The hadiths that seem contradictory here are:
Nubaih b. Wahb reported that ‘Umar b. Ubaidullah intended to marry Talha b. ‘Umar with the daughter of Shaiba b. Jubair; so he sent a messenger to Aban b. Uthman to attend the marriage, and he was at that time the Amir of Hajj. Aban said: I heard ‘Uthman b. ‘Affan say that Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) had stated: A Muhrim must neither marry himself, nor arrange the marriage of another one, nor should he make the proposal of marriage. (Sahih Muslim 1409a)
Ibn ‘Abbas (Allah be pleased with them) reported: Allah’s Messenger. (ﷺ) married Maimuna while he was a Muhrim. (Sahih Muslim 1401b)
An Nawawi says a muḥrim (someone in the state of ihram for Hajj or ʿUmrah) is not allowed to get married—not for himself and not on behalf of anyone else. That means he can’t act as the groom, the bride, the guardian (like a father or judge), or even help others marry while in ihram.
If someone does perform a marriage during ihram, it is invalid—the marriage contract does not count. This is not just disliked, it is forbidden and void (taḥrīm and bāṭil). Even if only the guardian or representative is in ihram but the bride and groom are not, the contract is still invalid.
Proposing during ihram is only disliked (makruh), not invalid—so if someone proposes marriage (but doesn’t go ahead with the contract) while in ihram, it’s not a sin like the marriage contract is, but it’s still discouraged.
There were two different reports about the Prophet ﷺ marrying Maymunah:
- Some narrations say he married her while he was in ihram (like what Ibn ʿAbbas said).
- Other narrations say he married her after he came out of ihram (like what Maymunah herself said).
- Az-Zuhri, preferred the narration of Maymunah herself, because she is the one who was actually involved. So the correct view is that the Prophet ﷺ was not in ihram when he married her.
So in short: A muḥrim cannot get married during ihram, and any such marriage is invalid. The hadith saying the Prophet married Maymunah in ihram is not the stronger one—Maymunah’s own words show it happened after ihram, which matches the ruling.
Translation:
Translation and explanation of the hadith and commentary from Fath al-Bari, maintaining fidelity to the original scholarly tone of Ibn Hajar:
Narrated to me by my father, from my grandfather, Khalid ibn Yazid narrated to me, from Saʿid ibn Abi Jahl, from Nuhay ibn Wahb, that ʿUmar ibn ʿUbayd Allah ibn Maʿmar wished to marry his son, Talhah, to the daughter of Shaybah ibn Jubayr, while on Hajj. At that time, Aban ibn ʿUthman was the leader of the pilgrims (amir al-hajj), so he sent word to Aban: “I intend to marry Talhah ibn ʿUmar, so I would like you to attend it.” Aban replied: “I see you are an ignorant Iraqi.” Then he said: “I heard ʿUthman ibn ʿAffan say: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘The muḥrim (one in a state of consecration) does not marry, nor is he married.’”
His statement: “Aban said to him: I see you are an ignorant Iraqi (ʿIrāqī jāfī)”—this is how it is found in all the copies in our region: ʿIrāqī (Iraqi). Al-Qadi mentioned that in some narrations it appears as aʿrābī (desert Arab), and he said this is the correct reading, meaning someone ignorant of the Sunnah. The aʿrābī is a Bedouin, an inhabitant of the desert. He then said: ʿIrāqī would be mistaken, unless it is known that the people of Kufa allowed marriage during ihram, in which case the term ʿIrāqī would refer to someone following their school while being unaware of the Sunnah. And Allah knows best.
Narration 46 – From Ibn Abi Shaybah, Ibn Numayr, and Ishaq al-Halali, all from Ibn ʿUyaynah, who narrated from ʿAmr ibn Dinar, from Abu al-Shaʿtha, that Ibn ʿAbbas informed him: “The Prophet ﷺ married Maymunah while he was in ihram.” Ibn Numayr added: “I mentioned this to al-Zuhri, and he said: Yazid ibn al-Asamm informed me from Maymunah herself that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ married her while he was not in ihram.”(Sahih Muslim 1411, Sahih Muslim 1410a)
Narration 47 – Yahya ibn Bukayr narrated to us, Dawud ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman narrated to us, from ʿAmr ibn Dinar, from Jabir ibn Zayd, from Abu al-Shaʿtha from Ibn ʿAbbas: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ married Maymunah while he was in ihram.”
Narration 48 – Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us, Yahya ibn Adam narrated to us, Jarir ibn Hazim narrated to us, from Abu Fazārah, from Yazid ibn al-Asamm, from Maymunah bint al-Harith: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ married me while he was not in ihram.” She said: “I was his aunt and the aunt of Ibn ʿAbbas.”
Ruling: The muḥrim is not allowed to contract a marriage for himself or on behalf of others. This includes whether the marriage is conducted by a specific guardian (like a father, brother, or uncle), or by a general guardian (like a judge or governor). This is the correct view according to our scholars and the majority of our companions. Some of our scholars held that it is valid for the muḥrim to contract a marriage as a general guardian, arguing that the general guardianship enables actions not allowed through specific guardianship. For instance, a Muslim judge may marry a Christian woman under his authority, while her father may not.
And know that the prohibition of marriage during ihram is a prohibition of invalidation (taḥrīm). So any contract conducted in this state—whether the muḥrim is the husband, the wife, or the guardian on their behalf—is void. Even if the bride and groom are not in ihram but their guardian or the contracting agent is a muḥrim, the marriage does not take effect.
His statement: “And he must not propose”—this is a prohibition of discouragement (karāhah), not one of invalidation. It is also disliked for a muḥrim to serve as a witness in a marriage contract. Some of our scholars said the marriage contract is not valid with his testimony because the witness is a pillar of the contract, like the guardian. But the correct view held by the majority is that the contract remains valid.
Sharh Sahih Muslim By An Nawawi Pg 141
Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Fawzān says the correct view is that the Prophet ﷺ did not marry Maymunah while he was in ihram. The hadith of Ibn ʿAbbas saying otherwise is a mistake, because Maymunah herself—who was directly involved—and Abu Rafiʿ—who acted as the go-between—both said he was not in ihram. Their reports are more accurate.
Shaykh Fawzan explains that the mistake came from Ibn ʿAbbas, likely because he was young at the time and did not witness the event directly. Also, the hadith of Ibn ʿAbbas is a singular report (khabar ahad), while the reports from Maymunah and Abu Rafiʿ are supported by multiple narrators, so their version is stronger.
Therefore, there is no contradiction when we accept that the Prophet ﷺ married Maymunah after ending his ihram, and the narration of Ibn ʿAbbas is interpreted as a misunderstanding or an error in remembering.
Translation: When the hadith “The muḥrim may not marry, nor be married [in marriage]” was mentioned, it was followed by the narration of Ibn ʿAbbas: “The Prophet ﷺ married Maymunah while he was in a state of ihram.” The apparent meaning of this hadith contradicts the hadith of ʿUthman. However, this narration contains an error from Ibn ʿAbbas—the evidence being that Maymunah herself, and she was the one directly involved in the event, said that the Prophet ﷺ married her while he was in a state of ḥill (i.e. not in ihram).
The same was reported by Abu Rafiʿ, who was the one carrying messages between the Prophet ﷺ and Maymunah. He also reported that the Prophet ﷺ married Maymunah while not in ihram. Al-Tirmidhi reported in his Jamiʿ (841) from Abu Rafiʿ: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ married Maymunah while he was not in ihram, and consummated the marriage while he was not in ihram, and I was the one carrying the message between them.” Therefore, the narration of Ibn ʿAbbas must be treated as an error, even if its chain of transmission is authentic.
Furthermore, Ibn ʿAbbas at the time was very young, so it appears that he did not remember the full details of the story correctly. Thus, his narration is not to be relied upon.
When there is a contradiction between two hadiths that are equal in terms of chain strength, the narration of the majority is given precedence over the solitary report, because the possibility of error in the solitary report is greater than in the report of a group.
And the group—Maymunah herself, Abu Rafiʿ, and others—all reported that the Prophet ﷺ married Maymunah while he was not in ihram. Ibn ʿAbbas alone said that it occurred while he was in ihram. One of these two narrations must be mistaken, and the mistake is more likely to be in the narration of Ibn ʿAbbas because it is singular chain hadith, while the others are multiple. (See: Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 2/238, posted below).
Maymunah is Maymunah bint al-Harith al-Hilaliyyah, may Allah be pleased with her. She was the maternal aunt of ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbbas and the maternal aunt of Khalid ibn al-Walid, may Allah be pleased with both.
Tasheel al-Ilmaam, Sharh Buloogh al-Maraam by Shayk Salih Al Fawzan (4/327-238)
Translation: ʿAbd al-Karim al-Jazari said, from Maymun ibn Mihran: I entered upon Safiyyah bint Shaybah, an elderly woman, and asked her: Did the Prophet (peace be upon him) marry Maymuna while he was in ihram? She said: No, by Allah, he married her while both of them were in a state of complete permissibility (not in ihram). (Reported by Ibn Saʿd in al-Tabaqat (8/133) through the chain of ʿAbd Allah ibn Jaʿfar al-Raqqi, who said: ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAmr narrated to us, from ʿAbd al-Karim al-Jazari… and its narrators are trustworthy.)
Ayyub narrated from Yazid ibn al-Asamm who said: He proposed to her while he was in a state of permissibility, and he consummated the marriage while he was in a state of permissibility. (Reported by Muslim in his Sahih (1411) in the Book of Marriage: Chapter on the prohibition of marriage during ihram and the dislike of proposing while in ihram, and by Ibn Majah (1964), and by al-Bayhaqi (5/66), from Yazid ibn al-Asamm who said: Maymuna bint al-Harith told me that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) married her while he was not in ihram. He said: She was my maternal aunt and the maternal aunt of Ibn ʿAbbas.
It was also reported by Abu Dawud (1843) with the wording: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) married me while we were not in ihram, at Sarf. And it was reported by Ahmad (6/333 and 335), and al-Tirmidhi (845), and al-Bayhaqi (5/66) with the wording: He married her while not in ihram and consummated the marriage while not in ihram, and it was at Sarf, and she was buried in the place where he consummated the marriage with her.)
Jarir ibn Hazim said: Abu Fazzarah narrated to us, from Yazid ibn al-Asamm, from Abu Rafiʿ that the Messenger of Allah married Maymuna while not in ihram, and consummated the marriage while not in ihram, at Sarf. (Reported by Ibn Saʿd in al-Tabaqat (8/133), and by al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak (4/31), and he declared it authentic, and al-Dhahabi agreed with him, through the chain of Jarir ibn Hazim, from Abu Fazzarah, from Yazid ibn al-Asamm, from Maymuna.)
Siyar A’lam Nubala By Ad Dhahabi (2/240)
