—he never married her at all, nor did he marry any woman of Kindah except the daughter of al-Jawn. He contracted the marriage with her, but when she was brought to him he looked at her, divorced her, and never consummated the marriage (1).
Abū Usayd al-Sāʿidī reported:
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ married Asmāʾ bint al-Nuʿmān al-Jawniyyah, and he sent me to fetch her, so I brought her. Ḥafṣah said to ʿĀʾishah, ‘You apply the henna and I will arrange her hair.’ They did so, and then one of them said to her, ‘He likes it when a woman says, “I seek refuge in Allah from you!”’
When she entered upon him and he let down the curtain, he stretched out his hand toward her and she said, ‘I seek refuge in Allah from you!’ He covered his face with the sleeve of his cloak, withdrew, and said, ‘You have sought refuge with One who grants refuge.’
He then went out and said, ‘Abū Usayd, return her to her family and give her two rāziqiyyah garments,’—that is, two pieces of linen.
After that she used to say, ‘Call me the unfortunate one.’
Its chain of transmission is weak, and al-Ḥākim recorded it in his al-Mustadrak (2).
(1) Reported by Ibn Saʿd, vol. 8, p. 148, and by al-Hakim, vol. 4, p. 37.
(2) Reported by Ibn Saʿd, vol. 8, pp. 145-146, and by al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak, vol. 4, p. 37, through the chain of Hisham b. Muhammad—who is considered unreliable—via Ibn al-Ghasil, Hamza b. Abi Usayd, and his father. Al-Bukhari also includes it in his Sahih, vol. 9, pp. 311-312, through Abu Nuʿaym, ʿAbd al-Rahman b. al-Ghasil, Hamza b. Abi Usayd, from Abu Usayd ﵁, who said:
“We set out with the Prophet ﷺ until we reached an orchard called al-Shawt. When we arrived at two adjoining gardens we sat between them, and the Prophet ﷺ said, ‘Stay here,’ and went inside. The Jawnīyah bride had been lodged in a house among the date-palms belonging to Ummayma bt. al-Nuʿman b. Shurahil, accompanied by her wet nurse. When the Prophet ﷺ entered he said, ‘Offer yourself to me.’ She replied, ‘Does a queen give herself to a commoner?’ He reached out his hand, wishing to calm her, but she exclaimed, ‘I seek refuge in Allah from you.’ He responded, ‘You have sought refuge with the One who grants refuge.’ He then came out to us and said, ‘Abu Usayd, clothe her in two rāziqiyy garments and send her back to her family.’ The rāziqiyy is a type of cloth, while kirbās refers to cotton—that is, a cotton garment.”