from her, stating that the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—ordered his wives to leave Muzdalifah on the night spent there and cast the pebbles at the jamrah, and that she should then be at her lodging by morning (1), and she continued doing so until she died?”

The answer is: This report is discredited by Muhammad ibn Humayd (2), one of its narrators, whom more than one scholar declared a liar. We also reject it on the basis of her hadith in the two Sahīh collections (3), in which she said: “I wish I had asked the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—for permission, as Sawdah did.”

If it is asked: “Granted that you can reject this hadith, what do you make of the hadith narrated by Muslim in his Sahīh (4), from Umm Habībah, that the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—sent her ahead from Muzdalifah during the night?”

The answer is: It is established in the two Sahīh collections (5) that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—sent the weaker members of his household ahead that night, and Ibn ‘Abbās was among those he sent ahead. It is also established that he (6) sent Sawdah ahead, and that he kept his wives with him until they departed when he did. Muslim alone narrated the hadith of Umm Habībah; if it has been accurately preserved, then she was among the weaker members whom he sent ahead.

If it is asked: “What, then, do you make of what (7) Imām Ahmad narrated (8) from Ibn ‘Abbās: that