On the authority of Abū Hurayrah ؓ, who said: The Prophet Muḥammad said:
إِذَا خَطَبَ إِلَيْكُمْ مَنْ تَرْضَوْنَ دِينَهُ وَخُلُقَهُ فَزَوِّجُوهُ إِلاَّ تَفْعَلُوا تَكُنْ فِتْنَةٌ فِي الأَرْضِ وَفَسَادٌ عَرِيضٌ
“If there comes to you one whose religion and character are pleasing to you, then marry him [to your women]. If you do not do so, there will be fitnah upon the earth and widespread corruption.” (Sunan at-Tirmidhī, no. 1084).
And from al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī ؒ (d. 110 AH/728 CE), from Samurah ibn Jundub ؓ, from the Prophet , who said:
الحسب المال والكرم التقوى
“Lineage is wealth, and nobility is taqwā.” [Ibn Qutaybah al-Dīnawarī, ʿUyūn al-Akhbār, vol. 4, pp. 45–46.]
And from Anas ibn Mālik ؓ, who said: Umm Ḥabībah said:
يا رسول اللّه، المرأة منّا يكون لها الزوجان في الدنيا فتموت فلأيّهما تكون في الآخرة؟
“O Messenger of Allah, a woman among us may have two husbands in this world, then she dies. To which of them shall she belong in the Hereafter?” [Ibn Qutaybah al-Dīnawarī, ʿUyūn al-Akhbār, vol. 4, pp. 45–46.]
He said:
لأحسنهما خلقاً يا أمّ حبيبة، ذهب حسن الخلق بخير الدنيا والآخرة
“To the one who had the best character, O Umm Ḥabībah. Good character has attained the goodness of this world and the Hereafter.” [Ibn Qutaybah al-Dīnawarī, ʿUyūn al-Akhbār, vol. 4, pp. 45–46.]
And from ʿAṭiyyah ibn Qays, who said: Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān ؓ proposed marriage to Umm ad-Dardāʾ, so she said:
قال أبو الدّرداء: قال رسول اللّه صلى اللّه عليه وسلم: المرأة لآخر زوجيها. فلست بمتزوّجة بعد أبي الدرداء حتى أتزوّجه في الجنة إن شاء اللّه تعالى
“Abū ad-Dardāʾ said: The Messenger of Allah said: ‘A woman belongs to her last husband.’ Therefore, I shall not marry after Abū ad-Dardāʾ until I marry him in Paradise, if Allah wills.” [Ibn Qutaybah al-Dīnawarī, ʿUyūn al-Akhbār, vol. 4, pp. 45–46.]
And it is said: The wives of the Prophet were only forbidden from marrying after him because they are his wives in Paradise.
And from Hishām ibn ʿUrwah ؒ (d. 146 AH/763 CE), from his father ʿUrwah ibn az-Zubayr ؒ (d. 94 AH/713 CE), who said: ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ؓ said:
لا تكرهوا فتياتكم على الرجل القبيح فإنّهنّ يحببن ما تحبّون
“Do not force your young women to marry unattractive men, for indeed they love what you love.” [Ibn Qutaybah al-Dīnawarī, ʿUyūn al-Akhbār, vol. 4, pp. 45–46.]
Ibn al-Aʿrābī ؒ (d. 231 AH/846 CE) said: It was said to the daughter of al-Khass:
ألا تتزوّجين؟
“Will you not marry?” [Ibn Qutaybah al-Dīnawarī, ʿUyūn al-Akhbār, vol. 4, pp. 45–46.]
She replied:
بلى، لا أريده أخا فلان ولا ابن فلان ولا الظريف المتظرّف ولا السمين الألحم، ولكن أريده كسوباً إذا غدا، ضحوكاً إذا أتى
“Indeed I will. However, I do not want the brother of so-and-so, nor the son of so-and-so, nor the pretentious man, nor the grossly overweight man. Rather, I want one who earns a living when he goes out and is cheerful when he returns.” [Ibn Qutaybah al-Dīnawarī, ʿUyūn al-Akhbār, vol. 4, pp. 45–46.]
References
Ibn Qutaybah al-Dīnawarī (d. 276 AH/889 CE), ʿUyūn al-Akhbār, edited by Mufīd Muḥammad Qumayḥah. 1st edn. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 1986, vol. 4, pp. 45–46.
At-Tirmidhī, Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā (d. 279 AH/892 CE), Sunan at-Tirmidhī, Kitāb an-Nikāḥ, Bāb mā jāʾa idhā jāʾakum man tarḍawna dīnahu wa khuluqahu fa-zawwijūhu, no. 1084.
