in the assigned source set says he returned her on her original contract.
Should this report’s wording be presented independently without reconciling the two accounts?
Chapter 61
الْغَيْلِ
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: Yahya ibn Ishaq narrated to us: Yahya ibn Ayyub narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Nawfal al-Qurashi, from ʿUrwah, from ʿAishah, from Judamah bint Wahb al-Asadiyyah, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah say, ‘I had intended to forbid ghayl, but I saw that the Persians and Romans practice it, yet do not kill their children.’ I also heard him say, when asked about coitus interruptus, ‘It is the hidden burial alive.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
Ghayl is retained as a transliterated term because it may refer to intercourse with a nursing woman or nursing during pregnancy; the Arabic here does not specify further.
أَنَّهَا قَالَتْ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ يَقُولُ " قَدْ أَرَدْتُ أَنْ أَنْهَى عَنِ الْغِيَالِ فَإِذَا فَارِسُ وَالرُّومُ يُغِيلُونَ فَلاَ يَقْتُلُونَ أَوْلاَدَهُمْ " .
The term الغيل has been explained in more than one related way, including intercourse with a nursing woman and nursing during pregnancy.
Should ghayl remain transliterated here, or should the translation adopt one of these explanations?
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: Yahya ibn Hamzah narrated to us, from ʿAmr ibn Muhajir, who heard his father, al-Muhajir ibn Abi Muslim, relate from Asmaʾ bint Yazid ibn al-Sakan, who was his freedwoman, that she heard the Messenger of Allah say: ‘Do not kill your children secretly. By the One in whose hand is my soul, ghayl can catch up with a horseman on the back of his horse and throw him down.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
Ghayl is left transliterated because the term has more than one related explanation, including intercourse with a nursing woman or nursing during pregnancy. The source’s horseman image is translated literally.
مَوْلاَتَهُ أَنَّهَا سَمِعَتْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ يَقُولُ " لاَ تَقْتُلُوا أَوْلاَدَكُمْ سِرًّا فَوَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ إِنَّ الْغَيْلَ لَيُدْرِكُ الْفَارِسَ عَلَى ظَهْرِ فَرَسِهِ حَتَّى يَصْرَعَهُ " .
The term الغيل has multiple related explanations, and the report does not define it here; the following image describes its possible effect as forceful and delayed.
Should ghayl remain transliterated in this report, or should one explanation be selected?
Chapter 62
فِي الْمَرْأَةِ تُؤْذِي زَوْجَهَا
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: Muʾammal narrated to us: Sufyan narrated to us, from al-Aʿmash, from Salim ibn Abi al-Jaʿd, from Abu Umamah, who said: A woman came to the Prophet with her two young children; she was carrying one and leading the other. The Messenger of Allah said, ‘Mothers who bear children and are compassionate—were it not for what they do toward their husbands, those among them who pray would enter Paradise.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The phrase لَوْلاَ مَا يَأْتِينَ إِلَى أَزْوَاجِهِنَّ is translated generally as ‘what they do toward their husbands’; the source does not state the conduct more explicitly.
قَالَ أَتَتِ النَّبِيَّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ امْرَأَةٌ مَعَهَا صَبِيَّانِ لَهَا قَدْ حَمَلَتْ أَحَدَهُمَا وَهِيَ تَقُودُ الآخَرَ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " حَامِلاَتٌ وَالِدَاتٌ رَحِيمَاتٌ لَوْلاَ مَا يَأْتِينَ إِلَى أَزْوَاجِهِنَّ دَخَلَ مُصَلِّيَاتُهُنَّ الْجَنَّةَ " .
The phrase مَا يَأْتِينَ إِلَى أَزْوَاجِهِنَّ does not spell out the conduct toward husbands; ‘what they do toward their husbands’ keeps it general.
Should this phrase stay general, or is there a clear contextual meaning to state more directly?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
ʿAbd al-Wahhab ibn al-Dahhak narrated to us: Ismaʿil ibn ʿAyyash narrated to us, from Bahir ibn Saʿd, from Khalid ibn Maʿdan, from Kathir ibn Murrah, from Muʿadh ibn Jabal, who said: The Messenger of Allah said, ‘Whenever a woman harms her husband, his wife from among the wide-eyed maidens of Paradise says, “Do not harm him—may Allah oppose you! He is only a guest with you; soon he will leave you and come to us.”’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The word دَخِيلٌ is rendered as ‘a guest’ in the sense of someone temporarily staying with her.
قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " لاَ تُؤْذِي امْرَأَةٌ زَوْجَهَا إِلاَّ قَالَتْ زَوْجَتُهُ مِنَ الْحُورِ الْعِينِ لاَ تُؤْذِيهِ قَاتَلَكِ اللَّهُ فَإِنَّمَا هُوَ عِنْدَكِ دَخِيلٌ أَوْشَكَ أَنْ يُفَارِقَكِ إِلَيْنَا " .
The word دَخِيلٌ can refer to a guest or someone temporarily present; the image is of the husband being with his earthly wife only temporarily before joining the maidens of Paradise.
Does ‘a guest with you’ convey the intended temporary presence clearly enough?
Chapter 63
لاَ يُحَرِّمُ الْحَرَامُ الْحَلاَلَ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Yahya ibn Muʿalla ibn Mansur narrated to us: Ishaq ibn Muhammad al-Farawi narrated to us: ʿAbdullah ibn ʿUmar narrated to us, from Nafiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar, from the Prophet, who said: ‘What is forbidden does not make what is lawful forbidden.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The saying is rendered as a concise legal maxim; the Arabic does not specify its application in this brief report.
عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ " لاَ يُحَرِّمُ الْحَرَامُ الْحَلاَلَ " .
The maxim لا يحرم الحرام الحلال is concise and lacks an explicit application here; its precise legal scope depends on context not stated in this report.
Should the maxim remain general as translated, or is a specific legal sense intended in this context?