and explain its invalidity either by claiming that it involves shared marital access or on other grounds, as do the followers of al-Shāfi‘ī and those followers of Ahmad who agree with them, such as al-Qādī Abū Ya‘lā and his followers.

The first opinion accords more closely with the revealed text and sound analogy, as has been explained at length elsewhere. They also differed over whether a marriage with a dowry can be contracted using expressions such as “transfer of ownership,” “gift,” and the like. The majority permitted this, including Mālik and Abū Hanīfah. Ahmad’s explicit statements and the statements of his early followers also support this position. Al-Shāfi‘ī and most of Ahmad’s later followers, such as Ibn Hāmid, al-Qādī, and their followers, disallowed it. I know of no follower of Ahmad before Ibn Hāmid who held this view.

The point here is that the only form of marriage Allah Most High reserved exclusively for His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, was marriage to a woman who offered herself as a gift, as He says:

“And a believing woman if she offers herself to the Prophet, if the Prophet wishes to marry her—exclusively for you, not for the other believers.”

This indicates that everything else He made lawful for His Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is lawful for his community. His words also establish this:

“So when Zayd had ended his marriage to her, We gave her to you in marriage, so that there should be no restriction upon believers concerning the former wives of their adopted sons once those sons have ended their marriages to them.”

Thus, when He made marriage to the former wife of an adopted son lawful, particularly for the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, so that it would thereby be lawful for the believers, this showed that what He makes lawful for him is lawful for his community. Among his relatives, He permitted him to marry the daughters of his paternal uncles and aunts and the daughters of his maternal uncles and aunts. Singling these out for mention indicates that other female relatives are forbidden, especially since He subsequently said:

“No women are lawful for you beyond these, nor may you exchange them for other wives.”

That is, beyond these women