Abu Huraira told that when God’s Messenger was asked which woman was best he replied, “The one who pleases [her husband] when he looks at her, obeys him when he gives a command, and does not go against his wishes regarding her person or property by doing anything of which he disapproves.” Nasa’i and Baihaqi, in Shu'ab al-iman, transmitted it.

The Prophet used to spend time with Zainab daughter of Jahsh and that he once drank honey at her house, so Hafsa and she agreed that the one whom the Prophet visited first should say, “I notice that you have an odour of the gum of the mimosa.* Have you eaten some?” When he visited one of them and she said that to him he replied, “Don’t worry; I drank some honey at the house of Zainab daughter of Jahsh, but I swear that I shall not do it again. Do not tell anyone of that.” [He said this] desiring to please his wives, and then there came down, “O prophet, why do you hold to be forbidden what God has made lawful for you, desiring to please your wives? (Al-Qur’an 66:1).*Maghafir; plural of Mughfur, is here used. It is the gum of a kind of mimosa called ‘urfut, the odour of which is unpleasant.(Bukhari and Muslim.)

Thauban reported God's Messenger as saying, “If any woman asks her husband for divorce without some strong reason the odour of paradise will be forbidden to her.” Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah and Darimi transmitted it.

a sleeper till he awakes, a boy till he reaches puberty, and an idiot till he is restored to reason.” Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud transmitted it. Darimi transmitted it on the authority of 'A’isha, and Ibn Majah on the authority of both (i.e. ‘Ali and ‘A’isha’)

Mu'adh b. Jabal told that God’s Messenger said to him, “Mu'adh, God has created nothing on the face of the earth dearer to Him than emancipation, and God has created nothing on the face of the earth more hateful to Him than divorce.” Daraqutni transmitted it.

Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah and Darimi transmitted something similar on the authority of Sulaiman b. Yasar quoting Salama b. Sakhr who said, “I was a man who was more given than others to sexual intercourse.”Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah and Darimi transmitted.The version of Abu Dawud and Darimi has, “Feed sixty poor people with a camel-load of dates.

Sulaiman b. Yasar on the authority of Salama b. Sakhr, reported the Prophet as saying about one who vows to make his wife like his mother’s back and has intercourse with her before making atonement, “There is one atonement.”** Atonement for breaking the vow should be made before doing so, but if the vow is broken then the same atonement is enough.Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it.

Mu'awiya b. al-Hakam told that he went to God’s Messenger and said, “Messenger of God, I have a slave girl who was herding sheep of mine. I went to her, having missed a sheep from the flock, and asked her about it, and she told me it had been eaten by a wolf. I was annoyed with her, and being human, I struck her on the face. As it is my duty to set free a slave, should I set her free?” God’s Messenger asked her where God was and she replied that he was in heaven. He asked her who he was and she replied that he was God's Messenger. He then told him to set her free. Malik transmitted it.In Muslim’s version he said, “I had a slave girl who was herding sheep of mine in the direction of Uhud and al-Jawwaniya. One day I looked and saw that a wolf had gone off with one of our sheep. Now I am a man who becomes annoyed just as others do, but I gave her a blow and then went to God’s Messenger. He treated my offence as serious, and so I asked him whether I should set her free. He told me to bring her and when I did so he asked her where God was and she replied that He was in heaven. He asked her who he was and she replied that he was God’s Messenger. He then told me to set her free, for she was a believer.”**This chapter has only one section.

Ibn ‘Umar said that the Prophet made a man and his wife invoke curses when the man disowned her child, and separated them and attributed the child to the woman. In his tradition transmitted by both of them it says that God's Messenger exhorted and admonished the man and informed him that punishment in this world is easier than that in the next. He then summoned the woman and exhorted and admonished her and told her that punishment in this world is easier than that in the next.(Bukhari and Muslim.)

Hilal b. Umayya accused his wife in the Prophet’s presence of having committed adultery with Sharik b. Sahma'. When the Prophet told him that he must produce evidence or receive punishment on his back, he said, “Messenger of God, when one of us sees a man having intercourse with his wife, must he go and seek evidence?” But the Prophet merely replied that he must produce evidence or receive punishment on his back. Hilal then said, “By Him who sent you with the truth, I am speaking truly. May God send down something which will free my back from punishment!” Then Gabriel descended and brought down to him, “And those who make charges against their spouses,” reciting till he reached, “if he is one of those who speak the truth” (Al-Qur’an 24:6-9).Then Hilal came and gave testimony and the Prophet was saying, “God knows that one of you is lying. Will one of you repent?” Then the woman got up and testified, but when she was about to do it a fifth time they stopped her and told her that it would be the deciding one. Ibn ‘Abbas told that she then hesitated and drew back, so that they thought she would renounce what she had said; but thereafter she said, “I shall not disgrace my people forever,” and went on with her declaration. The Prophet told them to look and see whether she gave birth to a child with eyes looking as if they had antimony in them, wide buttocks and fat legs, for if she did, Sharik b. Sahma' would be its father. Then when she gave birth to a child of that description the Prophet said, “If it were not for what has already been stated in God’s Book, I would have dealt severely with her.” Bukhari transmitted it.

Al-Mughira told that Sa'd b 'Ubada said, “If I saw a man with my wife I would strike him with the sword, and not with the flat of it.” When God’s Messenger heard of that he said, “Are you surprised at Sa'd’s jealousy? I swear by God that I am more jealous than he is and that God is more jealous than I am. Because of God’s jealousy He has prohibited abominations both open and secret. No one is fonder of receiving an excuse than God, on which account He has sent warners and announcers of good news; and no one is fonder of praise than God, on which account God has promised paradise.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Abu Huraira reported God’s Messenger as saying, “God most high is jealous of His honour, and the believer is jealous. God’s jealousy is to the effect that a believer should not commit what God has prohibited.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

‘A’isha said that ‘Utba b. Abu Waqqas enjoined his brother Sa'd b. Abu Waqqas that the son of Zam'a's slave girl was his, and told him to look after him. In the year of the Conquest Sa'd took him, saying he was his brother’s son, but ‘Abd b. Zam'a claimed him as his brother. They made a simultaneous plea to God’s Messenger, Sa‘d saying, “Messenger of God, my brother has enjoined me regarding him,” and ‘Abd b. Zam'a saying, "He is my brother and the son of my father's slave girl, being born on his bed.” God’s Messenger then said, "He belongs to you, ‘Abd b. Zam'a, for the child is attributed to the one on whose bed it is born, and the fornicator is deprived of any right.”1 He then told Sauda daughter of Zam'a to veil herself from him because of the resemblance to ‘Utba which he saw in him, and he did not see her till he went into God’s presence.2 In a version he said, “He is your brother, ‘Abd b. Zam'a because he was born on his father’s bed.”3 1. Al-hajar. This might alternatively mean that the fornicator is to be stoned.2. i.e., until he died.3. This explanatory addition does not occur in Masabih as-sunna.(Bukhari and Muslim.)

One day God's Messenger visited me looking pleased and asked if I was not surprised to hear that Mujazziz al-Mudlijl1 had entered, and seeing Usama and Zaid2 with a rug over them covering their heads and letting their feet appear, said, “These feet are related.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)1. Members of the tribe of Mudlij were said to have a reputation for being able to trace relationship from physical features.2. Usama was Zaid's son.

The Prophet decided regarding one who is treated as a member of a family after the death of his father to whom he is attributed when the heirs say he is one of them, that if he is the child of a slave woman whom the father owned when he had intercourse with her he is included among those who seek his inclusion, but gets none of the inheritance which was previously divided;* he however gets his portion of the inheritance which has not already been divided, but if the father to whom he is attributed had disowned him he is not joined to the heirs. If he is the child of a slave woman whom the father did not possess or of a freewoman with whom he had illicit intercourse, he is not joined to the heirs and does not inherit even if the one to whom he is attributed is the one who claims paternity, for he is a child of fornication whether his mother was free or a slave. Abu Dawud transmitted it.*Mirqat 3:506 explains this as a reference to what had happened in the pre-Islamic period.

* a Christian woman married to a Muslim, a Jewess married to a Muslim, a freewoman married to a slave, and a slave woman married to a freeman.” *That is the mutual invoking of curses with which this chapter deals.Ibn Majah transmitted it.

'A'isha said that Fatima was in a lonely place and fear was entertained regarding the district where she was, so the Prophet gave her permission, i.e., to remove. In a version she asked what was the matter with Fatima and whether she did not fear God, i.e., with reference to her saying that she had no place to live and no maintenance. Bukhari transmitted it.

Sa'id b. al-Musayyib said that Fatima was removed simply because she had so much to say against her husband’s relatives. It is transmitted in Sharh as-sunna.

My maternal aunt was divorced by three utterances of the divorce and wanted to cut down fruit from her palm-trees, but a man forbade her to go out, so she went to the Prophet and he said, “Certainly, cut down fruit from your palm-trees, for perhaps you may give sadaqa or do an act of kindness.” Muslim transmitted it.

Al-Miswar b. Makhrama said that some nights after her husband’s death Subai’a al-Aslamiya gave birth to a child. Then she went to the Prophet and asked permission to marry. He gave her permission and she married. Bukhari transmitted it.