A man pronounced the zihar formula against his wife, then had relations with her before offering the expiation. He came to the Prophet ﷺ and told him what had happened.The Prophet ﷺ asked, "What drove you to do that?"The man replied, "Messenger of Allah, I saw the whiteness of her ankles in the moonlight, and I could not restrain myself from going to her."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ laughed and ordered him not to approach her again until he had made the expiation.
أن رجلا ظاهر من امرأته فغشيها قبل أن يكفر، فأتى النبي ﷺ فذكر ذلك له، فقال: ما حملك على ذلك؟ قال: يا رسول الله رأيت بياض حجليها في ضوء القمر، فلم أملك نفسي أن وقعت عليها. فضحك رسول الله ﷺ وأمره ألا يقربها حتى يكفر.
Narrated by Abu Dawud (2225), Tirmidhi (1199), Nasai (3457), and Ibn Majah (2065) - and this is his wording - all of them via Hakam bin Abban, from Ikrima, from Ibn Abbas, as mentioned. Some of them did not mention Ibn Abbas. Its chain is hasan due to the discussion surrounding Hakam bin Abban, though his hadith is hasan. He was deemed reliable by Ibn Main, Nasai, Ajli, and others, but he was criticized regarding his memory. For this reason, Hafiz said in Taqrib, "Truthful, devout, but has some lapses." However, he did not err in this particular hadith, since it was also narrated by Ismail bin Muslim, from Amr bin Dinar, from Tawus, from Ibn Abbas, who mentioned something similar.Hakim said in Mustadrak (2/204), after presenting the hadith of Hakam bin Abban, "Its corroborating witness is the hadith of Ismail bin Muslim, from Amr bin Dinar. Neither of the two sheikhs relied on Ismail nor on Hakam bin Abban as evidence, but Hakam bin Abban is truthful." Dhahabi said, "Ismail is feeble."I say, Ismail bin Muslim is the Makki, and opinions about him vary between daif and extremely daif. Abu Hatim said, "His hadith is weak, though he is not to be abandoned, his hadith is recorded." Ibn Saad said, "He had sound judgment, issued legal rulings, possessed insight, and had good memorization of hadith and other matters." I say, someone of his standing is suitable for corroboration.On this subject there is also the hadith of Khawla bint Thalaba, wife of Aws bin Samit, concerning the reason for the revelation of the verse on zihar, which will be discussed later in the book on zihar. As for the hadith of Salama bin Sakhr Ansari, it does not indicate that it was the reason for the revelation of the verse on zihar. Rather, the Prophet ﷺ commanded him to act according to what Allah had revealed in this surah regarding freeing a slave, fasting, or feeding the poor. When he was unable to do so, the Prophet gave him his people's charity to feed the needy.