2402 – Ahmad ibn ʿAli al-Tabari stated: “Al-Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Katib narrated to us; he said: I heard Abu al-ʿAbbas ʿAbd Allah ibn Musa al-Hashimi al-Mansuri say: I heard the judge Abu al-Hasan al-Jarrahi say: I heard Abu al-Saʾib ʿUtbah ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Hamdani, the Chief Judge, say:

“One day I was in the presence of al-Hasan ibn Zayd, the daʿi (missionary-ruler) of Tabaristan. He wore wool, enjoined what is right, forbade what is wrong, and every year sent twenty thousand dinars to Madinat al-Salam (Baghdad) to be distributed among the minor descendants of the Companions. While we were with him, a man spoke of ʿAʾishah with a vile slander of adultery. Al-Hasan said, ‘Boy, strike off his head.’

“The ʿAlawis present protested, ‘This man is one of our partisans.’ He replied, ‘God forbid! This man has impugned the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Allah, exalted be He, has said: “Impure women are for impure men, and impure men are for impure women; pure women are for pure men, and pure men are for pure women. They are innocent of what the slanderers say; for them is forgiveness and an honourable provision” (Qurʾan 24:26).’

“Therefore, if ʿAʾishah were impure, the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—would also be impure. Thus this man is a disbeliever. Strike off his head!’ So they decapitated him, and I was present.”