Sunan an-Nasa'i
The Book of Marriage
كتاب النكاح
Chapter 38
النَّهْىِ عَنْ نِكَاحِ الْمُحْرِمِ، .
Abu al-Ash'ath narrated to us; he said: Yazid—namely, Ibn Zuray'—narrated to us; he said: Sa'id narrated to us, from Matar and Ya'la ibn Hakim, from Nubayh ibn Wahb, from Aban ibn Uthman, that Uthman ibn Affan (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that he said: ‘A person in the consecrated state must not marry, give someone in marriage, or propose.’
Chapter 39
مَا يُسْتَحَبُّ مِنَ الْكَلاَمِ عِنْدَ النِّكَاحِ .
Qutaybah reported to us; he said: Abthar narrated to us, from al-A'mash, from Abu Ishaq, from Abu al-Ahwas, from Abd Allah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) taught us the testimony of faith for prayer and the testimony of faith for a need. He said: ‘The testimony for a need is: Praise belongs to Allah. We seek His help and His forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Allah from the evils within ourselves. Whoever Allah guides, none can lead astray; and whoever He leads astray, none can guide. I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger.’ And he recites three verses.
Translation notes
The report distinguishes the tashahhud used in prayer from an introductory testimony for addressing a need; the latter’s full wording and the final note about three verses are included.
Amr ibn Mansur reported to us; he said: Muhammad ibn Isa narrated to us; he said: Yahya ibn Zakariyya ibn Abi Za'idah narrated to us, from Dawud, from Amr ibn Sa'id, from Sa'id ibn Jubayr, from Ibn Abbas: A man spoke to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) about something, and the Prophet said: ‘All praise belongs to Allah. We praise Him and seek His help. Whoever Allah guides, none can lead astray; and whoever He leads astray, none can guide. I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger. To proceed…’
Translation notes
The report gives the opening formula the Prophet used in response to a man who spoke to him; the closing expression amma ba'd is rendered ‘To proceed.’
Chapter 40
مَا يُكْرَهُ مِنَ الْخُطْبَةِ .
Ishaq ibn Mansur reported to us; he said: Abd al-Rahman informed us; he said: Sufyan narrated to us, from Abd al-Aziz, from Tamim ibn Tarafah, from Adi ibn Hatim, who said: Two men delivered their opening testimonies before the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). One of them said, ‘Whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has been rightly guided, and whoever disobeys them has gone astray.’ The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ‘What a terrible orator you are!’
Translation notes
The report calls the two men’s introductory testimony tashahhud; the quoted speaker’s plural reference ‘them’ points to Allah and His Messenger as expressed in Arabic.
Chapter 41
الْكَلاَمِ الَّذِي يَنْعَقِدُ بِهِ النِّكَاحُ .
Muhammad ibn Mansur reported to us, from Sufyan, who said: I heard Abu Hazim say: I heard Sahl ibn Sa'd say: I was among the people with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) when a woman stood and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, she has offered herself to you, so decide what you think concerning her.’ He remained silent and gave her no answer. Then she stood again and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, she has offered herself to you, so decide what you think concerning her.’ A man stood and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, marry her to me.’ He asked, ‘Do you have anything?’ He said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘Go and seek something, even an iron ring.’ The man went and searched, then returned and said, ‘I found nothing—not even an iron ring.’ He asked, ‘Do you know any of the Qur’an?’ He said, ‘Yes, I know such-and-such surah and such-and-such surah.’ He said, ‘I have given her to you in marriage in consideration of what you know of the Qur’an.’
Translation notes
The report repeats the woman’s offer and records the man’s unsuccessful search for even an iron ring. Its closing wording says the marriage was contracted ‘in consideration of’ what he had of the Qur’an, without explicitly stating a teaching obligation.
Chapter 42
الشُّرُوطِ فِي النِّكَاحِ .
Isa ibn Hammad reported to us; he said: al-Layth informed us, from Yazid ibn Abi Habib, from Abu al-Khayr, from Uqbah ibn Amir, from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said: ‘The conditions most deserving of fulfillment are those by which you made marital relations lawful.’
Translation notes
The closing phrase refers to the marriage contract and the lawful marital relationship established through it.
Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Tamim reported to us; he said: I heard Hajjaj say: Ibn Jurayj said, ‘Sa'id ibn Abi Ayyub informed me, from Yazid ibn Abi Habib, that Abu al-Khayr related to him from Uqbah ibn Amir, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said: “The conditions most deserving of fulfillment are those by which you made marital relations lawful.”’
Translation notes
This is another chain transmitting the same wording about fulfilling the conditions of the marriage contract.
Chapter 43
النِّكَاحِ الَّذِي تَحِلُّ بِهِ الْمُطَلَّقَةُ ثَلاَثًا لِمُطَلِّقِهَا .
Ishaq ibn Ibrahim reported to us; he said: Sufyan informed us, from al-Zuhri, from Urwah, from A'ishah, who said: Rifa'ah’s wife came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said, ‘Rifa'ah divorced me irrevocably, and after him I married Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Zubayr, but he has only something like the fringe of a garment.’ The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) smiled and said: ‘Perhaps you wish to return to Rifa'ah? No, not until he has experienced marital relations with you and you have experienced them with him.’
Translation notes
The report uses a euphemism for consummation (‘taste one another’s sweetness’); it is rendered as marital relations. The phrase ‘like the fringe of a garment’ is kept as the woman’s reported description.
Chapter 44
تَحْرِيمِ الرَّبِيبَةِ الَّتِي فِي حَجْرِهِ .
Imran ibn Bakkar reported to us; he said: Abu al-Yaman narrated to us; he said: Shu'ayb informed us; he said: al-Zuhri informed me; he said: Urwah informed me that Zaynab bint Abi Salamah—whose mother was Umm Salamah, the Prophet’s wife—informed him that Umm Habibah bint Abi Sufyan told her: ‘I said, “O Messenger of Allah, marry my sister, the daughter of Abu Sufyan.”’ She said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) asked, ‘Would you like that?’ I said, ‘Yes. It is not that I wish to be your only wife; the person I would most like to share in what is good with me is my sister.’ The Prophet said, ‘Your sister is not lawful for me.’ I said, ‘By Allah, O Messenger of Allah, we have heard that you wish to marry Durrah bint Abi Salamah.’ He said, ‘The daughter of Umm Salamah?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘By Allah, if she were not my stepdaughter in my care, she would not be lawful for me. She is the daughter of my brother through nursing: Thuwaybah nursed me and Abu Salamah. So do not offer me your daughters or your sisters.’
Translation notes
The report explains the prohibitions through the stated kinship relationships and nursing: Durrah is identified as the Prophet’s stepdaughter and milk-brother’s daughter; Thuwaybah nursed both him and Abu Salamah.
Chapter 45
تَحْرِيمِ الْجَمْعِ بَيْنَ الأُمِّ وَالْبِنْتِ .
Wahb ibn Bayan reported to us; he said: Ibn Wahb narrated to us; he said: Yunus informed me, from Ibn Shihab, that Urwah ibn al-Zubayr related to him from Zaynab bint Abi Salamah, that Umm Habibah, the Prophet’s wife, said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, marry my father’s daughter’—meaning her sister. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) asked, ‘Would you like that?’ She said, ‘Yes. It is not that I wish to be your only wife; the person I would most like to share in what is good with me is my sister.’ The Messenger of Allah said, ‘That is not lawful.’ Umm Habibah said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, by Allah, we have heard that you are going to marry Durrah bint Abi Salamah.’ He said, ‘The daughter of Umm Salamah?’ Umm Habibah said, ‘Yes.’ The Messenger of Allah said, ‘By Allah, if she were not my stepdaughter in my care, she would not be lawful for me. She is the daughter of my brother through nursing: Thuwaybah nursed me and Abu Salamah. So do not offer me your daughters or your sisters.’
Translation notes
This parallel transmission explicitly glosses ‘my father’s daughter’ as her sister, and repeats the nursing relationship explaining Durrah’s prohibited status.
Qutaybah reported to us; he said: al-Layth narrated to us, from Yazid ibn Abi Habib, from Irak ibn Malik, that Zaynab bint Abi Salamah informed him that Umm Habibah said to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), ‘We have heard that you are going to marry Durrah bint Abi Salamah.’ The Messenger of Allah said, ‘[You mean] Umm Salamah’s daughter? If I had not married Umm Salamah, she would not have been lawful for me; her father is my brother through nursing.’
Translation notes
The report identifies Durrah as Umm Salamah’s daughter and gives her father’s milk-kinship to the Prophet as the reason she is unlawful for him.
Chapter 46
تَحْرِيمِ الْجَمْعِ بَيْنَ الأُخْتَيْنِ .
Hannad ibn al-Sari reported to us, from Abdah, from Hisham, from his father, from Zaynab bint Abi Salamah, from Umm Habibah, who said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, would you consider marrying my sister?’ He said, ‘And what would I do?’ She said, ‘Marry her.’ He asked, ‘Would that please you?’ She said, ‘Yes. It is not that I wish to be your only wife; the person I would most like to share in what is good with me is my sister.’ He said, ‘She is not lawful for me.’ She said, ‘I have heard that you are proposing to Durrah bint Umm Salamah.’ He said, ‘The daughter of Abu Salamah?’ She said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘By Allah, if she were not my stepdaughter, she would not be lawful for me. She is the daughter of my brother through nursing. So do not offer me your daughters or your sisters.’
Translation notes
This report’s wording identifies Durrah first as Umm Salamah’s daughter, then clarifies her as Abu Salamah’s daughter; it repeats the milk-kinship explanation.
Chapter 47
الْجَمْعِ بَيْنَ الْمَرْأَةِ وَعَمَّتِهَا .
Harun ibn Abd Allah reported to me; he said: Ma'n narrated to us; he said: Malik narrated to us, from Abu al-Zinad, from al-A'raj, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ‘A woman may not be married together with her paternal aunt, nor may a woman be married together with her maternal aunt.’
Muhammad ibn Ya'qub ibn Abd al-Wahhab ibn Yahya ibn Abbad ibn Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam reported to us; he said: Muhammad ibn Fulayh narrated to us, from Yunus. Ibn Shihab said: Qabisah ibn Dhu'ayb informed me that he heard Abu Hurayrah say: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) prohibited marrying a woman together with her paternal aunt, or a woman together with her maternal aunt.
Ibrahim ibn Ya'qub informed me; he said: Ibn Abi Maryam narrated to us; he said: Yahya ibn Ayyub narrated to us that Ja'far ibn Rabi'ah related to him from Irak ibn Malik and Abd al-Rahman al-A'raj, from Abu Hurayrah, from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), that he prohibited marrying a woman while her paternal aunt or maternal aunt is also married to the same man.
Qutaybah reported to us; he said: al-Layth narrated to us, from Yazid ibn Abi Habib, from Irak ibn Malik, from Abu Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) prohibited combining four women in marriage: a woman with her paternal aunt, or a woman with her maternal aunt.
Translation notes
The report summarizes the prohibition as combining a woman with either her paternal or maternal aunt in marriage to the same man.
Amr ibn Mansur reported to us; he said: Abd Allah ibn Yusuf narrated to us; he said: al-Layth narrated to us; he said: Ayyub ibn Musa informed me, from Bukayr ibn Abd Allah ibn al-Ashajj, from Sulayman ibn Yasar, from Abd al-Malik ibn Yasar, from Abu Hurayrah, from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), that he said: ‘A woman must not be married together with her paternal aunt, nor together with her maternal aunt.’
Mujahid ibn Musa reported to us; he said: Ibn Uyaynah narrated to us, from Amr ibn Dinar, from Abu Salamah, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) prohibited marrying a woman together with her paternal aunt or her maternal aunt.
Yahya ibn Durust reported to us; he said: Abu Isma'il narrated to us; he said: Yahya ibn Abi Kathir narrated to us, that Abu Salamah related to him from Abu Hurayrah, from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), that he said: ‘A woman must not be married together with her paternal aunt, nor together with her maternal aunt.’
Chapter 48
تَحْرِيمِ الْجَمْعِ بَيْنَ الْمَرْأَةِ وَخَالَتِهَا .
Ubayd Allah ibn Sa'id reported to us; he said: Yahya narrated to us; he said: Hisham narrated to us; he said: Muhammad narrated to us, from Abu Hurayrah, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said: ‘A woman must not be married together with her paternal aunt, nor together with her maternal aunt.’