Salama bin Sakhr said, "I was a man who had been given an appetite for women that no one else had been given. When Ramadan began, I made the zihar oath against my wife, vowing to abstain from her until Ramadan ended, fearing that if I were intimate with her at night I would continue until daybreak found me unable to stop. One night, while she was serving me, something of her was uncovered before me, and I leapt upon her.When morning came, I went out to my people and told them what had happened. I said, 'Come with me to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ so I may inform him of my situation.'They said, 'No, by Allah, we will not. We fear that a verse of the Quran may be revealed about us, or that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ may say something about us whose disgrace will remain upon us. But go yourself and do as you see fit.'So I went out and came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and told him what had happened.He asked, 'You did that?'I said, 'I did that.'He asked, 'You did that?'I said, 'I did that.'He asked, 'You did that?'I said, 'I did that. Here I am, so carry out Allah's judgment upon me, for I will endure it.'He said, 'Free a slave.'I struck the side of my neck with my hand and said, 'No, by the One who sent you with the truth, I own nothing besides this neck of mine.'He said, 'Then fast two months.'I said, 'Messenger of Allah, did what befell me happen to me except because of fasting?'He said, 'Then feed sixty poor people.'I said, 'By the One who sent you with the truth, we have spent this night of ours hungry, with no supper to eat.'He said, 'Go to the collector of the charity of Banu Zurayq and tell him to hand it over to you. Feed sixty poor people on your behalf with a wasq of it, then use the rest for yourself and your family.'So I returned to my people and said, 'I found constraint and poor judgment with you, but I found generosity and blessing with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He has ordered your charity to be given to me, so hand it over.' And they handed it over to me."
كنت رجلا قد أوتيت من جماع النساء ما لم يؤت غيري، فلما دخل رمضان تظاهرت من امرأتي حتى ينسلخ رمضان؛ فرقا من أن أصيب منها في ليلتي فأتتابع في ذلك إلى أن يدركني النهار وأنا لا أقدر أن أنزع، فبينما هي تخدمني ذات ليلة إذ تكشف لي منها شيء فوثبت عليها، فلما أصبحت غدوت على قومي فأخبرتهم خبري، فقلت: انطلقوا معي إلى رسول الله ﷺ فأخبره بأمري فقالوا: لا والله لا نفعل، نتخوف أن ينزل فينا قرآن أو يقول فينا رسول الله ﷺ مقالة يبقى علينا عارها، ولكن اذهب أنت فاصنع ما بدا لك. قال: فخرجت فأتيت رسول الله ﷺ فأخبرته خبري فقال: أنت بذاك؟ قلت: أنا بذاك. قال: أنت بذاك؟ قلت: أنا بذاك. قال: أنت بذاك؟ قلت: أنا بذاك وها أنا فأمض في حكم الله فإني صابر لذلك. قال: أعتق رقبة. قال: فضربت صفحة عنقي بيدي فقلت: لا والذي بعثك بالحق لا أملك غيرها. قال: صم شهرين. قلت: يا رسول الله وهل أصابني ما أصابني إلا في الصيام؟ قال: فأطعم ستين مسكينا. قلت: والذي بعثك بالحق لقد بتنا ليلتنا هذه وحشى ما لنا عشاء! قال: اذهب إلى صاحب صدقة بني زريق، فقل له: فليدفعها إليك فأطعم عنك منها وسقا ستين مسكينا ثم استعن بسائره عليك وعلى عيالك. قال: فرجعت إلى قومي فقلت وجدت عندكم الضيق وسوء الرأي، ووجدت عند رسول الله ﷺ السعة والبركة، أمر لي بصدقتكم فادفعوها إلي، فدفعوها إلي.
Reported by Abu Dawud (2214), Tirmidhi (3299), and Ibn Majah (2026), all of them through the route of Muhammad bin Ishaq, from Muhammad bin Amr bin Ata, from Sulayman bin Yasar, from Salama bin Sakhr Bayadi, who narrated it. The wording given here is that of Tirmidhi. Ibn Khuzayma (2378) and Hakim (2/203) both graded it sahih, and Imam Ahmad reported it in his Musnad (16421), all of them through this same route.Tirmidhi said, "This is a hasan hadith." Muhammad said, "In my view, Sulayman bin Yasar did not hear this from Salama bin Sakhr." He said, "He is also called Salama bin Sakhr, and also Salman bin Sakhr." End of quote. Hakim said, "Sahih according to the criterion of Muslim."I say, there is another defect in it, namely that Muhammad bin Ishaq narrates with "an" (indicating an unspecified mode of transmission), and I have not found him explicitly stating that he heard it directly. However, this hadith has been narrated through other routes, one of which is what Tirmidhi reported (1200) through the route of Yahya bin Abu Kathir, who said, Abu Salama and Muhammad bin Abdul-Rahman informed us that Salman bin Sakhr Ansari, one of Banu Bayada, made his wife off-limits to him like his mother's back until Ramadan passed. But when half of Ramadan had passed, he had relations with her at night. He then came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and mentioned this to him. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him, "Free a slave."He said, "I cannot find one." He said, "Then fast two consecutive months." He said, "I am not able to." He said, "Feed sixty poor people." He said, "I cannot find enough." So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to Farwa bin Amr, "Give him that basket of dates," meaning a large container holding fifteen or sixteen saa, "as food for sixty poor people."Tirmidhi said, "This is a hasan hadith. He is also called Salman bin Sakhr, and also Salama bin Sakhr Bayadi. The practice among scholars regarding the expiation for zihar is based on this hadith." Hakim graded it sahih (2/204) and said, "According to the criterion of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim)."I say, the problem here is that Abu Salama, who is Ibn Abdul-Rahman, and Muhammad bin Abdul-Rahman, who is Ibn Thawban, did not hear this from Salama bin Sakhr. Bayhaqi said (7/390), "The well-known version from Yahya," meaning Ibn Abu Kathir, "is a mursal report." I say, this mursal report strengthens the first mursal report, since they come through different transmitters, and Bayhaqi himself pointed to this when he said, "This narration from Sulayman agrees with the narration of Abu Salama bin Abdul-Rahman and Ibn Thawban regarding the story of Salama bin Sakhr, so it takes precedence," meaning over the hadith of Aws bin Samit, which will come later in the book on zihar.The other route through which this hadith was narrated is what Abu Dawud reported (2217) from Ibn Sarh, who said, Ibn Wahb told us, Ibn Lahia and Amr bin Harith informed me, from Bukayr bin Ashaj, from Sulayman bin Yasar, with this account. He said, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was brought dates and gave them to him, an amount close to fifteen saa. He said, "Give this away as charity." The man said, "O Messenger of Allah, to someone poorer than myself and my family?" The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Eat it yourself, you and your family."This is also a mursal report, and its narrators are reliable. There is some discussion about Ibn Lahia, but he is corroborated by another transmitter.