Sharḥ Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (3/10)

Sharḥ Riyāḍ al-ṢāliḥīnIbn al-'Uthaymin

—and ʿĀʾishah, may Allah be pleased with her, remained confined to the house and did not go out. It had been the Prophet’s ﷺ habit, whenever he visited her during an illness, to ask after her, speak to her, and show affection. On this occasion, however, he said almost nothing. He would come in, ask only, “Kayfa taykum?”—meaning, “How is she?”—and then leave. She found this change strange, yet it never occurred to her that anyone might dare impugn her honor and thus sully the bed of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

The hypocrites had broadcast this slander against the Truthful One, the daughter of the Truthful One, ʿĀʾishah, may Allah be pleased with her—not because they disliked her personally, but out of hatred for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, a desire to harm him, and an urge to stain his bed. May Allah destroy them—how twisted is their fabrication.

Allah the Exalted then revealed, concerning this incident, ten verses of the Quran, beginning with: “Indeed, those who came with the slander are a band among you. Do not think it evil for you; rather, it is good for you. Every one of them will bear what he has earned of sin, and the one who took upon himself the greatest share of it shall have a tremendous punishment.” ⦗al-Nūr 24:11⦘. The man who shouldered the greatest share was the leader of the hypocrites, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy; he was the one circulating the report.

Yet this malicious fellow did not spread it in explicit words such as, “So-and-so has committed adultery with so-and-so.” Instead, he circulated it through hints and insinuations: “It is mentioned… people say… they are talking…,” and similar expressions, for hypocrites are cowards who conceal themselves and never state openly what lies in their hearts. Thus Allah says: “And the one who took upon himself the greatest share of it shall have a tremendous punishment. Why, when you heard it, did not the believing men and believing women think well of their own people and say, ‘This is an obvious falsehood’?” ⦗al-Nūr 24:11–12⦘.

In these verses Allah rebukes those who spoke about the affair, saying: Why, when you heard it, did not the believing men and believing women think well of their own people—for the Mother—

عائشة ﵂ وبقيت حبيسة البيت لا تخرج، وكان النبي ﷺ من عادته إذا عادها في مرضها سأل وتكلم وتحفَّى. أما في ذلك الوقت فكان ﵊ لا يتكلم، يأتي ويدخل ويقول: ((كيف تيكم؟)) أي كيف هذه، ثم ينصرف، وقد استنكرت ذلك منه ﵂، ولكنها ما كان يخطر ببالها أن أحدا يتكلم في عرضها بما فيه دنس فراش رسول الله ﷺ. فقد أشاع المنافقون هذه الفرية على الصديقة بنت الصديق عائشة ﵂ فراش رسول الله ﷺ لا كراهة لذاتها؛ ولكن كراهة لرسول الله ﷺ، وبغضاً له، ومحبة في إيذائه وأن يدنس فراشه قاتلهم الله أنى يؤفكون. ولكن الله تعالى أنزل في هذه القصة عشر آيات من القرآن ابتدأها بقوله: (إِنَّ الَّذِينَ جَاءُوا بِالإفْكِ عُصْبَةٌ مِنْكُمْ لا تَحْسَبُوهُ شَرّاً لَكُمْ بَلْ هُوَ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مِنْهُمْ مَا اكْتَسَبَ مِنَ الْإثْمِ وَالَّذِي تَوَلَّى كِبْرَهُ مِنْهُمْ لَهُ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ) [النور: ١١] ، والذي تولى كبره هو رأس المنافقين عبد الله بن أبيّ المنافق، فإنه هو الذي كان يشيع الخبر. لكنه خبيث لا يشيعه بلفظ صريح فيقول مثلاً إن فلاناً زنى بفلانة، لكنه يشيع ذلك بالتعريض والتلميح؛ كأن يقول: يذكر، يقال، يقولون: وما أشبه ذلك لأن المنافقين جبناء يتسترون ولا يصرحون بما في نفوسهم، فيقول ﷿: (وَالَّذِي تَوَلَّى كِبْرَهُ مِنْهُمْ لَهُ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ (لَوْلا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ ظَنَّ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتُ بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ خَيْراً وَقَالُوا هَذَا إِفْكٌ مُبِينٌ) [النور: ١١ ـ١٢] . وفي هذا توبيخ من الله ﷿ للذين تكلموا في هذا الأمر، يقول: لولا إذا سمعتموه ظن المؤمنون والمؤمنات بأنفسهم خيراً، وذلك أن أم