Marriage

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Said ibn al-Musayyab said, "The muhsanat among women are those who have husbands."That referred to the fact that Allah has made fornication haram.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab, and he had heardfrom al-Qasim ibn Muhammad that they said, "When a free man marries aslave-girl and consummates the marriage, she makes him muhsan."

Malik said, "All (of the people of knowledge) I have seen saidthat a slave-girl makes a free man muhsan when he marries her andconsummates the marriage."

Malik said, "A slave makes a freewoman muhsana when he consummates a marriage with her and a free womanonly makes a slave muhsan when he is freed and he is her husband andhas had sexual relations with her after he has been set free. If heparts from her before he is free, he is not a muhsan unless he marriesher after having been set free and he consummates the marriage."

Malik said, "When a slave-girl is married to a free man and thenhe separates from her before she is set free, his marriage to her doesnot make her muhsana. She is not muhsana until she has married aftershe has been set free and she has had intercourse with her husband.That gives her ihsan. If she is the wife of a freeman and then she isset free while she is his wife before he separates from her, the manmakes her muhsana if he has intercourse with her after she has beenset free."

Malik said, "The christian and jewish free womenand the muslim slave-girl all make a muslim free man muhsan when hemarries one of them and has intercourse with her."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Abdullah andHasan, the sons of Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib from their ather,mayAllah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, forbade temporary marriage with womenand the flesh of domestic donkeys on the Day of Khaybar.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Urwa ibn az-Zubayr that Khawla ibn Hakim came to Umar ibn al-Khattab and said,''Rabia ibn Umayya made a temporary marriage with a woman and she ispregnant by him.'' Umar ibn al-Khattab went out in dismay dragging hiscloak, saying, "This temporary marriage, had I come across it, I wouldhave ordered stoning and done away with it! "

Yahya related to me from Malik that he heard Rabia ibn Abd ar-Rahman say that a slave could marry four women.

Malik said,"This is the best of what I have heard about the matter."

Malik said, "The slave differs with the muhallil if the slave is givenpermission by his master for his ex-wife. If his master does not givehim permission, he separates them. The muhallil is separated in anycase if he intends to make the woman halal by marriage."

Malik said, "When a slave is owned by his wife or a husband owns hiswife, the possession of each of them is rendered void without divorce.If a man, for instance, is married to a slave-girl, and then he buysher, he must divorce her as a matter of course. They can then re-marry. If they re-marry afterwards, that separation was not divorce."

Malik said, "When a slave is freed by his wife who owns himand she is in the idda-period from him, they can only return to eachother after she has made another marriage."

Malik related to me from Ibn Shihab that he had heard that in thetime of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace, women were becoming muslim in their own lands and they did notdo hijra while their husbands were still kafirun although theythemselves had become muslim. Among them was the daughter of al-Walidibn al-Mughira and she was the wife of Safwan ibn Umayya. She becamemuslim on the day of the conquest (of Makka), and her husband, Safwanibn Umayya fled from Islam. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah blesshim and grant him peace, sent Safwan's paternal cousin, Wahb ibn Umayrwith the cloak of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace, as a safe-conduct for Safwan ibn Umayya, and theMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, calledhim to Islam and asked for him to come to him and if he was pleasedwith the matter to accept it. If not he would have a respite for twomonths.

When Safwan came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, with his cloak, he called out to himover the heads of the people, "Muhammad! Wahb ibn Umayr brought meyour cloak and claimed that you had summoned me to come to you and ifI was pleased with the matter, I should accept it and if not, youwould give me a respite for two months. "The Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Come down, Abu Wahb." Hesaid, "No, by Allah! I will not come down until you make it clear tome." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,said, "You have a respite of four months." The Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, went out toward Hawazin atHunayn. He sent to Safwan ibn Umayya to borrow some equipment and armsthat he had. Safwan said, "Willingly or unwillingly?" He said,"Willingly." Therefore he lent him the equipment and arms which hehad. Then Safwan went out with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah blesshim and grant him peace, while he was still a kafir. He was present atthe battles of Hunayn and at-Ta'if while he was still a kafir and hiswife was a muslim. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace, did not separate Safwan and his wife until he hadbecome muslim, and his wife was settled with him by that marriage.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Ibn Shihab said, "Between theIslam of Safwan and the Islam of his wife there was about one month."

Ibn Shihab said, "We have not heard about any woman doinghijra for Allah and His Messenger while her husband was a kafirabiding in the land of kufr, but that her hijra separated her and herhusband unless her husband came in hijra before her period of idda hadbeen completed."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Umm Hakimbint al-Harith ibn Hisham who was the wife of Ikrima ibn Abi Jahlbecame muslim on the day of the conquest of Makka, and her husbandIkrima fled from Islam as far as the Yemen. Umm Hakim set out afterhim until she came to him in the Yemen and she called him to Islam,and he became muslim. He went to the Messenger of Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, in the year of the conquest. When theMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saw him,he rushed to him in joy and did not bother to put on his cloak untilhe had made the pledge with him. They were confirmed in theirmarriage.

Malik said, "If a man becomes muslim before hiswife, a separation occurs between them when he presents Islam to herand she does not become muslim, because Allah, the Blessed, theExalted, said in His Book, 'Do not hold fast to the ties of women whoare kafirun.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Humayd at-Tawil from Anas ibnMalik that Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf came to the Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, and he had a traceof yellow onhim. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,asked about it. He told him that he had just been married. TheMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,"How much did you hand over to her?" He said, "The weight of a datepit in gold." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and granthim peace, said to him, "Hold a feast, even if it is only with asheep.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Yahya ibn Said said, "I haveheard that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace, held a wedding feast in which there was neither meat norbread."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi from Abdullah ibn Umarthat the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,said, "When you are invited to a wedding feast, you must go to it."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibr. Shihab from al-Araj thatAbu Hurayra said, "The worst food is the food of a wedding feast towhich the rich are invited and the poor are left out. If anyonerejects an invitation, he has rebelled against Allah and HisMessenger."

Yahya related to me from Malik that Ishaq ibn Abdullah ibn AbiTalha heard Anas ibn Malik say that a certain tailor invited theMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to eatsome food which he had prepared.

Anas said, "I went with theMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to eatthe food. He served barley bread and a soup with pumpkin in it. I sawthe Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, goingafter the pumpkin around the dish, so I have always liked pumpkinsince that day."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam that theMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,"When you marry a woman or buy a slave-girl, take her by the forelockand ask for baraka. When you buy a camel, take the top of its hump,and seek refuge with Allah from Shaytan."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z-Zubayr al-Makki thatsomebody asked a man for his sister in marriage and the man mentionedthat she had committed fornication. Umar ibn al-Khattab heard about itand he beat the man or almost beat him, and said, "What did you meanby giving him such information?"

Yahya related to me from Malik from Rabia ibn Abi Abd ar-Rahmanthat al-Qasim ibn Muhammad and Urwa ibn az-Zubayr said that a man whohad four wives and then divorced one of them irrevocably, could marrystraightaway if he wished, and he did not have to wait for thecompletion of her idda.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Rabia ibn Abd ar-Rahman thatal-Qasim ibn Muhammad and Urwa ibn az-Zubayr gave the same judgementto al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik in the year of his arrival in Madinaexcept that al-Qasim ibn Muhammad said that he divorced his wife onvarious occasions. (i.e. not at one time).

marriage, divorce, and setting free."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Rafi ibnKhadij married the daughter of Muhammad ibn Maslama al-Ansari. She waswith him until she grew older, and then he married a young girl andpreferred the young girl to her. She begged him to divorce her, so hedivorced her and then he gave her time until she had almost finishedher idda period and then he returned and still preferred the younggirl. She therefore asked him to divorce her. He divorced her once,and then returned to her, and still preferred the young girl, and sheasked him to divorce her. He said, "What do you want? There is onlyone divorce left. If you like, continue and put up with what you seeof preference, and if you like, I will separate from you." She said,"I will continue in spite of the preference." He kept her in spite ofthat. Rafi did not see that he had done any wrong action when sheremained with him in spite of preference.