I have, moreover, come across another, abbreviated route for the ḥadīth. Al-Qāsim al-Saraqusṭī recorded it in Gharīb al-Ḥadīth (2/20/1) on the authority of al-Humaydī, who said: “Sufyān narrated to us; he said: ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Ayman—and others—narrated to us from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from ʿĀʾishah:

‘A woman once came to the Prophet ﷺ and some meat was set before him, whereupon he began handing pieces of it to her. ʿĀʾishah said: I therefore remarked, “O Messenger of Allah, do not immerse your hand!” He ﷺ replied, “O ʿĀʾishah, this woman used to visit us during the time of Khadījah, and honoring old ties is part of faith.” When he mentioned Khadījah I said, “Allah has exchanged the elderly woman for one who is young.” Thereupon he rebuked me, saying, “What concern of mine is it— or words to that effect—if Allah granted her children from me while He has not granted you any?” I exclaimed, “By the One Who sent you with the truth, I shall never mention her except in good terms again.”’

Al-Humaydī added: “Sufyān then said: ‘ʿAbd al-Wāḥid and the others—each of them would add something to the report that the other did not.’”

I say: The men in this chain are all trustworthy and belong to the narrators accepted by the two Shaykhs, but the chain is interrupted between Ibn Abī Najīḥ—whose name is ʿAbd Allāh—and ʿĀʾishah, for he did not hear from her, as Abū Ḥātim stated, contrary to Ibn al-Madīnī. Yet a direct statement of his having heard from her does appear in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, and Allah knows best.

The incident of ʿĀʾishah’s jealousy over Khadījah—may Allah be pleased with her—is firmly established in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Muslim, al-Tirmidhī (2/363), and Aḥmad (6/118, 150, 154) through multiple transmission routes from her.

Furthermore, the very reason that prompted me to examine this ḥadīth in particular with such care is that Allah, Blessed and Exalted, granted me—on Tuesday afternoon, the twentieth of Rabīʿ al-Ākhir 1385 AH—a beautiful baby girl. When I resolved to select for her a name from among the noble women Companions, my eye fell upon the name “Ḥasānah,” and my heart inclined toward it so as to emulate him (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) in his naming.