The Prophet ﷺ swore an oath not to visit his wives for a month. Zuhri said, Urwa informed me from Ayesha that she said, "When twenty-nine nights had passed, which I had been counting, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came in to me. He began with me."She said, "I said, 'Messenger of Allah, you swore not to visit us for a month, yet you have come after twenty-nine days, which I have been counting.'"He replied, "The month can be twenty-nine days."
إن النبي ﷺ أقسم أن لا يدخل على أزواجه شهرا، قال الزهري: فأخبرني عروة، عن عائشة قالت: لما مضت تسع وعشرون ليلة أعدهن، دخل علي رسول الله ﷺ قالت: بدأ بي. فقلت: يا رسول الله! إنك أقسمت أن لا تدخل علينا شهرا، وإنك دخلت من تسع وعشرين أعدهن فقال: إن الشهر تسع وعشرون.
Muslim narrated it in the Book of Fasting (1083) from Abd bin Humayd, who said, "Abdul-Razzaq informed us, Maamar informed us, from Zuhri," and he related it. Zuhri's statement is mursal at its beginning and connected at its end. Ibn Majah (2059) and Ahmad (24743) also transmitted it as a connected narration, both from the hadith of Abdul-Rahman bin Abu Rijal, who said, "I heard my father narrating from Amra, from Ayesha, who said, 'The Messenger of Allah ﷺ swore that he would not go in to his wives for a month...'" Its isnad is hasan because of Abdul-Rahman bin Abu Rijal, for he is hasan al-hadith. As for his father, he is trustworthy.As for what was narrated from Ayesha, who said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ took an oath (ila) from his wives, and forbade himself something, making the forbidden lawful, and he made an expiation part of the oath," this is daif. Tirmidhi (1201) and Ibn Majah (2072) narrated it, and Ibn Hibban (4278) and Bayhaqi (7/352) graded it sahih, all of them through the route of Maslama bin Alqama, who said, "Dawud bin Abu Hind narrated to us, from Amir, from Masruq, from Ayesha," and he related it. Its isnad is daif because of Maslama bin Alqama, for there has been disagreement about him, and the majority judged him daif, saying he has objectionable hadiths from Dawud bin Abu Hind, and they said this is one of them. Tirmidhi criticized it for its contradiction with other narrations, saying, "The hadith of Maslama bin Alqama from Dawud was narrated by Ali bin Mushir and others from Dawud, from Shaybi, that the Prophet ﷺ," as a mursal narration, without mentioning Masruq or Ayesha. He said, "This is more sahih than the hadith of Maslama bin Alqama." He also said, "Ila is when a man swears that he will not approach his wife for four months or more."Likewise, what has been mentioned as the reason for the Prophet's ila, namely that Zaynab returned his gift to him, is not sound. This is what Ibn Majah (2060) narrated from Suwayd bin Saeed, who said, "Yahya bin Zakariya bin Abu Zaida narrated to us, from Haritha bin Muhammad, from Amra, from Ayesha, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ only took the oath because Zaynab had returned his gift to him. Ayesha then said, 'You have humiliated him,' so the Prophet ﷺ became angry and swore the oath against them." Haritha bin Muhammad, who is Ibn Abdul-Rahman bin Abu Rijal, is very daif. His statement "You have humiliated him" (aqmatuk) means "You have belittled him."