—any woman except ʿĀʾishah.”

She replied, “I seek Allah’s pardon for having distressed you, O Messenger of Allah.”

Later they approached Fāṭimah, the daughter of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and she sent (1) a message to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saying (2), “Your wives implore you to act justly concerning the daughter of Abū Bakr.”

When she spoke to him, he said, “My dear daughter, do you not love what I love?”

She answered, “Indeed I do.”

She returned to the women and told them what he had said. They urged her, “Go back to him again,” but she refused. So they dispatched Zaynab bint Jaḥsh. She went to him, spoke sternly, and said, “Your wives adjure you by Allah to be fair to the daughter of Abū Quḥāfah.”

She raised her voice to the point that she attacked ʿĀʾishah, who was sitting there, and reviled her (3). The Messenger of Allah ﷺ kept looking toward ʿĀʾishah to see whether she would respond.

Then ʿĀʾishah (4) answered Zaynab, rebutting her until she fell silent. The Prophet ﷺ looked at ʿĀʾishah and said, “She is indeed the daughter of Abū Bakr.”

(5) Another virtue:

Ismāʿīl ibn Jaʿfar narrated: ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān informed us—having heard Anas say that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ declared, “The excellence of ʿĀʾishah over women is like the excellence of tharīd over all other dishes.” Agreed upon as authentic (6) through several chains of transmission from Abū Ṭuwālah (7).