She came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to ask his permission to return to her family among the Banu Khudrah. Her husband had gone out in search of some slaves of his who had run away, and when he caught up with them at the edge of Qadum, they killed him.She said, "So I asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ whether I might return to my family, since my husband had left me no dwelling that he owned and no maintenance."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Yes."She continued, "I turned to leave, and when I was in the courtyard, or in the masjid, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ called out to me, or gave an order concerning me so that I was called back to him. He asked, 'What was it you said?' So I repeated to him the account I had given him about my husband's situation."He said, "Stay in your house until the prescribed term has run its course."She said, "So I observed the waiting period there for four months and ten days. Later, during the caliphate of Uthman, he sent for me and questioned me about this, and I informed him. He followed it and gave judgment accordingly."Muhammad bin Bashshar related to us, Yahya bin Saeed informed us, Saad bin Ishaq bin Kaab bin Ujra informed us, and he mentioned something similar with the same meaning.
حدثنا الأنصاري أنبأنا معن أنبأنا مالك عن سعد بن إسحق بن كعب بن عجرة عن عمته زينب بنت كعب بن عجرة أن
أنها جاءت رسول الله ﷺ تسأله أن ترجع إلى أهلها في بني خدرة وأن زوجها خرج في طلب أعبد له أبقوا حتى إذا كان بطرف القدوم لحقهم فقتلوه قالت فسألت رسول الله ﷺ أن أرجع إلى أهلي فإن زوجي لم يترك لي مسكنا يملكه ولا نفقة قالت فقال رسول الله ﷺ نعم قالت فانصرفت حتى إذا كنت في الحجرة أو في المسجد ناداني رسول الله ﷺ أو أمر بي فنوديت له فقال كيف قلت قالت فرددت عليه القصة التي ذكرت له من شأن زوجي قال امكثي في بيتك حتى يبلغ الكتاب أجله قالت فاعتددت فيه أربعة أشهر وعشرا قالت فلما كان عثمان أرسل إلي فسألني عن ذلك فأخبرته فاتبعه وقضى به حدثنا محمد بن بشار أنبأنا يحيى بن سعيد أنبأنا سعد بن إسحق بن كعب بن عجرة فذكر نحوه بمعناه
Its isnad is sahih. Abu Dawud narrated it in the Book of Divorce, in the chapter on a widow relocating, hadith no. 2300, from the hadith of Malik through this same route, and it is found in Muwatta 2/591. Ibn Hibban graded it sahih (Al-Ihsan) no. 4278, as did Ibn Jarud, hadith no. 759, and Hakim 2/208, and Dhahabi.