Abu Bakr came seeking permission to enter upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and found people sitting at his door, none of them having been granted permission. Abu Bakr was given permission and went in. Then Umar came and asked permission, and he too was admitted. He found the Prophet ﷺ sitting with his wives around him, gloomy and silent.Umar said to himself, "I will surely say something to make the Prophet ﷺ laugh."So he said, "Messenger of Allah, if only you had seen the daughter of Kharija! She asked me for household money, so I got up and struck her on the neck."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ laughed and said, "They are around me, as you see, asking me for household money."Abu Bakr then got up and went to Ayesha and struck her on the neck, and Umar got up and went to Hafsa and struck her on the neck, both of them saying, "Are you asking the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for what he does not have?"The women said, "By Allah, we will never again ask the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for anything he does not have."Then he withdrew from them for a month, or for twenty-nine days, and this verse was revealed to him, "Prophet, say to your wives" up to "a great reward for those among you who do good" [Ahzab 33:28–29].He began with Ayesha and said, "Ayesha, I want to put a matter to you, and I would rather you did not rush into it until you have consulted your parents."She asked, "What is it, Messenger of Allah?"So he recited the verse to her.She said, "Is it about you, Messenger of Allah, that I should consult my parents? No, I choose Allah, His Messenger, and the Hereafter. And I ask you not to tell any of your other wives what I have said."He replied, "Not one of them will ask me without my telling her. Allah did not send me to be harsh or to make things hard, but He sent me as a teacher who makes things easy."
دخل أبو بكر يستأذن على رسول الله ﷺ، فوجد الناس جلوسا ببابه، لم يؤذن لأحد منهم، قال: فأذن لأبي بكر. فدخل، ثم أقبل عمر فاستأذن فأذن له، فوجد النبي ﷺ جالسا حوله نساؤه واجما ساكتا قال: لأقولن شيئا أضحك النبي ﷺ فقال: يا رسول الله! لو رأيت بنت خارجة! سألتني النفقة، فقمت إليها فوجأت عنقها. فضحك رسول الله ﷺ وقال: هن حولي كما ترى. يسألنني النفقة فقام أبوبكر إلى عائشة يجأ عنقها، فقام عمر إلى حفصة يجأ عنقها كلاهما يقول: تسألن رسول الله ﷺ ما ليس عنده. فقلن: والله! لا نسأل رسول الله ﷺ شيئا أبدا ليس عنده. ثم اعتزلهن شهرا أو تسعا وعشرين ثم نزلت عليه هذه الآية: {يأيها النبي قل لأزوجك} حتى بلغ {للمحسنت منكن أجرا} [الأحزاب: ٢٨-٢٩] قال: فبدأ بعائشة. فقال: يا عائشة! إني أريد أن أعرض عليك أمرا أحب أن لا تعجلي فيه حتى تستشيري أبويك قالت: وما هو؟ يا رسول الله! فتلا عليها الآية قالت: أفيك، يا رسول الله! أستشير أبوي؟ بل أختار الله ورسوله والدار الآخرة. وأسألك أن لا تخبر امرأة من نسائك بالذي قلت. قال: لا تسألني امرأة منهن إلا أخبرتها. إن الله لم يبعثني معنتا ولا متعنتا ولكن بعثني معلما ميسرا.
Muslim narrated it in the chapter on divorce (1478), from Zuhayr bin Harb, who said, Rawh bin Ubada narrated to us, who said, Zakariya bin Ishaq narrated to us, who said, Abu Zubayr narrated to us, from Jabir bin Abdullah, and he mentioned it.It can be learned from this hadith that if a man gives his wife the choice and she chooses him, nothing follows from that, as is also indicated by the hadith of Ayesha. It is understood from it that if she had chosen herself, would that have been a divorce or not? The correct view is that this constitutes a divorce.They differed about the case where she chooses herself. The majority held that it counts as one divorce, and he retains the greater right to her. This was related from Umar, Ibn Masud, and Ibn Abbas, and it is the view of Shafii, Ahmad, Ishaq, Thawri, and others. Ali bin Abu Talib held that it is one irrevocable divorce, and this was also said by the people of legal reasoning. Malik held that it counts as three divorces.They also differed regarding the duration of the choice. The correct view, held by most scholars, is that the choice remains valid until she rises from her sitting place, and once she rises, the choice comes to an end.