(As for those who accuse their wives but have no witnesses except themselves…) [24:6]. Abu ‘Uthman Sa‘id ibn Muhammad al-Mu’adhdhin informed us> Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn ‘Ali al-Hiri> al-Hasan ibn Sufyan> Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah> Yazid ibn Harun> ‘Abbad ibn Mansur> ‘Ikrimah> Ibn ‘Abbas who said: “When the verse (And those who accuse honourable women but bring not four witnesses…) up to His words (They indeed are evil-doers) [24:4], Sa‘d ibn ‘Ubadah, the master of the Helpers, said: ‘Is this how it was revealed to you, O Messenger of Allah?’ The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, responded: ‘Do you not hear, O Helpers, what your master is saying?’ They said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, he is a very jealous man. By Allah, he never married a woman who was not a virgin and no one amongst us ever dares to marry any woman he divorces, because of his extreme jealousy’. Sa‘d then said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, by Allah I know it is the truth and that it is from Allah. But I was wondering: if I were to find a man on top of my wife, I am not supposed to disturb or move him until I go and bring four witnesses. By Allah, by the time I go to bring them, the man would have finished his business’. Not a long time had passed after this incident when Hilal ibn Umayyah found a man with his wife upon returning in the afternoon from his field. He saw with his eyes and heard with his ears. He did not react and waited until the following morning and went to see the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. He said to him: ‘O Messenger of Allah, I went to my wife in the afternoon and found her with a man. I saw them with my own eyes and heard them with my own ears’. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, disliked what he heard and was greatly distressed as a result. ‘Ubadah ibn al-Samit said then: ‘Now the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, will flog Hilal ibn Umayyah and his testimony will be void among the Muslims’. Hilal said: ‘By Allah, I am hoping that Allah will make for me a way out of this’.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou
