Sunan an-Nasa'i 3469

Imran bin Yazid informed us; Makhlad bin Husayn al-Azdi narrated to us; Hisham bin Hassan narrated to us, from Muhammad bin Sirin, from Anas bin Malik, who said: The first li'an in Islam was when Hilal bin Umayyah accused Sharik bin al-Sahma of adultery with his wife. He came to the Prophet and told him about it. The Prophet said to him, ‘Bring four witnesses, or else there is a prescribed punishment on your back.’ He repeated this to him several times. Hilal said, ‘By Allah, Messenger of Allah, Allah, Mighty and Sublime, knows that I am telling the truth, and Allah will surely send down to you what clears my back of flogging.’ While they were in this situation, the verse of li'an was revealed to him: ‘Those who accuse their wives …’ through the end of the verse. He summoned Hilal, who testified four times by Allah that he was truthful, and the fifth time that Allah's curse would be upon him if he were lying. Then the woman was summoned, and she testified four times by Allah that he was lying. When she reached the fourth or fifth testimony, the Messenger of Allah said, ‘Stop her, for this makes the consequence binding.’ She hesitated so long that we thought she would confess. Then she said, ‘I will not disgrace my people for the rest of the day.’ She continued with the oath. The Messenger of Allah said, ‘Observe the child: if she gives birth to a fair-skinned child with flowing straight hair and weak, watery eyes, he is Hilal bin Umayyah's; but if she gives birth to a brown-skinned child with curly hair, a sturdy build, and slender lower legs, he is Sharik bin al-Sahma's.’ She gave birth to a brown-skinned child with curly hair, a sturdy build, and slender lower legs. The Messenger of Allah said, ‘Were it not for what had already been laid down concerning her in the Book of Allah, there would have been a different matter between me and her.’ The shaykh said: ‘Al-qadi' means that the hair of the eyes is long, and that the eyes are neither wide open nor protruding. Allah, Glorified and Exalted, knows best.’