A woman came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, "Messenger of Allah, I have come to offer myself to you in marriage."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ looked at her, examining her carefully from head to toe, then he lowered his head. When the woman saw that he had made no decision regarding her, she sat down.Then a man from among his companions stood up and said, "Messenger of Allah, if you have no need of her, marry her to me."He asked, "Do you have anything to give her?"The man replied, "No, by Allah, Messenger of Allah."The Prophet said, "Go to your family and see if you can find something."The man went, then returned and said, "No, by Allah, I found nothing."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Look, even for an iron ring."The man went again, then returned and said, "No, by Allah, Messenger of Allah, not even an iron ring. But here is my lower garment," Sahl said he had no upper cloak, "she may have half of it."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "What would she do with your lower garment? If you wear it, she will have nothing of it on her, and if she wears it, you will have nothing of it on you."The man sat down, and after sitting for a long while he got up to leave. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ saw him turning away and ordered that he be called back. When he came, the Prophet asked, "How much of the Quran do you know?"The man said, "I know such and such surah, and such and such surah," naming them.The Prophet asked, "Can you recite them from memory?"He said, "Yes."The Prophet said, "Go, I have given her to you in marriage for what you know of the Quran."
جاءت امرأة إلى رسول الله ﷺ فقالت: يا رسول الله، جئت أهب لك نفسي. فنظر إليها رسول الله ﷺ فصعد النظر فيها وصوبه، ثم طأطأ رأسه، فلما رأت المرأة أنه لم يقض فيها شيئا جلست، فقام رجل من أصحابه فقال: يا رسول الله! إن لم يكن لك بها حاجة فزوجنيها فقال: هل عندك شيء؟ قال: لا والله يا رسول الله. قال: اذهب إلى أهلك فانظر هل تجد شيئا؟ فذهب ثم رجع، فقال: لا والله، ما وجدت شيئا. فقال رسول الله ﷺ: انظر ولو خاتما من حديد، فذهب ثم رجع، فقال: لا والله يا رسول الله ولا خاتما من حديد، ولكن هذا إزاري- قال سهل: ما له رداء- فلها نصفه. فقال رسول الله ﷺ: ما تصنع بإزارك، إن لبسته لم يكن عليها منه شيء، وإن لبسته لم يكن عليك منه شيء. فجلس الرجل حتى إذا طال مجلسه قام، فرآه رسول الله ﷺ موليا، فأمر به فدعي له، فلما جاء، قال: ما معك من القرآن؟ قال: معي سورة كذا، وسورة كذا عددها. فقال: تقرؤهن عن ظهر قلب؟ قال: نعم. قال: اذهب لقد ملكتكها بما معك من القرآن.
Bukhari related it in the Book of Marriage (5087) and Muslim in the Book of Marriage (1425), both from Qutayba bin Saeed Thaqafi, who said, Abdul-Aziz bin Abu Hazim narrated to us, from his father, from Sahl bin Saad Saadi, who mentioned it. Their wording is identical.In Muslim's wording, he said, "Go, for I have married her to you, so teach her from the Quran." Tirmidhi said, after relating this hadith, "This is a hasan sahih hadith. Shafii held to this hadith, saying, if there is nothing to give her as dowry, he may marry her in exchange for teaching her a surah from the Quran, and the marriage is valid, as he teaches her a surah from the Quran." He said, "Some scholars said, the marriage is valid, and she is to be given a dowry equivalent to what other women like her receive. This is the view of the people of Kufa, and of Ahmad and Ishaq." End of quote.As for what has been related from Abu Hurairah about a similar incident, it did not mention the waist-wrap and the ring, and it said in it, "What do you know from the Quran by heart?" He said, "Surah Baqarah, or the one after it." He said, "Go and teach her twenty verses, and she is your wife." This is daif.Abu Dawud related it (2112) from Ahmad bin Hafs bin Abdullah, who said, my father Hafs bin Abdullah narrated to me, who said, Ibrahim bin Tahman narrated to me, from Hajjaj bin Hajjaj Bahili, from Asal, from Ata bin Abu Rabah, from Abu Hurairah, who mentioned it.Asal is Ibn Sufyan Tamimi Yarbui, Abu Qurra Basri, and he is daif. Yahya bin Main and Nasai declared him daif. Bukhari said, "He has objectionable narrations." Abu Hatim said, "His hadith is objectionable." Ibn Hibban mentioned him in Ath-Thiqat and said, "He errs and contradicts others despite the scarcity of his narrations." And he said in Al-Majruhin, "He had few narrations but many that he alone transmitted from reliable narrators, narrations unlike those of established narrators, given how few his narrations were. It is not appropriate to rely on the sole narration of someone who did not follow the ways of upright narrators in transmission, given how few his narrations were, and given his inclusion among the reliable narrators, if he is indeed to be included among them. He is one about whom I have sought Allah's guidance," meaning that he was not confident in affirming his reliability.