948 — Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “A man declared ẓihār against his wife and then had intercourse with her. He came to the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—and said, ‘I have slept with her before offering the expiation.’ He replied, ‘Do not go near her again until you have carried out what Allah, Exalted is He, has commanded you.’” It was related by the Four compilers; al-Tirmidhī authenticated it, while al-Nasāʾī considered the mursal version stronger.
Al-Bazzār transmitted it through another chain from Ibn ʿAbbās, adding: “Make the expiation and do not repeat it.” (1)
Hadith grading
The hadith is ḥasan. In at-Talkhīṣ it is stated: “Abū Dāwūd and al-Nasāʾī narrated it and its transmitters are trustworthy, though Abū Ḥātim and al-Nasāʾī judged it defective on account of its being mursal.” Ibn Ḥazm said, “Its narrators are reliable, and the fact that some report it as mursal does not harm it.” On the same subject there is also the narration of Salamah ibn Ṣakhr recorded by al-Tirmidhī, who said, “It is ḥasan gharīb.” Al-Ḥākim declared it ṣaḥīḥ; al-Mundhirī said, “Its transmitters are trustworthy,” and Ibn Ḥajar judged it ḥasan in Fatḥ al-Bārī, adding, “Its narrators are reliable.”
Vocabulary of the hadith
• waqaʿa: the phrase “waqaʿa ʿalā his wife” means that he had sexual intercourse with her.
• mā amaraka Allah: i.e. the required expiation.
Points derived from the hadith
1 – It has already been noted that ẓihār means making intercourse with one’s wife unlawful by likening her to someone who is permanently forbidden to him.