Al-Bukhārī said, “His ḥadith is munkar (objectionable).”

Ibn Ḥajar states in al-Talkhīṣ: “This wording is reported from more than one Companion. Ibn Ḥazm related it in al-Iṣāl from ʿUmar with a sound chain, and al-Ḥārithī included it in the Musnad of Abū Ḥanīfah through the route of Maqsam, from Ibn ʿAbbās, as a report traced back to the Prophet.”

Vocabulary of the ḥadith
• idraʾū: from daraʾa – yadraʾu – darʾan, “to repel” or “to push away.” The meaning here is: seek out excuses that will drop the legal penalty.
• shubuhāt: singular shubha. A shubha is an ambiguity concerning whether something did or did not occur; its plurals are shubah and shubuhāt.

Points derived from the ḥadith
1 – The rights that belong solely to Allah are founded on leniency, for He—glorified and exalted—is characterized by covering His servants’ faults, pardoning them, and forgiving their sins.
2 – This principle is supported by the present ḥadith, which has reached us through both traced and Companion-level reports that corroborate one another, all indicating the same meaning in keeping with Allah’s generosity and His forbearance toward His servants.
3 – Accordingly, Allah’s prescribed penalties (ḥudūd) and His rights are to be repelled whenever a doubtful matter (shubha) exists and there is a legitimate way to avert them—such as when a woman claims coercion or asserts that intercourse happened while she was asleep. In such instances her statement is accepted, the ḥadd is waived, and she is not required to furnish further evidence for what she maintains.

Ibn al-Mundhir said: “Everyone from the scholars whose views we preserve is unanimously agreed that the prescribed penalties are averted by doubtful matters.”

Al-Muwaffaq said: “Most scholars hold that no ḥadd is applied when there is a shubha, because the legal penalties are to be averted by doubtful matters.”