The Prophet ﷺ finished the dawn prayer one day and came to the women in the mosque. He stood before them and said, "Women, I have not seen anyone more lacking in intellect and religion who is more capable of stealing away the hearts of sensible men than you. I have seen that the majority of the people of the Fire on the Day of Resurrection are women. So draw close to Allah and seek His forgiveness."Among the women was the wife of Abdullah bin Masud. She returned and informed him of what she had heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and she produced a piece of jewelry of hers.Ibn Masud asked, "Where are you taking this jewelry?"She replied, "I am giving it in charity to draw closer to Allah and His Messenger, hoping that Allah will not place me among the people of the Fire."He said, "Rather, come and give it as charity to me and to my children, for we are in need."She said, "No, by Allah, not until I take it to the Prophet ﷺ."So she went and asked permission to see the Prophet ﷺ. It was said, "This is Zaynab seeking permission, Messenger of Allah."He asked, "Which Zaynab is it?"It was said, "The wife of Abdullah bin Masud."He said, "Allow her in."She came before the Prophet ﷺ and said, "Messenger of Allah, I heard a statement from you, so I returned to Ibn Masud and told him about it, and I took my jewelry to give it in charity to draw closer to Allah, hoping that Allah would not place me among the people of the Fire. Ibn Masud said to me, 'Give it as charity to me and to my children, for we are in need.' I said, 'Not until I seek permission from the Prophet ﷺ.'"The Prophet ﷺ said, "Give it as charity to him and to his sons, for they are in need."She said, "Messenger of Allah, what was that statement I heard from you when you stood before us, that you have not seen anyone more lacking in intellect and religion who is more capable of stealing away the hearts of sensible men than us? Messenger of Allah, what is the deficiency in our religion and our intellect?"He said, "As for what I mentioned regarding the deficiency in your religion, it is the menstruation that befalls you. One of you remains for as long as Allah wills neither praying nor fasting, and that is from the deficiency in your religion. As for what I mentioned regarding the deficiency in your intellect, it is your testimony, for the testimony of a woman is only half a testimony."
أن النبي ﷺ انصرف من الصبح يوما فأتى النساء في المسجد، فوقف عليهن فقال: يا معشر النساء، ما رأيت من ناقصات عقول ودين أذهب بقلوب ذوي الألباب منكن، فإنا قد رأيت أكثر أهل النار يوم القيامة، فتقربن إلى الله فاستغفرن وكان في النساء امرأة قد مات عبد الله بن مسعود فأخبرته بما سمعت من رسول الله ﷺ، وأحدث خليلة لها، فقال ابن مسعود: فأين تذهبين بهذا العجز؟ فقالت: أقرب به إلى الله ورسوله، لعل الله لا يجعلني من أهل النار. فقال: بلى هلم تصدقي به علي وعلى ولدي، فأنا لم نوضع. فقالت: لا والله حتى أذهب به إلى النبي ﷺ. فذهبت فسألت النبي ﷺ فقال النبي ﷺ: هذه زينب تسائل يا رسول الله. فقال: أي الزوائب هي؟ فقالت: امرأة عبد الله بن مسعود. فقال: انتذري لها. فخرجت على النبي ﷺ، فقالت: يا رسول الله، إني سمعت منك مقالة، فرجعت إلى ابن مسعود فحدثته، وأخذت حليي فتقرب به إلى الله والوالد رجاء أن لا يجعلني الله من أهل النار. فقال لي ابن مسعود: تصدقي به علي وعلى ولدي، فإنا لم نوضع. فقلت: حتى أستأذن النبي ﷺ. فقال النبي ﷺ: تصدقي به علي وعلى بنيه فإنهم لم موضع. قال: لها يا رسول الله أزري ما سمعت منك حين وقفت علينا: ما رأيت من ناقصات عقول ولا دين أذهب بقلوب ذوي الألباب منكن. قالت: يا رسول الله، فما نقصان ديننا وعقولنا؟ فقال: أما ما ذكرت من نقصان دينكن، فالحيضة التي تصيبكن، تمكث إحداكن ما شاء الله لا تصلي ولا تصوم، فذلك من نقصان دينكن، وأما ما ذكرت من نقصان عقولكن فشهادتكن، إنما شهادة المرأة نصف شهادة.
Ahmad (8862) narrated it from Sulayman, who said, Ismail informed us, Amr - meaning Ibn Abu Amr - informed me, from Abu Saeed Maqburi, from Abu Hurairah, and he related the hadith. Sulayman here is Ibn Dawud Hashimi, and Ismail is Ibn Jafar bin Abu Kathir. Its isnad is hasan because of Amr bin Abu Amr, who is Maysara, the client of Muttalib, a Madinan about whom there is disagreement. Ibn Main and Nasai declared him daif, while Abu Zura, Ajli, and others deemed him trustworthy, and the rest accepted him as reliable. He is among the narrators found in all the major collections. Ibn Khuzayma narrated it through this same route in his Sahih (2461).As for her statement, "I seek closeness through it to Allah and His Messenger," this contains an objectionable element, since it is not permissible to seek closeness through any act of worship to anyone other than Allah, the Exalted. No one transmits this addition except Ismail bin Jafar, from Amr bin Abu Amr. Muslim narrated it in the Book of Faith (80) through several routes from Ismail bin Jafar, but he did not give the exact wording, rather he referred to it as matching the meaning of the hadith of Ibn Umar. Yet the hadith of Ibn Umar does not contain this addition, nor the story of Zaynab. It may be that Muslim did not hear the story of Zaynab from the three teachers through whom he narrated the hadith, as noted earlier regarding the meaning of the hadith of Ibn Umar, unlike the Imam, who received this story from his teacher Sulayman bin Ahmad, for he heard it from Dawud Hashimi, who is a trustworthy and eminent figure, and any errors or objectionable elements lie with those below him in the chain.