Sunan Abi Dawud

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.

My people married me to a Roman slave-girl of theirs. I had intercourse with her, and she gave birth to a black (male) child like me. I named it Abdullah. I again had intercourse with her, and she gave birth to a black (male) child like me. I named it Ubaydullah. Then a Roman slave of my people, called Yuhannah, incited her, and spoke to her in his own unintelligible language. She gave birth to a son like a chameleon (red). I asked her: What is this? She replied: This belongs to Yuhannah. We then brought the case to Uthman (for a decision). I think Mahdi said these words. He inquired from both of them, and they acknowledged (the facts). He then said to them: Do you agree that I take the decision about you, which the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had taken? The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) decided that the child was to attributed to the one on whose bed it was born. And I think he said: He flogged her and flogged him, for they were slaves.

A woman said: Messenger of Allah, my womb is a vessel to this son of mine, my breasts, a water-skin for him, and my lap a guard for him, yet his father has divorced me, and wants to take him away from me. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: You have more right to him as long as you do not marry.

While I was sitting with AbuHurayrah, a Persian woman came to him along with a son of hers. She had been divorced by her husband and they both claimed him. She said: AbuHurayrah, speaking to him in Persian, my husband wishes to take my son away. AbuHurayrah said: Cast lots for him, saying it to her in a foreign language. Then her husband came and asked: Who is disputing with me about my son? AbuHurayrah said: O Allah, I do not say this, except that I heard a woman who came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) while I was sitting with him, and she said: My husband wishes to take away my son, Messenger of Allah, and he draws water for me from the well of AbuInabah, and he has been good to me. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Cast lots for him. Her husband said: Who is disputing with me about my son? The Prophet (ﷺ) said: This is your father and this your mother, so take whichever of them you wish by the hand. So he took his mother's hand and she went away with him.

Zayd ibn Harithah went out to Mecca and brought the daughter of Hamzah with him. Then Ja'far said: I shall take her; I have more right to her; she is my uncle's daughter and her maternal aunt is my wife; the maternal aunt is like mother. Ali said: I am more entitled to take her. She is my uncle's daughter. The daughter of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) is my wife, and she has more right to her. Zayd said: I have more right to her. I went out and journeyed to her, and brought her with me. The Prophet (ﷺ) came out. The narrator mentioned the rest of the tradition. He (i.e. the Prophet) said: As for the girl, I decided in favour of Ja'far. She will live with her maternal aunt. The maternal aunt is like mother.

This tradition has been narrated by ‘Abd Al Rahman bin Abi Laila through a different chain of narrators. This version has “He decided that she would be given to Ja’far and said “Her maternal aunt is with him(i.e., his wife).