Narrated Aisha:(The wife of the Prophet) Whenever Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) intended to go on a journey, he used to draw lots among his wives and would take with him the one on whom the lot had fallen. Once he drew lots when he wanted to carry out a Ghazwa, and the lot came upon me. So I proceeded with Allah's Apostle after Allah's order of veiling (the women) had been revealed and thus I was carried in my howdah (on a camel) and dismounted while still in it. We carried on our journey, and when Allah's Apostle had finished his Ghazwa and returned and we approached Medina, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) ordered to proceed at night. When the army was ordered to resume the homeward journey, I got up and walked on till I left the army (camp) behind. When I had answered the call of nature, I went towards my howdah, but behold ! A necklace of mine made of Jaz Azfar (a kind of black bead) was broken and I looked for it and my search for it detained me. The group of people who used to carry me, came and carried my howdah on to the back of my camel on which I was riding, considering that I was therein. At that time women were light in weight and were not fleshy for they used to eat little (food), so those people did not feel the lightness of the howdah while raising it up, and I was still a young lady. They drove away the camel and proceeded. Then I found my necklace after the army had gone. I came to their camp but found nobody therein so I went to the place where I used to stay, thinking that they would miss me and come back in my search. While I was sitting at my place, I felt sleepy and slept. Safwan bin Al-Mu'attil As-Sulami Adh- Dhakw-ani was behind the army. He had started in the last part of the night and reached my stationing place in the morning and saw the figure of a sleeping person. He came to me and recognized me on seeing me for he used to see me before veiling. I got up because of his saying: "Inna Li l-lahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun," which he uttered on recognizing me. I covered my face with my garment, and by Allah, he did not say to me a single word except, "Inna Li l-lahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun," till he made his shecamel kneel down whereupon he trod on its forelegs and I mounted it. Then Safwan set out, leading the she-camel that was carrying me, till we met the army while they were resting during the hot midday. Then whoever was meant for destruction, fell in destruction, and the leader of the Ifk (forged statement) was `Abdullah bin Ubai bin Salul. After this we arrived at Medina and I became ill for one month while the people were spreading the forged statements of the people of the Ifk, and I was not aware of anything thereof. But what aroused my doubt while I was sick, was that I was no longer receiving from Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) the same kindness as I used to receive when I fell sick. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) would enter upon me, say a greeting and add, "How is that (lady)?" and then depart. That aroused my suspicion but I was not aware of the propagated evil till I recovered from my ailment. I went out with Um Mistah to answer the call of nature towards Al-Manasi, the place where we used to relieve ourselves, and used not to go out for this purpose except from night to night, and that was before we had lavatories close to our houses. And this habit of ours was similar to the habit of the old 'Arabs (in the deserts or in the tents) concerning the evacuation of the bowels, for we considered it troublesome and harmful to take lavatories in the houses. So I went out with Um Mistah who was the daughter of Abi Ruhm bin `Abd Manaf, and her mother was daughter of Sakhr bin Amir who was the aunt of Abi Bakr As-Siddiq, and her son was Mistah bin Uthatha. When we had finished our affair, Um Mistah and I came back towards my house. Um Mistah stumbled over her robe whereupon she said, "Let Mistah be ruined ! " I said to her, "What a bad word you have said! Do you abuse a man who has taken part in the Battle of Badr?' She said, "O you there! Didn't you hear what he has said?" I said, "And what did he say?" She then told me the statement of the people of the Ifk (forged statement) which added to my ailment. When I returned home, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) came to me, and after greeting, he said, "How is that (lady)?" I said, "Will you allow me to go to my parents?" At that time I intended to be sure of the news through them. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) allowed me and I went to my parents and asked my mother, "O my mother! What are the people talking about?" My mother said, "O my daughter! Take it easy, for by Allah, there is no charming lady who is loved by her husband who has other wives as well, but that those wives would find fault with her." I said, "Subhan Allah! Did the people really talk about that?" That night I kept on weeping the whole night till the morning. My tears never stopped, nor did I sleep, and morning broke while I was still weeping, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) called `Ali bin Abi Talib and Usama bin Zaid when the Divine Inspiration delayed, in order to consult them as to the idea of divorcing his wife. Usama bin Zaid told Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) of what he knew about the innocence of his wife and of his affection he kept for her. He said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! She is your wife, and we do not know anything about her except good." But `Ali bin Abi Talib said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! Allah does not impose restrictions on you; and there are plenty of women other than her. If you however, ask (her) slave girl, she will tell you the truth." `Aisha added: So Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) called for Barira and said, "O Barira! Did you ever see anything which might have aroused your suspicion? (as regards Aisha). Barira said, "By Allah Who has sent you with the truth, I have never seen anything regarding Aisha which I would blame her for except that she is a girl of immature age who sometimes sleeps and leaves the dough of her family unprotected so that the domestic goats come and eat it." So Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) got up (and addressed) the people an asked for somebody who would take revenge on `Abdullah bin Ubai bin Salul then. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ), while on the pulpit, said, "O Muslims! Who will help me against a man who has hurt me by slandering my family? By Allah, I know nothing except good about my family, and people have blamed a man of whom I know nothing except good, and he never used to visit my family except with me," Sa`d bin Mu`adh Al-Ansari got up and said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! By Allah, I will relieve you from him. If he be from the tribe of (Bani) Al-Aus, then I will chop his head off; and if he be from our brethren, the Khazraj, then you give us your order and we will obey it." On that, Sa`d bin 'Ubada got up, and he was the chief of the Khazraj, and before this incident he had been a pious man but he was incited by his zeal for his tribe. He said to Sa`d (bin Mu`adh), "By Allah the Eternal, you have told a lie! You shall not kill him and you will never be able to kill him!" On that, Usaid bin Hudair, the cousin of Sa`d (bin Mu`adh) got up and said to Sa`d bin 'Ubada, "You are a liar! By Allah the Eternal, we will surely kill him; and you are a hypocrite defending the hypocrites!" So the two tribes of Al-Aus and Al-Khazraj got excited till they were on the point of fighting with each other while Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) was standing on the pulpit. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) continued quietening them till they became silent whereupon he became silent too. On that day I kept on weeping so much that neither did my tears stop, nor could I sleep. In the morning my parents were with me, and I had wept for two nights and a day without sleeping and with incessant tears till they thought that my liver would burst with weeping. While they were with me and I was weeping, an Ansari woman asked permission to see me. I admitted her and she sat and started weeping with me. While I was in that state, Allah's Apostle came to us, greeted, and sat down,. He had never sat with me since the day what was said, was said. He had stayed a month without receiving any Divine Inspiration concerning my case. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) recited the Tashahhud after he had sat down, and then said, "Thereafter, O `Aisha! I have been informed such and-such a thing about you; and if you are innocent, Allah will reveal your innocence, and if you have committed a sin, then ask for Allah's forgiveness and repent to Him, for when a slave confesses his sin and then repents to Allah, Allah accepts his repentance." When Allah's Apostle had finished his speech, my tears ceased completely so that I no longer felt even a drop thereof. Then I said to my father, "Reply to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) on my behalf as to what he said." He said, "By Allah, I do not know what to say to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)." Then I said to my mother, "Reply to Allah's Apostle." She said, "I do not know what to say to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)." Still a young girl as I was and though I had little knowledge of Qur'an, I said, "By Allah, I know that you heard this story (of the Ifk) so much so that it has been planted in your minds and you have believed it. So now, if I tell you that I am innocent, and Allah knows that I am innocent, you will not believe me; and if I confess something, and Allah knows that I am innocent of it, you will believe me. By Allah, I cannot find of you an example except that of Joseph's father: "So (for me) patience is most fitting against that which you assert and it is Allah (Alone) Whose help can be sought. Then I turned away and lay on my bed, and at that time I knew that I was innocent and that Allah would reveal my innocence. But by Allah, I never thought that Allah would sent down about my affair, Divine Inspiration that would be recited (forever), as I considered myself too unworthy to be talked of by Allah with something that was to be recited: but I hoped that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) might have a vision in which Allah would prove my innocence. By Allah, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) had not left his seat and nobody had left the house when the Divine Inspiration came to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) . So there overtook him the same hard condition which used to overtake him (when he was Divinely Inspired) so that the drops of his sweat were running down, like pearls, though it was a (cold) winter day, and that was because of the heaviness of the Statement which was revealed to him. When that state of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) was over, and he was smiling when he was relieved, the first word he said was, "Aisha, Allah has declared your innocence." My mother said to me, "Get up and go to him." I said, "By Allah, I will not go to him and I will not thank anybody but Allah." So Allah revealed: "Verily! They who spread the Slander are a gang among you. Think it not...." (24.11-20). When Allah revealed this to confirm my innocence, Abu Bakr As-Siddiq who used to provide for Mistah bin Uthatha because of the latter's kinship to him and his poverty, said, "By Allah, I will never provide for Mistah anything after what he has said about Aisha". So Allah revealed: (continued...) (continuing... 1): -6.274:... ... "Let not those among you who are good and are wealthy swear not to give (help) to their kinsmen, those in need, and those who have left their homes for Allah's Cause. Let them Pardon and forgive (i.e. do not punish them). Do you not love that should forgive you? Verily Allah is Oft-forgiving. Most Merciful." (24.22) Abu Bakr said, "Yes, by Allah, I wish that Allah should forgive me." So he resumed giving Mistah the aid he used to give him before and said, "By Allah, I will never withold it from him at all." Aisha further said: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) also asked Zainab bint Jahsh about my case. He said, "O Zainab! What have you seen?" She replied, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! I protect my hearing and my sight (by refraining from telling lies). I know nothing but good (about Aisha)." Of all the wives of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ), it was Zainab who aspired to receive from him the same favor as I used to receive, yet, Allah saved her (from telling lies) because of her piety. But her sister, Hamna, kept on fighting on her behalf so she was destroyed as were those who invented and spread the slander.
Reference
Sahih al-Bukhari 4750
In-book reference
Book 65, Hadith 272
USC-MSA web (English)
Vol. 6, Book 60, Hadith 274
Translation by Dr. M. Muhsin Khan · Language: EN
Sahih
It is related from 'A'isha $, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about when the people of the Lie said what they said about her and Allah cleared her of what they said. All of a group related the hadith and some of the hadith confirmed other parts, although some had better memory of it than others. It is related from 'Urwa from 'A'isha who said: "When the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, wanted to go on a journey, he drew lots between his wives and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, took with him whoever had her lot came out." A'isha said, "Lots were drawn between us for an expedition which he went on and my lot came out, so I went out with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. It was after the veil had been sent down. I was carried in a howdah and was brought down in it. "We travelled until the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, finished that expedition and returned and we drew near to Madina. The announcement was made at night to travel. I got up when they announced travel and walked until I had gone past the army. When I finished my need, I went back to my camel and then I noticed that my necklace made of onyx had broken. I went back to look for my necklace and looking for it delayed me." "Those who were carrying me came and picked my howdah and put it on my camel which I was riding. They thought that I was in it. At that time women were light and not heavy and did not have a lot of flesh on them. They used to eat only a little. So the people did not notice the weight of the howdah when they lifted it up and carried it as I was a young girl. They moved the camel and set off. I found my necklace after the army had left. I came to the camp site and there was absolutely no one there. I went to the place where I had been, thinking that they would miss me and return for me. While I was sitting there, drowziness overcame me and I fell asleep. Safwan ibn al-Mu'attal as-Sulami, then adh-Dhakwani, was behind the army and he reached my spot at morning. He saw the dark form of someone asleep, so he came to me. He recognised me when me saw me. He had seen me before the veil. I woke up when he said, 'We belong to Allah and to Him we return!' after he had recognised me. I veiled my face with my head-shawl and, by Allah, we did not speak a single word nor did I hear a single word from him except for 'We belong to Allah and to Him we return!' Then he made his camel kneel and he put its leg down and I mounted it. He went leading the camel until we reached the army after they had alighted to camp at the height of midday. Then whoever was destroyed was destroyed. The one who led the lie was 'Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul. "We reached Madina and after I arrived, I was ill there for a month while the people were spreading the word of the people of the lie although I was not aware of any of that. I imagined in my illness that I did not see from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, the kindness which I used to see him show when I was ill. He would visit me and give the greeting and then say, 'How is that one?' Then he would leave. That caused me some doubt, but I was not aware of any of the evil until I recovered and I went out with Umm Mistah to al-Manasi'. We used to go the lavatory there and we only went out to it from night to night. That was before we put up lavatories near our houses." We followed the custom of the early Arabs of going to the lavatory in the desert. We found it annoying to have lavatories by our houses." She said, "So Umm Mistah bint Abi Ruhm ibn 'Abdu'l-Muttalib ibn 'Abdu Manaf, whose mother was the daughter of Sakhr ibn Amir and the maternal aunt of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, and whose son was Mistah ibn Uthatha ibn 'Abbad ibn al-Muttalib and I went out. When we finished our business, Umm Mistah and I were coming towards my house when Umm Mistah tripped on her dress and said, 'May Mistah stumble!' I said to her, 'What you have said is bad. Would you curse a man who was present at Badr?' She said, 'O you there! Have you not heard what he has said?' I said, 'And what has he said?' And she told be about what the people of the Lie had said. "Then I became even more ill. When I returned to my house, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came and visited me and greeted me and then said, 'How is that one?' I said to him, 'Will you give me permission to go to my parents?'" She said, "I wanted to make sure of the report from them." She said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, gave me permission. I said to my mother, 'Mother! What are the people saying?' She said, 'O my daughter! Do not make too much of the business. By Allah, seldom has there been a woman of beauty with a husband who loves her with co-wives but that they say a lot against her.' I said, 'Glory be to Allah! The people have been saying this?'" She said, "I spent the entire night until morning unable to stop weeping and could not sleep at all. Morning found me still weeping." "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, summoned 'Ali ibn Abi Talib and Usama ibn Zayd when the revelation had been delayed to consult them and ask them about divorcing his wife." She said, "Usama pointed out to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, what he knew of his wife's innocence and what he knew of them. Usama said, '"Keep your wife. We know only good.' 'Ali said, 'Messenger of Allah, Allah has not constricted you and there are many women besides her. Ask the slavegirl to tell you the truth.'" She said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, summoned Barira and said, 'Barira, have you seen anything in her which would make you doubt her?' Barira said to him, 'By the One who sent you with the Truth. I have not seen her do anything for which I could criticise her beyond the fact that she is a young girl who sleeps, neglecting her family's leaven so that the sheep comes and eats it.'" She said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stood up that day and while he was on the minbar asked for help against 'Abdullah ibn Ubayy. He said, 'O company of Muslims! Who will help us against a man whose injury in my family has reached me? By Allah, I only know good of my wife. They mentioned a man about whom I only know good who has not entered where my family is except with me!' "Sa'd ibn Mu'adh, the brother of 'Abdu'l-Ashhal, got up and said, 'Messenger of Allah, by Allah, we will help you against him. If he is from Aws, we will chop his head off, and if he is from our brothers of Khazraj, command us and we will carry out your command on him.'" She said, "Sa'd ibn 'Ubada, the leader of Khazraj, got up. Before then he had been a virtuous man, but zeal had carried him away, and he said to Sa'd, 'You lied, by the life of Allah! You will not kill him and you are not able to do that! If he had been from your group, you would not want him to be killed!' Usayd ibn al-Hudayr, the cousin of Sa'd, got up and said to Sa'd ibn 'Ubada, 'You have lied, by the life of Allah! We will kill him! You are a hypocrite arguing on behalf of hypocrites!' The two clans of Aws and Khazraj were stirred up against one another until they were ready for war while the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was standing on the minbar. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, continued to calm them until they were silent and he was silent." She said, "I wept for that whole day and I could not stop weeping and I could not sleep." She said, "In the morning my parents were with me and I had wept for two nights and a day and I could not stop weeping and I could not sleep until I thought that weeping would split my liver. While my parents were sitting with me while I was weeping, a woman of the Ansar asked for permission to enter and I gave her permission. She sat down weeping with me. While he were like that, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, entered, gave the greeting, and sat down." She said, "He had not sat with me since before the day when what was said about me was said. A month had passed without any revelation coming to him regarding my business." She said, "He said the tashahhud when he sat down and then said, ' A'isha, such-and-such about you has reached me. If you are innocent, then Allah will show you innocent. If you have done any wrong action, then ask forgiveness of Allah and turn to Him in repentance. If the slave of Allah admits his sin and then repents, Allah turns to him.'" She said, "When the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, finished what he was saying, my tears stopped so that I was not aware of a single tear. I said to my father, 'Answer the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, for me regarding what he said.' He said, 'By Allah, I do not know what to say to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.' I said to my mother, 'Answer the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, for me regarding what he said.' She said, 'By Allah, I do not know what to say to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.' I said, 'I am a young girl who does not recite much of the Qur'an. By Allah, I know that you have heard this story that people are saying and it has become fixed in yourself and you have believed it. If I were to say to you that I am innocent, you would not believe met. If I were to confess to something to you - and Allah knows that I am innocent - you would believe me. By Allah, I can find no example for you and me except for that of the father of Yusuf when he said, "(For me) patience is most fitting: against that which you assert." Then I turned over on my bed, Allah knowing that I was innocent and hoping that Allah would proclaim me innocent. However, by Allah, I did not think that any revelation would be sent down regarding me. I thought too little of myself that something would be said in the Qur'an regarding me, however I hoped that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would have a dream in which Allah would exonerate me. "By Allah, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not get up from where he was sitting nor did any of the people of the House leave before the revelation descended on him and he and seized by the intense sweating which usually seized him and the sweat was pouring from him like pearls of sweat although it was a wintry day because of the weight of the word which descended on him. Then it left the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he was smiling. The first word that he spoke was that he said to me, ' A'isha, Allah has exonerated you.' She said, "My mother said to me, 'Go to him.' I said, 'No, by Allah! I will not go to him and I will only praise Allah. the Mighty and Exalted!' Then Allah Almighty revealed the ten verses, 'Those who propagated the lie are a band of you.. . .' (24:11) "When Allah sent down this to exonerate me, Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, who used to provide maintenance for Mistah ibn Uthatha because he was related to him and Mistah was poor, said, 'By Allah, I will never provide anything for Mistah ever again after what he said about A'isha!' Then Allah Almighty sent down, 'Those of you possessing affluence and ample wealth should not make oaths that they will not give to their relatives and the very poor and those who have emigrated in the way of Allah. They should rather pardon and overlook. Would you not love Allah to forgive you? Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful.' (24:22) Abu Bakr said, 'Yes, by Allah, I want Allah to forgive me.' So he restored to Mistah what he had been giving him. He said, 'By Allah, I will never strip him of it!'" A'isha said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, also asked Zaynab bint Jahsh about my business. He said to Zaynab, 'What do you know? What have you seen?' She said, 'Messenger of Allah, I protect my hearing and sight. By Allah, I only know good of her.'" A'isha said, "She was my rival among the wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, but Allah protected her by scrupulousness." She said, "Her sister, Hamna, began attacking on her behalf and she was destroyed with those who were destroyed."
Reference
Sahih al-Bukhari 4750
In-book reference
Book 65, Hadith 272
USC-MSA web (English)
Vol. 6, Book 60, Hadith 274
Translation by Aisha Bewley · Language: EN
Sahih
