Mu'jam Kabir Tabarani 19454 — When what was said about me was said

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her); she said: When what was said about me was said, and I did not know of it, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up to deliver a sermon about me. He recited the testimony of faith, praised and extolled Allah as befits Him, and then said: "To proceed: advise me about the people who have slandered my family. By Allah, I have never known any evil about my family, and they have accused them with a man about whom too, by Allah, I have never known any evil. He never entered my house except in my presence, and I was never away on a journey except that he was away with me." At this, Sa'd bin Mu'adh stood up and said: "O Messenger of Allah, our view is that we should strike their necks." At this, a man of al-Khazraj stood up (and the mother of Hassan bin Thabit was from that man's clan) and said: "You have lied! Listen, by Allah, if they had been from al-Aws, you would not have liked to order their necks to be struck." At this, evil was about to break out between al-Aws and al-Khazraj in the mosque, and I knew nothing of it. When the evening of that day came, I went out for some need of mine, and the mother of Mistah was with me. She fell and said: "May Mistah perish!" I rebuked her and said: "Do you revile your own son?" She said: "By Allah, I revile him only because of you." I asked: "In what matter of mine?" So she told me the whole thing. I asked: "Did this really happen?" She said: "Yes, by Allah." I returned to my house as if the need for which I had gone out had not been fulfilled at all; I felt no relief from it, and a fever came over me. I said to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): "Send me to my father's house." He (peace and blessings be upon him) sent a servant boy with me. I entered the house and found Umm Ruman downstairs, while Abu Bakr was upstairs reciting the Qur'an. My mother said: "My daughter, what has brought you?" I told her the whole thing. It did not affect her as it had affected me. She said: "My daughter, take this matter lightly, for by Allah, it rarely happens that a beautiful woman, whose husband loves her and who also has co-wives, is not envied and talked about." I asked: "Does my father also know of it?" She said: "Yes." I asked: "And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) too?" She said: "Yes." At this, tears came to my eyes and I began to weep. Abu Bakr heard my voice while he was upstairs reciting the Qur'an. He came down and asked my mother: "What has happened to her?" She said: "What has been said about her has reached her." His eyes filled with tears, and he said: "My daughter, I adjure you to go back to your house." So I went back. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to my house and asked my servant girl about me. She said: "By Allah, I know no fault in her except that she falls asleep and the goat comes and eats her leaven or her dough." Some of his Companions rebuked her and said: "Tell the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) the truth." She said: "Subhan Allah! I know of her only what the goldsmith knows of red gold." This reached the man about whom this accusation had been made, and he said: "Subhan Allah! I have never uncovered a woman." Sayyidah Aishah said: And he was killed as a martyr in the path of Allah. My parents came to me in the morning and stayed with me continuously, until the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to me after praying Asr, while my parents were sitting on my right and my left. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recited the testimony of faith, praised and extolled Allah as befits Him, and then said: "To proceed: O Aishah, if you have committed some evil or wrong, then repent to Allah, for Allah accepts the repentance of His servants." A woman of the Ansar had come and was sitting at the door. I said: "Do you not feel shy before this woman to mention anything?" The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) continued his admonition. I turned to my father and said: "Answer him." He said: "What shall I say?" I turned to my mother and said: "Answer him." She too said: "What shall I say?" When neither of them answered, I recited the testimony of faith, praised and extolled Allah as befits Him, and then said: "To proceed: By Allah, if I say to you that I have not done this thing (while Allah is witness that I am truthful), it will not benefit me at all in your eyes; you have already spoken about it and let it soak into your hearts. And if I say that I have done it (while Allah is witness that I have not done it), you will certainly say that she has confessed against herself. Allah is witness that I have not done it. By Allah, I find no example for me and for you." I searched for the name of Ya'qub but could not recall it, so I said: "except the father of Yusuf, when he said: 'So beautiful patience is best, and it is Allah whose help is sought against what you describe' [Surah Yusuf: 18]." At that very moment revelation came down upon the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Then that state passed, and I clearly saw joy on his (peace and blessings be upon him) face as he wiped his forehead and said: "Rejoice, O Aishah! Allah has declared you innocent with your vindication." At that moment I was angrier than I had ever been. My parents said: "Get up and go to him." I said: "By Allah, I will not get up and go to him, nor will I praise him, nor the two of you; rather, I will praise Allah who has sent down my vindication. You heard this thing and did not reject it; but I praise Allah who has sent down my vindication." As for Sayyidah Zaynab bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with her), Allah protected her because of her religion, and she said nothing but good. As for her sister Hamnah, she was among those who were ruined. Those who spoke of this were Mistah bin Uthathah, Hassan bin Thabit, Hamnah and the hypocrite Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul; it was he who fanned it and gathered people, and it was he who took the greatest part in it (the slander). Abu Bakr swore that he would never again benefit Mistah in any way, so Allah revealed this verse: "And let not those of virtue and means among you" (meaning Abu Bakr) "swear that they will not give to their relatives and the poor" [Surah al-Nur: 22] (meaning Mistah) "Do you not love that Allah should forgive you? And Allah is Forgiving, Merciful" [Surah al-Nur: 22]. So Abu Bakr said: "Yes indeed, by Allah, O our Lord, we do love to be forgiven." So he went back to spending on him as he used to benefit him before.