Musnad of Aishah

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), concerning this saying of Allah Almighty: "And those who give what they give while their hearts tremble (with fear) that they will return to their Lord", said: "O daughter of al-Siddiq! (or he said: O daughter of Abu Bakr!) These are the people who pray and fast while they fear that these deeds may not be accepted from them, and who give charity while they fear that these charities may not be accepted from them."

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever sleeps after Asr and his mind is taken away, let him blame no one (for that loss) but himself."

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that Sayyiduna Hamzah bin Amr al-Aslami (may Allah be pleased with him) asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! Shall I fast while travelling?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If you wish, fast, and if you wish, do not fast (that is, break your fast)."

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Aishah! If I had wished, mountains of gold would have walked along with me. An angel came to me whose waist-band was equal to the Ka'bah, and he said: Indeed, your Lord sends you greetings of peace and says to you: If you wish, become a Prophet who is a servant, and if you wish, become a Prophet who is a king." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I looked at Jibril, and he signalled to me to adopt humility and lowliness, so I said: (I prefer to remain) a Prophet who is a servant." Sa'id (may Allah have mercy on him) said: After that, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) never ate while reclining, and he would say: "I eat as a servant eats, and I sit as a servant sits."

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) fixed the waiting period (iddah) of Sayyidah Barirah (may Allah be pleased with her), when her husband separated from her, "as the same as the waiting period of a divorced woman."

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: "I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) during his prayer seeking refuge from the trial of the False Messiah (al-Masih al-Dajjal)."

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that a leather pouch containing beads was brought to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) distributed its beads among free people and slave women. Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: My father too used to give a share to both the free and the slave.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) "divided Surah al-Baqarah over two rak'ahs."

It is narrated from the Mother of the Believers, Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), that it was mentioned before her that some people say: "The ritual bath (ghusl) is not (obligatory) except from the water (the emission of semen)." She (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and I did that (intercourse), and then we both took the ritual bath."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that in a gathering of learning in which I too was present, the things that make the ritual bath (ghusl) obligatory were discussed. Some people said: "When a man has intercourse (with a woman)," and some said: "(Ghusl is not obligatory) until the water (semen) is emitted." (Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said:) I said: "I will bring you certain knowledge of this." Then I went to the Mother of the Believers, Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), and said to her: "O Mother of the Believers! I want to ask you about a matter, but I feel shy to ask you about it." She said: "Do not be shy to ask me about what you could ask your own mother, for I am indeed your mother." I said: "O my mother! What makes the ritual bath obligatory?" She said: "You have come to the right and well-informed person. When the man sits between her four limbs (arms and legs) and the two circumcised parts meet, the ritual bath has certainly become obligatory."

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), when the people of the slander said about her what they said, and then Allah Almighty declared her innocent of it. Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri (may Allah have mercy on him) said: All these narrators (Urwah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah have mercy on him), Sa'id bin al-Musayyib (may Allah have mercy on him), Alqamah bin Waqqas al-Laythi (may Allah have mercy on him) and Ubaydullah bin Abdullah bin Utbah (may Allah have mercy on him)) each narrated to me a portion of this hadith of Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her). Some of them retained this hadith better than others and narrated it more firmly, and I memorised from each of them the hadith he narrated to me from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), and their narrations confirm one another. They state that Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) intended to travel, he would cast lots among his pure wives, and whichever one's name came out, he would take her with him on the journey." She said: "On the occasion of a military expedition which he (peace and blessings be upon him) undertook, he (peace and blessings be upon him) cast lots among us and my name came out, so I set out with him (peace and blessings be upon him). This happened after the commands of hijab had been revealed. I would be mounted while seated in a howdah and lowered down in it. We travelled on until, when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had finished that expedition of his and returned, and we had come near Madinah, he (peace and blessings be upon him) announced one night that we would set off. When the departure was announced, I got up and walked until I had gone beyond the army. When I had finished my need, I turned back towards my mount. I put my hand on my chest and found that a necklace of mine, made of Zafar beads, had broken and fallen somewhere. I turned back to look for it, and searching for it delayed me. Meanwhile, the people who were responsible for my mount came, lifted my howdah and placed it on the camel I used to ride, thinking that I was inside it. In those days women were light; their bodies were not heavy and not much flesh covered them, because they ate very little food. So those people did not notice its lightness when they lifted the howdah, and I was a young girl. They raised the camel and set off. I found my necklace after the army had departed. I came to their camping place, and not a single person was there. So I made for the very spot where I had been staying, and thought that when they did not find me, they would come back here looking for me. While I was sitting in my place, my eyes overcame me and I fell asleep. Sayyiduna Safwan bin al-Mu'attal al-Sulami al-Dhakwani (may Allah be pleased with him) was assigned to the rear of the army (to look after anything dropped or left behind). He reached my place in the morning and saw the shape of a person. He came to me; he had seen me before the command of hijab. When he recognised me, I woke up at his saying aloud: 'Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un' (We belong to Allah and to Him we return), and I immediately covered my face with my outer sheet. By Allah! No word passed between us, nor did I hear any word from his tongue except his saying of istirja', until he made his she-camel kneel and pressed down its foreleg with his foot so that I could mount. Then he walked ahead, leading the she-camel by its rein, until we caught up with the army at the very height of the midday heat, when they had halted to rest. Then whoever was to be ruined was ruined, and the one who took the greater share of this slander was Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul (the hypocrite). Then, when we reached Madinah, I was ill for a month, and the people were busy with the talk of the slanderers while I had not the slightest knowledge of it. However, during my illness one thing made me uneasy: I did not see from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) the kindness and care I usually saw in days of illness. He (peace and blessings be upon him) would come in, give the greeting of peace and only ask: 'How is this one?' Only this made me uneasy, but I did not learn of the real matter until I recovered. Then I and the daughter of Abu Ruhm, Sayyidah Umm Mistah (may Allah be pleased with her), went out towards al-Manasi' (the place outside Madinah for relieving oneself). We used to go out only at night, and this was in the days before we had made toilets near our houses; our way was like that of the early Arabs, going out to open grounds or far-off places. I and Sayyidah Umm Mistah bint Abi Ruhm (may Allah be pleased with her) were coming back walking when suddenly she tripped over her cloak and fell, and the words came from her tongue: 'May Mistah perish!' I said to her: 'What an evil thing you have said! Are you speaking ill of a man who took part in the Battle of Badr?' She said: 'O simple girl! Have you not heard what those people have said?' Then she told me what the slanderers were saying, and my illness increased further. When I returned to my house, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came and asked: 'How is this one?' I said: 'Will you permit me to go to my parents?' My intention was to find out the truth of this news from them. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) permitted me, so I came to my parents and asked my mother: 'Mother! What are the people talking about?' She said: 'My daughter! Do not take this matter so heavily upon yourself. By Allah! It rarely happens that a husband has a beautiful wife like her whom he loves, and she has co-wives, without them finding fault with her.' I said: 'Subhan Allah! Has this talk really spread among the people?' I spent that whole night in such a state that until morning my tears did not stop, nor did sleep come to me. In the morning, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) called Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Usamah bin Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him), because the revelation had been delayed; he (peace and blessings be upon him) was consulting them both about separating from his wife. Sayyiduna Usamah bin Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) gave the advice based on what he knew of the innocence of his (peace and blessings be upon him) household and of the love he had for her in his heart. He said: 'O Messenger of Allah! She is your wife, and by Allah, we know nothing about her but good.' As for Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him), he said: 'O Messenger of Allah! Allah has not put you in any difficulty, and there are many women besides her. Ask her slave girl; she will tell you the truth.' So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) called Sayyidah Barirah (may Allah be pleased with her) and asked: 'O Barirah! Have you seen anything in her that makes you doubtful?' Sayyidah Barirah (may Allah be pleased with her) replied: 'No, by the One who sent you with the truth! I have never seen anything in her for which I could find fault with her, except that she is a young girl who kneads the dough and falls asleep, and the household goat comes and eats it.' That same day the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up and, seeking help in the matter of Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul, said: 'Who will defend me against the evil of a man whose harm has now reached my family? By Allah! I know nothing about my wife but good, and they have named a man about whom too I know nothing but good; he never entered my house except with me.' At this Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) stood up and said: 'O Messenger of Allah! By Allah, I will defend you against his evil. If he is from the tribe of Aws, we will strike off his head, and if he is from our brothers the Khazraj, we will carry out whatever you command.' Hearing this, Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him), who was the chief of the Khazraj, stood up. Before this he was a righteous man, but at that moment tribal zeal overcame him. 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.' Then Sayyiduna Usayd bin Hudayr (may Allah be pleased with him) stood up and said: 'You are the liar! By Allah, we will certainly kill him. You are a hypocrite, arguing on behalf of the hypocrites.' At this the two tribes, Aws and Khazraj, became so enraged that they were ready to fight, while the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was on the pulpit. He (peace and blessings be upon him) came down from the pulpit and calmed them until they fell silent, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) too fell silent. I wept the whole day; my tears did not stop and sleep did not come. In the morning my parents came to me. I had been weeping like this for two nights and a day, so that I felt the weeping would split my liver. They were both sitting with me and I was weeping when a woman of the Ansar asked permission to come in. I gave her permission, and she too sat down and began weeping with me. We were in this state when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came in and sat down. He (peace and blessings be upon him) had not sat with me since this thing was said; a month had passed and no revelation had come down to him (peace and blessings be upon him) concerning my matter. He (peace and blessings be upon him) recited the testimony of faith (tashahhud) and then said: 'To proceed: O Aishah! Such and such has reached me about you. If you are innocent, Allah will soon make your innocence clear; and if you have committed a slip, then seek Allah's forgiveness and repent to Him, for when a servant confesses his 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 could not feel a single drop. I said to my father: 'Answer the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on my behalf.' He said: 'By Allah! I do not know what to answer the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).' Then I asked my mother to answer, and she too said: 'By Allah! I do not know what to say to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).' I said (and I was a young girl and had not read much of the Qur'an): 'By Allah! I know that you people have heard this thing, that it has settled in your hearts and that you have believed it. Now if I say that I am innocent (and Allah knows that I am certainly innocent), you will not believe me; and if I confess to something of which Allah knows I am innocent, you will believe it. By Allah! My example and yours is just like what the father of Yusuf (peace be upon him) (Sayyiduna Ya'qub (peace be upon him)) said: "So patience is most fitting, and it is Allah whose help is sought against what you describe."' Then I turned over and lay down on my bed. I hoped that Allah would make my innocence clear, but by Allah! I never even imagined that revelation would come down about me that would be recited until the Day of Resurrection. I considered myself far too insignificant to be mentioned in the Qur'an. I only hoped that the Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would be shown some vision in his sleep by which Allah would declare me innocent. By Allah! He (peace and blessings be upon him) had not yet risen from his place, nor had any member of the household gone out, when the revelation began to come down upon him (peace and blessings be upon him). The same intensity of revelation came over him (peace and blessings be upon him) as used to come, so that even on a cold day drops of sweat fell like pearls from his (peace and blessings be upon him) blessed body. When this state left the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), he (peace and blessings be upon him) was smiling, and the first words that came from his (peace and blessings be upon him) blessed tongue were: 'O Aishah! Praise Allah, for He has declared you innocent.' My mother said to me: 'Get up and go to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) (and thank him).' I said: 'By Allah! I will not get up and go to him, and I will praise and thank none but Allah.' Allah Almighty revealed these verses: "Indeed, those who came with the slander are a group among you." When Allah revealed these verses about my innocence, Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him), who used to spend on Sayyiduna Mistah bin Uthathah (may Allah be pleased with him) because of his kinship with him, said: 'By Allah! After what Mistah has said about Aishah, I will never give him anything again.' Then Allah Almighty revealed this verse: "And let not those among you who are people of virtue and means swear not to give to relatives, the poor and those who emigrated in the path of Allah, and let them pardon and overlook. Do you not love that Allah should forgive you? And Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful." Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said (on hearing this): 'Yes indeed! By Allah, I certainly love that Allah should forgive me.' So he resumed for Sayyiduna Mistah (may Allah be pleased with him) the allowance he used to give him before. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had also asked Sayyidah Zaynab bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with her) about my matter: 'O Zaynab! What do you know, and what have you seen?' She said: 'O Messenger of Allah! I protect my ears and my eyes; by Allah, I know nothing about her (Aishah) but good.' Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "She (Zaynab) was the one who used to rival me (in status), but Allah protected her because of her piety and God-fearing."

Something similar (like the previous hadith) is also narrated from al-Qasim bin Muhammad bin Abi Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him).

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) and Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them both) that they too narrated a hadith like it.

Fulayh (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates: I heard a group of the people of knowledge say: "Indeed, the prescribed punishment (hadd) was carried out on those who spread the slander in the incident of the Ifk." But we have no knowledge of that (being sound or having happened).

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the people began to talk about this matter (the incident of the Ifk) and it spread among them, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up and delivered a sermon, while I was completely unaware of it. She said: One night I went out with Umm Mistah (may Allah be pleased with her) to relieve myself, and she stumbled, at which she said: "May Mistah perish!" I said: "Subhan Allah! Are you speaking ill of your own son, when he is one of the first Muhajirun and also took part in the Battle of Badr?" She said: By Allah! I speak ill of him only because of your matter. I asked: What is my matter? Then she told me about this affair, and my need left me altogether and I no longer felt it at all. Then I came down with fever and came home. I saw that my mother was downstairs and my father, Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), was praying on the roof of the house. My mother embraced me; she began to weep and I too began to weep. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) heard our weeping and asked: What is the matter with my daughter? My mother said: She has learned of that news. He said: Stay here until we go with you in the morning to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). So in the morning we went to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and a woman of the Ansar was also present there, but her presence did not stop the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) from speaking, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Aishah! If you have done something evil or committed a slip, then seek Allah's forgiveness and repent to Him." I said to my father: Answer (him). He said: What shall I say? Then I said to my mother: Answer (him). She too said: What shall I say? Then I praised and glorified Allah and said: By Allah! If I say that I did it (though Allah knows that I did not do it), you will all say that she has confessed; and if I say that I did not do it (though Allah knows that I did not do it), you will all say that she has lied. So I find for myself and for you only the example that righteous servant gave (at that moment I had forgotten his name, so I said Abu Yusuf): "So patience is most fitting, and it is Allah whose help is sought against what you describe." Meanwhile, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) went to a Nubian slave girl and asked: "O so-and-so! What do you know about Aishah?" She said: By Allah! I find no fault in Aishah except that she falls asleep, and the tame goat comes in and eats her kneaded dough and her mat. Then, when she realised what he (peace and blessings be upon him) wanted to ask, she said: By Allah! I know of Aishah only what a goldsmith knows of pure red gold. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ascended the pulpit and said: "O Muslims! Advise me about the people who have slandered my family. By Allah! I have never known any evil in my family. And the man (Sayyiduna Safwan (may Allah be pleased with him)) with whom they have slandered them, by Allah! I have never known any evil in him either. He never entered my house except in my presence, and I never travelled without him being with me." At this Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Messenger of Allah! My view is that you should strike off their necks. Then some men of the Khazraj stood up and said: By Allah! Had they been from your tribe, the Aws, you would not have ordered their necks to be struck off. It came close to fighting breaking out between the Aws and the Khazraj, when meanwhile revelation began to come down upon the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: When the state of revelation passed, I saw a glimpse of joy on his (peace and blessings be upon him) blessed face. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Aishah! Rejoice, for Allah has revealed your innocence." My parents said to me: Get up and kiss the blessed head of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). I said: I praise Allah, not the two of you. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) recited these verses of the Qur'an to them: "Indeed, those who came with the slander are a group among you. Do not think it bad for you; rather, it is good for you. For every man among them is what he has earned of the sin, and the one among them who took the greater part of it will have a great punishment." And: "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 great slander!" Among those who took a leading part in this slander were Sayyiduna Hassan bin Thabit, Sayyiduna Mistah bin Uthathah and Sayyidah Hamnah bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with them), while whenever it was talked about in the presence of Abdullah bin Ubayy, he would listen to it attentively, dig it out and spread it. When Sayyiduna Hassan bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) was spoken ill of in front of Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), she would say: Do not speak ill of Hassan, for he used to defend the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Then she would say: What punishment could be greater than the loss of his eyesight? And the man (Sayyiduna Safwan (may Allah be pleased with him)) about whom these things were said had said: By Allah! I have never uncovered the covering of any woman. And he was killed as a martyr in the path of Allah. Sayyiduna Hassan bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him), refuting his own earlier words, composed these verses: "She is chaste and dignified; no suspicion can be cast upon her. She remains entirely free of eating the flesh of unsuspecting women by backbiting them. If I had said what you claim, then may my fingers never lift my whip. How could that be, when my love and support all my life are for the family of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), who are the adornment of every gathering? Could I insult the one who is the best of people as a husband, as a father and in his own self? If I did so, I would be brought down to the worst of places."

It is narrated from Urwah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah have mercy on him) that "the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave eighty lashes each to those who had slandered Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), and those (who were punished) were Sayyiduna Hassan bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna Mistah bin Uthathah (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyidah Hamnah bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with her)." This narration is mursal.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that when the people of the Ifk (the slanderers) said about her what they said, and then Allah Almighty revealed her innocence. Ibn Shihab (may Allah have mercy on him) transmitted this narration from Urwah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah have mercy on him), Sa'id bin al-Musayyib (may Allah have mercy on him), Alqamah bin Waqqas (may Allah have mercy on him) and Ubaydullah bin Abdullah bin Utbah (may Allah have mercy on him), and each of them narrated part of this story. Some of them retained it better than others and narrated it with a finer sequence, and I preserved from each of them the hadith he narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her). Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) intended to travel, he would cast lots among his pure wives, and whichever one's name came out, he would take her with him on the journey." Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "On the occasion of a military expedition he (peace and blessings be upon him) cast lots among us and my name came out, so I set out with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). This happened after the commands of hijab had been revealed. I would be mounted while seated in a howdah and lowered down in it. We travelled on until, when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had finished that expedition of his and turned back, and we had come near Madinah, he (peace and blessings be upon him) announced at night that we would set off. When the departure was announced, I got up and walked until I had gone beyond the army. When I had finished my need, I turned back towards my mount. I put my hand on my chest and found that my necklace of Zafar beads had broken and fallen somewhere. I turned back and began searching for it, and searching for it delayed me." She said: "The people who used to lift my howdah onto the camel came, lifted my howdah and fastened it on the camel I used to ride, thinking that I was inside it. In those days women were light; not much flesh covered them, because we ate very little food. So those people did not notice the lightness of the howdah when they lifted it and placed it on the camel, and I was a young girl. So they drove the camel on and set off. I found my necklace after the army had gone. I came to their camping places, and there was no one there to call or to answer. Then I made for the very spot where I had been staying, and thought that when they did not find me, they would surely come back to me. Meanwhile, as I was sitting in my place, my eyes overcame me and I fell asleep. Sayyiduna Safwan bin al-Mu'attal al-Sulami al-Dhakwani (may Allah be pleased with him) was assigned to the rear of the army (to look after things left behind). He travelled in the last part of the night and reached my place in the morning. He saw the shape of a sleeping person and recognised me as soon as he saw me, because he had seen me before the command of hijab. When, recognising me, he said: 'Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un' (We belong to Allah and to Him we return), I woke up at his voice and covered my face with my outer sheet. By Allah! I did not speak a word to him, nor did I hear any word from his mouth except his saying of istirja', when he made his she-camel kneel and pressed down its foreleg with his foot so that I could mount. I got up and mounted it, and then he set off leading the she-camel by its rein, with me on it, until we reached the army when they had halted to camp." She said: "Then whoever was to be ruined was ruined, and the one who took the foremost part in this slander was Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul." Urwah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I was told that whenever this false news was spread and talked about in his presence, he would approve of it, spread it and dig further into it. Urwah (may Allah have mercy on him) further said: "None of the people of the Ifk were named except Sayyiduna Mistah bin Uthathah (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyidah Hamnah bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with her), along with some other people of whom I have no knowledge, except that they were a group, as Allah Almighty has said; and the greater share of it was said to be that of Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul." Urwah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) disliked that Sayyiduna Hassan bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) be spoken ill of in her presence, and she would say: "He is the one who composed these verses: Indeed, my father, his father and my honour are a shield for the honour of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) against you." Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "Then I reached Madinah and, as soon as I arrived, fell ill for a month. The people were engrossed in the talk of the people of the Ifk while I knew nothing at all of it. However, during my illness one thing made me uneasy: I did not find from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) the kindness and care that I used to see during my illnesses. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would come in to me and only ask: 'How is this one?' and then leave. It was this that made me uneasy, but I did not learn of the real matter until, after recovering, I went out. I went with Sayyidah Umm Mistah (may Allah be pleased with her) towards al-Manasi' (the place for relieving oneself), and that was our place for relieving ourselves. Our way was that of the early Arabs: we disliked making toilets near our houses." She said: "So I and Sayyidah Umm Mistah (may Allah be pleased with her) set off. She was the daughter of Abu Ruhm bin al-Muttalib bin Abd Manaf; her mother was the daughter of Sakhr bin Amir and the maternal aunt of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him); and her son was Sayyiduna Mistah bin Uthathah bin Abbad bin Abd al-Muttalib (may Allah be pleased with him). When we had finished and were coming back towards my house, Sayyidah Umm Mistah (may Allah be pleased with her) tripped over her cloak and fell, and the words came from her tongue: May Mistah be ruined! I said to her: What an evil thing you have said! Are you speaking ill of a man who took part in the Battle of Badr? She said: O simple girl! Have you not heard what he said? I asked: What has he said? So she told me what the people of the Ifk were saying." She said: "(On hearing this) my illness grew worse. When I returned to my house, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came in and asked: 'How is this one?' I said: Will you permit me to go to my parents?" She said: "My intention was to find out the truth of this news from them. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave me permission, so I came to my parents and asked my mother: O dear mother! What are the people talking about? She said: My daughter! Do not be distressed. By Allah! It rarely happens that a husband has a beautiful wife like her whom he loves, and she has co-wives, without them finding fault with her." She said: "I said: Subhan Allah! Have the people really been saying this? Then I wept that night until morning; my tears did not stop and sleep did not come to me. Then morning came and I was still weeping." She said: "Meanwhile, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) called Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Usamah bin Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) to consult them about separating from his wife. Sayyiduna Usamah bin Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) advised the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) according to what he knew of the innocence of his (peace and blessings be upon him) wife and of the affection he held for them in his heart. He said: O Messenger of Allah! She is your wife, and we know nothing about her but good. As for Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), he said: O Messenger of Allah! Allah has not restricted women for you; there are many women besides her. Ask her maidservant; she will tell you the truth." She said: "So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) called Sayyidah Barirah (may Allah be pleased with her) and asked: 'O Barirah! Have you seen anything that would make you doubtful?' Sayyidah Barirah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: By the One who sent you with the truth! I have never seen anything in her for which I could find fault with her, except that she is a young girl who leaves her family's kneaded dough and falls asleep, and the tame goat comes and eats it. That same day the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood on the pulpit and, seeking help in the matter of Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul, said: 'O company of Muslims! Who will help me against a man whose harm has now reached my family? By Allah! I have known nothing in my wife but good, and they have mentioned a man about whom too I know nothing but good; he never entered upon my family except with me.' At this Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him), one of Banu Abd al-Ashhal, stood up and said: O Messenger of Allah! I will help you against him. If he is from the Aws, I will strike off his head, and if he is from our brothers of the Khazraj, you command us and we will carry out what you command us." She said: "Then a man of the Khazraj stood up (the mother of Hassan was his paternal cousin, from his own clan); he was Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him), the chief of the Khazraj. He was a righteous man, but tribal zeal overcame him. He said to Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him): By Allah! You have lied; you will not kill him, nor do you have the power to kill him, and if he were from your own clan you would not want him killed. Then Sayyiduna Usayd bin Hudayr (may Allah be pleased with him), the cousin of Sa'd bin Mu'adh, stood up and said to Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him): By Allah! You are the liar; we will certainly kill him. You are a hypocrite arguing on behalf of the hypocrites." She said: "At this the two tribes, the Aws and the Khazraj, flared up until they were about to fight one another, while the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was sitting on the pulpit. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) kept calming them until they fell silent, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) too fell silent. I wept that whole day; my tears did not stop and sleep did not come. In the morning my parents were with me. I wept that day and night; my tears did not stop and sleep did not come, until I felt that the weeping would split my liver. Meanwhile, while my parents were sitting with me and I was weeping, a woman of the Ansar asked permission to come in. I gave her permission, and she too sat down and began weeping with me. We were in this state when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came in, gave the greeting of peace and sat down." She said: "He (peace and blessings be upon him) had not sat with me since these things began to be said, and a month had passed without any revelation coming down to him (peace and blessings be upon him) concerning my matter. When he sat down, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) recited the testimony of faith (tashahhud) and said: 'To proceed: O Aishah! Such and such has reached me about you. If you are innocent, Allah will soon declare your innocence; and if you have committed a sin, then seek Allah's forgiveness and repent to Him, for when a servant confesses and repents, Allah accepts his repentance.'" She said: "When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had finished speaking, my tears dried up so completely that I could not feel a single drop. I said to my father: Answer the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on my behalf concerning what he has said. He said: By Allah! I do not know what to say to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." She said: "Then I said to my mother: Answer the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on my behalf concerning what he has said. She said: By Allah! I do not know what to say to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." She said: "Then I said (and I was a young girl who did not read much of the Qur'an): By Allah! I know that you have heard this until it has settled in your hearts and you have believed it. So if I tell you that I am innocent, you will not believe me; and if I confess to something of which Allah knows I am innocent, you will believe me. By Allah! I find no example for myself and for you except the father of Yusuf (peace be upon him), when he says: 'So patience is most fitting, and it is Allah whose help is sought against what you describe.'" She said: "Then I turned over and lay down on my bed. Allah knew at that time that I was innocent, and that Allah would declare me innocent because of my innocence. But by Allah! I did not think that Allah would send down revelation about me; my matter was in my own eyes far too insignificant for Allah to speak about me with a clear declaration. I only hoped that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would see a vision in his sleep by which Allah would declare me innocent." She said: "By Allah! The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had not risen from his sitting place, nor had any member of the household gone out, when Allah sent down revelation upon him, and there came over him the intensity that used to come over him, so that sweat poured from him like pearls, even on a cold day, from the weight of the Qur'an that was being revealed to him." She said: "Then this state left the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he was smiling. The first words he spoke were: 'O Aishah! As for Allah, He has declared you innocent.' My mother said: Get up and go to him. I said: By Allah! I will not get up and go to him, and I will praise none but Allah. And Allah revealed: 'Indeed, those who came with the slander are a group among you. Do not think it bad for you' (to the end of) the verses. When Allah revealed this about my innocence, Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him), who used to spend on Sayyiduna Mistah bin Uthathah (may Allah be pleased with him) because of his kinship and his poverty, said: By Allah! I will not spend anything on Mistah after what he said about Aishah. Then Allah revealed: 'And let not those among you who are people of virtue and means swear not to give to relatives' up to His words: 'And Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.' Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Yes indeed, by Allah! I certainly love that Allah should forgive me. So he resumed for Sayyiduna Mistah (may Allah be pleased with him) the allowance he used to spend on him, and said: By Allah! I will never withdraw it from him." She said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had also asked Sayyidah Zaynab bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with her) about my matter. He said to Zaynab: 'What do you know, or what have you seen?' She said: O Messenger of Allah! I protect my hearing and my sight; by Allah, I know nothing but good." Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "Among the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), she was the one who used to rival me, but Allah protected her through her piety, while her sister Hamnah began to fight (on her behalf) and so perished among those who perished." Ibn Shihab (may Allah have mercy on him) said: This is what has reached me of the narration of these people.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said (while mentioning the incident of the slander): "By Allah! The man about whom those (slanderous) things were said used to say (in astonishment): 'Subhan Allah! (Glory be to Allah!) By Allah! I have never uncovered the garment of any woman (that is, I have never had intimate contact with any woman).'" Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: That man was later killed as a martyr in the path of Allah.

Ibn Shihab (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates: Urwah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah have mercy on him), Sa'id bin al-Musayyib (may Allah have mercy on him), Alqamah bin Waqqas (may Allah have mercy on him) and Ubaydullah bin Abdullah bin Utbah (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated to me, from the pure wife of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), the incident when the slanderers slandered her and then Allah Almighty revealed her innocence. Ibn Shihab (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Each of them told me a portion of this incident; some remembered it better than others and their account was firmer. I memorised from all of them the narration of Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that they told me, and their words confirmed one another. All of them state that Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "It was the practice of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that when he (peace and blessings be upon him) intended to travel, he would cast lots among his pure wives, and whichever one's name came out, he (peace and blessings be upon him) would take her with him on the journey. On the occasion of the expedition of Banu al-Mustaliq too, he (peace and blessings be upon him) cast lots as usual and my name came out, so the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) took me with him. In those days women were very light because of little food, and their bodies had not become heavy with much flesh. When the saddle was fastened on my camel, I would sit in the howdah; then the people who fastened the saddle would come, take hold of the howdah from below, lift it, place it on the camel's back and tie it down with ropes, then take the camel by its halter and set off. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had finished that journey of his and turned back, and came near Madinah, he halted at a place and stayed there part of the night. Then, when the departure was announced among the people and they began to move, I went out for my need. Around my neck was my necklace of Zafar beads. When I had finished, it broke and fell from my neck without my knowing. When I got back to my stopping place, I looked for the necklace but did not find it, and meanwhile the people had set off. I went again to the place where I had gone for my need and searched for the necklace until I found it. In the meantime the people who lifted my saddle came; they lifted the howdah as usual, thinking that I was inside it, placed it on the camel and fastened it, without the slightest suspicion that I was not there, and then they went off with the camel. When I got back to the camp, there was no one there to call or to answer; all the people had gone. I wrapped my outer sheet around me and lay down right there, knowing that when I was missed, the people would come back here to look for me. By Allah! I was lying there when Sayyiduna Safwan bin al-Mu'attal al-Sulami (may Allah be pleased with him) passed by. He had stayed behind the army for some need of his and had not been able to go with the people. He saw my shape and came near; he had seen me before the commands of hijab were revealed. Recognising me, he recited: 'Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un' (We belong to Allah and to Him we return), and said: 'The secluded wife of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) (has been left behind here)!' while I had wrapped myself in my sheet. He asked: 'May Allah have mercy on you, what made you stay behind?' I did not speak to him at all. Then he brought the camel near and said: 'Mount,' and he himself moved back away from me. I mounted, and he took hold of the camel's halter and set off quickly to catch up with the people. By Allah! We did not catch up with the people, and no one knew that I had been left behind until morning. When the people had camped and settled down, that man (Safwan) appeared, leading me on the camel. Seeing this, the slanderers said what they said, and the whole army was stirred into commotion, while, by Allah, I knew nothing of it. Then we reached Madinah and I fell seriously ill. I had no news of this rumour, although it had reached the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and my parents, but they did not mention it to me at all. However, I sensed a change in the manner of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): when he (peace and blessings be upon him) came to me while my mother was nursing me, he (peace and blessings be upon him) would only say: 'How is this one?' and nothing more. Eventually I felt hurt in my heart and said: O Messenger of Allah! (this was when I saw his (peace and blessings be upon him) coldness) I wish you would permit me to go to my mother's house so that she can nurse me. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'There is no harm for you.' So I went to my mother, and I knew nothing of these things until, after more than twenty nights, I recovered somewhat from my illness. We were Arab people; we did not make in our houses these toilets that the non-Arabs make, for we found them distasteful. Rather, we used to go out to the open grounds of Madinah, and the women would go out every night for their needs. One night I went out for my need, and with me was Umm Mistah bint Abi Ruhm bin Abd al-Muttalib bin Abd Manaf; her mother was the daughter of Sakhr bin Amir and the maternal aunt of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him). By Allah! She was walking with me when suddenly she tripped over her cloak and fell, and the words came from her tongue: 'May Mistah perish.' I said: 'By Allah! You have said a very evil thing about a man who is one of the Muhajirun and took part in the Battle of Badr.' She said: 'O daughter of Abu Bakr! Has the news not reached you?' I asked: 'What news?' Then she told me everything the slanderers had said. I asked: 'Has this really happened?' She said: 'Yes! By Allah, it has indeed happened.' By Allah! I no longer had the strength to fulfil my need, and I came back. I kept weeping so much that I began to think the weeping would split my liver. I said to my mother: 'May Allah forgive you! The people were saying such things and you did not even mention it to me?' She said: 'My dear daughter! Go easy on yourself. By Allah! It rarely happens that a husband has a beautiful woman whom he loves, and she has co-wives, without them and other people finding fault with her.'" Imam al-Zuhri (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated this incident in full like the hadith of Salih bin Kaysan (may Allah have mercy on him), as Muhammad bin Khalid narrated it to us from Ibrahim bin Sa'd.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said to Urwah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah have mercy on him): "O my nephew! I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) honour and respect Sayyiduna al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) to an extent that was truly astonishing. That was because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to suffer from pain in the flank, which was very hard on him (peace and blessings be upon him)." Sayyidah (Aishah) (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "We used to think that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had a kidney ailment, and we did not even suspect pain in the flank. One day the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had that same pain in the flank, and it became so severe that he (peace and blessings be upon him) fainted. We became very afraid for the blessed life of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and the people, alarmed, gathered around him (peace and blessings be upon him)." Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "We thought that he (peace and blessings be upon him) had pleurisy (dhat al-janb), so (as treatment) we poured medicine into one side of his (peace and blessings be upon him) mouth. Then, when the pain of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) eased and he (peace and blessings be upon him) recovered, he (peace and blessings be upon him) realised that we had given him the medicine, because he (peace and blessings be upon him) felt its effect. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Did you think that Allah Almighty would let this illness overpower me? It is not for Allah to let it overpower me. By the One in whose Hand is my soul! No one present in this house shall remain without being given this medicine, except my uncle (Sayyiduna al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him)).'" Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "So I saw that on that day all the men of the house were being given that medicine one by one, and present in the house at that time were eminent people whose virtues are spoken of. In short, all the men were given that medicine." Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "Then, by Allah! The giving of the medicine reached the pure wives of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and each one of us women was given it. When the turn of one of the women among us came, she said: By Allah! I am fasting. But we said to her: What do you think, that we would leave you, when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) has sworn an oath about it? So, O my nephew, by Allah, we gave her the medicine too, although she was fasting." Urwah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "By Allah! It was Sayyiduna al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) who held the hand of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) when the seventy men of the Ansar came to him (peace and blessings be upon him) at al-Aqabah. It was he who took the pledge from them for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and laid down the conditions for them. That was in the very earliest and brightest period of Islam, when no one could yet worship Allah openly."

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) "used to remember Allah Almighty at all his times and in every state."

It is narrated from al-Aswad (may Allah have mercy on him) that he said: I asked the Mother of the Believers, Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), about reciting ruqyah for the sting of a poisonous creature, and she said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) granted a concession and permission to recite ruqyah to remove the effect of the venom of every poisonous, stinging creature."

It is narrated from Shurayh (may Allah have mercy on him) that Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) told him that when she was menstruating, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would say to her: "O daughter of Abu Bakr! Tie (your waist-wrapper) firmly around your waist." And he (peace and blessings be upon him) would be intimate with her at night (without intercourse) as much as Allah willed. He (peace and blessings be upon him) would also say the takbir for his prayer, and he slept very little at night ever since Allah Almighty commanded: "Stand (in prayer) through the night, except a little." [Al-Muzzammil: 2]

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: "There are two prayers which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) never abandoned, whether in private or in public: the two rak'ahs before (the obligatory prayer of) Fajr and the two rak'ahs after (the prayer of) Asr."

It is narrated from Mujahid (may Allah have mercy on him) that Sayyiduna al-Sa'ib (may Allah be pleased with him) asked Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her): "I have grown old and now I am only able to pray sitting; so what is your view about this?" She replied: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say (or (the narrator is unsure whether) she said: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said): "The prayer of one who sits is (in reward) half of his prayer standing."

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: "I used to twist the garlands (qala'id) for the sacrificial animals (hady) of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), then he (peace and blessings be upon him) would send them off, and after that he (peace and blessings be upon him) would not avoid anything that a person in ihram avoids."

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her): Abu Burdah (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates: "We came to Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), and she brought out for us a coarse (thick) waist-wrapper of the kind made in Yemen and a cloak of the kind you call 'mulabbadah' (that is, patched or thickly matted). Then Sayyidah (Aishah) (may Allah be pleased with her) said: 'The blessed soul of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was taken while he was in these two garments.'"

Hudbah (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated to us; he said: Sulayman bin al-Mughirah (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated to us, with his same previous chain, something similar to it.

Ikrimah (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates: I asked Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) whether the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ever (in his speech) recited a line of poetry by way of illustration. She replied: "Yes, sometimes when he (peace and blessings be upon him) entered his house, he would recite this hemistich (by way of illustration): 'And news will be brought to you by one whom you gave no provision (or payment).'"

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that a man sneezed in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, what should I say (in response)?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Say: 'Alhamdu lillah' (All praise is for Allah)." Then the people said: "O Messenger of Allah, what should we say to him in reply?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Say: 'Rahimak Allah' (May Allah have mercy on you)." The man asked again: "O Messenger of Allah, what should I reply to them in return?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Say: 'Yahdikumullah wa yuslihu balakum' (May Allah guide you and set your affairs right)."

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed the one who gives a bribe and the one who takes a bribe."

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever offers twenty rak'ahs (of voluntary prayer) in the time between Maghrib and Isha, Allah Almighty will build for him a house in Paradise."

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "In the intensity of severe heat, offer the Zuhr prayer once it has cooled (that is, when the heat has lessened)." In sha Allah; Abd al-A'la bin Hammad (may Allah have mercy on him) dictated these words to us in this way.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever would be pleased to outstrip (in reward) the one who strives tirelessly and is constantly engaged in worship, let him restrain himself from sins."

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her): "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to tilt the (water) vessel for the cat so that it could drink from it, then he (peace and blessings be upon him) would perform ablution (wudu) (from it) for the prayer."

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There is no (specific, obligatory) emigration (hijrah) any more after the Conquest (of Makkah), but jihad and good intention still remain; and whenever you are called to go forth (for jihad), then go forth at once."

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Overlook the slips of people of dignity and standing." The narrator who reports this from Abu Bakr bin Muhammad bin Amr bin Hazm, namely Abu Bakr bin Nafi' (may Allah have mercy on him), says: I was present in the gathering of Abu Bakr bin Amr bin Hazm (may Allah have mercy on him), and he issued a (judicial) ruling in accordance with this very hadith.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came in (to the house) and asked: "O Aishah, is there any piece of bread?" I brought him a round loaf (of bread), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) placed it on his blessed mouth and said: "O Aishah, has anything of it entered my stomach? Such is the kiss of a fasting person. In reality, the fast is broken by what enters (the body), not by what comes out."

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to me while I was weeping. He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "What has made you weep?" I said: Fatimah has insulted me. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) summoned Sayyidah Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) and asked her: "O Fatimah, did you insult Aishah?" She said: Yes, O Messenger of Allah. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Fatimah, do you not love the one whom I love?" She said: Of course (I do). He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "And do you not dislike the one whom I dislike?" She said: Certainly. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Then indeed I love Aishah, so you should love her too." At this Sayyidah Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "I will never (again) say anything about Aishah that would hurt her."

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) "loved halwa (sweets) and honey".