Al-Bukhārī records from ʿĀʾishah that the Prophet ﷺ said one day, “O ʿĀʾish, this is Gabriel conveying to you greetings of peace.” She replied, “And upon him be peace, the mercy of Allah and His blessings. You perceive what I do not.” (1)
It is likewise established in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī that people used to wait until it was ʿĀʾishah’s day before bringing their gifts. The wives of the Prophet ﷺ therefore gathered around Umm Salamah and said, “Ask him to instruct the people to present their gifts to him wherever he happens to be.” Umm Salamah said, “When he came to me I conveyed that request, but he turned away from me. They insisted, so I repeated it, and he again turned away. Then, when it was ʿĀʾishah’s turn, I raised the matter once more and he said:
‘O Umm Salamah, do not trouble me about ʿĀʾishah. By Allah, no revelation has ever come to me while I was beneath the blanket of any one of you except her.’
“It is also mentioned that they sent his daughter Fāṭimah to him. She said, ‘Your wives are asking you for justice regarding the daughter of Abū Bakr ibn Abī Quḥāfah.’ He replied, ‘My dear child, do you not love the one whom I love?’ She answered, ‘Indeed I do.’ He said, ‘Then love her.’
“They next dispatched Zaynab bint Jaḥsh. She entered upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ while ʿĀʾishah was with him; Zaynab spoke and criticized ʿĀʾishah, [so ʿĀʾishah defended herself, responding until she silenced her, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ kept looking at ʿĀʾishah] (2) while saying, ‘She is the daughter of Abū Bakr.’ (3)
We have already noted that when ʿAmmār called upon the people to fight Ṭalḥah and al-Zubayr during the events of the Camel, he and al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ascended the pulpit of Kūfah. ʿAmmār heard a man reviling ʿĀʾishah, so he said to him, “Be silent—disgraced and rejected! By Allah, she is the wife of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in this world and the Hereafter, yet Allah is testing you to see whether you will obey Him or obey her.” (4)
Imām Aḥmad said: Muʿāwiyah ibn ʿAmr related to us—Zāʾidah related to us—from ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Khuthaym, who said that ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Abī Mulaykah told him, from Dhakwān (the servant of ʿĀʾishah), that ʿAbd-Allāh ibn ʿAbbās once sought permission to visit ʿĀʾishah. I came—while her nephew ʿAbd-Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān was at her head—and said, “Ibn ʿAbbās is asking permission.” Her nephew leaned over her and said, “This is ʿAbd-Allāh ibn ʿAbbās asking permission”—and she was at the point of death. She said, “Leave me alone with Ibn ʿAbbās.” He replied, “Mother, Ibn ʿAbbās is one of your righteous sons; he wishes to greet you and bid you farewell.” She said, “Then admit him, if you wish.”
He brought him in, and when he was seated he said, “Receive glad tidings!” She asked, “Of what?” He said, “Nothing stands between you and meeting Muḥammad and the loved ones except for the soul to depart the body. You were the most beloved of the wives of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to him, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ loved only what was pure. Your necklace fell on the night at al-Abwāʾ and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the people awoke without water, so Allah revealed the verse of tayammum (dry ablution) (5) on your account, a concession for this ummah. And Allah proclaimed your innocence from above the seven heavens, conveyed by the Trustworthy Spirit. After that, there is no mosque of Allah in which it is not recited night and day.”