English Translation

Zuhri said: Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab, Urwa ibn az-Zubayr, Alqama ibn Waqqas, and Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah ibn Utba ibn Mas'ud narrated to me this hadith of the Mother of the Believers Aisha as-Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) — when the slanderers slandered her and said what they said, then Allah cleared her of their slander. Zuhri said: All of these men narrated to me a portion of this hadith, and some of them were better at remembering it than others, more retentive, and more excellent in narrating it; and I remembered from each what he narrated, and the narration of some confirms that of others. They related that the Mother of the Believers Aisha as-Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) said: When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) intended to make a journey, he would cast lots among his wives, and the wife whose name came up in the lot he would take with him on the journey. The Mother of the Believers Aisha as-Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) said: On one of his military expeditions the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) cast lots, and my name came up. So I went with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and this was after the command of veiling (hijab) had been revealed. I would ride in my howdah, and when a halt was made along the way, my howdah would be taken down. When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) finished the expedition and turned back and drew near to Medina, one night he (peace be upon him) gave the order to move. When the people announced the departure, I got up and walked until I was some distance from the army. When I had finished relieving myself, I came back toward my howdah and felt at my chest, and found that my necklace of Zafar beads had gone missing (Zafar is the name of a village in Yemen). I went back and began searching for the necklace, and the search delayed me. Meanwhile the men who used to carry my howdah came, lifted the howdah, and placed it on the camel I used to ride, thinking that I was in it. Women in those days were light (slender) because they ate little food; so when they lifted the howdah and placed it on the camel, they did not notice its weight to be light, and I was also a young girl of little age. Finally the people drove the camel forward and set off. I found my necklace only after the whole army had moved on, and when I came to their halting place there was neither anyone's voice nor anyone to hear a voice. I resolved to sit down where I had been, thinking that when the people did not find me they would return to that place. So I was sitting at that halting place when my eyes closed and I fell asleep. And Safwan ibn al-Mu'attal as-Sulami adh-Dhakwani (may Allah be pleased with him), a man who had stayed behind the army for rest at the end of the night, when he set out reached my halting place in the morning. He saw the form of a sleeping person, came to me, and recognized me as soon as he saw me, for he had seen me before the command of veiling was revealed. I awoke at his voice when he recited "Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un" upon recognizing me, and I covered my face with my head-cover. By Allah! He did not speak a single word to me, nor did I hear any word from him except his saying "Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un." Then he made his camel kneel and placed his foot on the camel's foreleg for me to mount. I mounted the camel, and he walked on foot leading the camel until we reached the army, and the people of the army had halted in the intense midday heat. So those who were destined to perish over my affair perished through their evil suspicion; and the one about whom the Qur'an says "tawalla kibrahu" (he who took the greater share) — that is, the originator and instigator of this slander — was Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul (the chief of the hypocrites). Finally we came to Medina, and when I arrived in Medina I fell ill. I remained ill for a month, and the state of the people was that they were absorbed in the talk of the slanderers, while I had no knowledge of any of their talk. Only this aroused my suspicion: that during my illness I did not see from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) the kindness I used to see during my previous illnesses. During this time he (peace be upon him) would only enter, give the greeting of peace, and then say: How is that one? So this aroused my suspicion, but I had no knowledge of the mischief, until, after my illness had left and I had grown thin, I went out to al-Manasi with Umm Mistah (al-Manasi was a place outside Medina where people relieved themselves before latrines were built). We used to go out at night. This was at a time when there were no latrines in our houses, and we, like the earlier Arabs, used to go out to the open country (to relieve ourselves), and we disliked building latrines near the houses. So I went out, and Umm Mistah was with me; she was the daughter of Abu Ruhm ibn al-Muttalib ibn Abd Manaf, and her mother was the daughter of Sakhr ibn Amir, who was the maternal aunt of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) (her name was Salma), and her son's name was Mistah ibn Uthatha ibn Abbad ibn al-Muttalib. So when I and Umm Mistah had both finished relieving ourselves and were returning toward my house, Umm Mistah's foot got caught in her garment and she said: May Mistah perish! I said: You have said an evil thing. Do you speak ill of a man who took part in the Battle of Badr? She said: O foolish one! Have you heard nothing of what Mistah has said? I said: What did he say? She related to me what the slanderers had said. Hearing this, my illness grew worse. When I reached my house, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came in, gave the greeting, and said: How is that one? I said: Will you give me permission to go to my parents? My intention at that time was to go to my parents and verify this news. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) gave me permission, and I came to my parents. I said to my mother: O mother! What are these people prattling about? She said: O daughter, do not concern yourself with it and do not regard it as a serious matter. By Allah! It rarely happens that a man has a beautiful wife whom he loves, and she has co-wives, without the co-wives finding faults in her. I said: Glory be to Allah! Have the people really started to say this? I wept all night, until morning my tears did not stop and no sleep came; and in the morning too I was weeping. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) called Ali ibn Abi Talib and Usama ibn Zayd, because the revelation had not come, and consulted them about parting from me (i.e., divorcing me). As for Usama ibn Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him), he gave the opinion that he knew of the state of the wife of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), of her chastity, and of his (peace be upon him) love for her. He said: O Messenger of Allah! Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) is your wife, and we know nothing but good of her. Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Allah has not placed hardship upon you (peace be upon him), and women other than Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) are many; and if you (peace be upon him) were to ask the servant-girl, she would tell you (peace be upon him) the truth (by servant-girl is meant Barira, may Allah be pleased with her, who lived with Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her). The Mother of the Believers Aisha as-Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) called Barira and said: O Barira! Have you ever seen anything from Aisha that would make you doubt her chastity? Barira said: By the One who sent you (peace be upon him) as a true Prophet, if I had seen any fault in her I would have mentioned it; there is no fault greater than this — that Aisha is a young girl who falls asleep leaving the household dough, and then a goat comes and eats it. (The meaning is that there is no fault in her that you ask about, nor any fault other than this; the only fault is that she is a simple, innocent girl who, on account of her young age, cannot manage the household.) The Mother of the Believers Aisha as-Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) said: Then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) stood on the pulpit and sought recompense from Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul. He (peace be upon him) said on the pulpit: O Muslims! Who will help me obtain justice against a man whose harmful, grievous talk about my family has reached me? By Allah! I know nothing but good of my wife (i.e., Aisha as-Siddiqa, may Allah be pleased with her), and of the man about whom they make this accusation (i.e., Safwan ibn al-Mu'attal), I also know nothing but good, and he never entered my house except with me. Hearing this, Sayyiduna Sa'd ibn Mu'adh al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) (who was the chief of the tribe of Aws) stood up and said: O Messenger of Allah! I will obtain your recompense; if the slanderer is from our tribe of Aws, we will strike off his neck, and if he is from our Khazraj brethren, then command us (peace be upon him) and we will carry out your (peace be upon him) command (i.e., we will strike off his neck). Hearing this, Sayyiduna Sa'd ibn Ubada (may Allah be pleased with him) stood up — he was the chief of the tribe of Khazraj and a righteous man, but at that moment the zeal for his tribe overcame him — and said: O Sa'd ibn Mu'adh! By the everlastingness of Allah! You have lied; you will not be able to kill him, you will not be able to kill a man of our tribe. Upon this, Sayyiduna Usayd ibn Hudayr, who was the paternal cousin of Sayyiduna Sa'd ibn Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him), stood up and said to Sayyiduna Sa'd ibn Ubada (may Allah be pleased with him): You have spoken wrongly; by the everlastingness of Allah! We will kill him, and you are a hypocrite, for you argue on behalf of the hypocrites. So the two tribes, Aws and Khazraj, rose up, and it was near that bloodshed would begin, while the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) stood on the pulpit calming them and cooling their anger, until they fell silent, and he (peace be upon him) too fell silent. The Mother of the Believers Aisha as-Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) said: I wept all that day too; my tears did not stop and no sleep came, and my father thought that from weeping my heart would burst. My parents were sitting with me while I was weeping. Meanwhile a woman of the Ansar sought permission to enter. I gave her permission, and she too came and began to weep. Then, while we were in this state, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came in, gave the greeting, and sat down. From the day the slander was made against me until that day, he (peace be upon him) had not sat with me, and a month had passed thus, during which no revelation had come regarding my case. The Mother of the Believers Aisha as-Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) said: Then, as soon as the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) sat down, he recited the testimony of faith and said: To proceed — O Aisha, such-and-such news about you has reached me. If you are innocent, Allah will soon declare your innocence; and if you have committed a sin, then repent and seek forgiveness of Allah, for when a servant confesses his sin and repents, Allah forgives him. The Mother of the Believers Aisha as-Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) said: When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had finished his words, my tears stopped completely, until not a single drop remained. I said to my father: You reply to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) on my behalf. He said: By Allah! I do not know what to reply to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). (Glory be to Allah — her father was the beloved of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, yet, though it was his daughter's case, he did not utter a word before the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.) I said to my mother: You reply to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) on my behalf. She said: By Allah! I do not know what to reply to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). Finally I myself spoke, and I was a young girl who had not read much of the Qur'an. By Allah! I know that you people have heard this matter until it has settled in your hearts and you have taken it to be true (and Aisha as-Siddiqa, may Allah be pleased with her, said this in anger, for no one had taken it to be true except the slanderers). Then if I say to you that I am innocent — and Allah knows that I am innocent — you will still not believe me to be truthful; and if I confess to this sin — while Allah knows that I am free of it — you will believe me to be truthful. And I find no likeness for myself and you except that of the father of Yusuf (i.e., Ya'qub, peace be upon him) (in her distress Aisha as-Siddiqa, may Allah be pleased with her, could not recall his name and said 'the father of Yusuf'), when he said: "So patience is most fitting, and Allah's help is to be sought against what you describe" (Surat Yusuf). Then I turned over and lay down on my bed. By Allah! I knew at that time that I was innocent and that Allah would surely make my innocence manifest; but by Allah! I did not imagine that concerning me Qur'an would be revealed which would be recited (until the Day of Resurrection), for my rank in my own estimation was too low for Allah, Majestic and Exalted, the Possessor of might and greatness, to speak concerning my case in words that would be recited. Rather, I hoped that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) would see in a dream something by which Allah would make my purity manifest. The Mother of the Believers Aisha as-Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) said: By Allah! The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had not risen from his place, nor had any of the household gone out, when Allah sent revelation to His Prophet (peace be upon him) and revealed Qur'an. The severity of the revelation began to come upon him (peace be upon him), until, even on cold days, drops of sweat trickled from his (peace be upon him) blessed body like pearls, because of the intensity of the words revealed to him (peace be upon him) (for it was the speech of the Great Sovereign). When this state passed from him (peace be upon him) (i.e., the revelation had ended), he (peace be upon him) began to smile, and the first word he (peace be upon him) uttered was: O Aisha! Rejoice; Allah has declared you free of guilt and pure. My mother said: Get up and go to the Prophet (peace be upon him). I said: By Allah! I will not go to the Prophet (peace be upon him), and I will praise no one except Allah, the Exalted, for it is He who revealed my innocence. The Mother of the Believers Aisha as-Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) said: Allah revealed: "Indeed, those who came with the slander are a group among you. Do not think it evil for you; rather it is good for you" — to the end; Allah revealed ten verses concerning my innocence. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him), who used to provide for Mistah because of his close kinship and poverty, said: By Allah! Since he spoke thus about Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), I will never give him anything again. Then Allah revealed this verse: "And let not those of virtue and abundance among you swear against giving to their relatives, the needy, and the emigrants in the way of Allah. Do you not wish that Allah should forgive you? And Allah is Forgiving, Merciful." Habban ibn Musa said: Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak said: This verse is the most hope-inspiring in the Book of Allah (because in it Allah promised forgiveness in return for kindness to relatives). Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: By Allah! I do indeed wish that Allah forgive me. Then he resumed what he used to give Mistah and said: I will never cut it off. The Mother of the Believers Aisha as-Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) also asked the Mother of the Believers Zaynab bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with her) about me — what she knew, or what she had seen. She said (although she was a co-wife): O Messenger of Allah! I guard my ears and my eyes (i.e., I say nothing unheard, nor do I report as seen what I have not seen); I know nothing but good of Aisha. Aisha as-Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) said: Zaynab (may Allah be pleased with her) was the one wife who among the wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him) rivaled me, and Allah protected her from this slander because of her piety; while her sister Hamna bint Jahsh partisan for her sister and fought on her behalf, and so she was among those who perished (i.e., she took part in the slander). Zuhri said: This is the end of the account of those people, as it has reached us.