Surah An-Noor (24) — Ayah 12

(Ayah 12) ➊ { لَوْ لَاۤ اِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوْهُ ظَنَّ الْمُؤْمِنُوْنَ وَ الْمُؤْمِنٰتُ بِاَنْفُسِهِمْ خَيْرًا :} Apparently, it should have been said, "Why did you not, when you heard it, think good of yourselves," but instead it is said: "Why did not the believing men and believing women, when you heard it, think good of themselves." The reason for this is that both men and women were among those who considered this accusation to be true, so to warn both, their being believers is specifically mentioned, that the demand of faith is that due to any accusation, one should not allow a bad thought about any believer to enter the heart.

➋ This verse can have three meanings: First, why did it not happen that upon hearing this slander, you thought well in your hearts (about Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her) and said that this is a clear slander. The second meaning is, why did it not happen that upon hearing this slander, the believing men and believing women thought well about themselves. That is, you should have thought about yourselves, that if you were alone with your mother, sister, or daughter, would you ever do such a thing? So how did you assume that Safwan (may Allah be pleased with him) would even think such a thing about his and all believers' mother? Rather, is it the demand of your faith that if you find a woman separated from a caravan, you would do such a vile act with her? Only a person without faith and with an extremely filthy mind can think this, and he will consider others as filthy as himself. A chaste person will think of others as chaste as well.

The third meaning is that by {’’ بِاَنْفُسِهِمْ ‘‘} is meant other believers, because all believers are like one soul. Allah Almighty said: «{ وَ لَا تَقْتُلُوْۤا اَنْفُسَكُمْ }» [ النساء: ۲۹ ] "Do not kill yourselves." And He said: «{ فَسَلِّمُوْا عَلٰۤى اَنْفُسِكُمْ }» [ النور : ۶۱ ] "Say peace to yourselves." And He said: «{ وَ لَا تَلْمِزُوْۤا اَنْفُسَكُمْ }» [ الحجرات : ۱۱ ] "And do not defame yourselves." The meaning is to kill another, to greet one another, and to defame another. That is, why did it not happen that believing men and believing women thought well about themselves, meaning about other believers, because they and other believers are one and the same. Nu'man bin Bashir (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ تَرَی الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ فِيْ تَرَاحُمِهِمْ وَ تَوَادِّهِمْ وَ تَعَاطُفِهِمْ كَمَثَلِ الْجَسَدِ إِذَا اشْتَكٰی عُضْوًا تَدَاعٰی لَهُ سَائِرُ جَسَدِهِ بِالسَّهَرِ وَالْحُمّٰی] [بخاري، الأدب، باب رحمۃ الناس والبھائم : ۶۰۱۱ ] "You will see the believers in their mutual mercy, love, and compassion as one body; when one limb suffers, the whole body responds with sleeplessness and fever."

➌ { وَ قَالُوْا هٰذَااِفْكٌ مُّبِيْنٌ :} A clear lie and manifest slander, because there was no room for doubt in what happened. The Mother of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with her) was coming on the mount of Safwan bin Mu'attal (may Allah be pleased with him) in broad daylight. Safwan was holding the reins, the whole army was watching, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was present in person. If (hypothetically) there was anything doubtful, they would have come secretly, would not have dared to come together, and would have come at night instead of day, as the brothers of Yusuf (peace be upon him) came at night, as He said: « وَ جَآءُوْۤ اَبَاهُمْ عِشَآءً يَّبْكُوْنَ » [ یوسف : ۱۶ ] "And they came to their father at night, weeping." Therefore, it was clear that the accusation made against the Mother of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with her) was a clear lie and manifest slander, and every believing man and woman must say this.

12-1 From here, the aspects of training that are implicit in this incident are being highlighted. The very first point among them is that the believers are like one soul; when slander was cast upon Hazrat Aisha, why did you not immediately refute it by analogy with yourselves, and why did you not declare it an obvious slander?

12. Why, when you heard about it, did not the believing men and believing women think well of themselves and say, "This is a clear slander"?

[15] Listen to the entire incident of Ifk in the words of Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her).

The Incident of Ifk in the Words of Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her):

Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated (her own incident of Ifk as follows): It was the habit of the Prophet ﷺ that when he set out on a journey, he would draw lots among his wives. Whichever wife’s name was drawn, he would take her along. Thus, in one expedition (Banu Mustaliq), lots were drawn and my name came up. So I set out with him, and this incident occurred after the commandment of hijab had been revealed. I used to ride in a howdah, and when I dismounted, I would be taken down along with the howdah. We continued traveling in this manner. When the Prophet ﷺ finished with this expedition and returned from the journey, we approached near Madinah. One night, the order to depart was given. Upon hearing this order, I got up and walked away from the army to relieve myself. When I finished, I returned towards the army and realized that the necklace of Dufar beads (which was around my neck) had broken and fallen. I started searching for it, and it took me some time to find it. Meanwhile, those who used to carry my howdah and place it on the camel lifted the howdah and placed it on my camel. They thought I was inside the howdah, because at that time women were light and not heavy or fleshy, and they used to eat little food. Therefore, when they lifted the howdah, they did not notice its lightness. Besides, I was a young girl at that time. Anyway, they loaded the howdah onto the camel and set off. After the army had departed, I found my necklace (which had fallen under the camel). I went back to the place where we had camped at night. I saw that there was no one there to call out or to answer (everyone had left). I decided to stay at my place, thinking that when they would not find me, they would come back to search for me at the same spot. I sat there, and sleep overcame me, so I fell asleep. Safwan bin Muattal Salami was assigned to follow behind the army (to look after those who had fallen behind). He set out in the latter part of the night and reached near my place in the morning. From a distance, he saw a person sleeping, and when he came closer, he recognized me, because he had seen me before the commandment of hijab was revealed. When he recognized me, he recited "Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un," and I woke up and covered my face with my sheet. By Allah, he did not speak to me, nor did I hear anything from him except "Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un." He made his mount kneel and held its leg with his hand, so I mounted it. He walked on foot, leading the she-camel, until we caught up with the army at midday when they had stopped due to the intense heat. And those people who were destined for destruction were destroyed. The one who spread this slander the most was Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul (the chief of the hypocrites). Anyway, we reached Madinah, and upon arrival, I fell ill and remained sick for about a month. People continued to talk about the slanderers' words, and I had no knowledge of it. However, one thing made me suspicious: the kindness that the Prophet ﷺ used to show me during illness was not found in this illness. He would come, greet me, and after asking, "How are you now?" he would leave. This made me somewhat suspicious, but I had no knowledge of anything.

Places for Relieving Oneself Outside the Homes:

When I recovered somewhat from the illness, though I was still weak, I went towards Manasi‘. The mother of Mistah was with me. We used to go there every night to relieve ourselves. This was at a time when we did not build toilets near our homes, but like the Arabs of old, we used to go to the wilderness to relieve ourselves, because building toilets near the houses would cause us discomfort due to their smell. Anyway, I and the mother of Mistah, who was the daughter of Abu Ruhm bin Abd Manaf and her mother was the daughter of Sakhr bin Amir, and she was the maternal aunt of Abu Bakr Siddiq. Her son was Mistah. After relieving ourselves, we were returning home when the mother of Mistah tripped over her sheet and said, "Mistah is ruined!" I said to her, "What are you saying? Do you curse a man who participated in Badr?" She said, "O naive girl, have you not heard what he is saying?" I asked, "What is he saying?" Then she told me the words of the slanderers, and my illness increased further. When I reached home, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came and greeted me and asked, "How are you now?" I said, "Please allow me to go to my parents' house." My intention was to verify this news from them. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave me permission, so I went to my parents' house. I said to my mother, "Mother! What are the people saying about me?" She said, "Daughter, do not be distressed. By Allah, it often happens that when a man has a beautiful wife and he loves her, and she has co-wives, the co-wives say many things." I said, "Subhan Allah! Have the people really spread this?" So I cried the whole night, and morning came, but my tears did not stop, nor did I sleep. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ called Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and Usama bin Zaid, because the revelation was delayed, and he wanted to consult them about this matter. Usama bin Zaid (may Allah be pleased with him) gave the advice that he knew: that Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) is pure from such vile things, and Usama (may Allah be pleased with him) loved the Prophet’s ﷺ wives. He clearly said that Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) is chaste and innocent. And Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "O Messenger of Allah ﷺ! Allah will not make things difficult for you. There are many women besides Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), and if you ask Barirah (may Allah be pleased with her), she will tell you the truth." So the Prophet ﷺ called Barirah (may Allah be pleased with her) and asked her, "Have you seen anything that would make you suspicious about Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her)?" Barirah (may Allah be pleased with her) said, "By Allah, Who sent you with the truth, I have seen nothing of the sort. Yes, I see one thing in her, and I overlook it, and that is that she is a young girl. She leaves the dough unattended and falls asleep, and the goat comes and eats the dough." (After these testimonies) the Prophet ﷺ stood up (to deliver a sermon). He sought help against Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul. He said, "O Muslims! Who will help me against this man who has hurt me regarding my family? I have seen nothing but good in my family, and the person whom they accuse, I have seen nothing but good in him as well. He never enters my house except with me." Upon hearing this, Saad bin Muadh (may Allah be pleased with him), the chief of the Aws tribe, stood up and said, "I will help you against him. If he is from the Aws tribe, I will strike his neck, and if he is from our brothers, the Khazraj tribe, we will do as you command." Upon hearing this, Saad bin Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him), the chief of the Khazraj tribe, stood up. He was a righteous man, but tribal zeal overtook him, and he said, "Saad bin Muadh! By Allah, you are lying. You will not kill him, nor can you kill him." At this, Usaid bin Hudair (may Allah be pleased with him), who was the cousin of Saad bin Muadh (may Allah be pleased with him), stood up and said to Saad bin Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him), "By Allah, you are lying. We will surely kill him. Have you become a hypocrite, supporting the hypocrites?" At this, people from both tribes stood up, and it was close that they would fight each other. The Prophet ﷺ was still on the pulpit, calming and restraining them. When they became quiet, the Prophet ﷺ also became quiet. That day of mine also passed in weeping, and I had been crying for two days continuously. My tears did not stop, nor did I sleep. My parents thought that my heart would burst from crying. Then it happened that my parents were sitting near me while I was crying, when an Ansari woman sought permission to enter. I allowed her, and she sat with me and began to cry as well. In this state, the Prophet ﷺ came, greeted, and sat down. Since the slander had been made against me, he had not sat with me. He had waited for a month, but no revelation had come. He sat down and recited the tashahhud, then said, "Aisha! I have heard such and such about you. If you are innocent, Allah will declare your innocence, and if you have committed a sin, then seek forgiveness from Allah and repent to Him. When a servant confesses his sin and repents to Allah, Allah forgives his sins." When he finished this conversation, suddenly my tears stopped, so much so that not a single drop remained in my eyes. I said to my father, "You answer the Messenger of Allah ﷺ." He said, "By Allah, I do not know what to say." Then I said to my mother (Umm Ruman), "You answer." She said, "I do not know what to say." Finally, I began to answer myself. I was a weak girl and did not remember much of the Quran. I said, "By Allah! I know that this matter which you have heard has settled in your hearts and you have begun to believe it. Now, if I say that I am innocent, and Allah knows that I am innocent, you will not believe me. And if I confess to a sin, and Allah knows that I am innocent of it, you will believe me. By Allah! I consider my and your example to be like that of the father of Yusuf (peace be upon him). Whatever he said, I also say: 'So patience is most fitting, and Allah is the One sought for help against what you describe.'" Saying this, I turned away. I was certain that since I am innocent, Allah will surely declare my innocence. But by Allah, I never thought that Allah would reveal verses about me that would be recited forever. I considered myself far too insignificant for that. I did hope that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would see a dream in which my innocence would be made clear to him. Then, by Allah, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had not yet moved from his place, nor had anyone else left, when revelation began to descend upon him. As usual, he was overtaken by difficulty, and sweat like pearls dripped from his body, even though it was a cold day. But such was the difficulty when revelation came. When the revelation ended, the Prophet ﷺ was happy and smiling. The first thing he said was, "Aisha! Allah has declared your innocence." My mother said to me, "Get up and thank the Messenger of Allah ﷺ." I said, "By Allah, I will not get up. I will only thank Allah, the Mighty and Majestic." At that time, Allah revealed these verses: ﴿اِنَّ الَّذِيْنَ جَاءُوْ بالْاِفْكِ﴾, a full ten verses. When these verses were revealed, Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), who used to help Mistah due to his poverty and kinship, said, "By Allah! I will never give anything to Mistah again, since he spoke such things about Aisha." Then Allah revealed this verse: ﴿وَلَا يَاْتَلِ اُولُوا الْفَضْلِ ... غَفُوْرٌ رَّحِيْمٌ﴾. Upon hearing this verse, Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "By Allah! I love that Allah should forgive me." Then he resumed his previous treatment of Mistah and said, "By Allah! As long as Mistah lives, I will not stop this practice." Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) says: (During the time of this slander) the Prophet ﷺ used to ask Zainab bint Jahsh (Mother of the Believers) about me, "What do you think of Aisha, and what have you seen?" She would say, "O Messenger of Allah ﷺ! I guard my ears and eyes carefully. I only know good of Aisha." Among the Prophet’s ﷺ wives, Zainab was my equal. She wanted to surpass me, but Allah protected her because of her piety. Her sister Hamnah bint Jahsh began to argue with her about this matter, and just as the other slanderers were destroyed, she too was destroyed. [بخاري۔ كتاب التفسير]

According to this detailed hadith, the strong moral state of the Muslims is evident from the following points:
1. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ himself considered this incident to be a slander. He considered not only his noble wife but also Safwan bin Muattal to be a pure and righteous person.
2. The direct impact of this incident was upon the Prophet ﷺ himself, and with a mere gesture, he could have eliminated the slanderers. But when tribal and communal partisanship caused a dispute, he bore this painful blow upon himself, but did not allow discord among the Muslims.
3. The Prophet ﷺ remained restless and anxious for a whole month in this matter because he did not have certain knowledge or knowledge of the unseen. Otherwise, he would not have sought information about Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) from others. Perhaps there was also wisdom in this delay, so that later people would not consider or try to prove the Prophet ﷺ to be the knower of the unseen.
4. Despite his complete conviction, the Prophet ﷺ did not issue a definitive denial of this incident, because a husband's denial on behalf of his wife holds little weight in the eyes of opponents.
5. The parents of Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) also personally considered her to be pure, as is clear from the response of Lady Aisha’s mother, Umm Ruman. However, they too could not issue a definitive denial or declare her purity, because a parent's statement about their own daughter cannot silence the opponents.
6. The Prophet ﷺ in this matter consulted Sayyiduna Usama bin Zaid, Lady Barirah, and Mother of the Believers Lady Zainab bint Jahsh, all of whom were members of his household. All of them emphatically declared Lady Aisha’s purity. Lady Zainab, who was a co-wife and, according to Lady Aisha’s statement, her rival, also spoke well of Lady Aisha. The fourth member of the household, Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), was also consulted. Instead of denying the accusation or declaring Lady Aisha’s purity, he answered with consideration for the Prophet’s ﷺ distress and happiness. However, not a single word came from his tongue that would support the accusation or cast any doubt on Lady Aisha’s character or purity.
7.

The High Moral Standard of the General Muslims During the Incident:

The general Muslims also had such strong moral character that, despite the intense propaganda of the hypocrites, no one was influenced by them except for three individuals. Among them, Hamnah bint Jahsh joined in the slander for the sake of her sister and to bring Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) down. And in this incident, the following were the positive aspects for the Muslims:
1. This incident tested the faith of the Muslims, and the hypocrites were exposed. They wanted to create division among the Muslims and weaken them, but the result was the opposite, and the moral superiority of the Muslims became even more evident.
2. Those who were most affected by this calamity were comforted and gladdened by the divine revelation. When the revelation ended, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was smiling with joy. The happiness of Lady Aisha’s parents was such that they told her to thank the Prophet ﷺ. And as for Lady Aisha’s happiness, it was beyond measure, for she had never imagined that ten verses would be revealed about her innocence, which would be recited until the Day of Judgment, and that her title would henceforth be "Siddiqa."
3. Muslims were given such instructions and commands that, by acting upon them, they could successfully face such fitna-creating and fitna-spreading storms.

[16] When the slander became widespread, one day the wife of Abu Ayyub Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) said to her husband: People are saying such things about Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her). Abu Ayyub (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "People are talking nonsense. Tell me yourself, could you do such a thing?" She replied, "Never." He said, "Then (the daughter of Siddiq and the wife of the Prophet) Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) is purer and more chaste than you. Why should such baseless suspicion be held about her? And I say that if I were in Safwan’s place, I could not even think such a thing, and Safwan is a better Muslim than me." And this was the attitude of the majority of the Muslims.