the detested matter, and the Prophet - peace and blessings of Allah be upon him - said: "Were it not for the oaths, I would have had a case concerning her." He judged by it for the one among them whom he resembled. His saying: "Were it not for the oaths, I would have had a case concerning her," indicates that nothing prevented him from acting upon the resemblance except the oaths; so when the preventative factor is absent, acting upon it becomes necessary due to the existence of its requirement. Likewise is the statement of the Prophet - peace and blessings of Allah be upon him - regarding the son of the slave-woman of Zam'ah, when he saw in him a clear resemblance to 'Utbah ibn Abi Waqqas: "Observe hijab from him, O Sawdah." Thus, he acted upon the resemblance in obligating Sawdah to observe hijab from him. If it is said: Then the two hadiths are evidence against you, for the Prophet - peace and blessings of Allah be upon him - did not judge based on resemblance in both cases; rather, he attached the child to Zam'ah and said to 'Abd ibn Zam'ah: "He is yours, O 'Abd ibn Zam'ah; the child is for the bed, and the adulterer gets the stone." Nor did he act upon the resemblance of the child of the li'an woman to establish the legal punishment (hadd) against her, due to his resemblance to the one she was accused with. We say: He only did not act upon it in the case of the son of Zam'ah's slave-woman because the [presumption of the] bed is stronger, and refraining from acting upon evidence due to the opposition of something stronger than it does not necessitate turning away from it when it is free from opposition. Likewise, he refrained from establishing the hadd against her because of her oaths, by the evidence of his saying: "Were it not for the oaths, I would have had a case concerning her." Furthermore, the weakness of the resemblance in [the matter of] establishing the hadd does not necessitate its weakness.
(29) The hadith of Hilal ibn Umayyah was reported by al-Bukhari, in: The Chapter: If one claims or accuses, he should seek evidence..., from the Book of Testimony; and in: The Chapter: And the punishment is warded off from her..., from the Book of Tafsir; and in: The Chapter: The man begins the imprecation, and the chapter on imprecation in the mosque, and the chapter on the saying of the Prophet - peace and blessings of Allah be upon him -: "If I were to stone anyone without evidence," and the chapter on the saying of the Imam: "O Allah, clarify," from the Book of Divorce. Sahih al-Bukhari 3/233, 6/126, 7/69-72. And Muslim, in: The Book of Li'an. Sahih Muslim 2/1134. And Abu Dawud, in: The Chapter on Li'an, from the Book of Divorce. Sunan Abi Dawud 1/521-525. And al-Tirmidhi, in: The Chapter on the Tafsir of Surah al-Nur, from the Chapters of Tafsir. 'Aridat al-Ahwadhi 1/45, 46. And al-Nasa'i, in: The Chapter on Li'an when a man accuses his wife with a specific man, and the chapter on how to perform Li'an, from the Book of Divorce. al-Mujtaba 6/140, 141. And Ibn Majah, in: The Chapter on Li'an, from the Book of Divorce. Sunan Ibn Majah 1/668. And Imam Ahmad, in: al-Musnad 1/238, 239, 3/142. (30) Its takhrij (citation) has preceded in: 7/316. (31) Omitted from [M]. (32) In [M]: "from it". (33) In [M]: "about it". (34) In the original: "the opposition".
