940 – ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb narrated, through his father and grandfather, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The child of Adam cannot make a vow regarding what he does not own, nor manumit what he does not own, nor pronounce divorce over what he does not own.” Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi recorded the hadith. Al-Tirmidhi declared it authentic and transmitted from al-Bukhari that it is the soundest report on the subject.⦗1⦘

Degree of authenticity:
The discussion of its grading appeared under the previous hadith. Ibn Hajar cites it in al-Talkhīs without comment, but here he relays al-Tirmidhi’s authentication. Al-Tirmidhi said, “It is the best narration transmitted in this chapter,” echoing Imam al-Bukhari, who stated, “It is the soundest report in the chapter.” Al-Mundhiri graded it ḥasan.

Points derived from the two hadiths:

1. A disposition is valid and effective only with respect to something a person actually owns; concerning what lies outside his control, no binding act is permissible, as the Prophet ﷺ said: “Do not sell what you do not possess.”
2. Accordingly, a man’s declaration of divorce concerning an unrelated woman who is not his wife is invalid, for “Divorce belongs only to the one who holds the leg,” and the Prophet ﷺ said: “There is no divorce in what one does not own.”
3. The same principle applies to manumission: it is invalid to free a slave one does not own, because the act lacks a proper subject.
4. If someone suspends the divorce of an unrelated woman upon marrying her, saying, “If I marry so-and-so, she is divorced,” scholars hold three opinions on the matter: