my mother, and my mother kept crying out, “O my daughter! O bride-to-be!” until our camel was brought under control. We then reached Medina while the mosque was still being built… and he related the remainder of the report. (1)

The Affair of the Slander

It took place during the Expedition of al-Muraysīʿ (2) in the fifth year after the Hijra, and she—may Allah be pleased with her—was twelve years old at the time.

Hammād ibn Zayd related—from Maʿmar—and al-Nuʿmān ibn Rāshid, from al-Zuhrī, from ʿUrwah, from ʿĀʾishah:

“When the Prophet ﷺ intended to travel he would draw lots among his wives. During the Expedition of al-Muraysīʿ he drew lots among us, and my name was drawn; so those who perished in sin because of me perished. (3)”

Ibn Isḥāq, al-Wāqidī, and several others likewise stated that the slander occurred in the Expedition of al-Muraysīʿ.

Yūnus reported from Ibn Shihāb: ʿUrwah, Ibn al-Musayyib, ʿAlqamah ibn Waqqās, and ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAbd Allah informed me of the account of ʿĀʾishah when the people of the slander said what they said about her, and Allah—exalted is He—declared her innocent. Each of them conveyed to me a portion (4) of her story, their reports corroborating one another, though some retained more of it than others. She said:

“Whenever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ intended to travel he would cast lots among his wives; whichever of them the lot fell to, he would take her with him.”