English translation
4750. Narrated 'Āishah رضي الله عنها the wife of the Prophet ﷺ: Whenever Allāh's Messenger ﷺ intended to go on a journey, he would draw lots among his wives and would take with him the one on whom the lot fell. Once he drew lots when he wanted to carry out a Ghazwa, and the lot fell upon me. So, I proceeded with Allāh's Messenger ﷺ after Allāh's Order of veiling (the women) had been revealed and thus I was carried in my Howdaj (on a camel) and dismounted while still in it. We carried on our journey, and when Allāh's Messenger ﷺ had finished his Ghazwa and returned and we approached Al-Madīna, Allāh'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 to answer the call of nature. After finishing, I went towards my Howdaj, but behold! A necklace of mine made of Jaz', Azfār (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 on the camel, came and carried my Howdaj on to the back of my camel on which I was riding, thinking that I was therein. At that time women were light in weight and thin and lean for they used to eat little (food), so those people did not feel the difference in the heaviness of the Howdaj lifting it up, and I was still a young lady.(1) 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 discover my absence and come back in my search. While I was sitting at my place, I felt sleepy and slept. Šafwān bin Al-Mu'attal As-Sulamī Adh-Dhakwānī was behind the army. He had started in the last part of the night and reached my stationing place in the morning. When he 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: 'Innā lillāhi wa innā ilaihi rāji'ūn,'(2) which he uttered on recognizing me. I covered my face with my garment, and by Allāh, he did not say to me a single word except, 'Innā lillāh wa innā ilaihi rāji'ūn,' till he made his she-camel kneel down whereupon he put his leg on the front legs of the camel and I mounted it. Then Ṣafwān set out walking, leading the she-camel that was carrying me by the rope till we reached the army who had halted to take rest at midday. Then whoever was meant for destruction, fell into destruction, (some people accused me falsely) and the leader of the false accusers was 'Abdullāh bin Ubayy bin Salūl. After this we arrived at Al-Madīna and I became ill for one month while the people were spreading the forged statements of the people who brought forth the slander 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 Allāh's Messenger ﷺ the same kindness as I used to receive when I fell sick. Allāh'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 Umm Miṣṭāh to answer the call of nature towards Al-Manāṣī, the place where we used to relieve ourselves, and we 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 (living 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 Umm Miṣṭāh who was the daughter of Abī Ruhm bin 'Abd Manāf, and her mother was the daughter of Ṣakhr bin 'Āmir who was the aunt of Abī Bakr Aṣ-Ṣiddīq, and her son was Miṣṭāh bin Uṭṭatha. When we had finished, Umm Misṭaḥ and I came back towards myhouse. Umm Misṭaḥ stumbled over her robewhereupon she said, "Let Misṭaḥ be ruined!"I said to her, "You are saying a bad word.Why are you abusing a man who took part in(the battle of) Badr?" She said, "O Hantāḥ(you there)! Didn't you hear what he hassaid?" I said, "And what did he say?" Thenshe told me the rumours of the false accuserswhich added to my ailment. When I returnedhome, Allāh's Messenger ﷺ came to me,and after greeting, he said, "How is that(lady)?" I said, "Will you allow me to go tomy parents?" At that time I intended to besure of the news through them. Allāh'sMessenger ﷺ allowed me and I went to myparents and asked my mother, "O mymother! What are the people talkingabout?" My mother said, "O my daughter!Don't worry much about this matter. ByAllāh, there is no charming lady who is lovedby her husband who has other wives, but thatthose wives would find fault with her or forgefalse news about her." I said, "Subḥān Allāh!Are the people really talking of this matter?"That night I kept on weeping and could notsleep till morning. My tears never stopped,nor did I sleep, and morning broke while Iwas still weeping. Allāh's Messenger ﷺcalled 'Ali bin Abi Ṭālib and Usāma binZaid (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا) when he saw the DivineRevelation delayed, in order to consult themas to the idea of divorcing his wife. Usāmabin Zaid told Allāh's Messenger ﷺ of whathe knew of the good reputation of his wivesand added, "O Allāh's Messenger! Keepyour wife, for, By Allah, we do not knowanything about her but good." 'Ali bin AbiṬālib said, "O Allāh's Messenger! Allāh doesnot impose restrictions on you; and there aremany of women other than she, yet you mayask the women-servant who will tell you the truth.” ‘Aishah added: So Allāh’s Messenger ﷺ called for Barīra and said, “O Barīra! Did you ever see anything which might have aroused your suspicion (as regards ‘Aishah)?” Barīra said, “By Allāh Who has sent you with the Truth, I have never seen anything faulty 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 Allāh’s Messenger ﷺ got up (and addressed) the people and asked for somebody who would support him in punishing ‘Abdullāh bin Ubayy bin Salūl. Allāh’s Messenger ﷺ, while on the pulpit, said, “O Muslims! Who will support me to punish that man (‘Abdullāh bin Ubayy bin Salūl) who has hurt me by slandering the reputation of my family? By Allāh, I know nothing except good about my family, and they have accused a person about whom I know nothing except good, and he never entered my house except in my company.” Sa’d bin Mu’ādh Al-Anṣārī got up and said, “O Allāh’s Messenger! By Allāh, I will relieve you from him. If he be from the tribe of (Banī) Al-Aus, then I will chop his head off; and if that man is from our brethren, the Khazraj, then order us and we will fulfil your order.” On that, Sa’d bin ‘Ubāda, chief of the Khazraj, and before this incident, he had been a pious man, got up, motivated by his zeal for his tribe. He said to Sa’d (bin Mu’ādh), “By Allāh the Eternal, you have told a lie! You cannot kill him and you will never be able to kill him!” On that, Usaid bin Ḥuṣair, the cousin of Sa’d (bin Mu’ādh) got up and said to Sa’d bin ‘Ubāda, “You are a liar! By Allāh the Eternal, we will surely kill him; and you are a hypocrite, defending the hypocrites!” On this, two tribes of Al-Aūs and Al-Khazraj got excited till they were on the point of fighting with each other while Allāh's Messenger ﷺ was standing on the pulpit. Allāh'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 Anṣārī woman asked permission to see me. I admitted her and she sat and started weeping with me. While I was in that state, Allāh's Messenger ﷺ came to us, greeted, and sat down. He had never sat with me since the day they forged the accusation. No Divine Revelation regarding my case came to him for a month. Allāh's Messenger ﷺ recited the Tashah-hud(1) after he had sat down, and then said, "Then after, O 'Aishah! I have been informed such and such about you, if you are innocent, Allāh will reveal your innocence, and if you have committed a sin, then repent to Allāh and ask Him to forgive you, for when a person confesses his sin and asks Allāh for forgiveness, Allāh accepts his repentance." When Allāh's Messenger ﷺ had finished his speech, my tears ceased completely and there remained not even a single drop of it. Then I requested my father, "Reply to Allāh's Messenger ﷺ on my behalf." He said, "By Allāh, I do not know what to say to Allāh's Messenger ﷺ." Then I said to my mother, "Reply to Allāh's Messenger ﷺ." She said, "I do not know what to say to Allāh's Messenger ﷺ." I was a young girl and did not have much knowledge of the Qur'an, I said, "By Allāh, I know that you heard this story (of the Ifk) so much so that it has been planted in your minds and you have taken it as a truth. Now, if I tell you I am innocent — and Allāh knows that I am innocent — you will not believe me; and if I confessed to you falsely that I am guilty, and Allāh knows that I am innocent, you would believe me. By Allāh, I cannot find of you and I an example except that of Yūsuf's (Joseph)'s father [i.e., Ya'qūb (Jacob)]: 'So (for me) patience is most fitting. And it is Allāh (Alone) Whose help can be sought against that (lie) which you describe.'" (V.12:18) Then I turned to the other side and lay on my bed, and I knew that I was innocent and that Allāh would reveal my innocence. But, by Allāh, I never thought that Allāh would send down Divine Revelation about my affair, that would be recited (forever), as I considered myself too inferior to be talked of by Allāh with something that was to be recited; but I hoped that Allāh's Messenger ﷺ might have a vision in which Allāh would prove my innocence. By Allāh, Allāh's Messenger ﷺ had not left his seat and nobody had left the house when the Divine Revelation came to Allāh's Messenger ﷺ. So, there overtook him the same state which used to overtake him (when he used to receive Divine Revelation). He was sweating so much so that the drops of sweat were dropping like pearls, though it was a (cold) wintry day. And when that state of Allāh's Messenger ﷺ was over he was smiling and the first word he said was: "‘Āishah, Allāh عزَّ وجلَّ has declared your innocence." My mother said to me, "Get up and go to him." I said, "By Allāh, I will not go to him and I will not thank anybody but Allāh عزَّ وجلَّ." So Allāh عزَّ وجلَّ revealed: "Verily! Those who brought forth the slander (against ‘Āishah رضي الله عنها) are a group among you. Consider it not a bad..." (V.24:11-20) When Allāh revealed this declaration of my innocence, Abū Bakr Aṣ-Ṣiddīq, who used to provide for Mīṣṭaḥ bin Uthatha because of his kinship and poverty, said, "By Allāh, I will never provide for Mīṣṭaḥ anything after what he has said about 'Aīshah". So Allāh revealed: "And let not those among you who are blessed with graces and wealth swear not to give (any sort of help) to their kinsmen, Al-Masākin (poor), and those who left their homes for Allāh's Cause. Let them pardon and forgive. Do you not love that Allāh should forgive you? And Allāh is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful." (V.24:22) Abū Bakr said, "Yes, by Allāh, I like that Allāh should forgive me" and resumed giving Mīṣṭaḥ the aid he used to give him before, by saying, "By Allāh, I will never withhold it from him at all." 'Aīshah further said: Allāh's Messenger ﷺ also asked Zainab bint Jaḥsh about me saying, "O Zainab! What do you know and what did you see?" She replied, "O Allāh's Messenger! I refrain to claim hearing or seeing what I have not heard or seen. I know nothing except goodness about 'Aīshah." 'Aīshah رضي الله عنها added (of all the wives of Allāh's Messenger ﷺ), Zainab was competing with me (in her beauty and the Prophet's love), yet Allāh protected her (from being malicious) for she had piety. But her sister, Ḥamna, kept on fighting on her behalf, so she was destroyed as were those who invented and spread the slander.