Mu'jam Kabir Tabarani 19472 — Indeed, those who brought the slander

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "Indeed, those who brought the slander are a group from among you" means that those who brought this slander — that is, the lie against Sayyidah Aishah, the Mother of the Believers — were four people from among you. "Do not think it bad for you; rather, it is good for you" [Surah An-Nur: 11], meaning good for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), a declaration of innocence for the leader of the believing women (Sayyidah Aishah), and good also for Abu Bakr, for Sayyidah Aishah's mother and for Safwan bin al-Mu'attal. "For every person among them is the sin he has earned, and the one who took upon himself the greater part of it" [Surah An-Nur: 11], meaning spreading this accusation, "from among them" [Surah An-Nur: 11], meaning Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul, "will have a great punishment" [Surah An-Nur: 11], meaning in this world, in that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him eighty lashes, and in the Hereafter his abode is Hell. "Why, when you heard it" [Surah An-Nur: 12], meaning why, when you heard it, did not "the believing men and believing women think well of their own selves and say: This is an obvious slander" [Surah An-Nur: 12]. The reason for this was that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sought counsel about it, and they (some people) spoke well and said: O Messenger of Allah, this is a lie and a falsehood. And "the believing women" refers to Sayyidah Zaynab — the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) — and Barirah, the freed slave-woman of Sayyidah Aishah, and all the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); they said: This is a tremendous lie. Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, says: "Why did they (the accusers) not bring four witnesses to it?" meaning that if they had brought four witnesses to it, they and those who testified would all have been deemed liars. "And since they did not bring the witnesses, it is they who are the liars in the sight of Allah" [Surah An-Nur: 13], meaning sheer lying. "And had it not been for the favour of Allah upon you and His mercy in this world and the Hereafter" [Surah An-Nur: 14], meaning had Allah not shown you kindness and concealed your faults, "you would have been touched, because of what you indulged in" [Surah An-Nur: 14], meaning because of this lie, "by a great punishment" [Surah An-Nur: 11], meaning a punishment that would never cease. "When you received it with your tongues from one another and said with your mouths that of which you had no knowledge" [Surah An-Nur: 15], meaning Allah knows the opposite of it, "and you thought it insignificant, while in the sight of Allah it was tremendous" [Surah An-Nur: 15], meaning that you accused the leader of the believing women and the wife of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and attributed to her what was not in her and what had never even crossed her heart, whereas I (Allah) created her pure and protected her from every evil. "And why, when you heard it, did you not say: It is not for us to speak of this; Glory be to You! This is a tremendous slander" [Surah An-Nur: 16]; "slander" means a false accusation, as Allah said about Sayyidah Maryam: "And for their saying against Maryam a tremendous slander" [Surah An-Nisa: 156]. "Allah admonishes you never to return to the like of it" [Surah An-Nur: 17], meaning Mistah bin Uthathah, Hamnah bint Jahsh and Hassan bin Thabit, "if you are believers" [Surah Al-Baqarah: 91], meaning if you affirm the truth of Allah and His Messenger. "And Allah makes the verses clear to you" [Surah An-Nur: 18], meaning the verses which Allah revealed concerning Sayyidah Aishah and her innocence, "and Allah is All-Knowing" [Surah An-Nur: 18] of the remorse in your hearts over what you had indulged in, "All-Wise" [Surah An-Nur: 18], in that He decreed eighty lashes for false accusation. "Indeed, those who love that indecency should spread among the believers" [Surah An-Nur: 19], meaning even after this, "among those who believe" [Surah An-Nur: 19], meaning among the chaste men and women who affirm the truth, "will have a painful punishment" [Surah An-Nur: 19], "in this world and the Hereafter" [Surah An-Nur: 19], meaning lashes in this world and the punishment of Hell in the Hereafter. "And Allah knows and you do not know" [Surah Al-Baqarah: 216], meaning the evil of the wrong you fell into and the severe punishment it carries, and you do not know the severity of Allah's intense anger towards whoever does such a thing. "And had it not been for the favour of Allah upon you and His mercy" [Surah An-Nur: 21], meaning had it not been for Allah's favour upon you and His mercy on your remorse — meaning (the remorse) of Mistah, Hamnah and Hassan — "and that Allah is Most Kind, Most Merciful", meaning out of mercy, kind towards you since you felt remorse and returned to the truth. "O you who believe" [Surah An-Nur: 21], meaning those who affirmed the Oneness of Allah, "do not follow the footsteps of Satan" [Surah An-Nur: 21], meaning the slips, "for he commands indecency and wrongdoing" [Surah An-Nur: 21]; "indecency" means disobedience to Allah, and "wrongdoing" means everything that Allah dislikes. "And had it not been for the favour of Allah upon you and His mercy" [Surah An-Nur: 21], meaning the kindness and mercy Allah showed you, "not one of you would ever have been purified" [Surah An-Nur: 21], meaning the repentance of none of you would ever have been accepted, "but Allah purifies whom He wills" [Surah An-Nur: 21], meaning I (Allah) willed to accept your repentance, "and Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing" [Surah An-Nur: 21], meaning hearing your words, knowing the remorse and repentance in your hearts. "And let them not swear" [Surah An-Nur: 22], meaning let him not swear an oath, "those of virtue and means among you", meaning let Abu Bakr not swear that he will not spend on Mistah, "that they will not give (anything) to relatives, the poor and those who emigrated in the cause of Allah; and let them pardon and overlook" [Surah An-Nur: 22]. O Abu Bakr, I have placed virtue in you, and I have given you means, knowledge of Allah and the upholding of family ties; so, O Abu Bakr, show kindness to Mistah, for he is related to you, he has the honour of emigration and of poverty, he was present at Badr, and I (Allah) had accepted that from you. "Do you not love" [Surah An-Nur: 22], O Abu Bakr, "that Allah should forgive you?" [Surah An-Nur: 22], meaning so forgive Mistah, "and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful", meaning I forgive whoever errs and I am merciful to My friends. "Indeed, those who accuse chaste women" [Surah An-Nur: 23], meaning virtuous women, "unaware, believing women" [Surah An-Nur: 23], meaning women who affirm the Oneness of Allah and His messengers. And Hassan bin Thabit had said about Sayyidah Aishah, the Mother of the Believers: "She is chaste and dignified, no suspicion is ever cast upon her, and she stays hungry of the flesh (backbiting) of unsuspecting women." Sayyidah Aishah said to him: But you, O Hassan, are not like that. "They are cursed in this world and the Hereafter, and they will have a great punishment" [Surah An-Nur: 23], meaning they were put out of faith, as He said in Surah Al-Ahzab about the hypocrites: "Accursed, wherever they are found they will be seized and killed with a (thorough) slaughter." "And the one who took upon himself the greater part of it among them" [Surah An-Nur: 11], meaning the greater part of the accusation and of spreading it; this refers to the accursed Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul. "On the Day when their tongues, their hands and their feet will testify against them as to what they used to do" [Surah An-Nur: 24], meaning that Allah will seal their tongues, and the limbs (of the body) will speak and testify against their owners. The reason for this is that they used to say: Come, let us swear by Allah that we were not polytheists; so Allah will seal their tongues and the limbs will speak of their deeds, then after that their tongues too will testify against them; meaning He will give them the true recompense for their deeds — just as He rewards His friends with reward, so He will recompense His enemies with punishment — as He said in Surah Al-Fatihah: "Master of the Day of Recompense", meaning the Day of Requital; and on the Day of Resurrection they will know that Allah alone is the Truth, the One who makes manifest. The reason for this is that Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul had doubts about the religion and was the chief of the hypocrites, and that is Allah's saying: "On that Day Allah will pay them in full their true recompense" [Surah An-Nur: 25], and Ibn Salul will know on the Day of Resurrection that Allah alone is the Truth, the One who makes manifest — meaning on that day doubt will end and certainty will come, when certainty will be of no benefit to him. He said: "Evil women are for evil men, and evil men are for evil women" [Surah An-Nur: 26], meaning people like Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul and whoever has doubts about Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, and accuses one such as the leader of the women of all the worlds. Then He said: "And good women are for good men" [Surah An-Nur: 26]: Sayyidah Aishah, whom Allah made pure for His Messenger (peace be upon him). Jibril (peace be upon him) brought her in a piece of silk before she was formed in her mother's womb, and said to him (peace and blessings be upon him): This is Aishah bint Abi Bakr, your wife in this world and your wife in Paradise, in place of Khadijah bint Khuwaylid — and this was at the time of her (Sayyidah Khadijah's) death — so the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was pleased with her and his (peace and blessings be upon him) eyes were comforted. Then He said: "And good men are for good women" [Surah An-Nur: 26], meaning the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), whom Allah made pure for Himself and made the leader of the children of Adam, and "good women" refers to Sayyidah Aishah. "Those are declared innocent of what they say", meaning a declaration of innocence from Allah against the lie of Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul, "for them is forgiveness" [Surah Al-Ma'idah: 9], meaning protection in this world and forgiveness in the Hereafter, "and a noble provision" [Surah An-Nur: 26], meaning the provision of Paradise and an immense reward.