He reported the Prophet as saying to two who were invoking curses regarding one another, “Your reckoning is in God’s hands, for one of you is lying.” He then told the man that he could not remarry her, whereupon he said, “Messenger of God, what about my property?”* He replied, “There is no property for you. If you have spoken the truth, it is the price of your having had the right to intercourse with her; and if you have lied against her, it is more remote still from you than she is.” * Referring to the dower be had paid.(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.

Abu Huraira told that Sa'd b. ‘Ubada asked, “If I were to find a man with my wife, should I not touch him before bringing four witnesses?” Then when God’s Messenger replied that that was so, he said, “By no means. I swear by Him who has sent you with the truth that I would take my sword to him before that.” God’s Messenger said, “Listen to what your chief says. He is jealous of his honour, but I am more jealous than he is and God is more jealous than I am.” Muslim 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.)

He told of a desert Arab who came to God’s Messenger and said, “My wife has given birth to a black son and I have disowned him.” God’s Messenger asked him whether he had any camels, and when he replied that he had, he asked what their colour was and was told that they were red. He asked if there was a dusky one among them, and was told that there were some. He asked how he thought that had come about, and was told that it was a strain to which they had reverted. Then saying that this was perhaps a strain to which the child had reverted, he did not permit him to disown him. (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.

Sa‘d b. Abu Waqqas and Abu Bakra reported God’s Messenger as saying, "If anyone knowingly claims as father one who is not his father, paradise is forbidden to him.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

‘Abu Huraira reported God’s Messenger as saying, "Do not turn against your fathers, for he who turns against his father has become an infidel.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

"Any woman who brings into a family one who does not belong to it can expect no mercy from God (or is no observer of God’s religion) and God will not bring her into His paradise; and God will veil Himself from any man who disowns his child when he looks at him, and shame him in the presence of all creatures, first and last.” Abu Dawud, Nasa'i and Darimi transmitted it.1. Al-Qur’an 24:6

Ibn ‘Abbas told of a man coming to the Prophet and saying, “I have a wife who rejects no one who wishes intercourse with her,” but when he told him to divorce her he replied that he loved her, so he told him that in that case he should keep her. Abu Dawud and Nasa’i transmitted it, Nasa’i saying that one of the transmitters traced it to Ibn ‘Abbas and that one did not, adding that this tradition is not well established.

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.

Jabir b. ‘Atik reported God’s prophet as saying, ‘‘There is jealousy which God loves and jealousy which God hates. That which He loves is jealousy regarding a matter of doubt, and that which He hates is jealousy regarding something which is not doubtful. There is pride which God hates and pride which God loves. That which He loves is a man’s pride when fighting and when giving sadaqa, and that which God hates is pride shown by boasting.” A version has “by oppression.” Ahmad, Abu Dawud and Nasa’i transmitted it.

‘Amr b. Shu'aib, on his father’s authority, said that his grandfather told of a man who got up and said, “Messenger of God, so and so is my son; I had illicit intercourse with his mother in the pre-Islamic period.” God’s Messenger replied, “There is no unlawful claiming of paternity in Islam. What was done in pre-Islamic times has been annulled. The child is attributed to the one on whose bed it is born, and the fornicator is deprived of any right.” Abu Dawud transmitted it.

* 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.

Ibn ‘Abbas said that when the Prophet ordered a man and wife to invoke curses regarding one another, he ordered a man to put his hand on his mouth when he came to the fifth utterance, saying that it would be the deciding one. Nasa’i transmitted it.

‘A'isha said that once when God’s Messenger went out from her during the night she was jealous regarding him. Then when he came and saw what she was doing he said, “What is the matter with you, ‘A'isha? Are you jealous?” She replied, “Why should one like me not be jealous regarding one like you?” He said, “Your devil has come to you.” She asked, “Messenger of God, have I a devil?” He told her that she had, and when she asked him whether he had one he replied, “Yes, but God has helped me against him so that I may be safe.” Muslim transmitted it.

Abu Salama was told by Fatima daughter of Qais that Abu ‘Amr b. Hafs divorced her absolutely when he was away from home, and his agent sent her some barley. She was displeased with it, and when he said, “I swear by God that you have no claim on us,” she went to God’s Messenger and mentioned that to him. Saying that she was due no maintenance, he ordered her to spend the period before she could remarry in the house of Umm Sharik, but said afterwards, “That is a woman whom my companions visit; spend the period in the house of Ibn Umm Maktum, for he is blind and you can undress. Then when you are in a position to be remarried, tell me." She said that when she was in a position to remarry she mentioned to him that Mu'awiya b. Abu Sufyan and Abu Jahm had asked her in marriage, and he replied, “As for Abu Jahm, he does not put down his stick from his shoulder, and as for Mu'awiya, he is a poor man who has no property; marry Usama b. Zaid." She objected to him, but he said, “Marry Usama," so she married him, God prospered him, and she was envied. A version on her authority has, “As for Abu Jahm, he is a man who is given to beating women." In a version it says that her husband divorced her three times and that when she went to the Prophet he said, “You are due no maintenance unless you are pregnant."Muslim 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.