From Ibn Shihab who said: ‘Urwa ibn Al-Zubair told me that ‘Aishah, wife of the Prophet (SAW), told him that marital relations [nikah] in the age of ignorance [jahiliya] was of four kinds. One of them was marital relations as people have today: a man would ask another man for the hand of a girl under his care or of his daughter, he would give the bride price, then he would enter into marital relations with her. And in another kind of marital relations, a man would say to his woman, when she had become pure from her bleeding: Send for so-and-so and ask him to have sex. And her husband would then withdraw from her and would not touch her at all until it was evident that she was pregnant from that man, the one from whom she had asked for sex. And when her pregnancy was evident, her husband would go ahead and enjoy her if he liked. He did this desiring nobility for the child. This kind of marital relations was the “procurement of sex” relation [nikah al-istibda’]. And in another kind of marital relations, a group of less than ten would get together and go in to see a woman, all of them enjoying her. And when she became pregnant and gave birth, and some nights had passed after giving birth, she would send for them, and no men among them would be able to refuse until they had all gathered where she was; and she would say to them: "You all know what your situation is; I have given birth, and he is your son, oh so-and-so", naming whoever she liked by his name. And her child would be made to follow him, and the man could not refuse. And in the fourth kind of marital relations, many people would get together and have sex with a woman, and she could not refuse whoever came to her. These were the whores who put up flags on their doors as a sign, and whoever wanted them would go in to see them. And whenever one of them became pregnant and gave birth, the men would be brought together to her and they would call for the Discerner [Al-qafa; i.e. to discern the resemblance] and would then have her child follow the man who they decided on, and he would stick with him, and was called his son; and the man could not refuse this. But when Muhammad (SAW) was sent out with the truth, He abolished all the marital relations of the age of ignorance except the marital relations as people have today.