Sunan Abi Dawud

When the Prophet (ﷺ) ordered a man and his wife to invoke curses on each other, he ordered a man to put his hand on his mouth when he came to the fifth utterance, saying that it would be the deciding one.

Ibn ‘Abbas said “Hilal bin Umayyah was one of the three persons whose repentance was accepted by Allaah. One night he returned from his land and found a man along with his wife. He witnessed with his eyes and heard with his ears. He did not threaten him till the morning.” Next day he went to the Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) in the morning and said Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) “I came to my wife in the night and found a man along with her. I saw with my own eyes and heard with my own ears. The Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) disliked what he described and he took it seriously. There upon the following Qur’anic verse came down “And those who make charges against their spouses but have no witnesses except themselves, let the testimony of one of them ....” When the Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) came to himself (after the revelation ended) he said “Glad tidings to you Hilal, Allaah the exalted has made ease and a way out for you.” Hilal said “I expected that from my Lord. The Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) said “Send for her. She then came.” The Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) recited the verses to them and he reminded them and told them that the punishment in the next world was more severe than that in n this world. Hilal said “I swear by Allah I spoke the truth against her.” She said “He told a lie.” The Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) said “Apply the method of invoking curses on one another. Hilal was told “Bear witness. So he bore witness before Allaah four times that he spoke the truth.” When he was about to utter the fifth time he was told “Hilal fear Allah, for the punishment in this world is easier than that in the next world and this is the deciding one, that will surely cause punishment to you.” He said “I swear by Allaah. Allah will not punish me for this (act), as He did not cause me to be flogged for this (act).” So he bore witness a fifth time invoking the curse of Allah on him if he was of those who tell a lie. Then the people said to her, Testify. So she gave testimony before Allaah that he was a liar. When she was going to testify the fifth time she was told “Fear Allah, for the punishment in this world is easier than that in the next world. This is the deciding one that will surely cause punishment to you.” She hesitated for a moment. And then said “By Allah, I will not disgrace my people.” So she testified a fifth time invoking the curse of Allah on her if he spoke the truth. Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) separated them from each other and decided that the child will not be attributed to its father. Neither she nor her child will be accused of adultery. He who accuses her or her child will be liable to punishment. He also decided that there will be no dwelling and maintenance for her (from the husband) as they were separated without divorce and death. He then said “If she gives birth to a child with reddish hair, light buttocks, wide belly and light shins he will be the child of Hilal. If she bears a dusky child with curly hair, fat limbs, fat shins and fat buttocks he will be the child of the one who was accused of adultery. She gave birth to a child with curly hair, fat limbs, fat shins and fat buttocks. The Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) said “Had there been no oaths, I would have dealt with her severely.” ‘Ikrimah said “Later on he became the chief of the tribe of Mudar. He was not attributed to his father.”

Ibn ‘Umar said “The Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) said to the spouses who invoked curses on each other. Your reckoning is in Allaah’s hands for one of you is liar there is no way for you to (remarry) her. He then asked Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) what about my property? He replied “There is no property for you. If you have spoken the truth, it is the price for your having had the right to intercourse with her and if you have lied against her it is still more remote for you.

Sa’d bin Jubair said I asked Ibn ‘Umar A man accused his wife of adultery? He said “The Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) separated the brother and the sister of Banu Al ‘Ajilan (i.e., husband and wife). He said Allaah knows that one of you is a liar, will one of you repent? He repeated these words three times, but they refused. So he separated them from each other.

The words narrated by Malik alone are: "and he attributed the child to the woman." Yunus narrated from Al Zuhri on the authority of Sahl bin Sa’d in the tradition regarding li’an(invoking curses). He disowned her conception hence her child was attributed to her.

Abu Hurairah said A man from Banu Fazarah came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said “My wife has given birth to a black son”. He said “Have you any camels?” He said “They are red”. He asked “Is there a dusky one among them?” He replied “Some of them are dusky”. He asked “How do you think they have come about?” He replied “This may be a strain to which they reverted”. He said “And this is perhaps a strain to which the child has reverted.”

The tradition mentioned above has also been narrated by Al Zuhri through a different chain of narrators to the same effect. This version adds “At that time he was hinting at disowning the child.”

A bedouin came to the Prophet (ﷺ), and said: My wife has given birth to a black son, and I disown him. He then narrated the rest of the tradition to the same effect.

AbuHurayrah heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say when the verse about invoking curses came down: Any woman who brings to her family one who does not belong to it has nothing to do with Allah (i.e. expects no mercy from Allah), and Allah will not bring her into His Paradise. Allah, the Exalted, will veil Himself from any man who disowns his child when he looks at him, and disgrace him in the presence of all creatures, first and last.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: There is no prostitution in Islam. If anyone practised prostitution in pre-Islamic times, the child will be attributed to the master (of the slave-woman). He who claims his child without a valid marriage or ownership will neither inherit nor be inherited.

The Prophet (ﷺ) decided regarding one who was treated as a member of a family after the death of his father, to whom he was attributed when the heirs said he was one of them, that if he was the child of a slave-woman whom the father owned when he had intercourse with her, he was included among those who sought his inclusion, but received none of the inheritance which was previously divided; he, however, received his portion of the inheritance which had not already been divided; but if the father to whom he was attributed had disowned him, he was not joined to the heirs. If he was a child of a slave-woman whom the father did not possess or of a free woman with whom he had illicit intercourse, he was not joined to the heirs and did not inherit even if the one to whom he was attributed is the one who claimed paternity, since he was a child of fornication whether his mother was free or a slave.

The tradition mentioned above has also been transmitted by Muhammad bin Rashid through a different chain of narrators to the same effect. This version adds “he is the child of fornication for the people of his mother whether she was free or a slave. This attribution of a child to the parents was practiced in the beginning of Islam. The property divided before Islam will not be taken into account.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) entered upon me. The version of Musaddad and Ibn as-Sarh has: one day looking pleased". The version of Uthman has: "The lines of his forehead were realised." He said: O Aisha, are you not surprised to hear that Mujazziz al-Mudlaji saw that Zayd and Usamah had a rug over them concerning their heads and letting their feet appear. He said: These feet are related. Abu Dawud: Usamah was black and Zaid was white.

The tradition mentioned above has also been transmitted by ibn Shihab through a different chain of narrators to the same effect. This version adds “She said “he entered upon me looking pleased with the lines of his face brightened. Abu Dawud said “Ibn ‘Uyainah did not remember the words “the lines of his face”.” Abu Dawud said “The words “the lines of his face” have been narrated by Ibn ‘Uyainah himself. He did not hear Al Zuhri say (these words). He heard some person other than Al Zuhri say these words. The words “the lines of his face” occur in the tradition narrated by Al Laith and others. Abu Dawud said “ I heard Ahmad bin Salih say “Usamah was very black like tar and Zaid was white like cotton.”

I was sitting with the Prophet (ﷺ). A man came from the Yemen, and said: Three men from the people of the Yemen came to Ali, quarrelling about a child, asking him to give a decision. They had had sexual intercourse with a woman during a single state of purity. He said to two of them: Give this child to this man (the third person) with pleasure. But they (refused and) cried loudly. Again he said to two of them: Give the child to the man (the third person) willingly. But they (refused and) cried loudly. He then said: You are quarrelsome partners. I shall cast lots among you; he who receives the lot, will acquire the child, and he shall pay two-thirds of the blood-money to both his companions. He then cast lots among them, and gave the child to the one who received the lot. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) laughed so much that his canine or molar teeth appeared.

Three persons were brought to Ali (Allah be pleased with him) when he was in the Yemen. They and sexual intercourse with a woman during a single state of purity. He asked two of them: Do you acknowledge this child for this (man)? They replied: No. He then put this (question) to all of them. Whenever he asked two of them, they replied in the negative. He, therefore, cast a lot among them, and attributed the child to the one who received the lot. He imposed two-third of the blood-money (i.e. the price of the mother) on him. This was then mentioned to the Prophet (ﷺ) and he laughed so much that his molar teeth appeared.

Khalil or Ibn Khalil said “A woman was brought to Ali bin Abi Talib(may Allaah be pleased with him). She bore a child from intercourse of three persons. The narrator transmitted the rest of the tradition similar to the previous one. But in this version he did not mention “Yemen” and the Prophet (ﷺ) and his words “give the child willingly.”

A’ishah wife of the Prophet (ﷺ) said “Marriage in pre Islamic times was of four kinds.” One of them was the marriage contracted by the people today. A man asked another man to marry his relative (sister or daughter) to him. He fixed the dower and married her to him. Another kind of marriage was that a man asked his wife when she became pure from menstruation to send fro so and so and have sexual intercourse with him. Her husband kept himself aloof and did not have intercourse with her till It became apparent that she was pregnant from the man who had intercourse with her. When it was manifest that she was pregnant, her husband approached her if he liked. This marriage was called istibda’(to utilize man for intercourse for a noble birth). A third kind of marriage was that a group of people less than ten in number entered upon a woman and had intercourse with her. When she conceived gave birth to a child and a number of days passed after her delivery, she sent for them. No one of them could refuse to attend and they gathered before her. She said to them “You have realized your affair. I have now given birth to a child. And this is your son. O so and so. She called the name of anyone of them she liked and the child was attributed to him. A fourth kind of marriage was that many people gathered together and entered upon a woman who did not prevent anyone who came to her. They were prostitutes. They hoisted flags at their doors which served as a sign for the one who intended to enter upon them. When she became pregnant and delivered the child , they got together before her and called for the experts of tracing relationship from physical features. They attributed the child to whom they considered and it was given to him. The child was called his son and he could not deny. When Allah sent Muhammad (ﷺ) as a Prophet, he abolished all kinds of marriages prevalent among the people of the pre Islamic times except of the Muslims practiced today.

A’ishah said “Sa’d bin Abi Waqqas and ‘Abd bin Zamah disputed amongst themselves about the (relationship of the) son of the slave girl of Zam’ah and brought the case to the Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ). Sa’d said “My brother ‘Utbah enjoined me that when I came to Makkah I should see the son of the slave girl of Zam’ah and take his possession for that is his son”. ‘Abd bin Zam’ah said “He is my brother, the son of my father’s slave girl having been born on my father’s bed”. The Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) saw his clear resemblance to ‘Utbah. So he said “The child is attributed to the one on whose bed it is born and the fornicator is deprived of any right (lit. the fornicator will have the stone). Veil yourself from him, Saudah. Musaddad added in his version “he is your brother ‘Abd”.

A man got up and said: Messenger of Allah, so-and-so is my son; I had illicit intercourse with his mother in the pre-Islamic period. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: There is no unlawful claiming of paternity in Islam. What was done in pre-Islamic times has been annulled. The child is attributed to the one on whose bed it is born, and the fornicator is deprived of any right.