1905 — Abū Shuayb Abd Allah ibn al-Hasan al-Harrānī narrated to us: Abd Allah ibn Jafar al-Raqqī narrated to us ⦗2420⦘: Abd Allah—that is, Ibn Amr—narrated to us, from Ishāq ibn Rāshid, from al-Zuhrī, from Urwa, Saīd ibn al-Musayyib, Alqama ibn Waqqās, and Ubayd Allah ibn Abd Allah—all of them reporting from Aisha—may Allah be pleased with her—concerning what the slanderers said about her, whereupon Allah—Majestic is His glory—declared her innocent of their accusation.

Al-Zuhrī said: Each of them related to me a portion of her account. Some retained her account more fully than others and were more exact in recounting it. I retained from each of them the account that he related to me from her. Their reports corroborate one another, although some retained it more fully than others.

She said: “Whenever the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—intended to set out on a journey, he would cast lots among his wives. Whichever wife’s lot was drawn, the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—would take her with him.”

Aisha—may Allah be pleased with her—said: “He cast lots among us for one of his military expeditions, and my lot was drawn. I therefore accompanied the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—after the command of seclusion had been revealed. I would be carried in my howdah and set down while still inside it.

“When he had completed that expedition and we had drawn near to Medina, he gave notice that we were to depart. When the call to depart was made, I went out to relieve myself, passing beyond the army. After finishing, I returned to where my mount was and felt my chest, only to discover that a necklace of Zafār onyx had broken. I went back to search for it, and the search delayed me.

“Meanwhile, the men assigned to prepare my mount came and lifted my howdah ⦗2421⦘ onto the camel I had been riding, assuming that I was inside it. At that time, women had not put on much flesh; each of us ate only a small quantity of food. The men therefore did not find the howdah unusually light when they lifted it. I was also a young girl. They sent the camel onward.

“I found my necklace after the army had moved on. I hurried back to where they—or, she may have said, their encampment—had been, but not a soul remained to call or answer. I made for the place where I had stayed, thinking that they would notice my absence and return for me. While I was there, sleep overcame me and I fell asleep.

“Safwān ibn al-Muattal had been traveling behind the army. He continued through the night and reached my resting place in the morning. He saw the dark outline of a person, came toward me, and recognized me when he saw me, for he had seen me before the command of seclusion. I awoke when he recited, ‘Indeed, to Allah we belong and to Him we shall return.’ I covered my face with my outer garment. By Allah, we did not exchange a single word, nor did I hear him say anything other than that recitation. He made his mount kneel and placed his foot upon its foreleg; I then mounted it. He set off, leading the mount on which I rode, until we reached the army after they had halted in the blazing heat at the height of midday.

“Those among the slanderers who were to be ruined were ruined, and the one who took the leading part in it was Abd Allah ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl. Upon returning to Medina, I fell ill for a month while the people spread the slander, of which I knew nothing. What made me uneasy during my illness was that I no longer received from the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—the tenderness I had previously seen from him whenever I was ill. He would merely enter and ask, ‘How is that lady?’ and then leave. This made me uneasy, though I still knew nothing.

“After I had recovered, I went out with Umm Mistah. She was the daughter of Abū Ruhm ibn al-Muttalib, while her mother was the daughter of Abū Sakhr ibn Āmir ⦗2422⦘, the maternal aunt of Abū Bakr—may Allah be pleased with him—and her son was Mistah ibn Uthātha. Umm Mistah and I returned after we had relieved ourselves, and she stumbled over her cloak. She exclaimed, ‘May Mistah be ruined!’

“I said, ‘What a terrible thing you have said! Do you insult a man who witnessed Badr?’

“She asked, ‘Have you not heard what he said?’

“I asked, ‘What did he say?’

“She then told me what the slanderers were saying, and this added illness to my illness.

“When I returned, the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—entered and asked, ‘How is that lady?’

“I said, ‘Will you permit me to go to my parents?’ At that time, I wanted to ascertain the news from them. The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—gave me permission, so I went to my parents.

“I asked my mother, ‘Mother, what are the people saying?’

“She replied, ‘My dear daughter, take it calmly. Rarely is there a radiant and beautiful woman, loved by her husband and having co-wives, without them saying much against her.’

“I exclaimed, ‘Glory be to Allah! Have the people really been saying this?’

“I wept throughout that night until morning. My tears did not cease, and sleep never touched my eyes. When morning came, I was still weeping.

“Because revelation had been delayed, the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—summoned Alī and Usāma ibn Zayd to consult them about separating from his wife. Usāma advised the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—according to what he knew of his wife’s innocence and the affection he felt for his household. He said, ‘By Allah, Messenger of Allah, we know nothing but good.’

“As for Alī ibn Abī Tālib, he said, ‘Messenger of Allah, Allah has not placed you under constraint. There are many other women besides her. Ask the maidservant, and she will tell you the truth.’

“He summoned Barīra and asked, ‘Barīra, have you ever seen anything that made you suspicious?’

“She replied, ‘No, by Him who sent you with the truth! I have seen nothing for which I could fault her, except that she is a young girl who falls asleep while watching her family’s dough, and then the household sheep comes and eats it.’

“The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—then ascended the pulpit and sought support against Abd Allah ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl, saying, ‘Who will vindicate me in dealing with a man whose harm against my family has reached me? By Allah, I have known nothing but ⦗2423⦘ good of my wife. They have also named a man of whom I have known nothing but good, and he never entered upon my family except in my company.’

“Sad ibn Muādh arose and said, ‘Messenger of Allah, I will deal with him for you. If he belongs to our brothers from al-Aws, I will strike off his head; and if he belongs to our brothers from al-Khazraj, command us and we shall carry out your command.’

“Sad ibn Ubāda, the chief of al-Khazraj, then arose and said to Sad ibn Muādh, ‘By Allah, you lie! You will not kill him, nor are you capable of killing him.’ Before this, he had been a righteous man, but tribal zeal caused him to act ignorantly.

“Usayd ibn al-Hudayr, a cousin of Sad ibn Muādh, then arose and said to Sad ibn Ubāda, ‘We shall certainly kill him! You are a hypocrite arguing in defense of the hypocrites!’

“The two tribes, al-Aws and al-Khazraj, rose against one another until they nearly fought, while the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—was still upon the pulpit. He continued calming them until they became quiet.

“I spent that entire day weeping. My tears did not cease, and sleep never touched my eyes. The next morning, my parents were beside me, thinking that my weeping would break my heart. While they were seated and I was weeping, a woman from the Ansār asked permission to enter, and I admitted her. She sat down and wept with me.

“While we were in that state, the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—entered, greeted us, and sat down. He had not sat with me since the accusation was first made, and a month had passed without his receiving any revelation concerning me. After sitting down, the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—recited the testimony of faith and said:

“‘To proceed, Aisha: Such-and-such has reached me concerning you. If you are innocent, Allah will declare your innocence; but if you have committed a sin, then seek Allah’s forgiveness and repent to Him, for when a servant commits a sin and then repents, Allah accepts his repentance.’ ⦗2424⦘

“When the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—finished speaking, my tears stopped until I could not feel even a single drop. I said to my father, ‘Answer the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—concerning what he has said.’

“He replied, ‘By Allah, I do not know what to say to the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.’

“I then said to my mother, ‘Answer the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.’

“She replied, ‘By Allah, I do not know what to say to the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.’

“I was still a young girl and knew little of the Quran, but I said, ‘By Allah, I know that you have heard this story so often that it has settled in your minds and you have accepted it as true. If I tell you that I am innocent—and Allah knows that I am innocent—you will not believe me. By Allah, I can find no comparison for you and me except the words of Joseph’s father: “So patience is most fitting, and Allah alone is sought for help against what you describe.” [Joseph: 18]’

“She continued: “I then turned away and lay down upon my bed. I had never imagined that Allah—Majestic is His glory—would reveal recited revelation concerning me. I considered my affair far too insignificant for Allah—Majestic is His glory—to speak of me through a revelation from heaven. I merely hoped that Allah—Majestic is His glory—would show His Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—a dream through which He would declare my innocence.

“By Allah, the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—had not left his seat, nor had anyone departed from the house, when he was seized by the intense strain and sweating that used to overcome him whenever revelation descended. Whenever revelation came to him, the strain would seize him so severely that beads of sweat like pearls would stream from him even on a cold day, because of the weight of the Quran descending upon him.

“When the state passed from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—he was smiling. The first words he spoke were ⦗2425⦘: ‘As for you, Aisha, Allah—Majestic is His glory—has declared you innocent.’

“I said, ‘Praise be to Allah—Majestic is His glory.’

“My mother said, ‘Rise and go to him.’

“I replied, ‘By Allah, I will not rise and go to him, and I will praise none but Allah—Majestic is His glory.’

“Allah—Majestic is His glory—then revealed: ‘Indeed, those who fabricated the slander are a group among you. Do not think it evil for you; rather, it is good for you,’ through to the end of all ten verses.

“When Allah—Majestic is His glory—revealed this concerning my innocence, Abū Bakr—may Allah be pleased with him—who had been supporting Mistah because of their kinship and his poverty, said, ‘By Allah, I shall never again provide Mistah with anything after what he said concerning Aisha.’

“Allah—Majestic is His glory—then revealed: ‘Let not those of virtue and wealth among you swear that they will not give to their relatives,’ through to His Most High’s saying, ‘Let them pardon and forgive. Would you not love for Allah to forgive you?’ [Light: 22]

“Abū Bakr said, ‘By Allah, I certainly love for Allah to forgive me.’ He therefore resumed the support he had previously given Mistah and said, ‘I shall never withdraw it from him.’

“The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—had also questioned Zaynab bint Jahsh concerning my affair. She said, ‘I have neither seen nor known anything but good. I guard my hearing and my sight.’ She was the wife of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—who rivaled me in status, but Allah—Majestic is His glory—protected her through piety. Her sister Hamna bint Jahsh, however, became involved and was ruined among those ruined by the slander.”

Al-Zuhrī said: This is what has reached me from the report of this group concerning this hadith.

⦗2426⦘

1906 — Abū Jafar Ahmad ibn Yahyā al-Hulwānī also narrated to us: al-Haytham ibn Khārija narrated to us: Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Rahmān—namely, Ibn Yazīd ibn Jābir—narrated to us: Atā al-Khurāsānī narrated to us, from al-Zuhrī, from Urwa ibn al-Zubayr, that Aisha related it to him. He then narrated the hadith at length in substantially the same wording.

1907 — Abū Ahmad Hārūn ibn Yūsuf also narrated to us: Ibn Abī Umar al-Adanī narrated to us: Abd Allah ibn Muādh al-Sanānī narrated to us: Mamar narrated to us: Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn Ubayd Allah ibn Abd Allah ibn Shihāb narrated to us.

Ibn Abī Umar said: Abd al-Razzāq also narrated to us: Mamar informed us, from al-Zuhrī, who said: Urwa ibn al-Zubayr, Saīd ibn al-Musayyib, Alqama ibn Waqqās al-Laythī, and Ubayd Allah ibn Abd Allah ibn Utba ibn Masūd related to me the account of Aisha, the wife of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—when the slanderers said what they said about her and Allah—Majestic is His glory—declared her innocent. He then narrated the hadith at length, similarly to the first hadith. ⦗2427⦘

Muhammad ibn al-Husayn—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—said: All praise belongs to Allah, who gladdened our Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—by declaring the innocence of Aisha—may Allah be pleased with her—his wife in this world and the Hereafter, the Mother of the Believers, but not the mother of the hypocrites.