Surah An-Noor (24) — Ayah 11

(Ayah 11) ➊ The literal meaning of {اِنَّ الَّذِيْنَ جَآءُوْ بِالْاِفْكِ عُصْبَةٌ مِّنْكُمْ : ’’اَلْإِفْكُ‘‘} is to overturn, meaning such a slander that is completely contrary to reality. What is meant is the slander that the hypocrites made against Umm al-Mu’minin Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), and two or three sincere Muslims also joined them out of simplicity. Listen to the details from Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) herself; she says that the habit of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was that when he set out on a journey, he would draw lots among his wives, and whichever wife’s name came up, he would take her with him. So, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) drew lots in a battle (Banu al-Mustaliq), and my name came up, so I set out with him. This incident happened after the command of hijab was 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 way. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) finished that battle and returned from the journey, we reached near Madinah, and he announced departure one night. Hearing this announcement, I got up and walked away from the army, and when I finished my need and was returning to the army, I realized that the necklace of “azfar” stones (which was around my neck) had broken and fallen. I started searching for it, and it took me a while to find it. Meanwhile, those who used to lift my howdah and place it on the camel lifted the howdah and placed it on my camel. They kept thinking that I was inside the howdah, because at that time women were light, not fleshy and heavy, and used to eat little food. So, when they lifted the howdah, they did not notice its lightness, and besides, I was a young girl at that time. Anyway, they loaded the howdah on the camel and moved on. After the army had departed, I found my necklace and went to the same place where we had camped at night, and saw that there was no one to call out or answer (meaning everyone had left). I decided to stay at my place, thinking that when they do not find me, they will come back to search for me. I sat there, sleep overcame me, and I fell asleep. Safwan bin Mu’attal al-Sulami al-Dhakwani was assigned to follow behind the army (to look after any fallen belongings). He traveled at night and reached near my place in the morning, and from a distance saw a person sleeping. When he came near, he recognized me, because he had seen me before the command of hijab was revealed. When he recognized me, he recited {’’إِنَّا لِلّٰهِ وَ إِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُوْنَ‘‘}, 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 {’’إِنَّا لِلّٰهِ وَ إِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُوْنَ‘‘}. He made his mount kneel and pressed its front legs with his foot, so I mounted it. He took the camel’s reins and walked ahead on foot, until we reached the army when they were resting at midday due to the heat. So, those who were destined for destruction were destroyed. The one responsible for this slander was Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul. Anyway, we reached Madinah, and when we arrived, I fell ill and remained sick for a month. People continued to talk about the slanderers’ words, and I had no knowledge of it, except that one thing made me suspicious: the kindness that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to show me during illness was not shown to me in this illness. He would come to me, say salam, ask, “How are you?” and leave. This made me suspicious, but I had no knowledge of anything. When I recovered a little from the illness, I was still weak, and I went to “Manasi’.” The mother of Mistah (Atikah) 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 houses, but like the Arabs of old, we used to go outside to relieve ourselves, because building toilets near the house would cause us discomfort due to the 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 the maternal aunt of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, her son was Mistah, after relieving ourselves, we were returning home when the mother of Mistah’s foot got caught in her sheet and she slipped, and she said, “Mistah is ruined.” I said to her, “You have said a terrible thing! Do you curse a man who participated in Badr?” She said, “O naive girl! Have you not heard what he has said?” I said, “What has he said?” Then she told me the words of the slanderers, and my illness increased further. When I reached home, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came home and after greeting, asked, “How are you now?” I said, “Do you permit me to go to my parents?” My intention was to verify the news from them. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave me permission. I went to my parents and said to my mother, “Mother! What are people saying (about me)?” She said, “Daughter! Do not grieve so much. By Allah! It often happens that when a man has a beautiful wife and he loves her, and she has co-wives, they do many things.” I said, “Subhan Allah! Have people even spread this?” So, I cried all night, and morning came but my tears did not stop, nor did sleep come to my eyes. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) called Ali bin Abi Talib and Usama bin Zayd (may Allah be pleased with them), because the revelation was delayed and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) wanted to consult them about separating from his wife. So, Usama bin Zayd advised him according to what he knew, that Aisha was pure from such evil things, and according to the love he had for the Prophet’s family. He said, “O Messenger of Allah! She is your wife, and we know nothing but good about her.” Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “O Messenger of Allah! Allah has not put any restriction on you, and there are many women besides her, and if you ask Barirah, she will tell you the truth.” So, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called Barirah (may Allah be pleased with her) and asked, “Have you seen anything that makes you suspicious about Aisha?” Barirah (may Allah be pleased with her) said, “By Allah, Who sent you with the truth! I have seen nothing in her that I would consider a fault, except that she is a young girl, she leaves the family's kneaded dough and falls asleep, and the goat comes and eats it.” (After this) the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up (to deliver a sermon) and on that day sought help against Abdullah bin Ubayy, saying: [ يَا مَعْشَرَ الْمُسْلِمِيْنَ! مَنْ يَعْذِرُنِيْ مِنْ رَجُلٍ قَدْ بَلَغَنِيْ أَذَاهُ فِيْ أَهْلِ بَيْتِيْ ؟ فَوَ اللّٰهِ! مَا عَلِمْتُ عَلٰی أَهْلِيْ إِلَّا خَيْرًا، وَ لَقَدْ ذَكَرُوْا رَجُلًا مَا عَلِمْتُ عَلَيْهِ إِلَّا خَيْرًا، وَمَا كَانَ يَدْخُلُ عَلٰی أَهْلِيْ إِلَّا مَعِيَ ] “O Muslims! Who will help me against this man whose harm has reached me concerning my family? By Allah! I have seen nothing but good in my family, and they have mentioned a man about whom I have seen nothing but good, and he never entered my house except with me.” Hearing this, Sa’d bin Mu’adh al-Ansari (chief of the Aws tribe) stood up and said, “I will help you against him. If he is from the Aws tribe, I will behead him, and if he is from our brothers, the Khazraj tribe, we will do as you command.” Hearing this, Sa’d bin Ubadah, who was the chief of the Khazraj tribe, stood up. He was a good man before, but tribal zeal overtook him, and he said to Sa’d bin Mu’adh, “By Allah! You have lied. By Allah! You will not kill him, nor can you kill him.” At this, Usayd bin Hudayr (may Allah be pleased with him), who was the cousin of Sa’d bin Mu’adh (may Allah be pleased with him), stood up and said to Sa’d bin Ubadah, “You are lying! By Allah! We will surely kill him, because you are a hypocrite, defending the hypocrites and arguing on their behalf.” At this, people from both the Aws and Khazraj tribes stood up, and it was close that they would fight among themselves. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was still on the pulpit, calming and pacifying them until they became quiet, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also became quiet. Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) says that I cried all that day, my tears did not stop, nor did sleep come to my eyes. (My father ordered me to return home and I went home.) My parents came to me in the morning; I had been crying for two nights and a day, during which I had neither slept nor stopped crying. My parents thought that my heart would burst from crying. Then it happened that my parents were sitting with me while I was crying, when an Ansari woman asked permission to enter. I gave her permission, and she sat with me and started crying as well. We were in this state when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to us, greeted us, and sat down. Before this, since the slander had been made against me, he had not sat with me. He waited for a month, but no revelation came. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sat and delivered a sermon, then said: [ أَمَّا بَعْدُ، يَا عَائِشَةُ! فَإِنَّهُ قَدْ بَلَغَنِيْ عَنْكِ كَذَا وَ كَذَا، فَإِنْ كُنْتِ بَرِيْئَةً فَسَيُبَرِّئْكِ اللّٰهُ، وَإِنْ كُنْتِ أَلْمَمْتِ بِذَنْبٍ فَاسْتَغْفِرِي اللّٰهَ وَتُوبِيْ إِلَيْهِ، فَإِنَّ الْعَبْدَ إِذَا اعْتَرَفَ بِذَنْبِهِ ثُمَّ تَابَ إِلَي اللّٰهِ تَابَ اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ ] “As for what follows! Aisha! This matter has reached me about you. If you are innocent, Allah will surely exonerate you, and if you have committed a sin, then seek forgiveness from Allah and repent, for when a servant confesses his sin and repents, Allah accepts his repentance.” When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) finished his words, my tears dried up, so much so that I did not feel a single drop. I said to my father, “Reply to what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) has said.” He said, “By Allah! I do not know what to say.” Then I said to my mother, “You reply to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).” She said, “By Allah! I do not know what to say.” Finally, I began to reply myself. I was a young girl and had not read much of the Qur’an. I said: [ إِنِّيْ وَاللّٰهِ لَقَدْ عَلِمْتُ لَقَدْ سَمِعْتُمْ هٰذَا الْحَدِيْثَ حَتَّی اسْتَقَرَّ فِيْ أَنْفُسِكُمْ وَ صَدَّقْتُمْ بِهِ، فَلَئِنْ قُلْتُ لَكُمْ : إِنِّيْ بَرِيْئَةٌ، وَاللّٰهُ يَعْلَمُ أَنّيْ بَرِيْئَةٌ، لَا تُصَدِّقُوْنَنِيْ بِذٰلِكَ، وَلَئِنِ اعْتَرَفْتُ لَكُمْ بِأَمْرٍ وَاللّٰهُ يَعْلَمُ أَنِّيْ مِنْهُ بَرِيْئَةٌ لَتُصَدِّقُنِّيْ، وَاللّٰهِ مَا أَجِدُ لَكُمْ مَثَلًا إِلَّا قَوْلَ أَبِيْ يُوْسُفَ قَالَ : «{ فَصَبْرٌ جَمِيْلٌ وَ اللّٰهُ الْمُسْتَعَانُ عَلٰى مَا تَصِفُوْنَ }» [يوسف : ۱۸] “By Allah! I know that you have heard this matter until it has settled in your hearts and you have believed it to be true. Now, if I say to you that I am innocent, and Allah knows that I am innocent, you will not believe me, and if I confess to something, while Allah knows that I am free from it, you will believe me. By Allah! I consider my and your example like that of the father of Yusuf, who said: ‘So (for me) patience is most fitting, and Allah is the one whose help is sought against what you describe.’” Then I turned over and lay down on the bed. At that time, I knew that I was innocent and that Allah would surely exonerate me because of my innocence, but by Allah! I did not think that Allah would reveal such a revelation about me that would be recited, and in my heart, my status was much less than that Allah would say something about me that would be recited. I only hoped that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would see a dream in his sleep, by which Allah would declare me innocent. By Allah! The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had not yet left, nor had any of the household gone out, when revelation began to descend upon him, and he experienced the difficulty that used to come upon him at such times, so much so that sweat like pearls dripped from him, even though it was a cold day. This was due to the weight of the words being revealed to him. When that state ended, he was happy and smiling. Then the first thing he said was: [ يَا عَائِشَةُ! أَمَّا اللّٰهُ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ فَقَدْ بَرَّأَكِ ] “Aisha! Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, has exonerated you.” My mother said, “Get up to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) (and thank him).” I said, “By Allah! I will not get up to him, and I will thank no one but Allah.” Allah revealed these verses: « اِنَّ الَّذِيْنَ جَآءُوْ بِالْاِفْكِ عُصْبَةٌ مِّنْكُمْ … وَ اَنَّ اللّٰهَ رَءُوْفٌ رَّحِيْمٌ » [ النور : ۱۱ تا ۲۰ ] When Allah revealed these verses in my exoneration, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him), who used to spend on Mistah due to his poverty and kinship, said, “By Allah! I will never spend anything on Mistah again, because he has spoken such things about Aisha.” So Allah revealed this verse: « وَ لَا يَاْتَلِ اُولُوا الْفَضْلِ مِنْكُمْ وَ السَّعَةِ اَنْ يُّؤْتُوْۤا اُولِي الْقُرْبٰى وَ الْمَسٰكِيْنَ وَ الْمُهٰجِرِيْنَ فِيْ سَبِيْلِ اللّٰهِ وَ لْيَعْفُوْا وَ لْيَصْفَحُوْا اَلَا تُحِبُّوْنَ اَنْ يَّغْفِرَ اللّٰهُ لَكُمْ وَ اللّٰهُ غَفُوْرٌ رَّحِيْمٌ » [ النور : ۲۲ ] “And let not those among you who are blessed with grace and wealth swear not to give to their relatives, the needy, and those who migrated in the way of Allah. Let them pardon and overlook. Do you not love that Allah should forgive you? And Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.” Hearing this verse, Abu Bakr said, “Why not? By Allah! I love that Allah should forgive me.” And he resumed spending on Mistah as before and said, “By Allah! I will never stop this practice.” Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said, “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to ask Zaynab bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with her) about me during the time of the slander, saying, ‘Zaynab, what do you know, or what have you seen?’ She would say, ‘I guard my ears and eyes carefully. I know nothing but good about her.’ Among the wives of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), Zaynab was my equal, but Allah protected her because of her piety, and her sister Hamnah began to fight on her behalf. So, just as the other slanderers were destroyed, she too was destroyed.” [ بخاري، التفسیر، باب : «لو لا إذ سمعتموہ ظن المؤمنون…» : ۴۷۵۰ ]
➋ { اِنَّ الَّذِيْنَ جَآءُوْ بِالْاِفْكِ عُصْبَةٌ مِّنْكُمْ … :} A group or party of like-minded people is called {’’عُصْبَةٌ‘‘} and {’’ عِصَابَةٌ‘‘}, because they strengthen each other, and {’’ عَصَبَ يَعْصِبُ ‘‘} (ض) means to bind and strengthen, i.e., those who fabricated this great slander from among themselves are counted among the Muslims, so when dealing with them, do not treat them as non-Muslims, because they are from among you. Otherwise, some Muslims might stand up in their support and the matter could reach mutual discord. As experience has shown, when you asked for help against Abdullah bin Ubayy, people almost fought, had the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) not calmed them down. Therefore, Allah the Exalted said, “Those who brought forth this slander are a group from among you,” clarifying their slander and lie, and also forbidding excessive pursuit.
➌ { لَا تَحْسَبُوْهُ شَرًّا لَّكُمْ بَلْ هُوَ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ :} This was said for the reassurance of sincere Muslims who were hurt by this slander, especially those directly involved in the incident, such as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, Aisha, her mother, and Safwan bin Mu’attal (may Allah be pleased with them). He said, do not consider this incident bad for you; rather, it is better for you in many ways:
(1) The distress and grief that befell the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), Aisha, her parents, and Safwan bin Mu’attal (may Allah be pleased with them) due to this incident, and the severe anguish they endured for a whole month—there is certainly a great reward with Allah for patience and pardoning the slanderers. He said: «اِنَّمَا يُوَفَّى الصّٰبِرُوْنَ اَجْرَهُمْ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ » [ الزمر : ۱۰ ] “Only those who are patient will be given their reward without measure.” Although, with just a gesture from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the necks of all the slanderers could have been severed. In addition to this reward, when the verses of exoneration were revealed, all of them felt as much happiness as the grief they had suffered. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was smiling when the verses were revealed, and likewise, Aisha, her parents, Safwan bin Mu’attal (may Allah be pleased with them), and all the Muslims felt happiness in proportion.
(2) Umm al-Mu’minin Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) received such honor from this incident that no one else in the Muslim Ummah attained, that the Qur’an was revealed to declare her innocence, which will be recited throughout the world until the Day of Judgment, and the Qur’an’s declaration of her exoneration is testified by her pure life during the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) lifetime and after his death, that she is free from every slander. This also proves the miraculous nature of the Qur’an, that none of its prophecies have ever been proven false, nor will they ever be.
(3) Another good in this incident is that the sincere Muslims who slandered were purified from sin by the prescribed punishment, and the hypocrisy of the hypocrites was exposed, making it easier to avoid their harm in the future.
(4) This incident also proves the noble character and pure nature of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), that despite a month-long propaganda, only three sincere Muslims—Hassan bin Thabit, Mistah bin Athathah, and Hamnah bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with them)—fell prey to this propaganda, while all the other Companions remained completely safe from this suspicion. None of the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) participated in defaming Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), even Zaynab bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with her), who was her equal and a co-wife, swore to Aisha’s purity. The incident of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) and his wife, which will come later, is a great proof of the noble and pure nature of the Companions. Abu Bakr’s (may Allah be pleased with him) good treatment of Mistah despite the slander is a great example of his fear of Allah and patience. Aisha’s (may Allah be pleased with her) good treatment and honoring of Hassan bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) despite the slander is proof of her noble character.
(5) This incident also proves that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was not the knower of the unseen, otherwise he would not have remained in anguish for a whole month. This cuts the root of the exaggeration in which the Jews and Christians fell before, and in which some ignorant Muslims are also involved.
(6) As a result of this incident, the punishment for adultery and slander was revealed, and the chastity and honor of Muslim men and women were protected from slanderers until the Day of Judgment, and the spread of immorality in the Muslim society was completely prevented.
➍ { لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مِّنْهُمْ مَّا اكْتَسَبَ مِنَ الْاِثْمِ :} That is, whoever participated in this trial to the extent of his involvement became sinful and deserving of punishment. Some fabricated the slander and stirred up a storm, some verbally agreed with the slanderers, some laughed upon hearing it, some listened silently when they should have denied it, and some, upon hearing it, immediately said that this is a clear lie—Allah liked those who said this, and the rest were given some blame.
➎ { وَ الَّذِيْ تَوَلّٰى كِبْرَهٗ مِنْهُمْ لَهٗ عَذَابٌ عَظِيْمٌ :} This refers to the chief of the hypocrites, Abdullah bin Ubayy, as Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) herself said, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said from the pulpit that his harm reached me concerning my family; see the first benefit of the verse under discussion. In some narrations, Hassan bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) is held responsible, but the correct view is that Hassan bin Thabit’s (may Allah be pleased with him) fault was only that he passed on what he heard, otherwise the one who fabricated the slander was Abdullah bin Ubayy. He used to gather these wrongdoers and very cunningly kept himself out of it and made others say it. For him is a great punishment because the sin of all the others is also upon him, as he initiated it. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [مَنْ سَنَّ فِي الإِْسْلَامِ سُنَّةً سَيِّئَةً، كَانَ عَلَيْهِ وِزْرُهَا وَ وِزْرُ مَنْ عَمِلَ بِهَا مِنْ بَعْدِهِ، مِنْ غَيْرِ أَنْ يَّنْقُصَ مِنْ أَوْزَارِهِمْ شَيْءٌ] [ مسلم، الزکاۃ، باب الحث علی الصدقۃ ولو بشق تمرۃ… : ۱۰۱۷ ] “Whoever introduces an evil practice in Islam, he will bear its sin and the sin of those who act upon it, without their sins being diminished in the least.” The meaning of great punishment is that he will not be granted the ability to repent, he will die upon disbelief, and will be subjected to the punishment of the Hereafter, which is {’’اَلدَّرْكُ الْأَسْفَلُ مِنَ النَّارِ‘‘}. [ أَعَاذَنَا اللّٰہُ مِنْہُ ] This also indicates that the other members of this group will be granted the ability to repent.