Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1139

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

Abu Salamah (Yahya ibn Khalaf) narrated to us: Bishr ibn al-Mufaddal narrated to us, from Khalid al-Hadhdha, from Abu Qilabah, from Anas ibn Malik, who said: If I wished, I could say, “The Messenger of Allah said,” but instead he said: The established practice is that when a man marries a virgin while already having a wife, he stays with her for seven nights; when he marries a previously married woman while already having a wife, he stays with her for three nights. It is also reported in this chapter from Umm Salamah. Abu Isa said: The hadith of Anas is hasan sahih. Muhammad ibn Ishaq traced it back to the Prophet through Ayyub, from Abu Qilabah, from Anas, while some others did not trace it back. Some scholars acted on this report: when a man marries a virgin while already having a wife, he stays with her for seven nights and then divides his time between them equally; when he marries a previously married woman, he stays with her for three nights. This is the view of Malik, al-Shafi'i, Ahmad, and Ishaq. Some Successor scholars held that he should stay three nights with a virgin and two nights with a previously married woman. The first view is more sound.