A Tradition Invented 37 Abu Salama, who said that the requisite waiting period is over once the woman has given birth. The three sent Kurayb, a client (tnawla) of Ibn ‘Abbas, to Umm Salama for the decisive word. She confirmed Abu Salama’s view, citing the Prophet’s ruling in a similar case: Subay‘a al-Aslamiyya had given birth a few days after her husband died, and the Prophet permitted her to remarry according to her wishes without observing the Qur’anically mandated waiting period of four months and ten days. The fact that contradictory traditions were ascribed to Umm Salama further strengthens the point that her testimony carried legal weight. The controversy over whether ablution is necessary after consuming cooked food ( wudu ' mim-ma massat al-ndr) illustrates how ascriptions to Umm Salama strengthened one’s case.'1 In the anti-ablution cluster of traditions, Umm Salama relates that the Prophet had once eaten cooked meat in her quarters and gone out to pray without performing ablution. In a more detailed narrative from this cluster, ‘Abd Allah b. Shaddad (d. 81/700f.) relates the exchange he had with Marwan b. al-Hakam (d. 65/685) on this topic. I heard Abu Hurayra say, ‘“wudu ’ is obligatory from [i.e., after eating] that which has been touched by fire.” This was mentioned to Marwan. He [Marwan] said, “I don’t know whom to ask about this.” LI said,] “How can that be when the wives of the Prophet are amongst us?” So he sent me to Umm Salama, who told me that the Prophet went out to pray after eating the meat from a bone. He prayed without performing the ablution. In direct contradiction with this testimony is another report cited by the pro-ablution camp, reported by Muhammad b. Talha: I said to Abu Salama, “Your foster-son Salim does not perform ablution after eating cooked food.” He [Abu Salama] struck Salim on his chest and declared, “I swear on the authority of Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet, that she used to testify on the authority of the Prophet that he used to perform wudu ' from cooked food.”63 Thus, the authority of Umm Salama is invoked to support opposing camps on this issue of ritual purity. While this is one way in which her legacy was 61 For an examination of the legal controversy on u'lidu ’ from cooked food and its implications for ritual purity law, see Marion Katz, Body of Text (Albany: SUNY Press, 2002), 101-23. In her analysis, Katz asserts that the Arabic phrase “ ma massat al-ndr ” was likely to have referred to cooked food and not only that which was literally touched by fire. In this vein, foods such as bread (which was baked) and cheese (which was boiled) were also included under the rubric of “foods touched by fire” (see Katz, Body of Text, 102-3). 62 Ibn Maja, Sunan , 1:165; and al-Nasa’I, Sunan , 1:107-8. 63 Ibn Hanbal, Musnad, 3:362, #26717.