and incoherent, as when someone interprets his words:

“Any woman who marries without her guardian’s permission”

as referring only to a female slave under a contract to purchase her freedom.

The rarity of such a case is clear: an ignorant Muslim is not included in the hadith, while a Muslim who knows that this condition need not be fulfilled would not stipulate it while believing its fulfilment obligatory unless he were a disbeliever. A disbeliever would not enter into a Muslim marriage unless he were a hypocrite. For such a marriage to occur in this manner would be exceedingly rare. Indeed, anyone who said that such a case would scarcely cross the speaker’s mind would be speaking the truth.

Elsewhere, we have presented abundant evidence that this hadith concerns the intermediary husband who intends to make the woman lawful again for her former husband, even when this is not stipulated. Likewise, specific warnings of a curse, Hellfire, and the like have been explicitly pronounced in various cases despite scholarly disagreement concerning them. One example is the hadith of Ibn ʿAbbās, may Allah be pleased with them both, reporting that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“May Allah curse women who frequently visit graves and those who establish places of worship over them and place lamps upon them.”

Al-Tirmidhī graded this hadith as good. Some scholars permitted women to visit graves, while others considered it disliked without declaring it forbidden.

Another example is the hadith of ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir, may Allah be pleased with him, reporting that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“May Allah curse those who have intercourse with women in their anuses.”

There is also the hadith of Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, reporting that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“The trader who brings goods to market is granted provision, while the hoarder is cursed.”