English Translation

Abd al-Razzaq narrated to us, he said: Ma'mar narrated to us from al-Zuhri, he said: Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab, Urwah ibn al-Zubayr, Alqamah ibn Waqqas, and Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah ibn Utbah ibn Mas'ud informed me, from the story of Aisha, the wife of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, when the people of the slander said what they said about her, and Allah, Mighty and Sublime, declared her innocent. Each of them narrated to me part of her story, and some of them retained her story better than others and were more precise in the account, and I have retained from each of them the account he narrated to me, and some of their accounts confirm one another. They mentioned that Aisha, the wife of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, whenever he wished to go on a journey, would draw lots among his wives, and whichever of them the lot fell to, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, would take her with him. Aisha said: He drew lots among us for a campaign he undertook, and the lot fell to me, so I went out with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. That was after the verse of the veil had been revealed, so I was carried in my howdah and set down in it during our travel. When the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, had finished his campaign and was returning, and we drew near Madinah, he gave notice one night that we would set off. So I got up when they announced the departure and walked until I had passed beyond the army. When I had finished my business, I came back toward the howdah, and I felt my chest, and found that a necklace of Zafar onyx beads had broken and fallen from around my neck. So I went back and searched for my necklace, and its search delayed me. Meanwhile the group who used to load my howdah for me came, lifted my howdah, and placed it on my camel that I used to ride, thinking that I was in it - for women in those days were light, not overburdened or fleshy, they only ate a small amount of food - so the people did not notice the lightness of the howdah when they lifted and loaded it, and I was a young girl. So they drove the camel on and set off. I found my necklace after the army had already moved on, so I came to their camping place, but there was no one there to call out to, nor anyone to answer. So I made my way to the place where I had been, thinking that they would miss me and come back for me. While I was sitting in my place, sleep overcame me and I fell asleep. Meanwhile Safwan ibn al-Mu'attal al-Sulami, then al-Dhakwani, had lagged behind the army and spent the night there, then set off before dawn and reached my location in the morning. He saw the dark shape of a sleeping person and came to me and recognized me when he saw me, for he had seen me before the command of veiling was revealed. I woke up at his exclamation when he recognized me, and I covered my face with my outer garment. By Allah, he did not speak a single word to me, nor did I hear a word from him other than his exclamation, until he made his camel kneel down and I mounted it; then he set off leading the camel by its halter, until we reached the army after they had encamped during the intense heat of midday. So whoever was to be ruined was ruined regarding my affair, and the one who took the greatest part in it was Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul. Then I arrived in Madinah and fell ill for a month while people were spreading the talk of the slanderers, and I was unaware of any of it, though it troubled me in my illness that I did not perceive from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, the gentleness I used to see from him when I was ill; rather the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, would simply come in, greet, and say, 'How is she?' and that troubled me, though I was not aware of the evil talk. Until I went out after I had recovered somewhat, and Umm Mistah went out with me toward al-Manasi, which was our place for relieving ourselves - we did not go out except at night, one night to the next, and that was before privies were built near our houses; our custom was that of the early Arabs regarding relieving oneself away from habitation, for we found it distasteful to have privies near our houses. So I set out, I and Umm Mistah, who was the daughter of Abu Ruhm ibn al-Muttalib ibn Abd Manaf, and her mother was the daughter of Sakhr ibn Amir, the aunt of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, and her son was Mistah ibn Uthathah ibn Abbad ibn al-Muttalib. I and the daughter of Abu Ruhm were coming back toward my house when we had finished our business, and Umm Mistah stumbled over her cloak and said: 'Ruin take Mistah!' I said to her: 'What an evil thing you have said, cursing a man who took part in Badr!' She said: 'O you there, have you not heard what he said?' I said: 'And what did he say?' So she told me what the people of the slander had said, which increased my illness upon my illness. When I returned to my house, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, came in to me, greeted, and said: 'How is she?' I said: 'Will you permit me to go to my parents?' - and I wanted at that time to ascertain the news from them. So the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, gave me permission, and I went to my parents and said to my mother: 'O my mother, what are the people talking about?' She said: 'O my daughter, do not distress yourself over this, for rarely is there a beautiful woman, beloved by her husband, who has co-wives, but that they multiply talk against her.' I said: 'Glory be to Allah! Have the people really been talking about this?' She said: So I wept that night until morning, my tears never ceasing, nor did I sleep at all, and I continued weeping in the morning. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, summoned Ali ibn Abi Talib and Usamah ibn Zayd, when the revelation was delayed, to consult them regarding separating from his wife. As for Usamah ibn Zayd, he advised the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, according to what he knew of the innocence of his household, and according to the affection he felt for them in his heart, and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, they are your household, and we know nothing but good.' As for Ali ibn Abi Talib, he said: 'Allah, Mighty and Sublime, has not constrained you, and there are many women besides her; and if you ask the servant girl, she will tell you the truth.' So the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, summoned Barirah and said: 'O Barirah, have you seen anything that would arouse your suspicion regarding Aisha?' Barirah said to him: 'By the One who sent you with the truth, I have never seen anything about her that I would find fault with, except that she is a young girl who falls asleep while tending to her family's dough, and then a domestic animal comes and eats it.' Then the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, stood up and sought redress against Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul. Aisha said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said while on the pulpit: 'O assembly of Muslims, who will support me against a man whose harm against my household has reached me? By Allah, I know nothing of my household but good, and they have accused a man of whom I know nothing but good, and he never entered upon my household except with me.' Then Sa'd ibn Mu'adh al-Ansari stood up and said: 'I will support you against him, O Messenger of Allah! If he is from the Aws, we will strike off his neck; and if he is from our brothers of the Khazraj, then command us and we will carry out your command.' Then Sa'd ibn Ubadah stood up - and he was the chief of the Khazraj, and he was a righteous man, but tribal zeal overcame him - and he said to Sa'd ibn Mu'adh: 'By the life of Allah, you shall not kill him, nor are you able to kill him!' Then Usayd ibn Hudayr stood up - he was the cousin of Sa'd ibn Mu'adh - and said to Sa'd ibn Ubadah: 'You lie, by the life of Allah, we shall surely kill him, for you are a hypocrite arguing on behalf of the hypocrites!' So the two tribes, the Aws and the Khazraj, became agitated until they were about to fight each other, while the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, was standing on the pulpit; and the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, kept calming them down until they fell silent, and he fell silent. She said: I wept that day, my tears never ceasing, nor did I sleep at all; then I wept the following night as well, my tears never ceasing, nor did I sleep at all, while my parents thought that the weeping would split my liver from grief. While the two of them were sitting with me and I was weeping, a woman of the Ansar sought permission to visit me, and I gave her permission, so she sat weeping with me. While we were thus, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, entered upon us, greeted, then sat down - she said he had not sat with me since what had been said about me was said, and a month had already passed without any revelation coming to him regarding my affair. She said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, recited the shahadah when he sat, then said: 'Now then, O Aisha, it has reached me about you such-and-such; if you are innocent, Allah, Mighty and Sublime, will soon declare your innocence, but if you have committed a sin, then seek Allah's forgiveness and repent to Him, for when a servant confesses a sin and then repents, Allah accepts his repentance.' She said: When the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, finished his speech, my tears dried up completely so that I felt not a single drop of it; and I said to my father: 'Answer on my behalf the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, regarding what he has said.' He said: 'By Allah, I do not know what to say to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.' So I said to my mother: 'Answer on my behalf the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.' She said: 'By Allah, I do not know what to say to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.' She said: So I said, being a young girl who did not recite much of the Qur'an: 'By Allah, I know that you have indeed heard of this until it settled in your minds and you believed it; and if I tell you that I am innocent - and Allah, Mighty and Sublime, knows that I am innocent - you will not believe me in that; and if I confess to you something, while Allah, Mighty and Sublime, knows that I am innocent, you would believe me. By Allah, I find no example for myself and you except as the father of Yusuf said: So, for me, patience is most fitting, and it is Allah alone whose help can be sought against that which you describe.' She said: Then I turned over and lay down upon my bed. She said: And I, by Allah, at that time knew that I was innocent and that Allah, Mighty and Sublime, would declare my innocence, by virtue of my innocence; but by Allah, I never imagined that a revelation would be sent down regarding my affair to be recited, for I considered my case too insignificant for Allah, Mighty and Sublime, to speak of me in a matter that would be recited; but I hoped that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, might see in his sleep a vision by which Allah, Mighty and Sublime, would declare my innocence. She said: By Allah, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, had not moved from his place, nor had anyone left the household, when Allah, Mighty and Sublime, sent down revelation upon His Prophet; and he was seized by what used to seize him of the intense strain that came upon him at the time of revelation, until drops like pearls of sweat poured from him on a cold day, from the heaviness of the words being revealed to him. She said: Then, when the strain was lifted from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, he was laughing, and the first words he spoke were: 'Rejoice, O Aisha! As for Allah, Mighty and Sublime, He has declared you innocent.' Then my mother said to me: 'Get up and go to him.' I said: 'By Allah, I will not go to him, nor will I praise anyone but Allah, Mighty and Sublime; He is the One who sent down my innocence.' Then Allah, Mighty and Sublime, revealed: 'Indeed, those who came with the slander are a group among you...' - ten verses. So Allah, Mighty and Sublime, revealed these verses declaring my innocence. She said: Then Abu Bakr, who used to spend on Mistah due to his kinship with him and his poverty, said: 'By Allah, I will never spend anything on him after what he said about Aisha.' So Allah, Mighty and Sublime, revealed: 'And let not those of virtue among you and of wealth swear not to give to...' up to His saying 'Do you not love that Allah should forgive you?' So Abu Bakr said: 'By Allah, indeed I love that Allah should forgive me,' and he resumed giving Mistah the support he used to give him and said: 'I will never take it away from him again.' Aisha said: And the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, had asked Zaynab bint Jahsh, the wife of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, about my affair: 'What do you know, or what have you seen, or what has reached you?' She said: 'O Messenger of Allah, I guard my hearing and my sight; I know nothing but good.' Aisha said: And she was the one among the wives of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who used to vie with me in rank, but Allah, Mighty and Sublime, protected her through her piety; while her sister Hamnah bint Jahsh set about contending fiercely on her behalf, and so she perished among those who perished. Ibn Shihab said: This is as much as has reached us of the affair of this group. Bahz narrated to us, he said: Ibrahim ibn Sa'd narrated to me from Salih - Bahz said, I said to him, 'Ibn Kaysan?' He said, 'Yes' - from Ibn Shihab, he said: Urwah ibn al-Zubayr, Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab, Alqamah ibn Waqqas, and Ubaydullah ibn Utbah narrated to me from Aisha, the wife of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, when the people of the slander said what they said about her and Allah declared her innocent - and each of them narrated to me part of her story, and some of them retained her story better than others and were more precise in the account, and I have retained from each man among them the hadith he narrated to me about Aisha, and some of their accounts confirm one another, though some retained it better than others. They said: Aisha said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, whenever he wished to travel, would draw lots among his wives, and whichever of them the lot fell to, he would take her with him - and he mentioned the hadith, except that he said: 'He gave notice on the night of departure, so I got up when they announced the departure,' and he said 'of Zafar onyx beads,' and said 'made them fleshy,' and said 'so I made my way to my dwelling,' and said: Urwah said: I was informed that it used to be spread and discussed in his presence, and he would allow it, listen to it, and encourage its spread. Urwah also said: None of the people of the slander were named except Hassan ibn Thabit, Mistah ibn Uthathah, and Hamnah bint Jahsh, among other people I have no knowledge of, except that they were 'a group,' as Allah, Mighty and Sublime, said; and the greatest part of it was said in the presence of Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul. Urwah said: Aisha disliked that Hassan be cursed in her presence, and used to say: 'He is the one who said: My father, and his father, and my honor are all a shield for the honor of Muhammad against you.' And she said: 'Our custom was that of the early Arabs regarding relieving oneself away from habitation,' and said 'she had co-wives,' and said 'according to what he knew of the innocence of his household,' and said 'then the domestic animal comes and eats it,' and said 'and if he is from our brothers the Khazraj,' and said 'then a man from the Khazraj stood up' - and Hassan's mother was the daughter of his uncle, from his clan, and he was Sa'd ibn Ubadah, chief of the Khazraj - and she said 'and he had been, before that, a righteous man, but tribal zeal had overcome him,' and said 'my tears dried up,' and said 'and his sister Hamnah set about contending fiercely on her behalf.' Urwah said: Aisha said: 'By Allah, the man about whom what was said, was said, used to say: Glory be to Allah! By the One in whose hand is my soul, I have never uncovered the private area of any woman at all.' She said: Then he was later killed as a martyr in the path of Allah. Ya'qub ibn Ibrahim narrated to us, he said: my father narrated to me from Salih ibn Kaysan - Ibn Shihab said: Urwah narrated to me - and he mentioned the hadith and its chain, and said 'of Zafar onyx beads,' and said 'made them fleshy,' and said 'I made for the wilderness,' and said 'in the open country,' and said 'she had co-wives,' and said 'then the domestic animal comes and eats it,' and said 'and he had been, before that, a righteous man, but tribal zeal had overcome him,' and said 'the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, kept calming them down until they fell silent,' and said 'my tears dried up,' and said 'contending fiercely.'