Rabah said: My people married me to a Roman slave-girl of theirs. I had intercourse with her, and she gave birth to a black (male) child like me. I named it Abdullah. I again had intercourse with her, and she gave birth to a black (male) child like me. I named it Ubaydullah. Then a Roman slave of my people, called Yuhannah, incited her, and spoke to her in his own unintelligible language. She gave birth to a son like a chameleon (red).

I asked her: What is this? She replied: This belongs to Yuhannah. We then brought the case to Uthman (for a decision). I think Mahdi said these words. He inquired from both of them, and they acknowledged (the facts).

He then said to them: Do you agree that I take the decision about you, which the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had taken? The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) decided that the child was to attributed to the one on whose bed it was born. And I think he said: He flogged her and flogged him, for they were slaves.

'Amr b. Shu'aib on his father's authority said that his grandfather (Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As) reported: A woman said: Messenger of Allah, my womb is a vessel to this son of mine, my breasts, a water-skin for him, and my lap a guard for him, yet his father has divorced me, and wants to take him away from me. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: You have more right to him as long as you do not marry.

Hilal ibn Usamah quoted Abu Maimunah Salma, client of the people of Medina, as saying: While I was sitting with AbuHurayrah, a Persian woman came to him along with a son of hers. She had been divorced by her husband and they both claimed him.

She said: AbuHurayrah, speaking to him in Persian, my husband wishes to take my son away.

AbuHurayrah said: Cast lots for him, saying it to her in a foreign language.

Then her husband came and asked: Who is disputing with me about my son?

AbuHurayrah said: O Allah, I do not say this, except that I heard a woman who came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) while I was sitting with him, and she said: My husband wishes to take away my son, Messenger of Allah, and he draws water for me from the well of AbuInabah, and he has been good to me.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Cast lots for him. Her husband said: Who is disputing with me about my son? The Prophet (ﷺ) said: This is your father and this your mother, so take whichever of them you wish by the hand. So he took his mother's hand and she went away with him.

Narrated Ali ibn AbuTalib:

Zayd ibn Harithah went out to Mecca and brought the daughter of Hamzah with him. Then Ja'far said: I shall take her; I have more right to her; she is my uncle's daughter and her maternal aunt is my wife; the maternal aunt is like mother. Ali said: I am more entitled to take her. She is my uncle's daughter. The daughter of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) is my wife, and she has more right to her. Zayd said: I have more right to her. I went out and journeyed to her, and brought her with me. The Prophet (ﷺ) came out.

The narrator mentioned the rest of the tradition. He (i.e. the Prophet) said: As for the girl, I decided in favour of Ja'far. She will live with her maternal aunt. The maternal aunt is like mother.

Narrated Ali ibn AbuTalib:

When we came out from Mecca, Hamzah's daughter pursued us crying: My uncle. Ali lifted her and took her by the hand. (Addressing Fatimah he said:) Take your uncle's daughter. She then lifted her. The narrator then transmitted the rest of the tradition. Ja'far said: She is my uncle's daughter. Her maternal aunt is my wife. The Prophet (ﷺ) decided in favour of her maternal aunt, and said: The maternal aunt is like mother.

Amr ibn Muhajir reported on the authority of his father: Asma', daughter of Yazid ibn as-Sakan al-Ansariyyah, was divorced in the time of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). No waiting period was prescribed for a divorced woman (at that time). When Asma' was divorced, Allah, the Exalted, sent down the injunction of waiting period for divorce. She is the first of the divorced women about whom the verse relating to waiting period was sent down.

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:

Women who are divorced shall wait, keeping themselves apart, three monthly courses; and then said: And for such of your women as despair of menstruation, if ye doubt, their period (of waiting) shall be three months. This was abrogated from the former verse. Again he said: (O ye who believe, if ye wed believing women) and divorce them before ye have touched them, then there is no period that ye should reckon."

Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab:

The Prophet (ﷺ) divorced Hafsah, but he took her back in marriage.

Fatimah daughter of Qais said “I was married to a man of Banu Makhzum. He divorced me absolutely. The narrator then transmitted the rest of the tradition like that of Malik. This version has “Do not marry yourself without my permission.”

Abu Dawud said Al Sha’bi, Al Bahiyy and ata from abd Al Rahman bin asim and Abu Bakr bin Abi Al Jahm all narrated on the authority of Fatimah daughter of Qais that her husband had divorced her three times.

Abu Salamah reported on the authority of Fatimah daughter of Qays who said to him that she was the wife of AbuHafs ibn al-Mughirah who divorced her by three pronouncements. She said that she came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and sought his opinion about her going out from her house. He commanded her to shift to (the house of )Ibn Umm Maktum who was blind. Marwan denied to confirm the tradition of Fatimah about the going out of a divorced woman from her house. Urwah said: Aisha objected to Fatimah daughter of Qays.

Abu Dawud said: Salih b. Kaisan, Ibn Juraij, and Shu'aib b. Abi Hamzah -- all of them narrated on the authority of al-Zuhru in a similar way.

‘Ubaid Allah said “Marwan sent someone (Qabisah) to Fatimah and asked her (about the case). She said that she was the wife of Abu Hafs. The Prophet (ﷺ) appointed ‘Ali as governor in a certain part of Yemen. Her husband also proceeded with him. From there he sent a message to her pronouncing one divorce that had yet remained. He commanded ‘Ayyash bin Abi Rabi’ah and Al Harith bin Hisham to provide maintenance to her. They said “By Allah there is no sustenance for her except in case she is pregnant.” She came to the Prophet(ﷺ) who said “There is no sustenance for you except in case you are pregnant. She then asked permission to shift (from her house) and he gave her permission.” She asked “Where should I shift. Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ)? The Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) said to Ibn Umm Maktum . He was blind. She would undress herself and he could not see her. She lived there till her waiting period passed. The Prophet (ﷺ) married her to Usamah. Qabisah then returned to Marwan and narrated that to him. Marwan said “We did not hear this tradition except from a woman, so we shall follow the reliable practice on which we found the people”. When this reached Fatimah she said “between me and you is the Book of Allah”. Allaah the exalted said “Divorce them for their waiting period...” Thou knowest not it may be that Allaah will afterward bring some new thing to pass. She said “What a new thing will emerge after triple divorce.”

Abu Dawud said “A similar tradition has been narrated by Yunus on the authority of Al Zuhri. As for Al Zubaidi he narrated both traditions, the tradition of ‘Ubaid Allah in the version of Ma’mar and the tradition of Abu Salamah in the version of ‘Aqil.”

Abu Dawud said “Muhammad bin Ishaq narrated on the authority of Al Zuhri that Qabisah bin Dhuwaib transmitted to him the version which was narrated by ‘Ubaid Allah bin ‘Abd Allaah which has Qabisah then returned to Marwan and informed him about that.”

Urwah said: Aisha (Allah be pleased with her) severely objected to the tradition of Fatimah daughter of Qays. She said: Fatimah lived in a desolate house and she feared for her loneliness there. Hence the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) accorded permission to her (to leave the place).

Urwah ibn az-Zubayr said: Aisha was asked: Did you not see (i.e. known) the statement of Fatimah? She replied: It is not good for her to mention it (to others).

Al-Qasim ibn Muhammad and Sulayman ibn Yasar reported: Yahya ibn Sa'id ibn al-'As divorced the daughter of 'Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Hakam absolutely. 'Abd al-Rahman shifted her (from there). Aisha sent a message to Marwan ibn al-Hakam who was the governor of Medina, and said to him: Fear Allah, and return the woman to her home. Marwan said (according to Sulayman's version): 'Abd al-Rahman forced me. Marwan said (according to the version of al-Qasim): Did not the case of Fatimah daughter of Qays reach you? Aisha replied: There would be no harm to you if you did not make mention of the tradition of Fatimah. Marwan said: If you think that it was due to some evil (i.e. reason), then it is sufficient for you to see that there is also an evil between the two.

Humaid ibn Nafi' reported the following three traditions on the authority of Zaynab, daughter of Abu Salamah:

Zainab said: I visited Umm Habibah when her father AbuSufyan, died. She asked for some yellow perfume containing saffron (khaluq) or something else. Then she applied it to a girl and touched her cheeks.

She said: I have no need of perfume, but I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: It is not lawful for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to observe mourning for one who has died, more than three nights, except for four months and ten days in the case of a husband.

Zaynab said: I also visited Zaynab, daughter of Jahsh, when her brother died. She asked for some perfume and used it upon herself.

She then said: I have no need of perfume, but I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say when he was on the pulpit: It is not lawful for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to observe mourning for one who has died, more than three nights, except for four months and ten days in the case of a husband.

Zaynab said: I heard my mother, Umm Salamah, say: A woman came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and said: Messenger of Allah, the husband of my daughter has died, and she is suffering from sore eyes; may we put antimony in her eyes?

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: No. He said this twice or thrice. Each time he said: No. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: The waiting period is now four months and ten days. In pre-Islamic days one of you used to throw away a piece of dung at the end of a year.

Humayd said: I asked Zaynab: What do you mean by throwing away a piece of dung at the end of a year.

Zaynab replied: When the husband of a woman died, she entered a small cell and put on shabby clothes, not touching perfume or any other thing until a year passed. Then an animal such as donkey or sheep or bird was provided for her. She rubbed herself with it. The animal with which she rubbed herself rarely survived. She then came out and was given a piece of dung which she threw away. She then used perfume or something else which she desired.

Abu Dawud said: The Arabic word "hafsh" means a small cell.

Zaynab, daughter of Ka'b ibn Ujrah narrated that Furay'ah daughter of Malik ibn Sinan, told her that she came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and asked him whether she could return to her people, Banu Khidrah, for her husband went out seeking his slaves who ran away. When they met him at al-Qudum, they murdered him.

So I asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): "Should I return to my people, for he did not leave any dwelling house of his own and maintenance for me?

She said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) replied: Yes. She said: I came out, and when I was in the apartment or in the mosque, he called for me, or he commanded (someone to call me) and, therefore, I was called.

He said: what did you say? So I repeated my story which I had already mentioned about my husband. Thereupon he said: Stay in your house till the term lapses. She said:

So I passed my waiting period in it (her house) for four months and ten days. When Uthman ibn Affan became caliph, he sent for me and asked me about that; so I informed him, and he followed it and decided cases accordingly.

‘Umm Athiyah reported the Prophet(ﷺ) as saying “A woman must not observe mourning for more than three (days) except for four months and ten days in the case of a husband and she must not wear a dyed garment except one of the types made of dyed yarn or apply collyrium or touch perfume except for a little costus or azfar when she has been purified after her menstrual courses.

The narrator Ya’qub mentioned the words “except washed clothes” instead of the words “one of the types made of dyed yarn”. Ya’qub also added “She must not apply Henna”

Narrated Umm Salamah, Ummul Mu'minin:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: A woman whose husband has died must not wear clothes dyed with safflower (usfur) or with red ochre (mishq) and ornaments. She must not apply henna and collyrium.

Umm Hakim, daughter of Usayd, reported on the authority of her mother that her husband died and she was suffering from sore eyes. She therefore applied collyrium (jala'). Ahmad said: The correct version is "glittering collyrium (kuhl al-jala'). She sent her slave-girl to Umm Salamah, and she asked her about the use of glittering collyrium (kuhl al-jala').

She said: Do not apply it except in the case of dire need which is troubling you. In that case you can use it at night, but you should remove it in the daytime. Then Umm Salamah said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came to visit me when AbuSalamah died, and I had put the juice of aloes in my eye.

He asked : What is this, Umm Salamah? I replied: It is only the juice of aloes and contains no perfume. He said: It gives the face a glow, so apply it only at night and remove it in daytime, and do not comb yourself with scent or henna, for it is a dye. I asked: What should I use when I comb myself, Messenger of Allah? He said: Use lote-tree leaves and smear your head copiously with them.

Narrated Abdullah ibn Mas'ud:

I can invoke the curse of Allah on anyone who wishes: The smaller surat an-Nisa (i.e. Surat at-Talaq) was revealed after the verse regarding the waiting period of four months and ten days had been revealed.

Narrated Amr ibn al-'As:

Do not confuse us about his Sunnah. Ibn al-Muthanna said: The Sunnah of our Prophet (ﷺ) is that the waiting period of a slave-mother whose husband has died is four months and ten days.

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was asked about a man who divorced his wife three times, and she married another who entered upon her, but divorced her before having intercourse with her, whether she was lawful for the former husband. She said: The Prophet (ﷺ) replied: She is not lawful for the first (husband) until she tastes the honey of the other husband and he tastes her honey.

Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah:

Musaykah, a slave-girl of some Ansari, came and said: My master forces me to commit fornication. Thereupon the following verse was revealed: "But force not your maids to prostitution (when they desire chastity)."