A Tradition Invented 4i Prophet, ‘did the Messenger of God pray in the clothes in which he had had intercourse?”’ The words “ sa ’ altu-ha ” (I asked her) used in this tradition suggest direct contact and only occur in traditions in which mabram men or women narrate from her. In another tradition, Abu Sufyan b. Sa‘Id b. al-Akhnas b. Sharlq relates, “I entered the quarters of Umm Hablba,” at which point the subnarrator interjects, “she was his maternal aunt.” s The account then continues with a description of how Ramla (Umm Hablba) poured some water for him and encouraged him to perform ablution because the Prophet had done so after eating cooked food. Interestingly, such narrative detail that situates the encounter is generally absent from reports in which the wives are narrating to non-kin or non-client males. In the case of Ramla and her haditb transmission to eight non -mabram men, we are left to wonder about the circumstances of the encounter between them. It may well be that, like ‘A’isha, Ramla was indeed available for broader consultation on matters of religious practice. The texts of the reports and supplementary historical sources, however, provide little indication that this was the case. The picture of transmission networks that emerges from the isnads of the seven co-wives satisfies expectations of their social interaction given the rulings on hijab and the seclusion of Muhammad’s wives after his death. It is said that Sawda bint Zam‘a and Zaynab bint Jahsh were particularly observant of the strictures. Sawda assiduously observed the Qur’anic commandment that the wives should stay at home and even refused to perform pilgrimage with the other co-wives irrespective of permission to do so from ‘Uthman (r. 23-35/644-55), the third caliph. ' In this light, it makes sense that Sawda, though she outlived many of the wives, is known for only four traditions/ 1 Though the protocols of seclusion and bijab are maintained with fidelity in the narratives of the seven co-wives, such is not the case with ‘A’isha and Umm Salama. Al-MizzI lists approximately 200 narrators from ‘A’isha, primarily from the isnads of the six canonical collections. Her network includes numerous men who are not directly related to her nor were they known to be her clients. Likewise, of the approximately eighty men who 77 Ibn Maja, Sunan, 1:209. 78 See, for example, al-Nasa’i, Sunan, 1:107. 79 Ibn Sa‘d, al-Tabaqat, 8:124-28, 150-53. See also Stowasser, Women in the Qur 'an, 1 15— 17, for a discussion of the wives’ seclusion during Muhammad’s life and after his death. 80 The relevant verse is Qur’an, 33:33. For Sawda’s refusal to perform pilgrimages, see Ibn Sa‘d, al-Tabaqat, 8:150. 81 See al-Musnad al-Jdmi‘, 19:217-19.