960 – From ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) who said, “Barīrah was instructed to observe a waiting-period of three menstrual cycles.” It is related by Ibn Mājah. All of its transmitters are trustworthy, yet the report is considered defective (1).

Hadith grading:
The ḥadīth is ṣaḥīḥ.
Ibn Mājah recorded it, saying: “ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad narrated to us; Wakīʿ narrated to us; from Sufyān; from Manṣūr; from Ibrāhīm; from al-Aswad; from ʿĀʾishah, who said …” and then mentioned the report.
Al-Būṣayrī remarked, “Its chain is sound and its narrators are reliable,” and Ibn ʿAbd al-Hādī likewise said, “Its transmitters are trustworthy.”
Al-Albānī judged the isnād to be ṣaḥīḥ, its narrators being those relied upon by the two Shaykhs (al-Bukhārī and Muslim) except for ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad, who is trustworthy; most likely he is ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Ṭanāfasī.

Glossary:
• “Was instructed” appears in the passive voice, meaning that Barīrah was commanded by the Prophet ﷺ.

Points derived from the ḥadīth:
1 – Barīrah, the freed slave-woman of ʿĀʾishah, was emancipated while still married to her slave husband Mughīth. She was then given the choice either to remain with him or to annul the marriage, and she chose annulment.
2 – The report shows that she observed a waiting-period of three menstrual cycles even though the separation was an annulment, not a divorce; it was a separation during life, not death; and the husband from whom she observed this waiting-period remained a slave.