Sahih Muslim — Hadith #14583

Hibban b. Musa narrated to us. (He said): Abdullah b. Mubarak informed us. (He said): Yunus b. Yazid al-Ayli informed us. Ishaq b. Ibrahim al-Hanzali, Muhammad b. Rafi', and Abd b. Humayd also narrated. (Ibn Rafi' used the expression "haddesena"; the others said: Abd al-Razzaq informed us. He said): Ma'mar informed us. The context is the hadith of Ma'mar from the narration of Abd and Ibn Rafi'. Yunus and Ma'mar both said from Zuhri. (Zuhri said): Sa'id b. Musayyib, Urwa b. Zubayr, Alkama b. Waqqas, and Ubaydullah b. Abdillah b. Utba b. Mas'ud narrated from Aisha, the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), that when the slanderers said what they said to her, and Allah cleared her of their accusations, all the narrators reported to me a part of her hadith. Some of them had memorized her hadith better than others, and its narration was more reliable. I memorized the hadith she narrated to me from each of them. The hadiths corroborate each other. According to what she said, Aisha, the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), said: When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) wanted to go on an expedition, he would draw lots among his wives. Whoever the lot fell upon, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would go on the expedition with her. She said: She drew lots among us for a battle she was going to undertake, and the lot fell upon me. I also went out with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). This happened after the verse about veiling was revealed. I was mounted on the camel inside my palanquin, and dismounted from it at our destination. Finally, when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) finished his campaign and returned, and we were approaching Medina, he announced a night march. When he announced the march, I immediately got up and walked, even overtaking the army. When I relieved myself, I went to my belongings. I touched my chest and saw that my necklace, made of saffron beads, had broken. I immediately turned back and searched for my necklace. Searching for it kept me from going. The group that had loaded my saddle had loaded my palanquin and gone. They loaded it onto the camel I was riding. They thought I was inside it too. He said: At that time, women were light-skinned. They hadn't become fat, their bodies weren't covered in flesh. They were only eating a tiny bit of food. The congregation loaded the palanquins onto the camel and lifted them without questioning the weight. I was a young, tender girl. They drove the camel away. I found my necklace after the army had left. Then I arrived at the place where they were, only to find no one calling out to me or answering. I went back to where I was, thinking the congregation would look for me and return. While sitting there, I felt sleepy and fell asleep. Safwan ibn Mu'attal al-Sulam later rested behind the army of Zakwan. At the end of the night, he set out on the road, spent the night where I was, and saw a shadow of a sleeping person. He immediately came to me and recognized me; indeed, he had seen me before the obligation of wearing a veil was imposed upon me. When he recognized me, I woke up with his istirja (prayer for protection). And I immediately covered my face with my veil. By Allah, he didn't speak a word to me. I heard nothing from him except his istirja. He made his camel kneel down; he stepped on its front leg, and I mounted the camel. And he led me on my camel and we set off. Finally, we caught up with the army after they had encamped when the midday heat became intense. By then, what was destined for me was done. Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul had taken on the majority of this task. Subsequently, we arrived in Medina. When we arrived in Medina, I was ill for a month. The people were spreading the slanderers' words. I didn't feel anything from this. But during my illness, the fact that I didn't see the same kindness from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that I had seen before when I was ill made me suspicious. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would only enter, give greetings, and then say: [He would say something]. This also made me suspicious. But I didn't feel any malice. Finally, after I recovered, I went outside. Umm Mistah also went with me towards Manasi. This place was our latrine. We only went out at night. This incident happened before we built toilets near our houses. Our custom regarding latrines was the custom of the early Arabs. We felt inconvenienced building toilets next to our houses. Umm Mistah and I walked. This woman is the daughter of Abu Ruhm b. Muttalib b. Abdi Menaf. Her mother is the daughter of Sahr b. Amir, the aunt of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq. Umm Mistah's son is Mistah b. Usasa b. Abbad b. Muttalifa. Then, after I and Bint Abu Ruhm relieved ourselves, we headed towards my house. Then Umm Mistah stepped on her veil and said: "May Mistah be cursed!" I said to her: "What a terrible thing you said! Are you cursing a man who was at Badr?" She said: "Woman, didn't you hear what he said?" I asked: "What did he say?" Upon this, he informed me of what the slanderers had said. And my illness worsened manifold. When I returned home, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) entered and greeted me. Then he asked, "Will you allow me to go to my parents?" I said, "At that moment, I wanted to understand the news from them properly." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave me permission. So I went to my parents and said to my mother, "O my mother! What are people saying?" My mother said, "O my daughter, be calm! By Allah, there are very few beautiful women who are married to a man who loves them, even if they have partners, yet they do not speak ill of them." I said, "Subhanallah! Did people really say that?" Then I cried that night. I spent the night crying without my eyes stopping and without sleep. Then I spent the night crying again. When the revelation ceased, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) called Ali ibn Abi Talib and Usama ibn Zayd to consult with him about separating from his family. Usama ibn Zayd, indicating that he knew of his family's innocence and showing his affection for them, said to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): "O Messenger of Allah! They are your family. We know nothing but good." As for Ali ibn Abi Talib, he said: "Allah will not put you in distress; there are many other women besides her. If you ask the slave girl, she will tell you the truth." Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) called Barira and asked: "Barira! Have you seen anything about Aisha that would cause you to have doubts?" Berira said to him: "I swear by Allah, who sent you with the truth, I have not seen anything in him that I could fault him for. However, he is a young man, a mere youth. He sleeps on the dough he kneads for his family, and sheep come and eat it." Upon this, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) rose and ascended the pulpit, seeking an apology from Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul. Aisha said: "While the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was on the pulpit, he said: 'O community of Muslims! Who will accept my apology from a man who has caused the utmost harm to my family? By Allah, I know nothing but good about my family. He only entered their presence with me.'" Upon this, Sa'd ibn Mu'adh al-Ansari stood up and said: "I will accept your apology from him, O Messenger of Allah!" If he is from the Aws tribe, we will cut off his neck. If he is from our brothers Khazraj, you give the order, and we will obey your command," he said. Then Sa'd ibn Ubadah rose. This man was the chief of the Khazraj tribe and a good man. However, his zeal had made him ignorant. He said to Sa'd ibn Mu'adh: "You have erred! I swear by Allah that you cannot kill him, nor are you capable of killing him!" Then Usayd ibn Hudayr rose. This man was Sa'd ibn Mu'adh's cousin. He said to Sa'd ibn Ubadah: "You have erred! I swear by Allah that we will certainly kill him. You are truly a hypocrite. You are fighting on behalf of the hypocrites." And the two tribes (i.e., Aws and Khazraj) rose up. They even intended to fight. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was standing on the pulpit. He continued to soothe them, until they fell silent. He too fell silent. Aisha said: "I cried that day. My tears did not stop, and I could not sleep. Then I cried again the next night. My tears did not stop, and I could not sleep. My mother and father thought that my crying would tear my heart apart. While they were sitting beside me and I was crying, a woman from the Ansar asked permission to enter. I gave her permission. The woman sat down and began to cry. While we were in this state, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) entered and greeted us. Then he sat down. He had not sat beside me since what had been said about me had been said. He had waited a month, and nothing had been revealed to him about me. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sat down, he recited the tashahhud." Then he said: "O Aisha, the situation is that such and such accusations have come to me from you. If you are innocent, Allah will acquit you. If you have committed a sin, seek forgiveness from Allah! Repent to Him! For if a servant confesses a sin and then repents, Allah accepts his repentance." Aisha said: "When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) finished speaking, my tears stopped. I didn't even feel a single drop anymore. I said to my father: 'Answer on my behalf about what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said!' My father said: 'By Allah, I don't know what to say to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).' (Then) I said to my mother: 'Answer on my behalf about what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said!'" I said, and he replied, "By Allah, I do not know what to say to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." Thereupon, although I was young and did not know much of the Qur'an, I said, "By Allah, I understand well that you have heard what has been said. It has even taken root in your fortresses, and you have believed it. If I were to say to you that I am innocent—and Allah knows that I am innocent—you would not believe me. If I were to confess to you something—and Allah knows that I am innocent—you would affirm me. By Allah, I cannot find an example for you to give. However, as Joseph's father said, my matter is one of beautiful patience. Allah is the One to whom help is sought regarding what you have said." He said, "Then I turned over and lay down on my bed. And by Allah, I knew at that moment that I was innocent and that Allah would acquit me. But by Allah, I did not think that the revelation (of the Qur'an) would be sent down concerning me." My state of mind and expectations were not such that Allah (Glorified and Exalted) would send down a verse about me. Rather, I expected that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would have a dream in his sleep, and that through that dream, Allah would acquit me. By Allah, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had not left his assembly; no one from the household had gone outside when Allah (Glorified and Exalted) sent down revelation to His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The intensity that had overwhelmed him at the moment of revelation returned. From the weight of the words revealed to him, pearls of sweat poured from his forehead on that cold day. When the state of revelation ended, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) smiled. His first words were: "O Aisha! Allah has acquitted you." Upon this, my mother said to me: "Get up and go to him." I said: "By Allah, I cannot go to him. I cannot praise anyone other than Allah! It is He who has sent down my innocence." Then Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) revealed ten verses, starting from Surah An-Nur, verse 11. These verses were revealed by Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) concerning my innocence. Abu Bakr—who used to provide for Mistah due to their kinship and poverty—said: "By Allah, after what he said about Aisha, I will never give him anything again!" Thereupon, Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) revealed the verse, "Let not those who are of high status and wealth swear that they will not help their relatives..." up to the noble verse, "Do you not wish that Allah should forgive you?" Ibn Musa said: "Abdullah b. Mubarak said, "This is the most hopeful verse in the Book of Allah." Bakr said, "By Allah, I wish Allah would forgive me," and he resumed giving Mistah the sustenance he had previously given him, saying, "I will never stop giving it to him." He said, "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked his wife, Zaynab bint Jahsh, about my matter, saying, 'Did you know (or) what did you see?' She replied, 'O Messenger of Allah! I protect my ears and my eyes. By Allah, I know nothing but good.' He said, 'Yet, she was the one among the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) who challenged me. Allah protected her with piety and righteousness.' Her sister, Hanina bint Jahsh, began to contend with her, and she perished among those who perished." He said, "This is what came to us from the matter of this community!" And in the hadith, he used the expression, "His zeal angered him..."