'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported that Aflah, the brother of Abu'l-Qu'ais, who was her uncle by reason of fosterage, came, and asked her permission (to enter the house) after seclusion (Hijab) was instituted. I refused to admit him. When Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) came, I informed him what I had done. He commanded me to grant him permission (as the brother of her foster-father was also her uncle).

The wives of the Prophet used to go to Al-Manasi, a vast open place (near Baqi` at Medina) to answer the call of nature at night. `Umar used to say to the Prophet "Let your wives be veiled," but Allah's Apostle did not do so. One night Sauda bint Zam`a the wife of the Prophet went out at `Isha' time and she was a tall lady. `Umar addressed her and said, "I have recognized you, O Sauda." He said so, as he desired eagerly that the verses of Al-Hijab (the observing of veils by the Muslim women) may be revealed. So Allah revealed the verses of "Al-Hijab" (A complete body cover excluding the eyes).

that Aflah the brother of Abu Al-Qu'ais, her foster uncle, came, asking permission to enter upon her after the Verse of Al-Hijab (the use of veils by women) was revealed. `Aisha added: I did not allow him to enter, but when Allah's Apostle came, I told him what I had done, and he ordered me to give him permission.

That the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: "When one of you (women) has a Mukatab ho has with him what will fulfill (the Kitabah) then observe Hijab from him."

[Abu 'Eisa said:] This Hadith is Hasan Sahih. And the meaning of this Hadith according to the people of knowledge is that of caution. They say that the Mukatab is not freed, even if he has the amount to pay, until he pays it.

The Verse of Al-Hijab (veiling of women) was revealed in connection with Zainab bint Jahsh. (On the day of her marriage with him) the Prophet gave a wedding banquet with bread and meat; and she used to boast before other wives of the Prophet and used to say, "Allah married me (to the Prophet in the Heavens."

(the wife of the Prophet) `Umar bin Al-Khattab used to say to Allah's Apostle "Let your wives be veiled" But he did not do so. The wives of the Prophet used to go out to answer the call of nature at night only at Al-Manasi.' Once Sauda, the daughter of Zam`a went out and she was a tall woman. `Umar bin Al-Khattab saw her while he was in a gathering, and said, "I have recognized you, O Sauda!" He (`Umar) said so as he was anxious for some Divine orders regarding the veil (the veiling of women.) So Allah revealed the Verse of veiling. (Al-Hijab; a complete body cover excluding the eyes). (See Hadith No. 148, Vol. 1)

that he was a boy of ten at the time when the Prophet emigrated to Medina. He added: I served Allah's Apostle for ten years (the last part of his life time) and I know more than the people about the occasion whereupon the order of Al-Hijab was revealed (to the Prophet). Ubai b n Ka`b used to ask me about it. It was revealed (for the first time) during the marriage of Allah's Apostle with Zainab bint Jahsh. In the morning, the Prophet was a bride-groom of her and he Invited the people, who took their meals and went away, but a group of them remained with Allah's Apostle and they prolonged their stay. Allah's Apostle got up and went out, and I too, went out along with him till he came to the lintel of `Aisha's dwelling place. Allah's Apostle thought that those people had left by then, so he returned, and I too, returned with him till he entered upon Zainab and found that they were still sitting there and had not yet gone. The Prophet went out again, and so did I with him till he reached the lintel of `Aisha's dwelling place, and then he thought that those people must have left by then, so he returned, and so did I with him, and found those people had gone. At that time the Divine Verse of Al-Hijab was revealed, and the Prophet set a screen between me and him (his family).

I said, "O Allah's Apostle! Good and bad persons enter upon you, so I suggest that you order the mothers of the Believers (i.e. your wives) to observe veils." Then Allah revealed the Verses of Al- Hijab.

Whenever the Prophet intended to proceed on a journey, he used to draw lots amongst his wives and would take the one upon whom the lot fell. Once, before setting out for Jihad, he drew lots amongst us and the lot came to me; so I went with the Prophet; and that happened after the revelation of the Verse Hijab (i.e. veiling).

I know (about) the Hijab (the order of veiling of women) more than anybody else. Ubai bin Ka`b used to ask me about it. Allah's Apostle became the bridegroom of Zainab bint Jahsh whom he married at Medina. After the sun had risen high in the sky, the Prophet invited the people to a meal. Allah's Apostle remained sitting and some people remained sitting with him after the other guests had left. Then Allah's Apostle got up and went away, and I too, followed him till he reached the door of `Aisha's room. Then he thought that the people must have left the place by then, so he returned and I also returned with him. Behold, the people were still sitting at their places. So he went back again for the second time, and I went along with him too. When we reached the door of `Aisha's room, he returned and I also returned with him to see that the people had left. Thereupon the Prophet hung a curtain between me and him and the Verse regarding the order for (veiling of women) Hijab was revealed.

Allah, the brother of Abu Al-Qu'ais asked my permission to enter after the verses of Al-Hijab (veiling the ladies) was revealed, and I said, "By Allah, I will not admit him unless I take permission of Allah's Apostle for it was not the brother of Al-Qu'ais who had suckled me, but it was the wife of Al-Qu'ais, who had suckled me." Then Allah's Apostle entered upon me, and I said, "O Allah's Apostle! The man has not nursed me but his wife has nursed me." He said, "Admit him because he is your uncle (not from blood relation, but because you have been nursed by his wife), Taribat Yaminuki." `Urwa said, "Because of this reason, ' Aisha used to say: Foster suckling relations render all those things (marriages etc.) illegal which are illegal because of the corresponding blood relations." (See Hadith No. 36, Vol. 7)

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Said ibn al- Musayyab said, "The idda of the woman who bleeds constantly is a year."

Malik said, "What is done among us about a divorced woman whose periods stop when her husband divorces her is that she waits nine months. If she has not had a period in them, she has an idda of three months. If she has a period before the end of the three months, she accepts the period. If another nine months pass without her having a period, she does an idda of three months. If she has a second period before the end of those three months, she accepts the period. If nine months then pass without a period, she does an idda of three months. If she has a third period, the idda of the period is complete. If she does not have a period, she waits three months, and then she is free to marry. Her husband can return to her before she becomes free to marry unless he made her divorce irrevocable."

Malik said, "The sunna with us is that when a man divorces his wife and has the option to return to her, and she does part of her idda and then he returns to her and then parts from her before he has had intercourse with her, she does not add to what has passed of her idda. Her husband has wronged himself and erred if he returned to her and had no need of her."

Malik said, "What is done among us is that if a woman becomes a muslim while her husband is a kafir and then he becomes muslim, he is entitled to her as long as she is in her idda. If her idda is finished, he has no access to her. If he remarries her after the end of her idda, however, that is not counted as divorce. Islam removed her from him without divorce."

Malik said, "What is done among us when a slave divorces a slave- girl when she is a slave and then she is set free, is that her idda is the idda of a slave-girl, and her being set free does not change her idda whether or not he can still return to her. Her idda is not altered."

Malik added, "The hadd-punishment which a slave incurs is the same as this. When he is freed after he has incurred but before the punishment has been executed, his hadd is the hadd of the slave."

Malik said, "When a free man divorces a slave-girl three times, her idda is two periods. When a slave divorces a free woman twice, her idda is three periods."

Malik said about a man who had a slave-girl as a wife, and he bought her and set her free, ''Her idda is the idda of a slave-girl, i.e. two periods, as long as he has not had intercourse with her. If he has had intercourse with her after buying her and before he set her free, she only has to wait until one period has passed . "

I was ten years old when Allah's Apostle arrived at Medina. My mother and aunts used to urge me to serve the Prophet regularly, and I served him for ten years. When the Prophet died I was twenty years old, and I knew about the order of Al-Hijab (veiling of ladies) more than any other person when it was revealed. It was revealed for the first time when Allah's Apostle had consummated his marriage with Zainab bint Jahsh. When the day dawned, the Prophet was a bridegroom and he invited the people to a banquet, so they came, ate, and then all left except a few who remained with the Prophet for a long time. The Prophet got up and went out, and I too went out with him so that those people might leave too. The Prophet proceeded and so did I, till he came to the threshold of `Aisha's dwelling place. Then thinking that these people have left by then, he returned and so did I along with him till he entered upon Zainab and behold, they were still sitting and had not gone. So the Prophet again went away and I went away along with him. When we reached the threshold of `Aisha's dwelling place, he thought that they had left, and so he returned and I too, returned along with him and found those people had left. Then the Prophet drew a curtain between me and him, and the Verses of Al-Hijab were revealed.

My foster uncle came and asked permission (to enter) but I refused to admit him till I asked Allah's Apostle about that. He said, "He is your uncle, so allow him to come in." I said, "O Allah's Apostle! I have been suckled by a woman and not by a man." Allah's Apostle said, "He is your uncle, so let him enter upon you." And that happened after the order of Al-Hijab (compulsory veiling) was revealed. All things which become unlawful because of blood relations are unlawful because of the corresponding foster suckling relations.

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."

ahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar said that a female slave who was the wife of a slave and then was set free, had the right of choice as long as he did not have intercourse with her.

Malik said, "If her husband has intercourse with her and she claims that she did not know, she still has the right of choice. If she is suspect and one does not believe her claim of ignorance, then she has no choice after he has had intercourse with her."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Said ibn al-Musayyab had said that Umar ibn al-Khattab said, "If a man marries a woman who is insane, or has leprosy or white leprosy, without being told of her condition by her guardian, and he has sexual relations with her, she keeps her bride-price in its entirety. Her husband has damages against her guardian."

Malik said, "The husband has damages against her guardian when the guardian is her father, brother, or one who is deemed to have knowledge of her condition. If the guardian who gives her in marriage is a nephew, a mawla or a member of her tribe who is not deemed to have knowledge of her condition, there are no damages against him, and the woman returns what she has taken of her bride-price, and the husband leaves her whatever amount is thought to be fair."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from Said ibn al-Musayyab that Umar ibn al-Khattab said, "The woman who loses her husband and does not know where he is, waits for four years, then she does idda for four months, and then she is free to marry."

Malik said, "If she marries after her idda is over, regardless of whether the new husband has consummated the marriage or not, her first husband has no means of access to her."

Malik said, "That is what is done among us and if her husband reaches her before she has remarried, he is more entitled to her."

Malik said that he had seen people disapproving of someone who said that one of the people (of knowledge) attributed to Umar ibn al-Khattab that he said, "Her first husband chooses when he comes either her bride-price or his wife."

Malik said, "I have heard that Umar ibn al-Khattab, speaking about a woman whose husband divorced her while he was absent from her, and then he took her back and the news of his taking her back had not reached her, while the news of his divorcing her had, and so she had married again, said, 'Her first husband who divorced her has no means of access to her whether or not the new husband has consummated the marriage.' "

Malik said, "This is what I like the best of what I heard about the missing man."

Malik related to me from Nafi that Safiyya bint Abi Ubayd informed him that Umar ibn al-Khattab said, "What is the matter with men who have intercourse with their slave-girls and then leave them to go? No slave-girl comes to me whose master confesses that he has had intercourse with her but that I connect her child to him, whether or not he has practised coitus interruptus or left off from intercourse with her."

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, "What is done in our community about an umm walad who commits a crime is that her master is liable for what she has done up to her value. He does not have to surrender her, and he cannot be made to bear more than her value for her crime."

Malik said, "The position with us about a woman who is found to be pregnant and has no husband and she says, 'I was forced,' or she says, 'I was married,' is that it is not accepted from her and the hadd is inflicted on her unless she has a clear proof of what she claims about the marriage or that she was forced or she comes bleeding if she was a virgin or she calls out for help so that someone comes to her and she is in that state or what resembles it of the situation in which the violation occurred." He said, "If she does not produce any of those, the hadd is inflicted on her and what she claims of that is not accepted from her."

Malik said, "A raped woman cannot marry until she has restored herself by three menstrual periods."

He said, "If she doubts her periods, she does not marry until she has freed herself of that doubt."

I of all the people know best this verse of Al-Hijab. When Allah's Apostle married Zainab bint Jahsh she was with him in the house and he prepared a meal and invited the people (to it). They sat down (after finishing their meal) and started chatting. So the Prophet went out and then returned several times while they were still sitting and talking. So Allah revealed the Verse: 'O you who believe! Enter not the Prophet's houses until leave is given to you for a meal, (and then) not (so early as) to wait for its preparation .....ask them from behind a screen.' (33.53) So the screen was set up and the people went away.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar divorced his wife while she was menstruating in the time of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, Umar ibn al-Khattab asked the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about it. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Go and tell him to take her back and keep her until she is purified and then has a period and then is purified. Then if he wishes, he an keep her, and if he wishes he should divorce her before he has intercourse with her. That is the idda which Allah has commanded for women who are divorced."

It is the Prophet's tradition that if someone marries a virgin and he has already a matron wife then he should stay for seven days with her (the virgin) and then by turns; and if someone marries a matron and he has already a virgin wife then he should stay with her (the matron) for three days, and then by turns.

Allah's Apostle said, "A lady slave should not be given in marriage until she is consulted, and a virgin should not be given in marriage until her permission is granted." The people said, "How will she express her permission?" The Prophet said, "By keeping silent (when asked her consent)." Some people said, "If a man, by playing a trick, presents two false witnesses before the judge to testify that he has married a matron with her consent and the judge confirms his marriage, and the husband is sure that he has never married her (before), then such a marriage will be considered as a legal one and he may live with her as husband."

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: The marriage of a woman who marries without the consent of her guardians is void. (He said these words) three times. If there is cohabitation, she gets her dower for the intercourse her husband has had. If there is a dispute, the sultan (man in authority) is the guardian of one who has none.

Imran ibn Husayn was asked about a person who divorces his wife, and then has intercourse with her, but he does not call any witness to her divorce nor to her restoration. He said: You divorced against the sunnah and took her back against the sunnah. Call someone to bear witness to her divorce, and to her return in marriage, and do not repeat it.

A woman belonging to the tribe of Juhaynah (according to the version of Aban) came to the Prophet (saws) and said that she had committed fornication and that she was pregnant. The Messenger of Allah (saws) called her guardian.

Then the Messenger of Allah (saws) said to him: Be good to her, and when she bears a child, bring her (to me). When she gave birth to the child, he brought her (to him). The Prophet (saws) gave orders regarding her, and her clothes were tied to her. He then commanded regarding her and she was stoned to death. He commanded the people (to pray) and they prayed over her.

Thereupon Umar said: Are you praying over her, Messenger of Allah, when she has committed fornication?

He said: By Him in Whose hand my soul is, she has repented to such an extent that if it were divided among the seventy people of Medina, it would have been enough for them all. And what do you find better than the fact that she gave her life.

Aban did not say in his version: Then her clothes were tied to her.

When a woman went out in the time of the Prophet (saws) for prayer, a man attacked her and overpowered (raped) her.

She shouted and he went off, and when a man came by, she said: That (man) did such and such to me. And when a company of the Emigrants came by, she said: That man did such and such to me. They went and seized the man whom they thought had had intercourse with her and brought him to her.

She said: Yes, this is he. Then they brought him to the Messenger of Allah (saws).

When he (the Prophet) was about to pass sentence, the man who (actually) had assaulted her stood up and said: Messenger of Allah, I am the man who did it to her.

He (the Prophet) said to her: Go away, for Allah has forgiven you. But he told the man some good words (AbuDawud said: meaning the man who was seized), and of the man who had had intercourse with her, he said: Stone him to death.

He also said: He has repented to such an extent that if the people of Medina had repented similarly, it would have been accepted from them.

Abu Dawud said: Asbat bin Nasr has also transmitted it from Simak.

A slave-girl belonging to the house of the Messenger of Allah (saws) committed fornication. He (the Prophet) said: Rush up, Ali, and inflict the prescribed punishment on her. I then hurried up, and saw that blood was flowing from her, and did not stop. So I came to him and he said: Have you finished inflicting (punishment on her)? I said: I went to her while her blood was flowing. He said: Leave her alone till her bleeding stops; then inflict the prescribed punishment on her. And inflict the prescribed punishment on those whom your right hands possess (i.e. slaves).

Abu Dawud said: A similar tradition has been transmitted by Abu al-Ahwas from 'Abd al-A'la, and also by Shu'bah from 'Abd al-A'la. This version has: He said: Do not give her beating until she gives birth to a child. But the former (version) is sounder.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Said ibn Amr ibn Sulaym az- Zuraqi that he asked al-Qasim ibn Muhammad about a man who made divorce conditional on his marrying a woman i.e. if he married her he would automatically divorce her. Al-Qasim ibn Muhammad said, "If a man marries a woman whom he has made as his mother's back, i.e. has made haram for him, Umar ibn al-Khattab ordered him not to go near her if he married her until he had done the kaffara for pronouncing dhihar."

The Messenger of Allah (saws) decided a case of a woman from the Ansar to whom an orchard of date-palms was given by her son. She then died. Her son said: I gave it to her for her life, and she has brothers. Thereupon the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: It belongs to her during her life and after death. He then said: I gave a sadaqah (charity to her. He replied: It is more unexpected from you.

Yahya related to me the like of that from Malik from Ibn Shihab.

Malik said, about a slave who divorced a slave-girl but did not make it absolute, "He can return to her. If he then dies while she is still in the idda from her divorce, she does the idda of a slave- girl whose husband dies, and it is two months and five days. If she has been set free and he can return to her, and she does not choose to separate after she has been set free, and he dies while she is in the idda from the divorce, she does the idda of a free woman whose husband has died, four months and ten days. That is because the idda of widowhood befell her while she was free, so her idda is the idda of a free woman."

Malik said, "That is what is done among us."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Said ibn al- Musayyab and from Sulayman ibn Yasar that Tulayha al-Asadiya was the wife of Rushayd ath-Thaqafi. He divorced her, and she got married in her idda-period. Umar ibn al-Khattab beat her and her husband with a stick several times, and separated them. Then Umar ibn al-Khattab said, "If a woman marries in her idda-period, and the new husband has not consummated the marriage, then separate them, and when she has completed the idda of her first husband, the other becomes a suitor. If he has consummated the marriage then separate them. Then she must complete her idda from her first husband, and then the idda from the other one, and they are never to be reunited."

Malik added, ''Said ibn al-Musayyab said that she had her dowry because he had consummated the marriage."

Malik said,"The practice with us concerning a free woman whose husband dies, is that she does an idda of four months and ten days and she does not marry if she doubts her period until she is free of any doubt or if she fears that she is pregnant."

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has been narrated by Yunus b. Jubair, Anas b. Sirin b. Jubair, Zaid b. Aslam, Abu al-Zubair and Mansur from Abu Wa'il on the authority of Ibn 'Umar. They all agreed on the theme that the Prophet (saws) commanded him to take her back (and keep her) till she was purified. Then if he desired, he might divorce her or keep her with him if he wanted to do so. The version narrated by al-Zuhri from Salim from Nafi' on the authority of Ibn 'Umar has: The Prophet (saws) commanded him to take her back (and keep her) till she is purified, and then has menstrual discharge, and then she is purified. Then if he desires, he may divorce her and if he desires he may keep her.

Abu Dawud said: A version like that of Nafi' and al-Zuhri has also been transmitted by 'Ata al-Khurasani from al-Hasan on the authority of Ibn 'Umar. All the versions of this tradition contradict the one narrated by Abu al-Zubair.

Yahya said that Malik related from Ibn Shihab from Salim ibn Abdullah ibn Umar from his father that Umar ibn al-Khattab said, "What's the matter with men who have intercourse with their slave- girls and then dismiss them? No slave-girl comes to me whose master confesses that he has had intercourse with her but that I connect her child to him, whether or not he has practised coitus interruptus or stopped having intercourse with her."