It was likewise recorded by al-Nasaʾi ⦗1⦘, through ʿAlī ibn Ḥujr ⦗2⦘, from Hushaym with this same chain.

Among those who died in this year was the Mother of the Believers ʿĀʾishah bint Abī Bakr al-Ṣiddīq ⦗3⦘—the wife dearest to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, whose innocence was declared from above the seven heavens ⦗4⦘. Her mother was Umm Rūmān bint ʿĀmir ibn ʿUwaymir al-Kinānīyyah.

ʿĀʾishah was known by the kunyah “Umm ʿAbd Allah.” Some say the Messenger of Allah ﷺ conferred this kunyah upon her because of her nephew ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayr; others say she miscarried a foetus ⦗5⦘ from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he named it ʿAbd Allah.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not marry any other virgin besides her; revelation never descended upon him while he was beneath the cover of any wife but her; and none of his wives was dearer to him than she. He married her in Mecca after the death of Khadījah.

“The angel came to him in a dream, carrying you upon a piece of silk ⦗6⦘ two or three times, saying, ‘This is your wife.’ He said, ‘So I uncovered it, and behold—it was you. I then said, If this is from Allah, He will bring it to pass.’” ⦗7⦘

He therefore asked her father for her hand. Her father said, “O Messenger of Allah, is she lawful for you?” He replied, “Yes.” He said, “Am I not your brother?” He answered, “Indeed—in the faith of Islam—yet she is lawful for me.” ⦗8⦘ Thus the Messenger of Allah ﷺ married her, and she enjoyed a special place with him. As mentioned earlier in this biography, this occurred two years before the Hijrah; others say a year and a half, and others three years. She was six years old at the time, and he consummated the marriage with her when she was nine, in Shawwāl after the Battle of Badr, in the second year after the Hijrah, and he loved her dearly.

When the people of the slander spoke about her with lies and calumny, Allah—protective of her honor—revealed her vindication in ten verses of the Qurʾan, to be recited