Sur (15), and it was narrated (16) by 'Umar ibn Shabbah (17) in his book "Qudat al-Basra" (Judges of Basra) through several channels (18); one of which is from al-Sha'bi, that Ka'b ibn Sur was sitting with 'Umar ibn al-Khattab when a woman came and said: O Commander of the Faithful, I have never seen a man better than my husband; by Allah, he spends his night in prayer and his day fasting. He sought forgiveness for her and praised her. The woman felt shy and stood up to leave, so Ka'b said: O Commander of the Faithful, why did you not provide the woman justice against her husband? [He said: What is that? He replied: She came complaining about him; if this is his state in worship, when does he have time for her? So 'Umar sent for her husband], (19) and he came. He said to Ka'b: Judge between them, for you have understood from their affair what I did not understand. He said: I see that she is a woman who has three other women with her, and she is the fourth of them; so I judge for her three days and their nights to worship in them, and she has one day and one night. 'Umar said: By Allah, your latter opinion is no more impressive to me than your former. Go, for you are the judge over the people of Basra. In another narration, 'Umar said: You are an excellent judge (20). This is a case that became famous (21) and was not denied, and thus it was a consensus (ijma'). Furthermore, if it were not a right, she would not be entitled to the annulment of the marriage due to its impossibility via castration or impotence, or his refusal via ila'. And if it were not a right for the woman, the husband would have the right to favor one of his two wives with it, just like an increase in maintenance above the mandatory amount. When this is established, our companions said: The right of the wife is one night out of every four, and for the slave-woman, one night out of every seven; because the most that is possible for him to combine with her are three free women, and she has the seventh; and that which is stronger
(15) Sur, with a damma on the sin (the unpointed letter) and a sukun on the waw, as in al-Isaba 5/645 and al-Mushtabih 402. (16) In B and M: "riwayahuma" (narrated both of them). (17) In A, B, and M: "Shu'ba". Shabbah is his father's nickname; he is 'Umar ibn Zayd ibn 'Ubayda al-Numayri, the historian and scholar of hadith, who died in the year 264 or 263 AH. Tarikh al-Turath al-'Arabi 1/2/205. (18) In B and M: "wujud" (existence), which is a distortion. (19) Omitted from B and M. (20) Mentioned by 'Abd al-Razzaq in: The Chapter: "The Right of the Wife Over Her Husband and How Much She Longs for Him," from the Book of Divorce. Al-Musannaf 7/148. Also by Ibn Sa'd in al-Tabaqat al-Kubra 7/52, and by Ibn Hajar in al-Isaba 5/646. (21) In A, B, and M: "intasharat" (spread/became widespread).