our brothers of al-Khazraj, give us your command and we will carry it out against him.” Then Sa‘d ibn ‘Ubādah was overcome by partisan zeal.

‘Ā’ishah said: “Before that, he had been a righteous man, but tribal fervour overcame him, for Ibn Ubayy was a leader among his people. He said, ‘You lie! By Allah, you shall not kill him, nor will you be able to kill him.’

“Then Usayd ibn Hudayr stood up and said, ‘You lie! By Allah, we shall certainly kill him! You are a hypocrite defending the hypocrites.’ The two tribes rose against one another, until the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, came down and began to calm them.”

Had the allegations against ‘Ā’ishah not impugned the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, the believers would not have sought to kill whoever among al-Aws and al-Khazraj had made them, on account of his slander against the Prophet’s wife. This is why anyone who accuses the Prophet’s mother of unchastity is to be put to death: he has impugned the Prophet’s lineage. Likewise, anyone who accuses his wives of unchastity is to be put to death, because he has impugned his religion. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, refrained from putting them to death only because they had spoken before he knew of her innocence and that she was one of the Mothers of the Believers whom he had not divorced—upon him ... (1)

For he could have divorced her, thereby ending her status as a Mother of the Believers, according to the stronger of the scholars’ two views. Concerning a woman whom the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, divorced, there are “three views” within the school of Ahmad and elsewhere. “The first” is that she is not one of the Mothers of the Believers. “The second” is that she is one of the Mothers of the Believers. “The third” distinguishes between a woman whose marriage was consummated and one whose marriage was not consummated.

The first is more correct, for when the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, gave his wives the choice between remaining married and separation, the intention was that any woman from whom he parted could marry someone else. Thus, if this had been permissible, it would not have impugned his religion.