Rare Ahadith

“Abu al-Hassan (a.s.), sent me to a woman of the Zubayr family to see her because he wanted to marry her. When I went to her she spoke to me softly and then said, ‘Bring the lamp closer to me.’ I took it close to her. Sa‘idah has said, ‘I looked at her - there was someone else with Sa‘idah also - and asked if she agreed.’ He (the narrator) has said that abu al-Hassan (a.s.), married her and she lived with him (the Imam) until he (the Imam) died. When his slave-girls learned about it (this marriage) they began to hold his sleeves and clothes and he remained quiet, smiled and did not say anything to them. It is mentioned that he (the Imam) said, ‘No other thing is like free women.’”

“Abu Ja‘far (a.s.), has said that Fatimah, ‘Alayha al-Salam, in her will had asked ’Amir al-Mu’minin, Ali (a.s.), to marry her sister’s daughter after her death and he followed her instruction.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘It is not unlawful to sleep between the two of your slave-girls or free wives; your women are like dolls.’”

“It is Makruh (undesirable) to go to bed with one’s wife facing al-Qiblah (al-Ka’bah).”

“I once asked one of the two Imam, (abu Ja’far or abu ‘Abd Allah), ‘Alayhim al-Salam, about the case of my buying a slave-girl who was born out of wedlock and she was involved with me in everything. He (the Imam) said, ‘Ask her mother who her father is; then ask the one involved with her mother to make it lawful for you so that the child will be born fine.’” (According to the footnote it may not work properly).”’

“I once asked abu Ja‘far (a.s.), about the words of Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, ‘. . . We took from you a ghaliz (thick) pledge and oath from you.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘The pledge or oath refers to the term by which marriage is declared and ‘ ghaliz ’ (thick) refers to the liquid that flows from man to woman.’”

“I once asked abu Ja‘far (a.s.), about the case of a man who marries a woman and who says that she is pregnant and that she is his sister because of breastfeeding and that she has not completed her waiting period. He (the Imam) said, ’If he has gone to bed (engaged in sexual intercourse) with her, he must not accept her words but if he has not done so, he must investigate if he did not know before.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who is found in a house with a woman who confirms that she is his wife and she confirms that he is her husband. He (the Imam) said, ‘In the case of a certain man I can consider it permissible and in the case of a certain man if I find him as such I strike him (dead).”’

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has narrated from his father who has said, that a man proposed marriage in a family and they asked, ‘What is your business?’ He replied, ‘I sell animals.’ They accepted his proposal and found out that he sells cats, so they took their dispute before ’Amir al- Mu’minin (a.s.), who validated the marriage saying that cats are animals.’”

“Once a man from al-Ansar (people of al-Madinah) came to the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, and said, ‘This is my wife and daughter of my uncle. I do not know anything about her except good but she has given birth to a very dark skin child, with wide nostrils, curly hairs and pointed nose. I do not find anyone like him among my maternal uncles or ancestors. He (the Messenger of Allah) asked the woman, ‘What do you say?’ She said, ‘No, by the One who has sent you in all truth as a prophet that I have never allowed anyone other than him to sit with me as he does.’ He (the Imam) said that the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, bent down his head for a while and raised his head to the sky; then turned to the man and said, ‘O you, take notice that between everyone and Adam there are ninety-nine veins all of which strike in lineage. When the seed falls in the womb those veins surge and ask Allah for resemblance to it. So this is from those veins which your ancestors did not get. Take your child with you.’ The woman said, ‘Thank you, O Messenger of Allah for providing me such a great relief.’”

“I once wrote to him (the Imam) (a.s.), about the case of a man who proposed marriage to the daughter of his uncle who instructed a certain one of his brothers to give his daughter in marriage to him and she is the one for whom he has proposed. The man by mistake gives her a different name and no one of that name exists in the family. Her name was Fatimah but he gives her a different name. He (the Imam) signed the answer which said, ‘It is not harmful/”

“A man once wrote to him (the Imam) (a.s.), and asked him (the Imam) about his marriage proposal which had taken place many years, months and days ago and he is not certain if he asked to declare the terms of marriage or it was already declared. He (the Imam) answered him on the issue, ‘It is not obligatory for him to do anything other than what his heart is tied down with and about which his decision is established.’”

“About the case of a man who claims to have married a woman in the presence of witnesses and her guardian but she denies it and the sister of this woman presents testimony that the man has married her in the presence of witnesses and her guardian but she does not prove the time of marriage. Ali ibn al-Husayn (a.s.), issued a judgment in this case that said, ‘The testimony of the man is admitted and accepted and the testimony of the woman is not accepted because the husband is entitled to claim his conjugal right and her sister wants to destroy such right so she must not be taken as truthful and her testimony is unacceptable without specifying the time before her time or proof of consummation of marriage (the couple’s going to bed).”’

“I once asked al-Rida’ (a.s.), saying, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, my brother died and I married his widow and my paternal uncle came saying that he had married her secretly. I asked her about it but she denied it vehemently saying, ‘There has never been such a thing between us.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Her confirming makes it obligatory on you to accept her words and her denial makes it obligatory on him to accept her denial.’”

“I once asked al-Rida’ (a.s.), about the case of a man who proposes marriage to a woman who is playful and joking about it. He asks the woman about it and she says, ‘Yes.’ He (the Imam) ‘Alayhi al-Salam, said, ‘It does not mean anything valid.’ I then asked, ‘Can one marry her?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Yes, he can do so.’”

“I once heard abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), saying, when he was asked about marriage in the month of Shawwal, ‘The Holy Prophet, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, married ‘A’ishah in the month of Shawwal.’ He (the Imam) then said, ‘People of the earlier times considered marriage in the month of Shawwal as undesirable because plague occurred in virgins and slave-girls thus they disliked for this reason and not the other reasons.’”

“I once wrote to abu al-Hassan al-Rida’ (a.s.), and asked, ‘One of my relatives has proposed for marriage but there is something in his moral manners. He (the Imam) said, ‘You must not give in marriage if his moral manners are bad/”

“I once wrote to abu al-Hassan Sahib al-‘Askar saying, ‘I have married four women and have not asked for their names. I want to divorce one of them and marry another woman. He (the Imam) wrote to me, ‘Look for a mark on any one of them and then say, ‘Bear witness that so and so who has such and such mark is divorced; then marry the other woman when waiting period is complete/”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘When two believing people come together by means of lawful marriage a caller from the sky announces, ‘Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, has given so and so in marriage to so and so, and when a wife and husband separate (divorce) in a lawful manner, a caller from the sky announces, ‘Allah has given permission to so and so wife and husband to separate (divorce) from each other/”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who has four wives and spends the night with three of them in their assigned time and touches them but during the night for the fourth one he does not touch her; if it is sinful for him. He (the Imam) said, ‘He must stay with her in her assigned night until the morning and it is not a sin if he did not touch her if he did not want it/”

“Of the blessing of a woman is her being of light expenses and her giving birth with ease. Of the evil with her is intensified expenses and her giving birth with hardships and difficulties.’”

“About the case of a man who marries a virgin woman, abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘He must stay with her for seven days.’”

“About the case of a man who marries a second wife and the amount of time for the new wife, abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘It (the time) is three days; thereafter he divides it between the two.’”

“Once abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), was asked about the case of a man whose father had given him a slave-girl as a gift with whom he lived for a long time, then he recalled that his father had gone to bed with her and thus he stayed away from her. He (the Imam) said, ‘You must not consider it to be true.’”

“I once wrote to abu al-Hassan, al-Awwal (a.s.), about the following case and I recognized his handwriting. It was about the mother of child of a man who was given to him as a gift by his father and she gave birth to several children; then she said, ‘Your father had gone to bed with me before giving me to you as a gift,’ He (the Imam) said, ‘You must not consider her words as truthful ones; she is only trying to move away because of his bad moral behaviors.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that about the case of a woman who had committed fornication with a man before he went to bed ’Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s.), said, ‘They must be separated from each other and she did not deserve any mahr (dower) because the incident was from her side.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, has said, ‘When one of you decides to go to bed with his wife he must not place her in a big rush.’”

“People mentioned misfortune before abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), and he (the Imam) said, ‘Misfortune is in three things: They are woman, a stumper and a house. Misfortune in woman is the large amount of her mahr (dower) and barren womb.’”

“I once said to abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), ‘I married a woman and asked about her and things were said about her.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Why did you ask about her also? It is not obligatory on you to ask and investigate.’”

“Abu Ja’far (a.s.), once said to me, ‘O Sadir, I have heard about the beauty and good manners of the women of al-Kufah with their husbands. Can you find for me a woman with beauty in a place?’ I replied, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, I know one. She is daughter of so and so ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash‘ath ibn Qays.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘O Sadir, the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, has condemned a people and it remains in their descendents until the Day of Judgment and I dislike that my body touch the body of any of the people of fire.’”

“I once mentioned to abu Ja‘far (a.s.), Zoroastrians and that they say, ‘A marriage like the marriage of the sons of Adam and that they argue with us about it. He (the Imam) said, ‘They cannot argue against you because of what Hibbahtu Allah found. Adam said, ‘O Lord, find marriage for Hibbahtu Allah.’ Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, sent for him a Hawra’ who gave birth to four boys, and then Allah raised her. When sons of Hibbahtu Allah grew up he said, ‘O Allah find marriage for the sons of Hibbahtu Allah.’ Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, sent him revelation to propose marriage to a man (head of the family) of Jinn who was a Muslim and had four daughters, for the sons of Hibbahtu Allah. He gave them in marriage to them. Whatever is of beauty and forbearance, it is from al-Hawra’ and whatever is of dimwittedness and temperament, is because of al-Jinn.’”