Mu'jam Kabir Tabarani 19451 — what they said, Allah declared Sayyidah

When the people of the slander said what they said, Allah declared Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) innocent of it. Al-Zuhri (may Allah have mercy on him) said: All of them (the four narrators) narrated to me some part of this incident, and some of them had firmer memory than others and related it in a better way. They said: Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: Whenever the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) intended a journey or to go in some direction, he would cast lots among his wives, and whichever of them drew the lot, he would take her with him. Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: In a military expedition he (peace and blessings be upon him) cast lots among us, and my lot came out, and this was after the verse of the veil (hijab) had been revealed. So I set out with him (peace and blessings be upon him), and I would be carried and set down in my howdah, and in those days women were slender. She said: One night the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) announced the departure. I got up and went beyond the army. When I had finished my need, I came towards my camp, and I touched my chest and found that a necklace of shell beads had fallen. So I went back and was held up searching for it. Meanwhile, the people who used to lift my howdah came and lifted my howdah, thinking that I was in it, and they placed it on the same camel I used to ride; then they set off with it. Then I came to their place, but there was neither anyone calling nor anyone answering. So I made for my earlier camp, and I was sure that they would miss me and come back looking for me. She said: While I was sitting in my place, sleep overcame me and I slept. Meanwhile Safwan bin al-Mu'attal came; he was behind the army. Travelling in the last part of the night, he reached the vicinity of my camp in the morning and saw the shape of a person, and he recognised me, for he used to see me before the veil was revealed. He recited the istirja', and I woke at the sound of his istirja'. Then he made his mount kneel for me and put his foot on its foreleg, and I mounted it. Then he set off with me until we reached the people right at midday, and whoever was to be ruined had been ruined. When we reached Madinah, I was ill for a month. I had no sense of any evil, except that it troubled me that I was not finding from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) the gentleness I used to find during illness before. He (peace and blessings be upon him) would only come in, greet me with salam while standing, and say: "How is she?" And I had no sense of any evil. When I had recovered somewhat from my illness, the mother of Mistah bin Uthathah and I went out towards al-Manasi', which was our place for relieving ourselves. We would only go out at night, we ate only a little food, and our practice was like that of the early Arabs; we found it distasteful that toilets should be built near our houses. When we had finished our need and were coming back home, the mother of Mistah tripped in her wrap and fell, and she said: "May Mistah perish!" I said to her: "What an evil thing you have said! Do you revile a man who took part in Badr?" She said: "O simple one! Have you not heard what he said?" I asked: "What did he say?" She told me: "Such and such." My illness increased on top of my illness. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came, I said: "Permit me to go to my parents," and I wanted to confirm this news from them. He (peace and blessings be upon him) gave me permission. I came to my mother and asked: "Mother, what are people talking about?" She said: "Daughter, take this lightly, for it rarely happens that a beautiful woman, whose husband loves her and who also has co-wives, is not talked about much by people." I said: "Subhan Allah! Are people really talking about this?" That night I wept; my tears did not stop and no sleep came to me. When the revelation (on this matter) was delayed for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), he (peace and blessings be upon him) called Ali and Usamah and consulted them about separating from his wife. Usamah advised on the basis of what he knew of the innocence of his wife and the love he knew to be in his (peace and blessings be upon him) heart, and he said: "O Messenger of Allah, about your wife, by Allah, we have known nothing but good." As for Ali, he said: "Allah has not restricted you, and there are many women besides her, and if you ask the servant girl, she will tell you the truth." So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) called Barirah and said: "O Barirah, have you seen anything that troubles you?" She said: "No, by the One who sent you with the truth, I have not seen anything in her for which I would blame her, except that she is a young girl who falls asleep, and the goat comes and eats the dough." When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up, he ascended the pulpit, praised and extolled Allah, and then said: "To proceed: O Muslims, who will excuse me (in taking action) regarding a man whose harm concerning my wife has reached me? By Allah, I have known nothing about my wife but good, and they have mentioned a man about whom I have also known nothing but good, and he only used to come to my house with me." At this, Sa'd bin Mu'adh stood up and said: "O Messenger of Allah, I will excuse you regarding him. If he is from the tribe of al-Aws, I will strike off his head, and if he is from our brothers of al-Khazraj, we will carry out whatever you command us." At this, Sa'd bin Ubadah stood up (and before that he had been a righteous man, but tribal zeal overcame him) and he said to Sa'd bin Mu'adh: "You have lied! By Allah, you will not kill him, nor do you have the power to kill him." At this, Usayd bin Hudayr said: "You have lied! By Allah, they will certainly kill him." At this, both tribes, al-Aws and al-Khazraj, flared up, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) kept calming them and quietening them until they fell silent. I wept that night; my tears did not stop and no sleep came to me. My parents stayed with me until morning, and they thought that the weeping would split my liver. The two of them were with me and I was weeping when a woman of the Ansar asked permission, came in and began weeping with me. We were in this state when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to me and then sat down (by Allah, he (peace and blessings be upon him) had not sat with me since what had been said about me). Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) recited the testimony of faith and said: "To proceed: O Aishah, this and that has reached me. If you have committed a sin, then confess it, repent to Allah and seek forgiveness, for when a servant confesses a sin and then repents, Allah accepts his repentance." When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had finished speaking, my tears dried up so completely that I did not feel a single drop. I said: "Mother, answer the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." She said: "By Allah, I do not know what answer to give the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." I said: "Father, answer the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." He said: "By Allah, I do not know what answer to give the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." So I, while I was a young girl who did not read much of the Qur'an, said: "By Allah, you have heard this thing in such a way that it has become fixed in your hearts and you have believed it. If I say that I am innocent (and Allah knows that I am innocent), you will not believe me. And I find no example for me and for you except the saying of the father of Yusuf: 'So beautiful patience is best, and it is Allah whose help is sought against what you describe' [Surah Yusuf: 18]." Then I turned my face towards the wall (and Allah knows that I am innocent), and in my own eyes I was far too insignificant for Allah to send down any revelation and recited speech about me; rather, I was thinking that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would see a dream through which Allah would declare my innocence. By Allah, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not rise from his place, nor did any of the household go out, until the same intense state that used to come over him when revelation came down came over him (peace and blessings be upon him), until drops of sweat like pearls began to drip from him (peace and blessings be upon him) even on a winter day, because of the weight of the revelation. Then that state passed from him (peace and blessings be upon him), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) was smiling, and he said: "O Aishah, listen! By Allah, Allah has declared your innocence." My mother said to me: "Get up and go to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." I said: "By Allah, I will not get up and go to him, nor will I praise anyone but Allah." And the one who took the greatest part in this matter was Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul. Abu Bakr used to spend on Mistah bin Uthathah because of his kinship and his being an orphan, and Abu Bakr said: "By Allah, I will never spend anything on Mistah again." At this Allah revealed this verse: "And let not those of virtue and means among you swear. Do you not wish that Allah should forgive you?" [Surah al-Nur: 22]. So Abu Bakr said: "Yes indeed, O my Lord!" and then he restored Mistah's allowance.