1063 – ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: “When my vindication was revealed, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood on the pulpit, mentioned the affair, and recited the Qur’an. When he descended, he ordered that two men and a woman be brought forward, and they were given the prescribed punishment.” Reported by Aḥmad and the Four, and al-Bukhārī alluded to it (1).
Degree of authenticity: The report is ḥasan. Al-Tirmidhī said: “Ḥasan, gharīb; we know it only through the narration of Ibn Isḥāq.” Al-Mundhirī said: “Ibn Isḥāq transmitted it once with a connected chain and another time as a mursal report.”
Vocabulary:
• ʿudhrī (“my vindication”): i.e., when the innocence of the Truthful One (al-Ṣiddīqah) was declared concerning the accusation leveled against her, and her acquittal was affirmed in Sūrat al-Nūr in His words: “Indeed, those who came with the slander …” (al-Nūr).
• Two men: Ḥassān ibn Thābit al-Anṣārī and Mistah ibn Uthāthah ibn ʿAbbād ibn al-Muṭṭalib ibn ʿAbd Manāf ibn Quṣayy al-Qurashī al-Muṭṭalibī, the two who took part in fabricating the slander against ʿĀʾishah.
• Woman: Ḥamnah bint Jahsh ibn Riʾāb of Banū Asad ibn Khuzaymah, sister of Zaynab bint Jahsh (Mother of the Believers). She was first married to Muṣʿab ibn ʿUmayr, who was martyred at Uḥud; afterwards, Ṭalḥah ibn ʿUbayd Allah married her.
Points derived from the ḥadīth:
- Qadhf (slander) is accusing someone of fornication or sodomy, and it ranks among the major sins.