Agreed upon as authentic (1).

This reply of his makes it evident that ʿĀʾishah’s superiority over the other Mothers of the Believers is rooted in a divine favor that goes beyond his personal love for her, and that very favor is itself one of the reasons for his love.

Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Uways said: “My brother Abū Bakr related to us, from Sulaymān ibn Bilāl, from Hishām, from his father, from ʿĀʾishah:

‘The wives of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ were divided into two camps. One camp comprised ʿĀʾishah, Ḥafṣah, Ṣafiyyah, and Sawdah; the other consisted of Umm Salamah and the rest of his wives.

The Muslims (2) knew of the Messenger of Allah’s ﷺ love for ʿĀʾishah, so whenever anyone had a gift he wished to present to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he would delay it until he learned that the Prophet was in ʿĀʾishah’s house; only then would he send it to him there.

The faction of Umm Salamah (3) spoke up and said to her, “Speak to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and ask him to address the people, telling them that whoever wishes to present a gift to the Messenger of Allah should do so wherever he happens to be among his wives.”

Umm Salamah conveyed to him what they had said, but he gave her no reply. When they asked her about it, she said, “He did not say anything to me.”

They said, “Speak to him again.”

She continued, “When his turn with me came, I spoke to him, but he still said nothing to me.” They questioned her again, and she said, “He did not answer me.”

They said to her, “Speak to him once more.”

When his turn with her came round again, she spoke to him and he said, “Do not cause me distress concerning ʿĀʾishah, for revelation has never come to me while I was beneath the garment of—”