“…she were to steal, I would cut off her hand.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then ordered that the woman be punished, and her hand was severed. Her repentance thereafter was sound, and she later married. ʿĀ’ishah said, “Subsequently she used to come to me, and I would present her needs to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.”

Al-Bukhārī records this report in another place, and Muslim (1) likewise relates it through Ibn Wahb, from Yūnus, from al-Zuhrī, from ʿUrwah, from ʿĀ’ishah.

In Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (2) it is narrated from Sabrah ibn Maʿbad al-Juhanī: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ permitted us to contract mutʿah during the year of the Conquest when he entered Mecca, and he did not leave until he had forbidden us to do so.” In another wording he said, “Know that it is forbidden from this day of yours until the Day of Resurrection.” A report in the Musnad of Aḥmad and in the Sunan states that this occurred during the Farewell Pilgrimage (3); Allah knows best.

Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (4) also relates—through Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah, Yūnus ibn Muḥammad, ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Ziyād, Abū al-ʿUmays, and Iyās ibn Salamah ibn al-Akwaʿ from his father—that he said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ granted us permission for temporary marriage with women for three days during the campaign of Autās, then he forbade us from it.”

Al-Bayhaqī (5) commented, “The year of Autās is the very year of the Conquest, so this report and that of Sabrah are the same.”

I say: Those who affirm that the prohibition occurred at Khaybar maintain that it was permitted twice and prohibited twice; this was explicitly stated by al-Shāfiʿī and others. It has also been said that it was permitted and prohibited more than twice—Allah knows best. Another view is that it was prohibited only once, namely on this occasion during the Conquest. Yet another opinion holds that it was allowed only in cases of necessity; accordingly, when a necessity exists it becomes permissible, and this is a narration from Imām Aḥmad (6). A further view maintains that it was never abrogated at all and remains lawful. This is the well-known position attributed to Ibn ʿAbbās, his followers, and a number of the Companions. A detailed treatment of the issue is found in al-Aḥkām.