210 – (The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “There are three whom Allah has undertaken to help: the man who marries seeking chastity; the slave under a manumission contract who intends to fulfill it—that is, a slave who wishes to secure his freedom by paying his master an agreed sum—and the one who fights in the cause of Allah.” Narrated by Ahmad, al-Nasā’ī, al-Tirmidhī, Ibn Mājah, and al-Hākim.) p. 170
Fair. It was narrated by Ahmad (2/251, 437), al-Nasā’ī (2/56, 70), al-Tirmidhī (1/311), Ibn Mājah (2518), al-Hākim (2/160), and likewise Abū Ya‘lā in his Musnad (fol. 306/1), through Muhammad ibn ‘Ajlān, from Sa‘īd al-Maqburī, from Abū Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said—and he related the hadith. Al-Tirmidhī said: “A fair hadith”; one manuscript adds: “authentic.” Al-Hākim said: “Authentic according to Muslim’s criteria,” and al-Dhahabī concurred with him. It is, however, only fair, since Muslim cited Ibn ‘Ajlān merely in corroboration.
211 – (Muslim narrated from Abū Hurayrah, who said: I was with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, when a man came to him and informed him that he had married a woman of the Ansār. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, asked: “Have you looked at her?” He replied: “No.” He said: “Then go and look at her, for there is something in the eyes of the Ansār.”) p. 170
Authentic. It is documented in al-Ahādīth al-Sahīhah (no. 95).
212 – (Al-Mughīrah ibn Shu‘bah related that he proposed marriage to a woman, whereupon the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Look at her, for that is more likely to foster love and harmony between you.” He went to her parents and informed them of what the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, had said, but they seemed to dislike it. The woman heard this from within her private quarters and said: “If the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, has instructed you to look, then look.” Al-Mughīrah said: “So I looked at her and married her.” Narrated by Ahmad, Ibn Mājah, al-Tirmidhī, Ibn Hibbān, and al-Dārimī.) p. 170