SECTION ON MARRIAGE · 28 – MARRYING OFF AN UNBORN GIRL
2103 – It is narrated from Maymūna bint Kardam (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: I set out for the Farewell Pilgrimage of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) together with my father. I saw the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him); he was on his personal camel. My father approached him. Thereupon, the Prophet stopped for him and listened to him. In the hand of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) was a small stick like those held by teachers of children’s schools. I was hearing the Bedouins and the people shouting, “Tabtabiyya, tabtabiyya, tabtabiyya.” My father approached the Prophet and clung to his foot. The Prophet did not prevent him. He stopped for my father and began to listen to him. Thereupon, my father said: (O Messenger of God) “I prepared an army of Isrān.” The narrator Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā narrated it as “Ghusran army.” (My father Kardam) continued: Ṭāriq ibn al-Murqā said to me, ‘Who will give me a spear for its reward?’ I said, ‘What is its reward?’ Ṭāriq said, ‘I will marry to him the first daughter that will be born to me.’ So I gave him my spear and then did not see him again. When I learned that he had a daughter and that she had reached puberty, I went to him and said, ‘Prepare my family for me.’ Ṭāriq swore that he would not give his daughter to me unless I gave a new bridal gift (mahr) other than the spear between us. I also swore that I would not give anything other than what I had already given. The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said, ‘Today, what is her age compared to other women?’ He said, ‘White has appeared in her hair.’ The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said, ‘I want you to leave that girl.’ When the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) saw the fear in me, he said, ‘Neither you nor your companion will be sinful.’ Abū Dāwūd says: ‘al-Katīr’ means the whitening of the hair (old age).
EXPLANATION
Dirrah: The small stick held by teachers who teach children. Tabtabiyya: The sound “tabtab” made by footsteps. Thawāb: The reward given in return for something. Ṣidāq: Bridal gift (mahr). Qarn: A century; here, it means “compared to women of which era.” Katīr: White hair as a sign of old age. Ithm: Sin. By saying, “Leave her,” the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) indicated that marrying a woman who is not yet born and does not yet exist is invalid.
2104 – It is narrated from Ibrāhīm ibn Maysarah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: His aunt, a woman whose truthfulness was acknowledged by everyone, informed him as follows: Once, during the Age of Ignorance, there was a battle, and they were struck by intense heat. One of the men said, ‘Whoever gives me his sandals (so that I do not have to walk barefoot in this heat), I will marry to him the first daughter that will be born to me.’ My father took off his shoes and threw them before him. The man had a daughter, and she reached puberty, and then she narrated as in the previous report. However, in this narration, the story about ‘katīr’, the white hair as a sign of old age, is not mentioned.
EXPLANATION
Ramz: Intense heat to the extent that one cannot step on the ground. Ramadan is so named because it burns away sins.