Muwatta Malik

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had asked Ibn Shihab about a man who had a slave-girl as a wife, and then he bought her, and divorced her once. He said, "She is halal for him by the possession of the right hand as long as he does not make his divorce irrevocable. If he irrevocably divorces her, she is not halal for him by the possession of the right hand until she has married another husband." Malik said that if a man rnarried a female slave and then she had a child by him, and then he bought her, she was not an umm walad for him because of the child born to him while she belonged to another, until she had had a child by him while she was in his possession after he had purchased her. Malik said, "If he buys her and she is pregnant by him and she then gives birth while she belongs to him, she is his umm walad by that pregnancy, according to what we think, and Allah knows best."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah ibn Utba ibn Masud from his father that Umar ibn al- Khattab was asked about a woman and her daughter who were in the possession of the right hand, and whether one could have intercourse with one of them after the other Umar said, "I dislike both being permitted together." He then forbade that.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Qabisa ibn Dhu'ayb that a man asked Uthman ibn Affan whether one could have intercourse with two sisters who one owned. Uthman said, "One ayat makes them halal, and one ayat makes them haram. As for me, I wouldn't like to do it." The man left him and met one of the companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and asked him about it, and he said, "Had I any authority and I found someone who had done it, I would punish him as an example." Ibn Shihab added, "I think that it was Ali ibn Abi Talib. "

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that az-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam said the like of that. Malik said that if a man had sexual relations with a female slave that he owned, and then he wanted to also have relations with her sister, the sister was not halal for a man until intercourse with the slave-girl had been made haram for him by marriage, setting free, kitaba, or the like of that - for instance, if he had married her to his slave or someone other than his slave.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Umar ibn al-Khattab gave his son a slave-girl and said, "Do not touch her, for I have uncovered her."

Yahya related to me from Malik that Abd arRahman ibn al-Mujabbir said that Salim ibn Abdullah gave his son a slave-girl and said, "Do not go near her, for I wanted her, and did not act towards her."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Abu Nahshal ibn al-Aswad said to al-Qasim ibn Muhammad,"I saw a slave-girl of mine uncovered in the moonlight, and so I sat on her as a man sits on a woman. She said that she was menstruating, so I stood up and have not gone near her after that. Can I give her to my son to have intercourse with?" Al-Qasim forbade that.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibrahim ibn Abi Abla from Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan that he gave a slave-girl to a friend of his, and later asked him about her. He said, "I intended to give her to my son to do such-and-such with her." Abd al-Malik said, "Marwan was more scrupulous than you. He gave a slave-girl to his son, and then he said, 'Do not go near her, for I have seen her leg uncovered .' "

Malik said, "It is not halal to marry a christian or jewish slave-girl because Allah the Blessed, the Exalted, said in His Book, 'Believing women who are muhsanat and women of those who were given the Book before you who are muhsanat', (sura 5 ayat 6) and they are free women from the Christians and Jews. Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, said in His Book, 'If you are not affluent enough to marry believing women who are muhsanat, take believing slave-girls whom your right hands own.' " (Sura 4 ayat 24) Malik said, "In our opinion, Allah made marriage to believing slave-girls halal, and He did not make halal marriage to christian and jewish slave-girls from the People of the Book." Malik said, "The christian and jewish slave-girl are halal for their master by right of possession, but intercourse with a magian slave-girl is not halal by the right of possession."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Said ibn al- Musayyab said, "The muhsanat among women are those who have husbands." That referred to the fact that Allah has made fornication haram.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab, and he had heard from al-Qasim ibn Muhammad that they said, "When a free man marries a slave-girl and consummates the marriage, she makes him muhsan." Malik said, "All (of the people of knowledge) I have seen said that a slave-girl makes a free man muhsan when he marries her and consummates the marriage." Malik said, "A slave makes a free woman muhsana when he consummates a marriage with her and a free woman only makes a slave muhsan when he is freed and he is her husband and has had sexual relations with her after he has been set free. If he parts from her before he is free, he is not a muhsan unless he marries her after having been set free and he consummates the marriage." Malik said, "When a slave-girl is married to a free man and then he separates from her before she is set free, his marriage to her does not make her muhsana. She is not muhsana until she has married after she has been set free and she has had intercourse with her husband. That gives her ihsan. If she is the wife of a freeman and then she is set free while she is his wife before he separates from her, the man makes her muhsana if he has intercourse with her after she has been set free." Malik said, "The christian and jewish free women and the muslim slave-girl all make a muslim free man muhsan when he marries one of them and has intercourse with her."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Abdullah and Hasan, the sons of Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib from their ather, mayAllah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade temporary marriage with women and the flesh of domestic donkeys on the Day of Khaybar.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Urwa ibn az- Zubayr that Khawla ibn Hakim came to Umar ibn al-Khattab and said, ''Rabia ibn Umayya made a temporary marriage with a woman and she is pregnant by him.'' Umar ibn al-Khattab went out in dismay dragging his cloak, saying, "This temporary marriage, had I come across it, I would have ordered stoning and done away with it! "

Yahya related to me from Malik that he heard Rabia ibn Abd ar- Rahman say that a slave could marry four women. Malik said, "This is the best of what I have heard about the matter." Malik said, "The slave differs with the muhallil if the slave is given permission by his master for his ex-wife. If his master does not give him permission, he separates them. The muhallil is separated in any case if he intends to make the woman halal by marriage." Malik said, "When a slave is owned by his wife or a husband owns his wife, the possession of each of them is rendered void without divorce. If a man, for instance, is married to a slave-girl, and then he buys her, he must divorce her as a matter of course. They can then re- marry. If they re-marry afterwards, that separation was not divorce." Malik said, "When a slave is freed by his wife who owns him and she is in the idda-period from him, they can only return to each other after she has made another marriage."

Malik related to me from Ibn Shihab that he had heard that in the time of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, women were becoming muslim in their own lands and they did not do hijra while their husbands were still kafirun although they themselves had become muslim. Among them was the daughter of al-Walid ibn al-Mughira and she was the wife of Safwan ibn Umayya. She became muslim on the day of the conquest (of Makka), and her husband, Safwan ibn Umayya fled from Islam. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, sent Safwan's paternal cousin, Wahb ibn Umayr with the cloak of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, as a safe-conduct for Safwan ibn Umayya, and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, called him to Islam and asked for him to come to him and if he was pleased with the matter to accept it. If not he would have a respite for two months. When Safwan came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, with his cloak, he called out to him over the heads of the people, "Muhammad! Wahb ibn Umayr brought me your cloak and claimed that you had summoned me to come to you and if I was pleased with the matter, I should accept it and if not, you would give me a respite for two months. "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Come down, Abu Wahb." He said, "No, by Allah! I will not come down until you make it clear to me." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "You have a respite of four months." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, went out toward Hawazin at Hunayn. He sent to Safwan ibn Umayya to borrow some equipment and arms that he had. Safwan said, "Willingly or unwillingly?" He said, "Willingly." Therefore he lent him the equipment and arms which he had. Then Safwan went out with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, while he was still a kafir. He was present at the battles of Hunayn and at-Ta'if while he was still a kafir and his wife was a muslim. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not separate Safwan and his wife until he had become muslim, and his wife was settled with him by that marriage.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Ibn Shihab said, "Between the Islam of Safwan and the Islam of his wife there was about one month." Ibn Shihab said, "We have not heard about any woman doing hijra for Allah and His Messenger while her husband was a kafir abiding in the land of kufr, but that her hijra separated her and her husband unless her husband came in hijra before her period of idda had been completed."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Umm Hakim bint al-Harith ibn Hisham who was the wife of Ikrima ibn Abi Jahl became muslim on the day of the conquest of Makka, and her husband Ikrima fled from Islam as far as the Yemen. Umm Hakim set out after him until she came to him in the Yemen and she called him to Islam, and he became muslim. He went to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in the year of the conquest. When the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saw him, he rushed to him in joy and did not bother to put on his cloak until he had made the pledge with him. They were confirmed in their marriage. Malik said, "If a man becomes muslim before his wife, a separation occurs between them when he presents Islam to her and she does not become muslim, because Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, said in His Book, 'Do not hold fast to the ties of women who are kafirun.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Humayd at-Tawil from Anas ibn Malik that Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he had a traceof yellow on him. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, asked about it. He told him that he had just been married. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "How much did you hand over to her?" He said, "The weight of a date pit in gold." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to him, "Hold a feast, even if it is only with a sheep.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Yahya ibn Said said, "I have heard that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, held a wedding feast in which there was neither meat nor bread."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi from Abdullah ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "When you are invited to a wedding feast, you must go to it."