ibn Abī ʿĀsim in his Book of Divorce through four chains of transmission back to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. Thus, the hadith has five or six chains of transmission. He cited al-Rubayyiʿ’s hadith mentioning Maryam al-Mughāliyah (*), but did not cite al-Rubayyiʿ’s earlier hadith concerning Thābit’s beating of his wife Jamīlah—which Ibn Hazm and others graded authentic.
He related: Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ʿUmar narrated to us: ʿUmar ibn Yūnus narrated to us, from Sulaymān ibn Abī Sulaymān, from Yahyā ibn Abī Kathīr, from Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Rahmān ibn Thawbān, from al-Rubayyiʿ:
“The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, instructed the woman who had obtained a khulʿ to observe a waiting period of one menstrual period.”
He also said: Muhammad ibn Sulaymān narrated to us: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūsuf narrated to us: Ibn Lahīʿah narrated to us: Abū al-Aswad narrated to us, from Yahyā ibn al-Nazr and Yazīd ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Qusayt, from Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Rahmān and Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Rahmān ibn Thawbān, from al-Rubayyiʿ bint Muʿawwidh ibn ʿAfrāʾ:
“She heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, relate concerning the wife of Thābit ibn Qays that there had been some discord between her and her husband, who was a hot-tempered man. She came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and spoke to him. He sent for Thābit, who then accepted compensation from her, and she thereby secured her release from him. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, instructed her to observe a waiting period of one menstrual period.”
Abū Bakr ibn Abī ʿĀsim said: “Among the evidence that khulʿ is an annulment, not a divorce, is the following report transmitted through an established chain: Muhammad ibn Musaffā narrated to us: Suwayd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz narrated to us
(*) In al-Fatāwā: “al-Maʿāliyah,” which is a scribal corruption. The correction follows Siyānat Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā min al-Saqt wa-l-Tashīf, p. 236, note 5.
Shaykh Nāsir ibn Hamad al-Fahd states (pp. 236–237):
32/326–327:
There are two points to note on these pages:
First, 32/326:
“Abū Bakr ibn Abī ʿĀsim also transmitted it in his Book of Divorce through four (1) chains of transmission from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. Thus, the hadith has five or six chains. He mentioned al-Rubayyiʿ’s hadith referring to Maryam al-Mughāliyah, but did not mention al-Rubayyiʿ’s earlier hadith concerning Thābit’s beating of his wife Jamīlah.
Ibn Hazm and others graded it authentic. He related, saying: Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ʿUmar narrated to us …”
The punctuation makes the chain following “He related, saying: Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ʿUmar narrated to us …” appear to be quoted from Ibn Hazm, may Allah have mercy on him. This is not the case, as is evident from examining the chain: a vast chronological gap separates Ibn Hazm from these transmitters. The Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him, mentioned Ibn Hazm’s authentication of al-Rubayyiʿ’s earlier hadith parenthetically; otherwise, the entire passage concerns Abū ʿĀsim and his Book of Divorce. The text should be punctuated as follows:
“… and he did not mention al-Rubayyiʿ’s earlier hadith concerning Thābit’s beating of his wife—Jamīlah; Ibn Hazm, among others, graded it authentic—and he, meaning Ibn Abī ʿĀsim, related, saying: …”
Allah Most High knows best.
Second, his statement:
“Abū Bakr ibn Abī ʿĀsim said: Among the evidence that khulʿ is an annulment, not a divorce, is what is established through this chain: Muhammad ibn Musaffā narrated to us: Suwayd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz narrated to us—he is Yahyā ibn Saʿīd—from ʿAmrah, from Habībah bint Suhayl, who said: ‘There was a woman whom the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, had contemplated marrying; Thābit ibn Qays then proposed to her and married her …’”
There is an omission in the chain. The correct wording is: “Ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz narrated to us, from Yahyā—namely Yahyā ibn Saʿīd—from ʿAmrah, from Habībah …” (2).
(1) Thus in the text; perhaps it should read: min arbaʿ turuq (“through four chains of transmission”).
(2) See al-Āhād wa-l-Mathānī, 6/118, where Ibn Abī ʿĀsim transmits it through Suwayd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, from Yahyā ibn Saʿīd, with the remainder of this chain. The account is likewise transmitted by Mālik and others.