Ibn Hibban

Lady Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Every woman whose marriage is conducted without the permission of her guardian, her marriage is invalid (the Prophet, peace be upon him, said this twice). That woman will receive whatever the man gave her as dowry, and if there is a dispute between the two, then the matter will be brought before the ruler, and the ruler of the time will be the guardian for the one who has no guardian. (Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) This narration has caused confusion for the one who does not have expertise in the science of hadith, and he thought that perhaps this narration is disconnected or has no basis, and the reason for this misunderstanding is the story that Ibn Ulayya narrated after this narration from Ibn Jurayj, who says: Then I met Zuhri, I mentioned this narration before him, and he was not aware of it. However, this is not something that would weaken a report of this nature. The reason is: Sometimes, a knowledgeable, virtuous, pious, and reliable person narrates a hadith, and then he forgets it, and when he is later asked about this hadith, he does not remember it. So, his forgetting something he had narrated does not indicate that the original narration is invalid. Our master Muhammad Mustafa (peace and blessings be upon him) is the best of mankind; he forgot while performing prayer. It was said in his presence: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! Has the prayer been shortened, or did you forget? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Neither of the two has happened. So, the personality whom Allah Almighty chose for His Prophethood and granted infallibility among His creation, even he could be affected by forgetfulness regarding the matter most frequently practiced by Muslims, which is prayer, to the extent that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forgot, and when people asked him about it, he denied it. The Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) forgetfulness does not indicate that the ruling he forgot is invalid. (So, if this is the case,) then after the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), those people from his Ummah who are not infallible, it is even more likely for them to be affected by forgetfulness, and in the presence of forgetfulness, it is not permissible to use this as evidence that something is invalid which was authentically established from them before they forgot.