Benefits of the Hadith: (Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) said: A woman converted to Islam and then married, so her husband came and said)
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The Shaykh : Several benefits are derived from this hadith: One is that if a woman marries a man while she is still in the marriage bond of another husband, the marriage is not valid. The reason for this is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took her from the second husband and returned her to the first.
Another benefit of the hadith is that if a man marries a woman under a doubt, meaning a doubt regarding a contract that he believes to be valid but is actually defective, then no hadd punishment or penalty is imposed on him. The reason for this is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not punish the second husband with hadd, nor did he punish the wife. Therefore, any contract that involves a doubt is like a valid contract. Now, suppose she became pregnant by the second husband; would her children be considered the children of the first or the second?
The student: The first.
The Shaykh : If she became pregnant by the second husband, are the children considered the children of the first or the second?
The student: The second.
The Shaykh : They are considered the children of the second, because this intercourse took place under a doubt.
There is a point of difficulty in this hadith from some perspectives, which is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) accepted the statement of the first husband that he had converted to Islam and that he knew of her conversion. How did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) rule based solely on his statement? The answer to this is that she did not deny it when her first husband claimed that she had converted to Islam and that he knew of her conversion; she did not deny it. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled in accordance with the claim of her first husband because she did not deny it.
Another benefit of the hadith is that if a man marries a woman under a doubt, meaning a doubt regarding a contract that he believes to be valid but is actually defective, then no hadd punishment or penalty is imposed on him. The reason for this is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not punish the second husband with hadd, nor did he punish the wife. Therefore, any contract that involves a doubt is like a valid contract. Now, suppose she became pregnant by the second husband; would her children be considered the children of the first or the second?
The student: The first.
The Shaykh : If she became pregnant by the second husband, are the children considered the children of the first or the second?
The student: The second.
The Shaykh : They are considered the children of the second, because this intercourse took place under a doubt.
There is a point of difficulty in this hadith from some perspectives, which is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) accepted the statement of the first husband that he had converted to Islam and that he knew of her conversion. How did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) rule based solely on his statement? The answer to this is that she did not deny it when her first husband claimed that she had converted to Islam and that he knew of her conversion; she did not deny it. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled in accordance with the claim of her first husband because she did not deny it.