سنن ابودوٗد · Hadith 2254

Ibn Abbas said “Hilal bin Umayyah accused his wife in the presence of Prophet ﷺ of having committed adultery with Sharik bin Sahma’”. The Prophet ﷺ said “Produce evidence or you must receive punishment on your back. ” He said “Messenger of Allah ﷺ when one of us sees a man having intercourse with his wife should he go and seek evidence?” But the Prophet ﷺ merely said “You must produce evidence or you must receive punishment on your back. ” Hilal then said “By Him Who sent you with the Truth, I am speaking Truly. May Allaah send down something which will free my back from punishment. Then the following Quranic verses were revealed “And those who make charges against their spouses but have no witnesses except themselves” reciting till he reached “one of those who speak the truth”. The Prophet ﷺ then returned and sent for them and they came (to him). Hilal bin Umayyah stood up and testified and the Prophet ﷺ was saying “Allaah knows that one of you is lying. Will one of you repent?” Then the woman got up and testified, but when she was about to do it a fifth time saying that Allaah’s anger be upon her if he was one of those who spoke the truth, they said to her “this is the deciding one”. Ibn Abbas said “She then hesitated and drew back so that we thought the she would withdraw (what she said) “Look and see whether she gives birth to a child with eyes looking as if they have antimony in them, wide buttocks and fat legs, if she did. Sharik bin Sahma’ will be its father. She then gave birth to a child of a similar description. The Prophet ﷺ thereupon said “If it were not for what has already been stated in Allaah’s book I would have dealt severely with her. ” Abu Dawud said “This tradition has been transmitted by the people of Madina alone. They narrated the tradition of Hilal on the authority of Ibn Bashshar. ”

Translated by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan · Reviewed by Islamic University of Madinah · Published March 2020