(43) Chapter. What is the legal verdict in the case of somebody who behaves in such a suspicious and dishonest way that he may be suspected of adultery; and the case of one who accuses others of evil deeds without any evident proof.

Narrated Sahl bin Sa`d: I witnessed the case of Lian (the case of a man who charged his wife for committing illegal sexual intercourse when I was fifteen years old. The Prophet ordered that they be divorced, and the husband said, "If I kept her, I would be a liar." I remember that Az-Zubair also said, "(It was said) that if that woman brought forth the child with such-and-such description, her husband would prove truthful, but if she brought it with such-and-such description looking like a Wahra (a red insect), he would prove untruthful." I heard Az-Zubair also saying, "Finally she gave birth to a child of description which her husband disliked .

Narrated Al-Qasim bin Muhammad: Ibn `Abbas mentioned the couple who had taken the oath of Lian. `Abdullah bin Shaddad said (to him), "Was this woman about whom Allah's Apostle said, 'If I were ever to stone to death any woman without witnesses. (I would have stoned that woman to death)?' Ibn `Abbas replied," No, that lady exposed herself (by her suspicious behavior).

Narrated Ibn `Abbas: Lian was mentioned in the presence of the Prophet, `Asim bin Adi said a statement about it, and when he left, a man from his tribe came to him complaining that he had seen a man with his wife. `Asim said, "I have been put to trial only because of my statement." So he took the man to the Prophet and the man told him about the incident. The man (husband) was of yellow complexion, thin, and of lank hair, while the man whom he had accused of having been with his wife, was reddish brown with fat thick legs and fat body. The Prophet said, "O Allah! Reveal the truth." Later on the lady delivered a child resembling the man whom the husband had accused of having been with her. So the Prophet made them take the oath of Lian. A man said to Ibn `Abbas in the gathering, "Was that the same lady about whom the Prophet said, "If I were to stone any lady (for committing illegal sexual intercourse) to death without witnesses, I would have stoned that lade to death?" Ibn `Abbas said, "No, that was another lady who used to behave in such a suspicious way among the Muslims that one might accuse her of committing illegal sexual intercourse."