Narrated by Sayyidah Khawlah bint Tha’labah (may Allah be pleased with her), she says: By Allah! The opening verses of Surah Al-Mujadilah were revealed concerning me and my husband, Sayyiduna Aws ibn Samit (may Allah be pleased with him). The details are that I was married to him; he was very old, and harshness and irritability had developed in him. One day he came to me, I argued with him about something, he became angry and said:“You are to me as the back of my mother.”Saying this, he went out and sat for a while in the gathering of his people, then returned and desired intimacy with me. I said: This will never happen! By the One in Whose hand is Khawlah’s soul! You cannot approach me, because you have said what you said; you have performed zihar. Now you can only come to me when Allah Almighty and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) decide according to their command. Hearing this, he jumped at me, but I managed to protect myself from him as he was very weak and old; I pushed him away from me. Then I went to a neighbor’s house, borrowed a sheet from her, wrapped myself in it, and went to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). I sat before him and narrated the entire incident that had happened with my husband. I complained to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about the bad behavior I had suffered from my husband. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O Khawlah! He is your cousin and has become very old, so fear Allah regarding him. But I persisted, and by Allah, I had not yet moved from my place when the Qur’an was revealed about me. The state of revelation came upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), which would cover him at the time of revelation. When that state passed, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O Khawlah! Allah has revealed the Qur’an concerning you and your husband. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recited these verses: {قَدْ سَمِعَ اللّٰہُ قَوْلَ الَّتِیْ تُجَادِلُکَ فِیْ زَوْجِہَا وَ تَشْتَکِیْ اِلَی اللّٰہِ، وَاللّٰہُ یَسْمَعُ تَحَاوُرَکُمَا اِنَّ اللّٰہَ سَمِیْعٌ بَصِیْرٌ … … وَلِلْکَافِرِیْنَ عَذَابٌ اَلِیْمٌ}. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Sayyidah Khawlah (may Allah be pleased with her): Tell your husband to free a slave, male or female, as expiation. I said: O Messenger of Allah! He does not have the means to free a slave. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Then he should fast for two consecutive months. I said: O Messenger of Allah! He is very old; he does not have the strength to fast. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Then he should feed sixty needy people with a wasq of dates. Khawlah said: O Messenger of Allah! He does not have that either. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: I will help him with a basket of dates (the amount of which is about fifteen sa’). Sayyidah Khawlah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: O Messenger of Allah! I will also help him with a similar basket. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: You have made a correct decision and done very well. Now go and give charity on his behalf, and now treat your cousin well. So I did so. Sa’d, the narrator, said: ‘Iraq’ means a box or a basket.

Narrated from Sayyiduna Salamah bin Sakhr Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him), he says: I was a man who had a greater desire for intercourse with my wife than others. When the blessed month of Ramadan began, I performed zihar with my wife. The reason was that I feared I might start intercourse at night and then continue in it until the day began (to avoid this evil, I performed zihar). But exactly what I feared happened. My wife was serving me, and in the moonlight, her anklet’s cloth came loose, so I jumped upon her. When morning came, I went to the people of my tribe and told them the whole incident. I said to them: Come with me to the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) so that I may present my case to him as well. But they refused to go, saying: We fear that some verses of the Qur’an may be revealed about us, or the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) may say something about us that would become a lasting disgrace for us. Therefore, you go alone and do as you wish. So I went out, came to the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and narrated the whole incident to him. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Did this happen to you? I said: Yes. He (peace and blessings be upon him) then said: Was it you yourself? I said: Yes, it was me. He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked a third time: Did this incident happen to you? I said: Yes, it happened to me, and I am present, so whatever you (peace and blessings be upon him) and Allah command, enforce it upon me; I will accept it with patience. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Free a slave or a bondwoman. I placed my hand on my neck and said: By the One Who sent you with the truth! I do not own any neck except this one. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Then fast for two consecutive months. I said: O Messenger of Allah! What I did was because of fasting. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Then give charity. I said: By the One Who sent you with the truth! We spent the night hungry; we did not even have dinner. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: There is a man among Banu Zurayq who gives charity; go to him and tell him, he will give you something. Feed sixty sa’ from it as expiation, and whatever remains, spend it on yourself and your family. Salamah says: I came to my people and said: I found you in hardship and lack of understanding, and I found ease and blessing with the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). He has commanded you to give charity to me, so they gave charity to me.

Sayyiduna Salamah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I performed zihar with my wife, then before giving the expiation, I had marital relations with her. When I asked the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he ordered me to give the expiation.