the time he spent with us. There was scarcely a day on which he did not make the rounds among us all, drawing near to each of his wives without intimacy, until he reached the one whose turn it was; then he would spend the night with her. When Sawdah bint Zamʿah grew old and feared that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would part from her, she said: “O Messenger of Allah, assign my day to Aishah.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) accepted this from her. Concerning this and similar cases, Allah Most High revealed—I believe she said—“And if a woman fears ill-treatment from her husband.”

Abu Dawud narrated it (1/333—al-Tanaziyyah) through Ahmad ibn Yunus, who said: ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Abi al-Zinad narrated to us, from Hisham ibn ʿUrwah, from his father, who said: Aishah said: “My nephew, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would not give preference…”

Saʿid ibn Mansur differed from him. He narrated to us from ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Abi al-Zinad through the same chain, but reported it as a mursal narration, saying: From Hisham, from his father, who said: “It was revealed concerning Sawdah and women like her: ‘And if a woman fears…’”—the hadith. Al-Bayhaqi narrated it (7/297) and said: “Ahmad ibn Yunus also narrated it from Abu al-Zinad with a connected chain, as was previously mentioned at the beginning of the Book of Marriage.”

Perhaps the connected version is more likely correct, for Ahmad ibn Yunus was trustworthy and one of the transmitters relied upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim. Moreover, he added the connection, and the addition of a trustworthy narrator is accepted—especially since it has a corroborating report from Ibn ʿAbbas, who said: “Sawdah feared that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would divorce her, so she said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, do not divorce me; keep me as your wife and assign my day to Aishah.’ He accepted this, and the verse was revealed: ‘And if…’