Abū Hurayra, the narrator of the hadith, understood from it, as noted there.
139 — (The hadith narrated by al-Bukhārī and Muslim from Aisha: She purchased a numruqa (cushion) bearing images. When the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, saw it, he stood at the door and did not enter. She perceived the displeasure on his face and said, “O Messenger of Allah, I repent to Allah and His Messenger. What sin have I committed?” He asked, “What is the matter with this cushion?” She replied, “I bought it for you to sit and recline upon.” The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The makers of these images will be punished and told: ‘Bring to life what you have created.’” He then said, “The angels do not enter a house containing images.” In one narration, Muslim added that Aisha said: “So I took it and made it into two cushions, and he would use them for support in the house”—meaning that she split the cushion and made it into two cushions.) p. 109
Authentic. Its sources were previously given under no. (120).
(Note) The author cited this hadith, which undermines his position that non-three-dimensional images are permissible. In fact, it invalidates that position, as explained above. He cited it only to claim that it is contradicted by several other considerations. He listed four points, all of which are flimsy, as their weakness is evident from the preceding comments. The last point, however, must be quoted and its flaw explained.
“4 — It is contradicted by the hadith concerning the qirām that was also in Aisha’s house and that the Messenger ordered to be removed from before him.… Al-Hāfiz said: ‘Reconciling this hadith with Aisha’s hadith concerning the cushion has posed a difficulty. This indicates that he left it in place and prayed while it remained hanging, until he ordered it removed because, as mentioned, its image appeared before him during prayer. He did not object specifically to its being an image.’ Al-Hāfiz reconciled the two by saying that the former bore images of animate beings, whereas the latter bore images of non-animal subjects. This reconciliation, however, is undermined by the hadith concerning the qirām that bore the figure of a bird.”