Li'an

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: When this verse was revealed: "And those who accuse chaste women and then do not bring four witnesses, flog them eighty lashes and never accept their testimony; it is they who are the transgressors," Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him), who was the chief of the Ansar, said, "O Messenger of Allah! Is this how it has been revealed?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "O company of the Ansar! Do you hear what your chief is saying?" The people said, "O Messenger of Allah! Do not blame him; he is a man of great protective jealousy. By Allah! He has always married only a virgin woman, and whenever he divorced a woman, none of us dared to marry her. This is because of the intensity of his temperament." Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "O Messenger of Allah, by Allah! I know that this is the truth and that it is from Allah Almighty, but I am amazed that if I find a man has gone near my wife, I am not to alarm him or move him until I first bring four witnesses. By Allah! By the time I bring four witnesses, he will have fulfilled his need." The narrator says: Then, after only a short while, Hilal bin Umayyah came, who was one of the three people whose repentance was accepted. He had returned from his land at night and found a man with his wife. He saw this with his own two eyes and heard it with his own two ears, but he did not confront the man until morning came. The next day he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said, "O Messenger of Allah! I came to my wife at night and found a man with her. I saw this with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears." The news he brought displeased the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and it weighed heavily on him. The Ansar gathered and said, "Now we have been put to trial because of what Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him) said. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) will have Hilal bin Umayyah flogged and will declare his testimony void among the Muslims." Hilal said, "By Allah! I hope that Allah Almighty will make a way out of this for me." Hilal said, "O Messenger of Allah! I see that the news I have brought has weighed heavily on you, but by Allah! I am truthful." The narrator says: By Allah! The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had resolved to order that he be flogged, when revelation began to come down to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). When revelation began to come down to him, the people would recognise it by the change in the colour of his skin, so the people held back until, when the revelation ended, this verse was revealed: "And those who accuse their wives and have no witnesses except themselves." After this the narrator mentioned the complete hadith. (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: The hadith reported from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) is recorded in the Sahih in abridged form.
Abu Ya'la recorded it, and this wording is his. Ahmad recorded it from him (the Companion) in abridged form. Its chains revolve around a narrator, Abbad bin Mansur, and he is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Abu Bakr! What do you think: if you found a man with Umm Ruman, what would you do?" He said, "I would deal badly with him." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked, "O Umar! What do you think: if you found a man, what would you do?" He said, "By Allah! I would kill that man." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "O Suhayl bin Bayda'! What would you do?" He said, "May Allah curse that wretched man, for he is vile; and may Allah curse that wretched woman, for she is a vile woman; and may Allah curse the first of the three who mentions it." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "O Ibn Bayda'! You have acted upon this command of the Qur'an: 'And those who accuse their wives' (to the end of the verse)."
Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat from his teacher Musa bin Ishaq, whom I do not know. The rest of the narrators of this narration are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Asim bin Adi (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that he was with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when this verse was revealed: "Then they do not bring four witnesses." I said, "Until he first brings four witnesses, the vile man will have fulfilled his need in the meantime!" The narrator says: He had not yet got up when his paternal cousin, the son of his father's brother, came, and his wife was with him, carrying a child. The woman was saying, "This child is yours," and the man was saying, "This child is not mine." Then the verses about li'an were revealed. The narrator says: I was the first person to speak about it, and I was the first to be tried with it. (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: Nasa'i (may Allah have mercy on him) recorded a hadith from Sayyiduna Asim (may Allah be pleased with him) concerning li'an, but it is other than this hadith.
Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: A man from the Ansar married a woman from Banu al-Ajlan. He spent the night with her, and in the morning he found that she was not a virgin. The matter of the two of them was presented to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called the girl, and she said, "Yes, I was a virgin." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave the command concerning them both, and the two of them performed li'an, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had her given the dowry.
Al-Bazzar recorded it, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Tabarani says: Sayyidah Khawlah bint Asim was the woman of li'an whom the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) separated from her husband.

Ibn Jurayj narrates: Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) say: If a woman's husband accuses her of adultery after having divorced her, and it is a divorce in which the husband has the right to take the woman back, then the husband and wife will perform li'an. But if the man accused the woman after having given her an irrevocable divorce, then the man will not perform li'an with the woman.
Tabarani recorded it. Its chain is munqati' (broken), and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) says: Those who have performed li'an will never come together.
Tabarani recorded it. Its chain contains a narrator, Qays bin al-Rabi', whom Shu'bah and others declared thiqah (trustworthy), but there is some weakness in him. The rest of the narrators of this narration are thiqat (trustworthy). It has already passed before this from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the agnatic heirs ('asabah) of the son of a woman who performed li'an will be the agnatic heirs of his mother, and that she will inherit from that child and the child will inherit from her.