The Book of Marriage

Anas (Allah be pleased with him) reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) set out on an expedition to Khaibar and we observed our morning prayer in early hours of the dawn. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) then mounted and so did Abu Talha ride, and I was seating myself behind Abu Talha. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) moved in the narrow street of Khaibar (and we rode so close to each other in the street) that my knee touched the leg of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). (A part of the) lower garment of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) slipped from his leg and I could see the whiteness of the leg of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). As he entered the habitation he called:

Allahu Akbar (Allah is the Greatest). Khaibar is ruined. And when we get down in the valley of a people evil is the morning of the warned ones. He repeated it thrice. In the meanwhile the people went out for their work, and said: By Allah, Muhammad (has come). Abd al-'Aziz or some of our companions said: Muhammad and the army (have come). He said: We took it (the territory of Khaibar) by force, and there were gathered the prisoners of war. There came Dihya and he said: Messenger of Allah, bestow upon me a girl from among the prisoners. He said: Go and get any girl. He made a choice for Safiyya daughter of Huyayy (b. Akhtab). There came a person to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and said: Messenger of Allah, you have bestowed Safiyya bint Huyayy, the chief of Quraiza and al-Nadir, upon Dihya and she is worthy of you only. He said: Call him along with her. So he came along with her. When Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) saw her he said: Take any other woman from among the prisoners. He (the narrator) said: He (the Prophet) then granted her emancipation and married her. Thabit said to him: Abu Hamza, how much dower did he (the Prophet) give to her? He said: He granted her freedom and then married her. On the way Umm Sulaim embellished her and then sent her to him (the Prophet) at night. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) appeared as a bridegroom in the morning. He (the Prophet) said: He who has anything (to eat) should bring that. Then the cloth was spread. A person came with cheese, another came with dates, and still another came with refined butter, and they prepared hais and that was the wedding feast of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)

This hadith has been narrated through another chain of transmitters on the authority of Anas that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) emancipated Safiyya, and her emancipation was treated as her wedding gift, and in the hadith transmitted by Mu'adh on the authority of his father (the words are):

" He (the Prophet) married Safiyya and bestowed her emancipation as her wedding gift."

Anas (Allah be pleased with him) reported:

I was sitting behind Abu Talha on the Day of Khaibar and my feet touched the foot of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ), and we came (to the people of Khaibar) when the sun had risen and they had driven out their cattle, and had themselves come out with their axes, large baskets and hatchets, and they said: (Here come) Muhammad and the army. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: Khaibar is ruined. Verily when we get down in the valley of a people, evil is the morning of the warned ones (al-Qur'an, xxxvii. 177). Allah, the Majestic and the Glorious, defeated them (the inhabitants of Khaibar), and there fell to the lot of Dihya a beautiful girl, and Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) got her in exchange of seven heads, and then entrusted her to Umm Sulaim so that she might embellish her and prepare her (for marriage) with him. He (the narrator) said: He had been under the impression that he had said that so that she might spend her period of 'Iddah in her (Umm Sulaim's) house. (The woman) was Safiyya daughter of Huyayy. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) arranged the wedding feast consisting of dates, cheese, and refined butter, and pits were dug and tiers were set in them dining cloths, and there was brought cheese and refined butter, and these were placed there. And the people ate to their fill, and they said: We do not know whether he (the Prophet) had married her (as a free woman), or as a slave woman. They said: If he (the Prophet) would make her wear the veil, then she would be a (free married) woman, and if he would not make her wear the veil, then she should be a slave woman. When he intended to ride, he made her wear the veil and she sat on the hind part of the camel; so they came to know that he had married her. As they approached Medina, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) drove (his ride) quickly and so we did. 'Adba' (the name of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) 's camel) stumbled and Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) fell down and she (Radrat Safiyya: also fell down. He (the Prophet) stood up and covered her. Women looked towards her and said: May Allah keep away the Jewess! He (the narrator) said: I said: Aba Hamza, did Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) really fall down? He said: Yes, by Allah, he in fact fell down.

Anas, (Allah be pleased with him) reported:

Safiyya (Allah be pleased with her) fell to the lot of Dihya in the spoils of war, and they praised her in the presence of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and said: We have not seen the like of her among the captives of war. He sent (a messenger) to Dihya and he gave him whatever he demanded. He then sent her to my mother and asked her to embellish her. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) then got out of Khaibar until when he was on the other side of it, he halted, and a tent was pitched for him. When it was morning Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: He who has surplus of provision with him should bring that to us. Some persons would bring the surplus of dates, and the other surplus of mush of barley until there became a heap of bals. They began to eat the hais and began to drink out of the pond which had the water of rainfall in it and which was situated by their side. Anas said that that constituted the wedding feast of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). He (further) said: We proceeded until we saw the walls of Medina, and we were delighted. We made our mounts run quickly and Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) also made his mount run quickly. And Safiyya (Allah be pleased with her) was at his back, and Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) had seated her behind him. The camel of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) stumbled and he (the Prophet) fell down and she also fell down. And none among the people was seeing him and her, until Allah's Messeuger (ﷺ) stood up and he covered her, and we came to him and he said: We have received no injury. We entered Medina and there came out the young ladies of the household. They saw her (hadrat Safiyya) and blamed her for falling down.

'Alqama reported:

While I was walking with 'Abdullah at Mina, 'Uthman happened to meet him. He stopped there and began to talk with him. Uthman said to him: Abu 'Abd al-Rahman, should we not marry you to a young girl who may recall to you some of the past of your bygone days; thereupon he said: If you say so, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: 0 young men, those among you who can support a wife should marry, for it restrains eyes from casting (evil glances). and preserves one from immorality; but those who cannot should devote themselves to fasting for it is a means of controlling sexual desire.

'Alqama reported:

While I was going along with 'Abdullah b. Ma'sud (Allah he pleased with him) in Mina, 'Uthman b. 'Affan (Allah be pleased with him) happened to meet him and said: Come here, Abu 'Abd al-Rahman (kunya of Abdullah b. Mas'ud), and he isolated him (from me), and when 'Abdullah (b. Mas'ud) saw that there was no need (for this privacy), he said to me: 'Alqama, come on, and so I went there. (Then) 'Uthman said to him: Abu Abd al-Rahman, should we not marry you to a virgin girl that your past may be recalled to your mind? 'Abdullah said: If you say so, the rest of the hadith is the same as narrated above.

Abdullah (b. Mas'ud) (Allah be pleased with him) reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said to us:

0 young men, those among you who can support a wife should marry, for it restrains eyes (from casting evil glances) and preserves one from immorality; but he who cannot afford It should observe fast for it is a means of controlling the sexual desire.

Abu al-Rahman b. Yazid said:

I and my uncle 'Alqama and al-Aswad went to 'Abdullah b. Mas'ud (Allah be pleased with him). He (the narrator further) said: I was at that time young, and he narrated a hadith which it seemed he narrated for me that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said like one transmitted by Mu'awiya, and further added: I lost no time in marrying.

'Abd al-Rahman b. Yazid reported on the authority of Abdullah:

We went to him, and I was the youngest of all (of us), but he did not mention:" I lost no time in marrying."

Anas (Allah be pleased with him) reported that some of the Companions of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) asked his (the Prophet's) wives about the acts that he performed in private. Someone among them (among his Companions) said:

I will not marry women; someone among them said: I will not eat meat; and someone among them said: I will not lie down in bed. He (the Prophet) praised Allah and glorified Him, and said: What has happened to these people that they say so and so, whereas I observe prayer and sleep too; I observe fast and suspend observing them; I marry women also? And he who turns away from my Sunnah, he has no relation with Me

Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas (Allah be pleased with him) reported:

The Messengger of Allah (ﷺ) rejected (the idea) of Uthman b. Muz'unliving in celibacy (saying): And if he (the Prophet) had given me permission We would have got ourselves castrated.

Sa'id b. al-Musayyib reported:

I heard Sa'd (b. Abi Waqqas) saying that the idea of 'Uthman b. Maz'un for living in celibacy was rejected (by the Prophet), and if he had been given permission they would have got themselves castrated.

Sa'id b. al Musayyib heard Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas (Allah be pleased with him) saying that Uthman b. Maz'un decided to live in celibacy, but Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) forbade him to do so, and if he had permitted him, we would have got ourselves castrated.

Jabir reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) saw a woman, and so he came to his wife, Zainab, as she was tanning a leather and had sexual intercourse with her. He then went to his Companions and told them:

The woman advances and retires in the shape of a devil, so when one of you sees a woman, he should come to his wife, for that will repel what he feels in his heart.

Jabir b. 'Abdullah reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) saw a woman; and the rest of the hadith was narrated but (with this exception) that he said he came to his wife Zainab, who was tanning a (piece of) leather, and he made no mention of:

" She retires in the shape of satan."

Jabir heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) say:

When a woman fascinates any one of you and she captivates his heart, he should go to his wife and have an intercourse with her, for it would repel what he feels.

Abdullah (b. Mas'ud) reported:

We were on an expedition with Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and we had no women with us. We said: Should we not have ourselves castrated? He (the Prophet) forbade us to do so He then granted us permission that we should contract temporary marriage for a stipulated period giving her a garment, and 'Abdullah then recited this verse: 'Those who believe do not make unlawful the good things which Allah has made lawful for you, and do not transgress. Allah does not like trangressers" (al-Qur'an, v. 87).

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Jarir with the same chain of transmitters and he also recited this (above-mentioned verse) to us, but he did not say that 'Abdullah recited it.

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Isma'il with the same chain of transmitters (and the words are):

" We were young, so we said: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) , should we not have ourselves castrated? But he (the narrator) did not say; We were on an expedition."

Jabir b. 'Abdullah and Salama b. al-Akwa' said:

There came to us the proclaimer of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and said: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) has granted you permission to benefit yourselves, i. e. to contract temporary marriage with women.