988 – From ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him): “He wrote to the commanders of the armies about men who had been away from their wives, instructing them to compel those men either to provide maintenance or to divorce; and if they divorced, they were to send an allowance covering the entire period for which they had kept their wives waiting.” Recorded by al-Shafiʿi and al-Bayhaqi with a hasan (sound) chain of transmission. ⦗1⦘

Hadith grading
The chain of this report is hasan. Al-Hafiz said in al-Talkhīs: “Al-Shafiʿi narrated it from Muslim ibn Khalid, from ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿUmar, from Nafiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar.” Ibn al-Mundhir also transmitted it through ʿAbd al-Razzaq from ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿUmar with the same chain, and Abu Hatim cited it from Hammad ibn Salamah through ʿUbayd Allah as well. The author states: “Al-Shafiʿi and al-Bayhaqi related it with a hasan chain.” Ibn al-Mundhir said, “This ruling is firmly established from ʿUmar, and for that reason Ahmad used it as proof.”

Vocabulary
• umarāʾ: the commanders of the army.
• al-ajnāḍ: plural of jund, meaning the troops.
• mā ḥabasū: here mā functions as a temporal infinitive, meaning ‘the period during which they kept (their wives).’

Points derived from the hadiths
1 – Hadith no. 996 demonstrates the virtue of giving charity, showing that the giver’s hand is the upper hand over the receiver’s in both a literal and a moral sense. It also highlights the goodness of that hand and its owner because of what he spends of his wealth and offers