Mukhtasar Muslim

`Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) says that` when someone says to his wife, "You are forbidden to me," then this is an oath, and expiation is necessary for it. And Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said that indeed, for you in the way of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is the best example.

Narrated from Umm al-Mu’minin Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to stay with Umm al-Mu’minin Zainab (may Allah be pleased with her) and would drink honey at her place. So Umm al-Mu’minin Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) said that she and Umm al-Mu’minin Hafsa (may Allah be pleased with her) agreed that whichever of them the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) visited, she would say to him, “I find the smell of Maghafir from you; have you eaten Maghafir?” (This is a type of gum with an unpleasant odor.) When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to one of them, she said this to him, so he replied, “Rather, I drank honey at Zainab’s place, and now I will never drink it again.” Then this verse was revealed: “O Prophet! Why do you forbid what Allah has made lawful for you... If both of them repent,” meaning Umm al-Mu’minin Aisha and Hafsa (may Allah be pleased with them). And when Allah said, “The Prophet confided a matter to one of his wives” (At-Tahrim: 1-3), the matter referred to is what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had said, “I drank honey.”

‘Umm al-Mu’minin Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was very fond of sweets and honey, and (it was his blessed habit that) when he had performed the Asr prayer, he would go to his noble wives and come close to each one. So one day he went to Hafsa (may Allah be pleased with her) and stayed there longer than usual, so when I inquired about the reason, I found out that a woman from her tribe had gifted her a small bottle of honey, and she had given the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) a drink of honey. So I said, “By Allah, we will devise a plan against her.” I mentioned this to Sawda (may Allah be pleased with her) and said to her, “When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) comes to you and draws near to you, say to him, ‘O Messenger of Allah! Did you eat Maghafir?’ He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) will say, ‘No.’ Then you say to him, ‘Then what is this smell?’ And it was the habit of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that he greatly disliked that any bad odor should come from him. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) will say to you, ‘Hafsa gave me a drink of honey.’ Then you say to him, ‘Perhaps its bee sucked nectar from the ‘Urfd tree’ (Urfd is the name of the tree whose gum is Maghafir).’ And I will say the same to him, and O Safiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her), you also say the same to him.” Then when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came to Sawda (may Allah be pleased with her), Sawda (may Allah be pleased with her) says, “By the One besides whom there is no deity, I was about to go out and say to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) exactly what you (O Aisha) had told me, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was at the door, and my haste in saying it was out of fear of you.” Then when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came near, she said, “Did you eat Maghafir?” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “No.” Then she said, “What is this smell?” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Hafsa gave me a drink of honey.” Then she said, “Perhaps its bee sucked nectar from the ‘Urfd tree’ (that is why its smell came into the honey).” Then when he came to me (Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her), I also said the same to him. Then he went to Safiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her), and she also said the same. So when he went again to Hafsa (may Allah be pleased with her), she said, “O Messenger of Allah! Shall I bring you some more honey from it?” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “I have no need of it.” Umm al-Mu’minin Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) says that Sawda (may Allah be pleased with her) said, “Subhan Allah! We have deprived the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) from drinking honey.” So Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) says, “I said to her, ‘Be quiet.’”