And Abu Rafi‘ is the person involved in the incident (8), and he is the emissary in it, so they are both more knowledgeable about that than Ibn ‘Abbas, and more deserving of being given precedence, even if Ibn ‘Abbas were an elder. How much more so when he was a child who did not know the realities of the matters, nor did he grasp them, and this statement of his was rejected. Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyib said: Ibn ‘Abbas was mistaken; the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did not marry her except while in a state of hallal. So how can a hadith with this status be acted upon? It is possible to interpret his (Ibn ‘Abbas's) statement, "And he was a muhrim (in ihram)," to mean that it was during the Sacred Month, or in the Sacred Territory, as it was said:
They killed Ibn ‘Affan, the Caliph, while he was muhrim (9).
It was also said: He married her while in a state of hallal, [and the affair of their marriage became public] (10) while he was in a state of ihram. Furthermore, if both hadiths were authentic, giving precedence to our hadith would be more appropriate, because it is the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), while the other is his action, and a statement is more emphatic, as it may be that the action was specific to what he did. A marriage contract differs from the purchase of a slave-woman, for marriage is prohibited due to the 'iddah, apostasy, difference of religion, or the bride being a foster-sister; and conditions are considered for it that are not considered for a purchase.
Section: Whenever a person in ihram gets married, or arranges a marriage, or a woman in ihram is married off, the marriage is invalid, regardless of whether all parties are in ihram or only some of them; because it is prohibited, so it is not valid, like marrying a woman to her paternal or maternal aunt. According to Ahmad: If a person in ihram arranges a marriage, I do not annul the marriage. Some of our companions said: This indicates that if the guardian is on his own (as a muhrim) or the agent is a muhrim, the marriage does not become corrupt. The school of thought is the first (view). Ahmad's words are interpreted to mean that he does not annul it because it is a matter of difference of opinion. Al-Qadi said: They are to be separated by one talaq (divorce). This is the case for every marriage that is subject to a difference of opinion.
(8) In the original: "the incident". (9) The first hemistich of a verse by al-Ra‘i al-Numayri, the second hemistich of which is: And he called, but I saw no one abandoned like him. Shi‘r al-Ra‘i al-Numayri wa Akhbaruhu 144. (10) In manuscripts A, B, and M: "And the affair of their marriage was made public".
