“Indeed, those who brought forth the slander are a group among you. Do not think it bad for you; rather, it is good for you. Each of them shall bear the sin that he has earned, and whoever among them took upon himself its greatest share will have a tremendous punishment.” (11)
His saying, exalted is He, “Indeed, those who brought forth the slander are a group among you,” and the verses that follow: The reason for the revelation of this verse is what Abd al-Wahid al-Mulayhi related to us: Ahmad ibn Abd Allah al-Nu‘aymi related to us; Muhammad ibn Yusuf related to us; Muhammad ibn Isma‘il related to us; Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd Allah related to us; Ibrahim ibn Sa‘d related to us, from Salih, from Ibn Shihab, who said: ‘Urwah ibn al-Zubayr, Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyib, ‘Alqamah ibn Waqqas, and ‘Ubayd Allah ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Utbah ibn Mas‘ud narrated to me from Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, concerning what the people of the slander said about her. Each of them related to me part of her account; some of them had retained her report better than others and were more precise in recounting it. I retained from every one of them the report he narrated to me from Aishah, and some parts of their reports corroborate others.
They said: Aishah said: Whenever the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, wished to travel, he would cast lots among his wives. Whichever one of them had her lot drawn, the Prophet, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, would take her with him. Aishah said: He cast lots among us on one expedition that he undertook, and my lot was drawn. Thus, I went with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, after the command of hijab had been revealed. I was carried in a howdah and set down in it.
We travelled until the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, had finished that expedition and was returning. When we drew near to Medina on our return journey, he announced one night that the party was to depart. When the order to depart was given, I rose and walked beyond the army. After I had relieved myself, I returned toward my mount, but when I touched my chest, I found that a necklace of Zifar agate (1) had broken. So I went back to look for my necklace, and my search for it delayed me.
Then the men who used to lift me came and picked up my howdah, placing it on the camel upon which I had been riding, thinking that I was inside it. At that time women were light in build; they had not become corpulent, nor had flesh weighed them down. They ate only a small morsel (2) of food. Thus, the men did not find the howdah unusually light when they lifted and carried it. I was still a young girl. They set the camel in motion and went on.
I found my necklace after the army had departed, so I came to their camping place and found not a soul there—neither one calling nor one answering. I then went to the place where I had been staying, thinking that they would miss me and return for me. While I was sitting in my place, sleep overcame me and I fell asleep. Safwan ibn al-Mu‘attal al-Sulami, then al-Dhakwani, had remained behind the army and arrived at my camping place in the morning. He saw the dark outline of a sleeping person, and recognized me when he saw me, for he had seen me before the command of hijab. I awoke when, having recognized me, he uttered, “Indeed, to Allah we belong and to Him we shall return,”