with the second husband that he would later separate from her, then the marriage is valid, it renders her lawful for her first husband, and she is entitled to a dower equivalent to that of women of her standing. However, it is disliked if that was her intention.
Abu al-Faraj al-Muzaffar ibn Isma'il al-Tamimi informed us; Abu al-Qasim Hamzah ibn Yusuf al-Sahmi informed us; Abu Ahmad Abd Allah ibn Adiyy, the hadith master, informed us; al-Hasan ibn al-Faraj informed us; Amr ibn Khalid al-Harrani informed us, from Ubayd Allah ibn Abd al-Karim—the Jazari—from Abu Wasil, from Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, that he said: “He cursed the man who makes her lawful for her former husband and the man for whom she is made lawful.” (1)
Nafi' said: A man came to Ibn Umar and said to him, “A man divorced his wife three times, and then his brother, without any prior arrangement, went and married her in order to make her lawful again for the first husband.” He replied, “No—only a marriage genuinely desired. In the time of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, we considered this fornication.” The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “May Allah curse the man who makes her lawful for her former husband and the man for whom she is made lawful.” (2)
“And these are the limits set by Allah, which He makes clear for people who know”—that is, those who know what Allah Most High has commanded them to do.
(1) The hadith of Ibn Masud has two chains. The first is through Abu Qays, from Huzayl ibn Abd al-Rahman, from Ibn Masud, with the wording: “The Messenger of Allah cursed the muhallil (the man who enters a tahlil marriage to make a thrice-divorced woman lawful for her former husband) and the muhallal lahu (the former husband for whose benefit this is done).” It was narrated by al-Tirmidhi in The Book of Marriage, chapter: What Has Been Reported Regarding the Muhallil and the Muhallal Lahu, 4:264; he said, “This hadith is hasan sahih.” It was also narrated at greater length by al-Nasai in The Book of Divorce, chapter: Making a Woman Divorced Three Times Lawful Again and the Stern Warning Concerning It, 6:149; by al-Darimi in The Book of Marriage, chapter: The Prohibition of Tahlil, 5:158; by al-Bayhaqi, 7:208; and by Ahmad, 1:448, 462. Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar wrote in al-Talkhis, 3:170: “Ibn al-Qattan and Ibn Daqiq al-Eid authenticated it according to the conditions of al-Bukhari.”
The other chain is through Abu al-Wasil. It was narrated by Ahmad, 1:450-451. Abu al-Wasil is unknown, as al-Husayni stated. Al-Hafiz also mentioned a third chain, narrated by Abd al-Razzaq through Abdullah ibn Murrah, from al-Harith, from Ibn Masud. This al-Harith is al-Awar al-Kufi; he is weak, and some declared him a liar. It also has other chains from Abu Hurayrah, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Jabir ibn Abdullah, Ibn Abbas, and Uqbah ibn Amir, narrated by Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, al-Tirmidhi, Ahmad, and others. Thus, the hadith is authentic. See Irwa al-Ghalil, 6:307-311.
(2) Al-Hakim authenticated it according to the conditions of al-Bukhari and Muslim, 2:199.