for I have not found a biographical notice for him; perhaps it is found in Ibn ʿAsākir’s History of Damascus, so this should be checked. (1) In any case, he was one of Ibn Ḥibbān’s shaykhs, who were generally trustworthy individuals known to him personally; they were not subject to his well-known practice of declaring unknown narrators trustworthy, even when they were unknown to him personally. If he was not among those trustworthy individuals, then at the very least he is suitable for corroborative evidence and supporting reports. And Allah knows best.

This hadith has also been narrated from Abu Hurayrah in varying wordings through several chains, some of which are found in the two Sahihs. I have traced them in al-Irwāʾ (1787) and Sahih Abi Dawud (1868).

The hadith clearly proves the prohibition of shaking hands with unrelated women, and that it is like looking at them, and that this constitutes a form of adultery. It thus refutes certain Islamic parties that distributed a leaflet among the people permitting them to shake hands with women, paying no heed to this hadith, let alone the other hadiths reported on this subject. Some of them have preceded under no. 226. Nor do they pay heed to the principle of blocking the means, which is established by the Quran and the Sunnah, including this authentic hadith. Allah is the One whose help is sought.

2805 — “A woman must not ask for her sister’s divorce in order to empty what is in her dish, for her provision rests with Allah, Mighty and Majestic.”

Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Muʿjam al-Kabir (23/253/517): Abu Yahya al-Razi narrated to us; Mahmud ibn Ghaylan narrated to us; Muʾammal narrated to us from Sufyan, from Abu Ishaq, from Abu Salamah, from Umm Salamah, who said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said it. Al-Haythami said in Majmaʿ al-Zawaʾid (4/333):