by anyone except with her permission; no one violates her privacy or peers into her curtained quarters.

Neither Talha nor al-Zubayr nor any other unrelated man was carrying her. Rather, the army included some of her mahram relatives, such as Abd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr, her sister’s son. Ibn al-Zubayr’s being alone with her (1) and touching her were lawful according to the Quran, the sunnah, and scholarly consensus. Likewise, it is lawful according to the Quran, the sunnah, and scholarly consensus for a woman to travel with a mahram relative, and she traveled only with one of her mahram relatives (2).

As for the army that fought her, had Muhammad ibn Abī Bakr not been among them and extended his hand to her, unrelated men would have done so. This is why Aisha—may Allah be pleased with her—invoked Allah against the man who extended his hand to her, saying:

“Whose hand is this? May Allah burn it in the Fire!”

He replied:

“Dear sister (3), in this world before the Hereafter.”

She said:

“In this world before the Hereafter.”

He was then burned with fire in Egypt (4).

If a detractor were to say:

“You say that al-Husayn’s family were taken captive when al-Husayn was killed, although nothing was done to them except something of the same nature as what was done to Aisha: she was taken into custody, returned to her home, and provided with her expenses. Likewise, al-Husayn’s family were taken into custody, returned to their relatives, and provided with expenses (5). If this constitutes captivity and a violation of the Prophet’s sanctity, then Aisha too was taken captive, and the sanctity of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him