He replied:

It is established in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that he “cursed the recipient of usury, its payer, its two witnesses and its scribe; and Allah cursed the man who performs tahlīl and the man for whose benefit it is performed.” Al-Tirmidhī said: “An authentic hadith.”

The consensus of the Companions on this is also established, including ‘Umar, ‘Uthmān, ‘Alī, Ibn Mas‘ūd, Ibn ‘Abbās and others. Indeed, ‘Umar said:

“Whenever a man who performs tahlīl and the man for whose benefit it is performed are brought before me, I will stone them both.”

‘Uthmān said:

“No marriage is valid except one entered into out of genuine desire for marriage, not one entered into through deception.”

Ibn ‘Abbās was asked about a man who had pronounced divorce upon his wife a hundred times. He replied:

“She became irrevocably divorced from him with three pronouncements; with the rest, he has made a mockery of Allah’s verses.”

The questioner then said to him:

“What if I marry her without his knowledge, intending to make her lawful for him, and then divorce her?”

Ibn ‘Abbās replied:

“Whoever seeks to deceive Allah, Allah will deceive him.”

When asked about this, he also said:

“They remain adulterers, even if they stay together for twenty years, if Allah knows that in his heart he intends to make her lawful for her former husband.”

We have discussed this issue at length in the book “Setting Forth the Evidence for the Invalidity of Tahlīl.” All this, by my life, concerns a man performing tahlīl who is an adult, has intercourse with her, and tastes her sweetness as she tastes his.

As for a male slave who is incapable of intercourse, or whose intercourse does not count as such—as in the case of someone whose penis does not become erect—the imams are in agreement that this does not make her lawful for her former husband.

“Tahlīl marriage” is among the things for which Christians reproach Muslims. They even say: “The Muslims’ Prophet told them: ‘If one of you divorces his wife, she does not become lawful for him until she commits adultery.’”

Our Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is free of this, as are his Companions, those who followed them in righteousness, and the majority of the Muslim imams. And Allah knows best.