‘Amr b. Shu'aib, on his father’s authority, said that his grandfather told of a man who got up and said,“Messenger of God, so and so is my son; I had illicit intercourse with his mother in the pre-Islamic period.”God’s Messenger replied,“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.”Abu Dawud transmitted it.

He reported the Prophet as saying,“There are four types of women with whom there can be no cursing:* a Christian woman married to a Muslim, a Jewess married to a Muslim, a freewoman married to a slave, and a slave woman married to a freeman.”*That is the mutual invoking of curses with which this chapter deals. Ibn Majah transmitted it.

Ibn ‘Abbas said that when the Prophet ordered a man and wife to invoke curses regarding one another, 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. Nasa’i transmitted it.

‘A'isha said that once when God’s Messenger went out from her during the night she was jealous regarding him. Then when he came and saw what she was doing he said,“What is the matter with you, ‘A'isha? Are you jealous?”She replied,“Why should one like me not be jealous regarding one like you?”He said,“Your devil has come to you.”She asked,“Messenger of God, have I a devil?”He told her that she had, and when she asked him whether he had one he replied,“Yes, but God has helped me against him so that I may be safe.”Muslim transmitted it.

Abu Salama was told by Fatima daughter of Qais that Abu ‘Amr b. Hafs divorced her absolutely when he was away from home, and his agent sent her some barley. She was displeased with it, and when he said,“I swear by God that you have no claim on us,”she went to God’s Messenger and mentioned that to him. Saying that she was due no maintenance, he ordered her to spend the period before she could remarry in the house of Umm Sharik, but said afterwards,“That is a woman whom my companions visit; spend the period in the house of Ibn Umm Maktum, for he is blind and you can undress. Then when you are in a position to be remarried, tell me." She said that when she was in a position to remarry she mentioned to him that Mu'awiya b. Abu Sufyan and Abu Jahm had asked her in marriage, and he replied,“As for Abu Jahm, he does not put down his stick from his shoulder, and as for Mu'awiya, he is a poor man who has no property; marry Usama b. Zaid." She objected to him, but he said,“Marry Usama," so she married him, God prospered him, and she was envied. A version on her authority has,“As for Abu Jahm, he is a man who is given to beating women." In a version it says that her husband divorced her three times and that when she went to the Prophet he said,“You are due no maintenance unless you are pregnant." Muslim transmitted it.

A'isha said that Fatima was in a lonely place and fear was entertained regarding the district where she was, so the Prophet gave her permission, i.e., to remove. In a version she asked what was the matter with Fatima and whether she did not fear God, i.e., with reference to her saying that she had no place to live and no maintenance. Bukhari transmitted it.

Sa'id b. al-Musayyib said that Fatima was removed simply because she had so much to say against her husband’s relatives. It is transmitted in Sharh as-sunna.

Jabir said:My maternal aunt was divorced by three utterances of the divorce and wanted to cut down fruit from her palm-trees, but a man forbade her to go out, so she went to the Prophet and he said,“Certainly, cut down fruit from your palm-trees, for perhaps you may give sadaqa or do an act of kindness.”Muslim transmitted it.

Al-Miswar b. Makhrama said that some nights after her husband’s death Subai’a al-Aslamiya gave birth to a child. Then she went to the Prophet and asked permission to marry. He gave her permission and she married. Bukhari transmitted it.

Umm Salama told that a woman came to the Prophet and said:"Messenger of God, my daughter’s husband has died and her eye is troubling her, so may we apply collyrium to it?”He said“No”twice or thrice, saying only“No”all the time. Then he said,“It is only four months and ten days, whereas in the pre-Islamic period none of you threw away the piece of dung till a year had passed.”* * The reference is to a pre-Islamic custom by which a widow threw a piece of dung when her idda period came to an end. Cf. Lane, Lexicon and Taj al-'arus; Mirqat, 3:513 f. (Bukhari and Muslim.)