853 – Ibn ʿAbbās (Allah be pleased with him) reported: “A young virgin girl came to the Prophet ﷺ and stated that her father had married her off while she was unwilling, so the Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave her the choice.” Narrated by Aḥmad, Abū Dāwūd, and Ibn Mājah, and it has been criticised on the grounds of being mursal (1).

Hadith grading:
The hadith is ḥasan. It was transmitted by Aḥmad, Abū Dāwūd, and Ibn Mājah. Some objected to its authenticity, claiming it is mursal; however, al-Ḥāfiẓ replied that it is also reported with a fully connected chain through Ayyūb ibn Suwayd, from al-Thawrī, from Ayyūb, and likewise through Muʿammar ibn Jadʿān al-Raqī, from Zayd ibn Ḥibbān, from Ayyūb. When a hadith is transmitted both connected and mursal, precedence is given to the connected version. For this reason the author said that the objection carries no weight, since its multiple routes reinforce one another.

Vocabulary of the hadith:
– jariya: a young girl, so called because of her lightness and agility.
– bikr: a virgin whose hymen has not been broken. The description focuses on virginity rather than mere youth, because her dislike is only considered if she is capable of expressing it; were she a small child, her aversion would not be taken into account so long as her father arranged the marriage.
– while she was unwilling: a circumstantial clause describing the girl’s state at the time of marriage.
unwilling: al-Muḥīṭ defines coercion as an act imposed by one person upon another that removes the latter’s consent or corrupts his choice, while his legal capacity to act remains.
– khayyara (he gave her the option): the verb khayyara–yukhayyiru–takhyīran means to grant someone a choice; what is meant here is that the Prophet ﷺ—