his narration. For this reason, al-Dhahabī categorically affirmed in al-Mughnī that he was trustworthy. Al-Ḥāfiẓ said: “He was truthful, though he made errors.”

Accordingly, in al-Fatḥ (9/487), he judged its chain of transmission strong and mentioned that Aḥmad had authenticated it.

Ibn al-Turkumānī strongly refuted al-Bayhaqī’s contention that it was defective, on the basis of what has preceded; so consult it.

As for the meaning of his statement, peace and blessings be upon him, “Wear mourning attire,” Ibn al-Athīr said:

“That is, wear the garment of mourning, known as silāb, plural sulub. A woman is said to have worn silāb when she puts it on. It is also said to be a black garment with which a woman in mourning covers her head.”

I say: This meaning is explicit in Aḥmad’s narration, for its wording is: “Wear mourning attire for three days, then do whatever you wish.”

However, another narration recorded by him (6/369) has the wording: “Do not observe mourning after this day of yours.”

In my view, this wording is anomalous, since it contradicts the preceding routes on the one hand, and, on the other, the mass-transmitted hadith narrated from a group of the Mothers of the Believers and others, which explicitly states that a woman whose husband has died must mourn for him for four months and ten days. It has been documented in al-Irwāʾ (2114). Some scholars therefore held that this mass-transmitted hadith abrogates the hadith under this heading, among them Abū Jaʿfar al-Ṭaḥāwī.

I say: Had the hadith been reliably preserved with the second wording, then affirming abrogation would have been unavoidable. But since the preserved wording is only the first—“Wear mourning attire for three days”—it is more specific than the mass-transmitted hadith; thus, the lesser is excepted from the greater. That is, she may mourn in whatever permitted garments she wishes, other than