A reading from the commentary on the chapter of the one who made the freeing of his slave woman her mahr, with the Shaykh’s annotations
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The reader: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send blessings and peace upon His servant and messenger, our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari:
"The chapter of the one who made the freeing of his slave woman her mahr: He presented it without being definitive about the ruling. Among the early scholars, Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, Ibrahim, Tawus, and al-Zuhri took it at its apparent meaning. Among the jurists of the cities, al-Thawri, Abu Yusuf, Ahmad, and Ishaq did the same. They said: If he frees his slave woman on the condition that her freedom serves as her mahr, the contract, the freeing, and the mahr are valid according to the apparent meaning of the hadith.
The others responded to the apparent meaning of the hadith with answers, the closest of which to the wording of the hadith is: He freed her on the condition that he would marry her, so her value became obligatory for him, and since it was known, he married her with it. This is supported by his statement in the narration of 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn Sahib, who heard Anas say: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took Safiyyah as a captive, then he freed her and married her. Thabit asked Anas, "What did you give her as mahr?" He said, "Her own self; he freed her." The author (al-Bukhari) narrated this in the Book of Expeditions. In a narration from Hammad from Thabit, and from 'Abd al-'Aziz from Anas, in a hadith, it is said: Safiyyah became the property of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), then he married her and made her freedom her mahr. 'Abd al-'Aziz said to Thabit, "O Abu Muhammad, did you ask Anas what her mahr was?" He said, "Her mahr was her own self," and he smiled. This is very clear that what was made the mahr was the act of freeing itself. Therefore, the first interpretation is acceptable, as there is no contradiction between it and the principles, even if the value were unknown. In fact, there is a position among the Shafi'is regarding the validity of the contract with the aforementioned condition. Others said: Rather, the act of freeing itself was made the mahr, but this is one of his specific characteristics. Al-Mawardi was definitive about this. Others said: His statement "he freed her and married her" means he freed her and then married her. Since it was not known that he had given her a mahr, he said, "I gave her her own self as mahr," meaning I did not give her anything as far as I know, and he did not deny the existence of a mahr. Thus, Abu al-Tayyib al-Tabari from the Shafi'is, and Ibn al-Murabit from the Maliki school, and those who followed them, said that this was Anas's statement based on his own assumption, and he did not attribute it to the Prophet. This may be supported for them by what al-Bayhaqi narrated from the hadith of Umm Umaymah, also known as Umm Allah bint Ruzaynah, from her mother: That the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) freed Safiyyah, proposed to her, married her, and gave Ruzaynah as her mahr. She had been brought as a captive from the Qurayzah and the Nadir. This does not serve as proof due to the weakness of its chain, and it is contradicted by what al-Tabarani and Abu al-Shaykh narrated from the hadith of Safiyyah herself, who said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) freed me and made my freedom my mahr. This agrees with the hadith of Anas, and it refutes those who said that Anas said that based on what he assumed.
This hadith is also contradicted by the consensus of the historians of biographies that Safiyyah was from the captives of Khaybar. It is possible that he freed her on the condition that he would marry her without a mahr, so she was obligated to fulfill that. This is specific to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and not to others. It was also said that it is possible he freed her without compensation and married her without a mahr, neither in the present nor in the future. Ibn al-Salah said: Its meaning is that the freeing takes the place of the mahr, even if it is not a mahr. He said: This is like their saying, "Hunger is the provision of one who has no provision." He said: This is the most correct of the positions and the closest to the wording of the hadith. Al-Nawawi followed him in al-Rawdah.
Among the strange things is the statement of al-Tirmidhi after he narrated the hadith, which is also the statement of al-Shafi'i, Ahmad, and Ishaq. He said: Some scholars disliked making her freedom her mahr until he gives her a mahr other than the freeing, and the first opinion is more correct. Ibn Hazm also transmitted this from al-Shafi'i. It is well known among the Shafi'is that this is not valid, but perhaps the one who transmitted it from him meant the first possible scenario. Especially since al-Shafi'i explicitly stated that if a man frees his slave woman on the condition that he will marry her, and she accepts, she is freed, but she is not obligated to marry him. However, she is obligated to pay him her value, because he did not accept her freeing for free, so it became like other defective conditions. If she agrees and marries him with a mahr they agree upon, she has that specified mahr, and she owes him her value. If they are equal, they offset each other. Among the Shafi'is who said according to Ahmad's view is Ibn Hibban, who stated this explicitly in his Sahih.
Ibn Daqiq al-Eid said: The apparent view is with Ahmad and those who agreed with him, and the analogical reasoning is with the others. So the situation is between a suspicion arising from analogy and a suspicion arising from the apparent text of the report, along with the possibility of specificity in the incident. Although it is contrary to the original principle, this is strengthened by the multitude of specific characteristics of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in marriage, especially his specific characteristic of marrying the one who offers herself, as stated in the verse of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Ahzab 33:50].
Among those who affirmed that this was one of his unique characteristics is Yahya ibn Aktham, as al-Bayhaqi reported. He said, and al-Muzani also transmitted this from al-Shafi'i. He said: The point of its uniqueness is that he freed her absolutely and married her without a mahr, without a guardian, and without witnesses, which is unlike the case of others. And 'Abd al-Razzaq reported the permissibility of this from 'Ali and a group of others.
The Shaykh : All these conflicting opinions on the hadith are unnecessary. The correct view is what Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) held, which is that it is permissible to free one's slave woman and make her freedom her mahr, because her freedom means liberation, and liberation is as if she bought herself with a price, which is the mahr. The correct view, without doubt, is that this is not one of the specific characteristics of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and that it is in complete agreement with analogy, because her self has a value. So if she is freed, she is liberated. The correct view is that it is permissible, and there is no need for this. The statement of Ibn Daqiq (may Allah have mercy on him) is good, meaning, but we do not agree with him that it is contrary to analogy. The correct view is that it is in agreement with analogy, just as it is in agreement with the apparent text of the report. Yes.
The reader: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send blessings and peace upon the noblest of the prophets and messengers, our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
Imam al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) said in the Book of the Two Festivals:
The chapter on the Sunnah of the Two Festivals for the people of Islam:
Hajjaj narrated to us, Shu'bah narrated to us, Zayd informed us, he said: I heard al-Sha'bi from al-Bara', he said: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) delivering a sermon, and he said:Sahih al-Bukhari 951.
'Ubayd ibn Isma'il narrated to us, Abu Usamah narrated to us, from Hisham from his father from 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), she said:.
The Shaykh : We have read it. Read the one after it, and until... we took from it the hadith...
Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari:
"The chapter of the one who made the freeing of his slave woman her mahr: He presented it without being definitive about the ruling. Among the early scholars, Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, Ibrahim, Tawus, and al-Zuhri took it at its apparent meaning. Among the jurists of the cities, al-Thawri, Abu Yusuf, Ahmad, and Ishaq did the same. They said: If he frees his slave woman on the condition that her freedom serves as her mahr, the contract, the freeing, and the mahr are valid according to the apparent meaning of the hadith.
The others responded to the apparent meaning of the hadith with answers, the closest of which to the wording of the hadith is: He freed her on the condition that he would marry her, so her value became obligatory for him, and since it was known, he married her with it. This is supported by his statement in the narration of 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn Sahib, who heard Anas say: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took Safiyyah as a captive, then he freed her and married her. Thabit asked Anas, "What did you give her as mahr?" He said, "Her own self; he freed her." The author (al-Bukhari) narrated this in the Book of Expeditions. In a narration from Hammad from Thabit, and from 'Abd al-'Aziz from Anas, in a hadith, it is said: Safiyyah became the property of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), then he married her and made her freedom her mahr. 'Abd al-'Aziz said to Thabit, "O Abu Muhammad, did you ask Anas what her mahr was?" He said, "Her mahr was her own self," and he smiled. This is very clear that what was made the mahr was the act of freeing itself. Therefore, the first interpretation is acceptable, as there is no contradiction between it and the principles, even if the value were unknown. In fact, there is a position among the Shafi'is regarding the validity of the contract with the aforementioned condition. Others said: Rather, the act of freeing itself was made the mahr, but this is one of his specific characteristics. Al-Mawardi was definitive about this. Others said: His statement "he freed her and married her" means he freed her and then married her. Since it was not known that he had given her a mahr, he said, "I gave her her own self as mahr," meaning I did not give her anything as far as I know, and he did not deny the existence of a mahr. Thus, Abu al-Tayyib al-Tabari from the Shafi'is, and Ibn al-Murabit from the Maliki school, and those who followed them, said that this was Anas's statement based on his own assumption, and he did not attribute it to the Prophet. This may be supported for them by what al-Bayhaqi narrated from the hadith of Umm Umaymah, also known as Umm Allah bint Ruzaynah, from her mother: That the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) freed Safiyyah, proposed to her, married her, and gave Ruzaynah as her mahr. She had been brought as a captive from the Qurayzah and the Nadir. This does not serve as proof due to the weakness of its chain, and it is contradicted by what al-Tabarani and Abu al-Shaykh narrated from the hadith of Safiyyah herself, who said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) freed me and made my freedom my mahr. This agrees with the hadith of Anas, and it refutes those who said that Anas said that based on what he assumed.
This hadith is also contradicted by the consensus of the historians of biographies that Safiyyah was from the captives of Khaybar. It is possible that he freed her on the condition that he would marry her without a mahr, so she was obligated to fulfill that. This is specific to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and not to others. It was also said that it is possible he freed her without compensation and married her without a mahr, neither in the present nor in the future. Ibn al-Salah said: Its meaning is that the freeing takes the place of the mahr, even if it is not a mahr. He said: This is like their saying, "Hunger is the provision of one who has no provision." He said: This is the most correct of the positions and the closest to the wording of the hadith. Al-Nawawi followed him in al-Rawdah.
Among the strange things is the statement of al-Tirmidhi after he narrated the hadith, which is also the statement of al-Shafi'i, Ahmad, and Ishaq. He said: Some scholars disliked making her freedom her mahr until he gives her a mahr other than the freeing, and the first opinion is more correct. Ibn Hazm also transmitted this from al-Shafi'i. It is well known among the Shafi'is that this is not valid, but perhaps the one who transmitted it from him meant the first possible scenario. Especially since al-Shafi'i explicitly stated that if a man frees his slave woman on the condition that he will marry her, and she accepts, she is freed, but she is not obligated to marry him. However, she is obligated to pay him her value, because he did not accept her freeing for free, so it became like other defective conditions. If she agrees and marries him with a mahr they agree upon, she has that specified mahr, and she owes him her value. If they are equal, they offset each other. Among the Shafi'is who said according to Ahmad's view is Ibn Hibban, who stated this explicitly in his Sahih.
Ibn Daqiq al-Eid said: The apparent view is with Ahmad and those who agreed with him, and the analogical reasoning is with the others. So the situation is between a suspicion arising from analogy and a suspicion arising from the apparent text of the report, along with the possibility of specificity in the incident. Although it is contrary to the original principle, this is strengthened by the multitude of specific characteristics of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in marriage, especially his specific characteristic of marrying the one who offers herself, as stated in the verse of Allah the Exalted:
and a believing woman if she gives herself to the Prophet
وامرأة مؤمنة إن وهبت نفسها للنبيAmong those who affirmed that this was one of his unique characteristics is Yahya ibn Aktham, as al-Bayhaqi reported. He said, and al-Muzani also transmitted this from al-Shafi'i. He said: The point of its uniqueness is that he freed her absolutely and married her without a mahr, without a guardian, and without witnesses, which is unlike the case of others. And 'Abd al-Razzaq reported the permissibility of this from 'Ali and a group of others.
The Shaykh : All these conflicting opinions on the hadith are unnecessary. The correct view is what Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) held, which is that it is permissible to free one's slave woman and make her freedom her mahr, because her freedom means liberation, and liberation is as if she bought herself with a price, which is the mahr. The correct view, without doubt, is that this is not one of the specific characteristics of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and that it is in complete agreement with analogy, because her self has a value. So if she is freed, she is liberated. The correct view is that it is permissible, and there is no need for this. The statement of Ibn Daqiq (may Allah have mercy on him) is good, meaning, but we do not agree with him that it is contrary to analogy. The correct view is that it is in agreement with analogy, just as it is in agreement with the apparent text of the report. Yes.
The reader: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send blessings and peace upon the noblest of the prophets and messengers, our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
Imam al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) said in the Book of the Two Festivals:
The chapter on the Sunnah of the Two Festivals for the people of Islam:
Hajjaj narrated to us, Shu'bah narrated to us, Zayd informed us, he said: I heard al-Sha'bi from al-Bara', he said: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) delivering a sermon, and he said:
The first thing to be done on this day (first day of `Id ul Adha) is to pray; and after returning from the prayer we slaughter our sacrifices (in the name of Allah) and whoever does so, he acted according to our Sunna (traditions).
إن أول ما نبدأ من يومنا هذا أن نصلي ثم نرجع فننحر، فمن فعل فقد أصاب سنتنا'Ubayd ibn Isma'il narrated to us, Abu Usamah narrated to us, from Hisham from his father from 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), she said:
Abu Bakr entered, and I had two maids from the maids of the Ansar singing what the Ansar had exchanged on the day of Bu'ath. She said: They were not singers.
دخل أبو بكر وعندي جاريتان من جواري الأنصار تغنيان بما تقاولت الأنصار يوم بعاث قالت وليستا بمغنيتينThe Shaykh : We have read it. Read the one after it, and until... we took from it the hadith...