Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 11196

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: (Allah Almighty says:) "Indeed, those who brought the slander are a group among you." Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: This means: the four among you who spoke falsehood about the Mother of the Believers, Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her). (Allah Almighty says:) "Do not think it bad for you; rather, it is good for you." Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: That is, it is good for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and a declaration of innocence for the leader of the believing women; it is also good for Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), for the mother of Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), and for Sayyiduna Safwan bin al-Mu'attal (may Allah be pleased with him). (Allah Almighty says:) "Each of them will have the sin he has earned, and the one who took the greater part of it." Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: This means the one who spread it. (Allah Almighty says:) "Among them." This refers to Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul. (Allah Almighty says:) "For him is a great punishment." This means: in this world the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had him flogged eighty lashes, and in the Hereafter his abode will be Hell. (Allah Almighty says:) "Why, when you heard it." This means: why did it not happen, when you heard this? (Allah Almighty says:) "Why did the believing men and believing women not think well of them, and say: This is a clear lie?" (Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said:) The reason is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had consulted people about Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), and they said good things and said: "O Messenger of Allah! This is a lie and a falsehood." And "the believing women": this refers to the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), Sayyidah Zaynab (may Allah be pleased with her), the freed slave woman of Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), Sayyidah Barirah (may Allah be pleased with her), and the other wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said: "This is a great lie." So Allah Almighty said: "Why did they not bring four witnesses concerning it?" Then they and those who testified would be liars. "And since they did not bring the witnesses, they are liars in the sight of Allah Almighty." This means: those very people will be counted as liars. "And were it not for the favour of Allah Almighty upon you and His mercy in this world and the Hereafter." This means: had Allah Almighty not done you a kindness and concealed your faults. "You would have been touched, for what you engaged in." This refers to making the false accusation. "By a great punishment." This means: there would have been no end to that punishment. "When you received it with your tongues and said with your mouths that of which you had no knowledge." And Allah Almighty knew that the matter was not so. "And you thought it insignificant, while with Allah Almighty it was tremendous." This means: you were slandering Sayyidah Aishah Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her), the leader of the believing women and the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), with something that was not in her, and the thought of it never even occurred in her heart, for she was created pure and protected from every vile thing. "Why, when you heard it, did you not say: It is not for us to speak of this; You are free of every imperfection, this is a great slander?" Here slander (buhtan) means fabrication, as in the statement of Allah Almighty about Sayyidah Maryam (may Allah be pleased with her): "a great slander." "Allah Almighty admonishes you never to return to the like of it again." This refers to Mistah bin Uthathah, Hamnah bint Jahsh and Sayyiduna Hassan bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him). "If you are believers." This means: if you affirm Allah and His Messenger. "And Allah Almighty makes clear to you the verses." This refers to the verses revealed concerning Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) and her innocence. "And Allah Almighty is All-Knowing." That is, of the remorse in your hearts over what you did. "All-Wise." That is, He has ruled concerning false accusation that eighty lashes are to be given. "Indeed, those who love that indecency should spread." This means: those who do so even after this. "Concerning those who believe." This means: concerning the chaste men and chaste women among those who affirm the faith. "For them is a painful punishment." That is, an agonising punishment. "In this world and the Hereafter." The punishment of this world means flogging, and the punishment of the Hereafter means punishment in Hell. "And Allah Almighty knows, while you do not know." That is, you do not know the evil of what you entered into and how severe its punishment is, and you also do not know how intensely Allah Almighty will be angry with whoever does this. "And were it not for the favour of Allah Almighty upon you and His mercy." This means: had Allah Almighty not shown you favour and mercy; this refers to Sayyiduna Mistah (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyidah Hamnah (may Allah be pleased with her) and Sayyiduna Hassan (may Allah be pleased with him). "Indeed, Allah Almighty is Kind, Merciful." Here mercy means: He is kind to you on account of your remorse, in that you returned to the truth. "O you who believe!" This refers to those who affirmed the Oneness of Allah Almighty. "Do not follow the footsteps of Satan." This refers to slips. "And whoever follows the footsteps of Satan, he commands indecency and wrongdoing." Here indecency means disobeying Allah Almighty, and wrongdoing (munkar) means everything that Allah Almighty disapproves of. "And were it not for the favour of Allah Almighty upon you and His mercy." This means the same: were it not for the favour Allah Almighty has shown you and the mercy He has shown you. "Not one of you would ever have been purified." This means: He would never have accepted the repentance of any of you. "But Allah Almighty purifies whom He wills." This means: if I will, I accept your repentance. "And Allah Almighty is All-Hearing, All-Knowing." This means: He hears what you say and knows what is in your hearts of remorse and repentance. "And let them not swear." This means: let them not take an oath. "Those of virtue and means among you." This means: Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) should not have sworn that he would not spend on Mistah. "That they will not give (anything) to relatives, the poor, and those who emigrated in the way of Allah; let them pardon and overlook." This means: O Abu Bakr, I have placed virtue in you and given you means and knowledge of Allah Almighty; so, O Abu Bakr, spend on Mistah, for he has the right of kinship and the honour of emigration, he is poor, and he took part in battles with which I am pleased, among them the Battle of Badr. "Do you not love." This means: O Abu Bakr, is it not so? "That Allah Almighty should forgive you?" This means: you too forgive Mistah. "And Allah Almighty is Forgiving, Merciful." This means: I forgive whoever errs, and I am merciful to My friends. "Indeed, those who accuse chaste women." Here muhsanat means chaste women. "Unaware, believing women." This means: women who affirm the Oneness of Allah Almighty and His messengers. Sayyiduna Hassan bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) said this verse of poetry about the Mother of the Believers, Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her): "She is chaste and composed, she cannot be suspected of anything doubtful, and she wakes in the morning with her stomach empty of the flesh of unaware women (that is, she does not backbite them)." Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "O Hassan! But you are not like that." "They are cursed in this world and the Hereafter, and for them is a great punishment." Allah Almighty is saying that He has expelled them from faith, just as Allah Almighty said about the hypocrites in Surah al-Ahzab: "Cursed wherever they are found, they will be seized and killed." "And the one who took the greater part of it." This means: the one who took the leading part in this accusation and spread it; this refers to the accursed Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul. "On the Day their tongues, their hands and their feet will testify against them about what they used to do." This means: Allah Almighty will seal their tongues, and the limbs will speak and testify against the person they belong to. The reason is that they had said: "Come, let us swear by Allah that we were not polytheists." So Allah Almighty will seal their tongues, and their limbs will speak of what they did, and after that their tongues will testify against them. Allah Almighty wills to repay them for their deeds in accordance with the truth: just as He will reward His friends, so too He will punish the sinners, as Allah Almighty has said in Surah al-Fatihah: "Master of the Day of Recompense." This means the Day of Requital. "And they will know." This means on the Day of Resurrection. "That Allah Almighty is the Clear Truth." The reason is that Abdullah bin Ubayy used to doubt the religion; he was the leader of the hypocrites. Concerning this Allah Almighty said: "On that Day Allah Almighty will pay them in full their due recompense according to the truth." And Ibn Salul will know on the Day of Resurrection: "that Allah Almighty is the Clear Truth." This means: his doubt will end and he will become certain at a time when certainty will not benefit him. "Wicked women are for wicked men, and wicked men are for wicked women." By this Allah Almighty intended to give an example concerning Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul and those who fall into doubt about Allah Almighty and accuse women like Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her). Then Allah Almighty said: "And good women are for good men." This means: Allah Almighty kept Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) pure for His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Sayyiduna Jibril (peace be upon him) brought the image of Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) in a piece of silk cloth at a time when even her form had not yet been shaped in her mother's womb, and he told the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that this was Sayyidah Aishah bint Abi Bakr, who would be his wife in this world and his wife in Paradise, and that she would be given to him in place of Sayyidah Khadijah bint Khuwaylid (may Allah be pleased with her). This was at the time of the death of Sayyidah Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was delighted with this, and his eyes were cooled by it. Then Allah Almighty said: "And good men are for good women." This means: Allah Almighty kept the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) pure in his person and made him the leader of all the children of Adam; and "good women" refers to Sayyidah Aishah Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her). "These are free of what they say." This means: Allah Almighty kept Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) free of the falsehood that Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul attributed to her. "For them is forgiveness." This means: for them is protection (ismah) in this world and forgiveness in the Hereafter. "And a noble provision." This refers to the provision of Paradise and a great reward.
Tabarani recorded it in fragments with a single chain, so there was no need to repeat the chain in each fragment; its chain contains Musa bin Abd al-Rahman al-San'ani, who is da'if (weak). He also recorded a fragment of it from Mujahid, from Qatadah, from Sa'id bin Jubayr and from Hisham bin Urwah, but there is weakness in their chains as well.