871 – It is narrated from al-Dahhāk ibn Fayrūz al-Daylamī, on the authority of his father (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: “I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, I have embraced Islam while two sisters are married to me.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied, ‘Divorce whichever of the two you wish.’”

The report is recorded by Aḥmad and by the Four Sunan compilers except al-Nasaʾī. It was declared authentic by Ibn Ḥibbān, al-Dāraquṭnī, and al-Bayhaqī, whereas al-Bukhārī considered it defective (1).

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Degree of authenticity: The ḥadīth is sound (ḥasan).

Al-Talḵīṣ states: It was transmitted by al-Shāfiʿī, Aḥmad, Abū Dāwūd, al-Tirmidhī, Ibn Mājah, and Ibn Ḥibbān, and the latter authenticated the narration of Fayrūz al-Daylamī. Although al-ʿUqaylī and Ibn al-Qayyim critiqued it, al-Bayhaqī and al-Dāraquṭnī judged it sound.

Al-Tirmidhī said: “This ḥadīth is sound and singular (ḥasan gharīb), and it is supported by numerous chains. The noble Qurʾānic verse is an even stronger corroboration.”

For the Almighty says, when listing the women forbidden in marriage: “and that you join two sisters in wedlock” (Qurʾān 4:23).

Lessons derived from the ḥadīth
1 – Fayrūz al-Daylamī, a Yemeni, accepted Islam while married to two sisters. The Prophet ﷺ instructed him to choose whichever one he wished to keep as a wife and to divorce the other, for it is impermissible to be married to two sisters simultaneously.

Ibn Rushd remarked: The Muslims are unanimously agreed that two sisters may not be combined in a single marriage contract.