A parallel incident is reported concerning Ḥafṣah, the daughter of her brother ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. Umm ʿAlqamah bint Abī ʿAlqamah said:

“I entered with Ḥafṣah bint ʿAbd al-Raḥmān upon ʿĀʾishah, the wife of the Prophet ﷺ, while Ḥafṣah was wearing a khimār (head-covering) made of thin material. ʿĀʾishah tore it and dressed her in a thick khimār.”

Mālik recorded it in al-Muwaṭṭaʾ (3/103).

From this clarification it becomes evident that what they regarded as improbable is in no way improbable—neither under the Sharīʿah nor by sound reason—even though the report itself is not authentic; and had it been authentic, it would still leave the wording of the ḥadith unblemished. Allah is the One Who grants success.

What is truly astonishing is the conduct of these people: when a report is unsound in both transmission and meaning and works against them, they cling to it; when the very same level of unsoundness appears to favor them, they accept it and insinuate that it is established, though by the standards of plausibility it is more deserving of rejection. Thus Shaykh al-Tuwayjirī, in his book (p. 181), cited a narration from ʿĀʾishah stating that she donned a niqāb (face-veil) to observe Ṣafiyyah when the Prophet ﷺ brought her to Madinah. The Prophet ﷺ then asked ʿĀʾishah—(Weak): “How did you find her?” She replied, “A Jewess among Jewesses.”

This remark about Ṣafiyyah and the Anṣār women with her does not strike them as far-fetched. Why? Because the ḥadith mentions ʿĀʾishah’s face-veiling, even though authentic reports render this anomalous narration superfluous. ⦗1⦘ Does this not show that such people are not proceeding from