Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2981

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Al-Hasan reported from Ma‘qil ibn Yasar: ‘During the Messenger of Allah’s time, I married my sister to a Muslim man. She stayed with him for some time, then he divorced her once and did not take her back before her waiting period ended. They later wished to reunite, and he proposed to her along with other suitors. I said to him, “You wretch! I honored you by marrying her to you, but you divorced her. By Allah, she will never return to you!” Allah knew of his need for her and her need for a husband, so He revealed, “When you divorce women and they reach the end of their waiting period…” through “…while you do not know” (Qur’an 2:232). When Ma‘qil heard it, he said, “I hear and obey my Lord.” Then he called the man and said, “I will marry her to you and honor you.”’ Abu ‘Isa graded this hadith hasan sahih and said it was reported through several routes from al-Hasan.

Abu ‘Isa explained that this hadith indicates that marriage requires a guardian (wali): Ma‘qil’s sister had previously been married, yet Ma‘qil acted as her guardian. He reasoned that, had the decision rested with her alone, she could have married herself without him. He noted that the verse addresses guardians: “Do not prevent them from marrying their husbands” (Qur’an 2:232). He concluded that the guardian has authority in arranging marriage, with the woman’s consent.