who said, “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, ‘A previously-married woman has more right over herself than her guardian, while a virgin is to be consulted about herself, and her consent is (counted as) her silence.’ (1)
Ahmad ibn Hibat Allah transmitted it to us, from al-Muʾayyad al-Tusi; Hibah Allah al-Sayyidi narrated to us; Abu ʿUthman al-Bahiri narrated to us; Zahir ibn Ahmad narrated to us; Ibrahim ibn ʿAbd al-Samad narrated to us; Abu Musʿab reported it to us, from Malik, with similar wording.
I have thus matched al-Hakim’s isnad, and this report is also related from Malik by Sufyan al-Thawri, the judge Sharik, and Shuʿbah.
Al-Hakim said: Abu ʿAli the ḥafiẓ informed us; Abu al-Taḥir Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Madini in Egypt informed us; Yahya ibn Durust narrated to us; Abu Ismaʿil al-Qannad narrated to us, from Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, from al-Awzaʿi and Malik, from al-Zuhri, from ʿAmra, from ʿAʾishah:
from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said, “(The hand) is to be cut off for a quarter of a dinar or more.”
This chain is extremely singular. We do not know of any meeting between Malik and Yahya; had such a meeting occurred, Malik would have narrated from him, and he would have been counted among Malik’s senior teachers.
It is uniquely transmitted by Abu al-Taḥir, and there is discussion about him. (2)