Mu'jam Kabir Tabarani 19453 — People talked about this matter

Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: People talked about this matter and the news spread, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) delivered a sermon about it, and I was not even aware of it. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), with some of his Companions, went to a Nubian slave girl of mine and said: "What do you know about Aishah?" She said: "I know no fault in her except that she falls asleep and the goat comes and eats her leaven and her mat." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "That is not what I am asking you about." She said: "Then what are you asking about?" When she understood, she said: "Subhan Allah! I know of Aishah only what the goldsmith knows of pure red gold." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came out, praised and extolled Allah, and then said: "O Muslims, advise me about a people who have slandered my wife, though I have never known any evil about them, and they have accused them with a man about whom too, by Allah, I have never known any evil. I never went on a journey except that he was with me, and he never entered my house except when I was present." At this, Sa'd bin Mu'adh said: "My view is that their necks should be struck." At this, a man of al-Khazraj said: "You have lied! By Allah, if they had been from your own tribe, you would not have ordered them to be killed." Hassan was from al-Khazraj. Matters reached the point that a quarrel broke out between al-Aws and al-Khazraj in the mosque. Among those who spread this talk were Hassan bin Thabit, Mistah bin Uthathah and Hamnah bint Jahsh, along with some others, and they would mention it in the presence of Abdullah bin Ubayy, who would hear it, fan it further and spread it. Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: One night I went out with the mother of Mistah for my need. We were walking when she fell and said: "May Mistah perish!" I said: "Subhan Allah! Why do you revile your son Mistah, when he is one of the first Muhajirun and took part in Badr?" Then she walked for a while, fell again and said the same thing, and I gave her the same reply again. She said: "By Allah, I revile him only because of you." I asked: "What is my matter?" So she told me the whole thing. I finished my need and came back, and a fever came over me. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came and said: "Aishah, what is the matter with you?" I said: "It is a fever; permit me to go to my parents." He (peace and blessings be upon him) gave me permission and I went. I saw that my mother was downstairs and my father was upstairs praying. My mother asked: "Aishah, what has happened to you?" I said: "The mother of Mistah has told me such and such." She said: "Have you only now come to know of it?" I began to weep, and she began to weep too. My father heard the weeping and asked: "What has happened to my daughter?" My mother said: "She has only just learnt of this matter." He said: "My daughter, go back to your house; we will come to you tomorrow morning." The next day he came, and a woman of the Ansar was sitting with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), but her presence did not stop the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) from speaking. He (peace and blessings be upon him) praised and extolled Allah, and then said: "To proceed: O Aishah, if you have done some evil or made some mistake, then seek Allah's forgiveness and repent." I said to my father: "You speak." He said: "What shall I say?" I said to my mother: "You speak." She too said: "What shall I say?" So I praised and extolled Allah, and then said: "To proceed: By Allah, if I say to you that I have done this thing (while Allah knows that I have not done it), you will say that she has confessed, though I have not done it. And if I say that I have not done it (while Allah knows that I have not done it), you will say that she has lied. And I find no example for me and for you except the saying of that righteous servant: 'So beautiful patience is best, and it is Allah whose help is sought against what you describe' [Surah Yusuf: 18]." At this, revelation came down upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Then, when (the state of revelation) passed, I saw joy between his (peace and blessings be upon him) eyes. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Aishah, rejoice, rejoice! Allah has sent down your vindication." And he (peace and blessings be upon him) recited the Qur'an (the verses). My parents said: "Get up and kiss the head of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." I said: "I praise Allah, not the two of you." Mistah was a relative of Abu Bakr and an orphan under his guardianship, and Abu Bakr swore that he would not spend anything on him. So Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, revealed this verse: "And let not those of virtue and means among you swear" to the end of the verse. And whenever Hassan was reviled in her presence, she would say: "Do not revile him, for he used to defend the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). And what punishment could be greater than the loss of the sight of both his eyes? That is a great punishment."