on account of this contrast—grew suspicious and questioned the authenticity of Usāmah’s lineage, which caused the Messenger of Allah ﷺ pain.

2 – Mujazziz al-Mudlijī, a noted qāʾif (physiognomist), once passed by the two while their heads were wrapped together in a cloak and only their feet were visible. Noticing the resemblance, he declared, “These feet come from one another!” The Prophet ﷺ heard the remark and rejoiced greatly.

3 – He ﷺ then entered upon ʿĀʾishah with the lines of his face beaming in delight, reassured that Usāmah’s descent from his father had been publicly affirmed and that the words of those who malign others without knowledge had been refuted.

4 – The ḥadith establishes the admissibility of relying on the judgment of the qāfah in matters of lineage when no stronger proof—such as the presumption created by the marital bed (firāsh)—is available. This is the position adopted by the three imams, and it is the very point for which the hadith is cited in this chapter.

5 – One qualified qāʾif is sufficient, provided he is upright and demonstrably accurate, for no report is accepted and no ruling enforced unless the narrator or witness possesses these two qualities.

6 – The Divine Law is keen to safeguard true genealogies, link children to their rightful ancestors, and prevent their loss.

7 – It is commendable to rejoice in and broadcast glad tidings, especially those that dispel doubts or harmful allegations.

8 – The influence of heredity between forebears and descendants is acknowledged in the Sharīʿah, in custom, and in modern science.

9 – Some jurists once assumed that a qāʾif might attribute a child to more than one father, but modern medicine has shown that a woman’s ovum can be fertilized by only a single sperm, making conception from two different men impossible.