(O Prophet! Why bannest thou that which Allah hath made lawful for thee…) [66:1]. Muhammad ibn Mansur al-Tusi informed us> 'Ali ibn 'Umar ibn Mahdi> al-Husayn ibn Isma'il al-Mahamili> 'Abd Allah ibn Shabib> Ishaq ibn Muhammad> 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar> Abu'l-Nadr, the client of 'Umar ibn 'Abd Allah> 'Ali ibn 'Abbas> Ibn 'Abbas> 'Umar who said: “The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, entered the house of Hafsah along with the mother of his son, Mariyah. When Hafsah found him with her [in an intimate moment], she said: 'Why did you bring her in my house? You did this to me, to the exception of all your wives, only because I am too insignificant to you'. He said to her: 'Do not mention this to 'A'ishah; she is forbidden for me [i.e. Mariyah] if I ever touch her'. Hafsah said: 'How could she be forbidden for you when she is your slave girl?' He swore to her that he will not touch her and then said: 'Do not mention this incident to anyone'. But she went ahead and informed 'A'ishah. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, decided not to go to his wives for a month. He stayed away from them twenty nine days when Allah, glorious and exalted is He, revealed (O Prophet! Why bannest thou that which Allah hath made lawful for thee, seeking to please thy wives?)”. Abu Ibrahim Isma'il ibn Ibrahim al-Wa'iz informed us> Bishr ibn Ahmad ibn Bishr> Ja'far ibn al-Hasan al-Firyabi> Minjab ibn al-Harith> 'Ali ibn Mushir> Hisham ibn 'Urwah> his father> 'A'ishah who said: “The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, used to like sweet and honey. It was also his habit to go to his wives after finishing the 'Asr prayer. In one occasion he went to Hafsah bint 'Umar and stayed with her more than he usually did. When I found out about this, I enquired about the reason and I was told that a woman from her clan gifted her with a pot of honey which she offered to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace. I said to myself: by Allah I will spoil it for him. I said to Sawdah bint Zam'ah: 'When he comes to your apartment and draws closer to you, say: O Messenger of Allah, did you eat Maghafir?' When he says: 'Hafsah fed me some honey', say: 'The bees which produced it must have eaten the 'Urfut'. I will say the same thing, and you, Safiyyah, should say the same'. Sawdah said: 'By Allah, the moment he stood at the door I was about to begin what she commanded me to do'. When he drew closer to her she said: 'O Messenger of Allah, did you eat Maghafir?' 'No!' he replied. She said: 'Then, what is this smell on you?' He said: 'Hafsah fed me some honey!' she said: “The bees which produced it must have eaten the 'Urfut'. When he came to me, I said the same thing. And when he went to Safiyyah she also repeated the same thing. When it was Hafsah's turn and the Prophet went to her, she said to him: 'O Messenger of Allah, shall I feed you some of that honey?' He said: 'I do not feel like it!' Sawdah said: 'Glory be to Allah, we have deprived him [of honey]'. But I said to her: 'Be quiet!' ” This was narrated by Bukhari from Farwah ibn Abi al-Maghra', and also by Muslim from Suwayd ibn Sa'id ; and both Farwah and Suwayd related it from 'Ali ibn Mushir. Abu 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Hamid informed us> Zahir ibn Ahmad> al-Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn Mus'ab> Yahya ibn Hakim> Abu Dawud> 'Amir al-Khazzaz> Ibn Abi Mulaykah who related that Sawdah bint Zam'ah had relatives from her mother's side in the Yemen who used to gift her honey. Among all the wives of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, Hafsah and 'A'ishah were very close to each other. One of them said to the other: “Do you not see this? He goes to her when it is not her turn just to have some of that honey. So when he comes to you hold your nose, and when he asks you about the reason, say: I smell something in you that I do not know what it is. When he comes to me, I shall say the same thing”. When the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, went to her she held her nose. He asked her: “What's wrong?” She said: “I smell something in you and I think it is the smell of Maghafir”. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, used to put on him good perfume whenever he found it. When he went to his other wife and she said the same thing. He said: “So-and-so said the same thing to me; this must be something that I ate at the house of Sawdah, and, by Allah, I will never eat it again!” Ibn Abi Mulaykah reported that Ibn 'Abbas said: “The verse (O Prophet! Why bannest thou that which Allah hath made lawful for thee, seeking to please thy wives?) was revealed about this [the incident reported above]”.

(If ye twain turn unto Allah repentant, (ye have cause to do so) for your hearts desired (the ban)…) [66:4]. Abu Mansur al-Mansuri informed us> Abu’l-Hasan al-Daraqutni> al-Husayn ibn Isma‘il> ‘Abd Allah ibn Shabib> Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz> his father> al-Zuhri> ‘Ubayd Allah ibn ‘Abd Allah> Ibn ‘Abbas who said: “Hafsah found the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, with Umm Ibrahim when it was ‘A’ishah’s turn. She said to him: ‘I will definitely inform her!’ The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: ‘She is forbidden for me if I touch her again’. Hafsah went ahead and informed ‘A’ishah. Allah informed His Messenger of this and he let Hafsah know some of the things she said. She asked him: ‘Who informed you of this?’ He said: ‘(The Knower, the Aware hath told me) [66:3]’. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, stayed away from his wives for a month and then Allah, glorious and exalted is He, revealed: (If ye twain turn unto Allah repentant, (ye have cause to do so) for your hearts desired (the ban)…)”.