English translation
(4). 3180. 'Aishah narrated: "What was said about me had been said, and I myself was unaware of it, the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ got up and addressed the people, He recited the Tashah-hud and after praising and expressing gratitude to Allāh, as He deserved, he said: "To proceed: O people! Give me your opinion regarding those people who made a forged story against my wife. By Allāh, I do not know anything bad about her at all. By Allāh, they accused her of being with a man about whom I have never known anything bad, and he never entered my house unless I was present there, and whenever I went on a journey, he went with me.' Sa'd bin Mu'ādḥ [may Allāh be pleased with him] got up and said: 'O Messenger of Allāh ﷺ! Allow me to chop their heads off!' Then a man from Al-Khazraj, to whom the mother of Hassān bin Thābit was a relative, got up and said (to sa'd): 'You have told a lie! By Allāh, if those persons were from Al-Aws, you would not like to chop off their heads.' It was probable that some evil would take place between Aws and Khazraj in the Masjid while I was unaware of that.
'In the evening of that day, I went out for some of my needs, and Umm Miṣṭah was accompanying me. On our return, Umm Miṣṭah stumbled and said: 'Let Miṣṭah be ruined!' I said to her, 'O mother! Why do you abuse your son?' On that Umm Miṣṭah became silent for a while, and stumbling again,
she said: 'Let Mīṣṭāh be ruined!' I said to her, 'O mother! Why do you abuse your son?' She stumbled for the third time and said, 'Let Mīṣṭāh be ruined!' I said to her, O mother! why do you abuse your son.' Upon that she said: 'By Allāh! I do not abuse him except because of you.' I asked her, 'Concerning what of my affairs?' So, she disclosed the whole story to me. I said: 'Has this really happened?' She replied, 'Yes, by Allāh!' I returned to my house, so astonished, that I did not know for what purpose I had gone out.
'Then I became sick and said to the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ: 'Send me to my father's house.' So, he sent a servant with me, and when I entered the house, I found Umm Rūmān downstairs, while Abū Bakr was reciting something upstairs. My mother asked, 'What has brought you, O daughter?'" She said: "I informed her and mentioned the whole story to her, but she did not feel as I did about it. She said, 'O my daughter! Do not worry much about this matter, for there is never a charming lady loved by her husband who has other wives, but that they feel jealous of her and speak badly of her.' But she did not feel the same about it as I did. I asked her: 'Does my father know about it?' She said, 'Yes' I asked, 'Does the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ know about it too?' She said, 'Yes, the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ also knows about it.' Tears filled my eyes and I wept. Abū Bakr, who
was reading upstairs, heard my voice, and came down asking my mother: 'What is the matter with her?' She said, 'She has heard what has been said about her.' On that Abū Bakr wept and said: 'I beseech you, by Allāh, O my daughter, to go back to your home.'
I went back to my home, and the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ had come to my house asking my maid-servant about me. The maid-servant said: 'By Allāh! I do not know of any fault or defect in her character except that she sleeps and lets the sheep enter and eat her dough.' On that, some of the Prophet's Companions spoke harshly to her and said: 'Tell the truth to the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ.' Finally, they told her of the slander and she said: 'Subhān Allāh! By Allāh, I know nothing against her except what a goldsmith knows about a piece of pure gold.' Then this news reached the man who was accused, and he said: 'Subhān Allāh! By Allāh, I have never uncovered the private parts of any woman.' Later, that man was martyred in Allāh's Cause.
"Then next morning, my parents came to pay me a visit and they stayed with me until the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ came to me, after he had performed the Asr prayer. He came to me while my parents were sitting around me on my right and my left. The Prophet ﷺ said the Tashah-hud, praised and glorified Allāh and said, 'Now then, O Āishah! If you have committed a
bad deed, or you have wronged (yourself), then repent to Allāh, as Allāh accepts the repentance from His worshippers.'
"An Anṣārī woman had come and was sitting near the gate. I said to the Prophet ﷺ, 'Isn't it improper that you speak in such a way in the presence of this lady?' The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ then gave a piece of advice and I turned to my father and requested him to reply to him. My father said, 'What should I say?' Then I turned to my mother and asked her to answer him. She said, 'What should I say?' When my parents did not reply to the Prophet ﷺ, I said the Tashahhud, praised and glorified Allāh as is His due, and I said: 'Then, by Allāh! If I were to tell you that I have not done (this) and Allāh, the Mighty and Sublime, is witness that I am telling the truth, that would not be of any use to me on your part, because you (people) have spoken about it and your hearts have absorbed it (as truth); and if I were to tell you that I have done this sin, and Allāh knows that I have not done it, then you will say, 'She has confessed her guilt.' By Allāh! I do not see a suitable example for me and you except the example of – and I could not remember Ya'qūb's name – Yūsuf's father when he said: So patience is most fitting. And it is Allāh Whose help can be sought against that which you describe.[1]
She said: "It was at that time that Revelation came to the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ, and we remained silent. Then the Revelation was over, and I noticed the signs of happiness on his face while he was wiping (the sweat) from his forehead, and saying. 'Have the good tidings O 'Āishah! Allāh has revealed your innocence.' At that time I was extremely angry. My parents said to me, 'Get up and go to him.' I said, 'By Allāh, I will not do it, and will not thank him nor either of you, but I will thank Allāh, Who has revealed my innocence. You have heard (this story) but neither of you have denied it, nor have you changed it (to defend me).'"
'Āishah used to say: "But as regards to Zainab bint Jahsh, Allāh protected her because of her piety. She did not say anything except good (about me). But her sister, Ĥamnah was ruined among those who were ruined. Those who used to speak evil about me were Miṣṭah, Ḥassān bin Thābit, and the hypocrite 'Abdullāh bin Ubayy [bin Salūl] and [it is he who] used to spread that news and tempt others to speak of it, and it was he and Ĥamnah who had the greater share therein. Abū Bakr took an oath that he would never do any favor for Miṣṭah at all. Then Allāh, Most High, revealed this Āyah: 'Let not those among you who are blessed with graces and wealth' [until the end of the Āyah] referring to Abū Bakr: 'to give to their kinsmen, the
poor, and those who left their homes for Allāh's Cause.' — meaning Miṣṭaḥ — up to His saying: Do you not love that Allāh should forgive you? And Allāh is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.'[1] On that, Abū Bakr said: 'Yes, by Allāh! O our Lord! We wish that You forgive us.' So he returned to what he had been doing." (Ṣaḥīḥ)
[Abū 'Eisā said:] This Hadīth is Ḥasan Ṣaḥīḥ Gharīb as a narration of Hishām bin 'Urwah. Yūnus bin Yazīd, Ma'mar, and others reported this Hadīth from Az-Zuhri, from 'Urwah bin Az-Zubair, Sa'eed bin Al-Musayyab, 'Alqamah bin Waqqāṣ Al-Laithī and 'Ubaidullāh bin 'Abdullāh, from 'Aishah, and it is longer and more complete than the narration of Hishām bin 'Urwah.
