944 – On the authority of ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her): “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ took an ʾilāʾ (oath of abstention) concerning his wives and declared something forbidden; thus he rendered what had been lawful unlawful and prescribed an expiation for the oath.” Al-Tirmidhī related it, and its narrators are trustworthy. (1)

Level of authenticity:
The correct view is that the report is mursal: al-Shaʿbī transmits it directly from the Prophet ﷺ.
Al-Tirmidhī said: “The narration of Muslimah ibn ʿAlqamah from Dāwūd was transmitted by ʿAlī ibn Mushir and others, from Dāwūd, from al-Shaʿbī, from the Prophet ﷺ as a mursal report; it does not contain the link ‘from Masrūq, from ʿĀʾishah.’ This version is sounder than the one of Muslimah ibn ʿAlqamah.”

Glossary of the ḥadith:
– ʾĀlā from his wives: ʾālā-yaʾlī; ʾiliyyah means “oath,” plural ʾalāyā, like ʿaṭiyyah/ʿaṭāyā. The verb normally governs ʿalā, but here it is followed by min because it conveys the sense of distancing; min may also be causal.
Al-ʿAynī said: “The Prophet’s ﷺ ʾilāʾ from his wives means he swore not to enter upon them for a month. What is intended is not the technical ʾilāʾ recognized by jurists—an oath to abstain from marital relations with one’s wife for four months or more.”