Is the following narration true: “Hz. Muhammad (pbuh) prohibited men who returned from a journey from going home at night and that those who did not act accordingly found strangers with their women at home”?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Tirmidhi (Istidhan, 19) reported this hadith from Ibn Abbas and another narration from Hz. Jabir and stated that it was sound. Besides, some narrations with similar meanings exist in Bukhari and Muslim.   

The reason why the Prophet (pbuh) prohibited men from going to their homes at night when they returned from a journey was the fact that some men preferred to return home at night because they suspected of their wives and wanted to catch them red handed. As a matter of fact, the following narration is also included in the same place of the book as it is mentioned in the question:

“The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) prohibited them from returning home at night in order to prevent them from suspecting of their wives and from seeking their faults.”

The Prophet’s accusing the women is not in question in those prohibitions. On the contrary, he tries to dissuade men who accuse women from this wrong deed. Spying/seeking faults is absolutely forbidden in the Quran:

"O ye who believe! Avoid suspicion as much (as possible): for suspicion in some cases is a sin: And spy not on each other behind their backs. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Nay, ye would abhor it...But fear Allah: For Allah is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful." (al-Hujurat, 49/12)

The prohibition by the hadiths in question corresponds with the prohibition in this verse.

Since nobody except prophets are infallible, it is always possible for both men and women to commit sins. However, the possibility is of no value unless there is strong evidence. A possibility that does not originate from a sign is bound to remain as a delusion. In the hadith narrations regarding the issue, this scientific and logical rule is applied; those who try to find their wives’ wrong deeds are warned severely. It is stated in some narrations in the same books that those who disregarded this warning was punished by seeing “what they suspected to turn out to be true”.

Besides, those warnings aim to stop the deeds that will disturb the peace in the family and that will lead to delusions. Everybody is innocent unless proven guilty. The religion of Islam took important measures in order to continue this innocence and to maintain the peace in the family, which it regards to be very important. On the one hand, heavy penalties were imposed on the man and the woman who cheated his/her spouse; on the other hand, Islam demanded four witnesses for the accusation to be accepted so that gossips regarding the issue would be prevented. Besides, those who committed perjury and the accusers who could not find four witnesses were punished by being flogged eighty times.

In Islam, the secrecy of the crime is essential. Therefore, backbiting a “fasiq mutajahir” (a person who commits a crime openly and shows his crime) is permissible. For, a person who commits a sin openly shows disrespect to people and acts shamelessly without feeling embarrassed. Therefore, Islam wants crimes to remain secret; it does not want people to spy and seek faults. Preservation of the ethical values of the community is based on this. People might be influenced badly by sinners.

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