The Grace of Allah towards the People of the Slander by giving Them the Opportunity to repent
Allah says,
[وَلَوْلاَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُ فِى الدُّنْيَا وَالاٌّخِرَةِ]
(Had it not been for the grace of Allah and His mercy unto you in this world and in the Hereafter,) This is addressed to those who were indulging in discussing the matter of `A'ishah, informing them that Allah has accepted their repentance in this world, and forgiven them because of their faith in the Hereafter.
[لَمَسَّكُمْ فِى مَآ أَفَضْتُمْ فِيهِ]
(would have touched you for that whereof you had spoken.) with regard to the slander.
[عَذَابٌ عظِيمٌ]
(a great torment) This refers to those who had faith in Allah because of their repentance, such as Mistah, Hassan and Hamnah bint Jahsh the sister of Zaynab bint Jahsh. As for the hypocrites who indulged in the slander, such as `Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul and his like, they are not the ones who are referred to in this Ayah , because they did not have sufficient faith and righteous deeds to balance or cancel out what they had done. By the same token, the threats that were narrated for a specific deed are bound to be carried out, if there is no repentance or sufficient righteous deeds to balance or outweigh it. Then Allah says:
[إِذْ تَلَقَّوْنَهُ بِأَلْسِنَتِكُمْ]
(When you were propagating it with your tongues,) Mujahid and Sa`id bin Jubayr said, "Some of you were relating it to others,'' where one says, `I heard this from so-and-so, and so-and-so said such and such, and some of them mentioned such and such.' Others recited the Ayah: (إِذْ تَلِقُونَهُ بِأَلْسِنَتِكُمْ) ("When you were inventing a lie with your tongues...'') In Sahih Al-Bukhari, it is recorded that `A'ishah recited it like that. According to her, the meaning refers to lies which a person persists in telling. The first recitation is preferred and more popular, and the majority recite it that way, but the second is reported from `A'ishah, the Mother of the believers.
[وَتَقُولُونَ بِأَفْوَهِكُمْ مَّا لَّيْسَ لَكُمْ بِهِ عِلْمٌ]
(and uttering with your mouths that whereof you had no knowledge,) means, you were speaking about something which you knew nothing about. Then Allah says:
[وَتَحْسَبُونَهُ هَيِّناً وَهُوَ عِندَ اللَّهِ عَظِيمٌ]
(you counted it a little thing, while with Allah it was very great.) means, `you said what you said about the Mother of the believers and you thought that it was a trifling and insignificant matter, but even if she was not the wife of the Prophet , it still would not be an insignificant matter -- so how about when she is the wife of the Unlettered Prophet, the Seal of the Prophets and Leader of the Messengers ' It is a very serious matter with Allah that such a thing should be said about the wife of His Messenger! For Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, feels great fury and anger over such matters, and He would never decree such a thing for the wife of any of His Prophets. If that is the case, then how about the best of the wives of any Prophet, the wife of the best of the sons of Adam in this world and the next Allah says:
[وَتَحْسَبُونَهُ هَيِّناً وَهُوَ عِندَ اللَّهِ عَظِيمٌ]
(you counted it a little thing, while with Allah it was very great.) In the Two Sahihs it is reported that:
«إِنَّ الرَّجُلَ لَيَتَكَلَّمُ بِالْكَلِمَةِ مِنْ سَخَطِ اللهِ، لَا يَدْرِي مَا تَبْلُغُ، يَهْوِي بِهَا فِي النَّارِ أَبْعَدَ مَا بَيْنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ»
(A man may say a word that angers Allah without realizing how far it will go, and because of that he will be thrown into Hell a distance greater than that between heaven and earth.) According to another report:
«لَا يُلْقِي لَهَا بَالًا»
(And he may not pay any attention to it.)
[وَلَوْلا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ قُلْتُمْ مَّا يَكُونُ لَنَآ أَن نَّتَكَلَّمَ بِهَـذَا سُبْحَـنَكَ هَـذَا بُهْتَـنٌ عَظِيمٌ - يَعِظُكُمُ اللَّهُ أَن تَعُودُواْ لِمِثْلِهِ أَبَداً إِن كُنتُمْ مُّؤْمِنِينَ - وَيُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمُ الاٌّيَـتِ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ ]
(16. And why did you not, when you heard it, say: "It is not right for us to speak of this. Glory be to You (O Allah)! This is a great lie.'') (17. Allah forbids you from it and warns you not to repeat the like of it forever, if you are believers.) (18. And Allah makes the Ayat plain to you, and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.)
Further Discipline
This is further discipline, in addition to the command to think well of people, i.e., if something unbefitting is mentioned about good people, then one should think well of them, and not feel towards them anything but good. Then if a person has any unsuitable thoughts about them, insinuated into his mind and imagination by Shaytan, he should not speak about that, for the Prophet said:
«إِنَّ اللهَ تَعَالَى تَجَاوَزَ لِأُمَّتِي عَمَّا حَدَّثَتْ بِهِ أَنْفُسُهَا مَا لَمْ تَقُلْ أَوْ تَعْمَلْ»
(Allah will excuse my Ummah for anything that occurs to their minds, so long as they do not speak about it or act upon it.) This was reported in the Two Sahihs. Allah's saying:
[وَلَوْلا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ قُلْتُمْ مَّا يَكُونُ لَنَآ أَن نَّتَكَلَّمَ بِهَـذَا]
(And why did you not, when you heard it, say: "It is not right for us to speak of this''.) meaning, we should not talk about it or mention it to anyone.
[سُبْحَـنَكَ هَـذَا بُهْتَـنٌ عَظِيمٌ]
(Glory be to You (O Allah)! This is a great lie.) means, glory be to Allah that such a thing should be said about the wife of His Prophet and close Friend . Then Allah says,
[يَعِظُكُمُ اللَّهُ أَن تَعُودُواْ لِمِثْلِهِ أَبَداً]
(Allah forbids you from it and warns you not to repeat the like of it forever, ) meaning, Allah is forbidding you and warning you from doing anything like this again in the future. Allah says,
[إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ]
(if you are believers.) meaning, if you believe in Allah and His Laws, and you respect His Messenger . As for those who are described as disbelievers, a different ruling applies in their case. Then Allah says,
[وَيُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمُ الاٌّيَـتِ]
(And Allah makes the Ayat plain to you,) meaning, He makes clear to you the rulings of Shari`ah and His divine decrees.
[وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ]
(and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.) means, He knows what is right for His servants and He is Wise in His Laws and decrees.
[إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُحِبُّونَ أَن تَشِيعَ الْفَـحِشَةُ فِى الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ فِى الدُّنْيَا وَالاٌّخِرَةِ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنْتُمْ لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ ]
(19. Verily, those who like that Fahishah should be circulated among those who believe, they will have a painful torment in this world and in the Hereafter. And Allah knows and you know not.)
Friday, January 29, 2010
Slander on Aishah RA
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ جَآءُوا بِالإِفْكِ عُصْبَةٌ مِّنْكُمْ]
(Verily, those who brought forth the slander are a group among you.) meaning they were not one or two, but a group. Foremost among this group was `Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul, the leader of the hypocrites, who fabricated the lie and whispered it to others, until some of the Muslims started to believe it, and others thought it might be possible and began to talk about it. This is how matters remained for almost a month, until Qur'an was revealed. This is reported in Sahih Hadiths. Imam Ahmad recorded that Az-Zuhri said: Sa`id bin Al-Musayyib, `Urwah bin Az-Zubayr, `Alqamah bin Waqqas and `Ubaydullah bin `Abdullah bin `Utbah bin Mas`ud told me about the story of `A'ishah, the wife of the Prophet , when the people of the slander said what they said about her, and Allah declared her innocence. Each of them told something about the story, and some of them knew more details than others or had memorized more than others. I learned the story from each of them, who had heard it from `A'ishah herself, and what one told me confirmed what the others said. They mentioned that `A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, the wife of the Prophet , said: "When the Messenger of Allah wanted to go on a journey, he would cast lots among his wives, and the one whose lot was drawn would go with him.'' `A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said, "So he drew lots among us with regard to a campaign he was going out on, and mine was drawn, so I went out with the Messenger of Allah . This was after the commandment of Hijab had been revealed, so I traveled in my howdah and stayed in it when we camped. We traveled until the Messenger of Allah completed his campaign, then we returned. As we were approaching Al-Madinah, we paused for a while, then they announced that the journey was to be resumed. When I heard this, I walked quickly away from the army to answer the call of nature, then I came back to my howdah. Then I put my hand to my chest and noticed that a necklace of mine that was made of onyx and cornelian had broken, so I went back and looked for it, and was delayed because of that. In the meantime, the people who used to lift my howdah onto my camel came along and put it on the camel, thinking that I was inside. In those times women were more slender and not so heavy, they only ate mouthfuls of food. So the people did not think anything of the howdah being so light when they lifted it up, as I was a young woman. They set off, and I found my necklace after the army had moved on. Then I came back to the place where we had stopped, and I saw no one to call or answer. So I went to the place where I had been, thinking that the people would miss me and come back for me. While I was sitting there, I fell asleep. tSafwan bin Al-Mu`attal As-Sulami Adh-Dhakwani had rested during the night behind the army. Then he set out just before daybreak and reached the place where I was in the morning, where he saw the outline of a person sleeping. He came to me and recognized me when he saw me, as he had seen me before Hijab was made obligatory for me. When he saw me and said `Truly, to Allah we belong, and truly, to Him we shall return,' I woke up, and covered my face with my Jilbab (outer garment). By Allah, he did not speak a word to me and I did not hear him say anything except `Truly, to Allah we belong, and truly, to Him we shall return,' until he brought his camel and made it kneel so that I could ride upon it, then he set out leading the camel until we caught up with the army at Zuhr time.
There are people who are doomed because of what happened to me, and the one who had the greater share therein was `Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul. When we came back to Al-Madinah, I was ill for a month, and the people were talking about what the people of the slander were saying, and I knew nothing about it. What upset me when I was ill was that I did not see the kindness I used to see on the part of the Messenger of Allah . When I was ill; he would just come in and say,
«كَيْفَ تِيكُمْ؟»
(How is that (lady)) That is what upset me. I did not feel that there was anything wrong until I went out after I felt better, and Umm Mistah went out with me, walking towards Al-Manasi`, which is where we used to go to relieve ourselves, and we would not go out for that purpose except at night. This was before we had lavatories close to our houses; our habit was similar to that of the early Arabs in that we went out into the deserts to relieve ourselves, because we considered it troublesome and harmful to have lavatories in our houses. So I went out with Umm Mistah, who was the daughter of Abu Ruhm bin Al-Muttalib bin `Abd Manaf, and her mother was the daughter of Sakhr bin `Amir, the paternal aunt of Abu Bakr As-Siddiq. Her son was Mistah bin Uthathah bin `Abbad bin Al-Muttalib. When we finished what we had to do, the daughter of Abu Ruhm Umm Mistah and I came back towards my house. Umm Mistah stumbled over her apron and said, `May Mistah be ruined!' I said to her, `What a bad thing you have said! Are you abusing a man who was present at Badr' She said, `Good grief, have you not heard what he said' I said, `What did he say' So she told me what the people of the slander were saying, which made me even more ill. When I returned home, the Messenger of Allah came in to me and greeted me, then he said,
«كَيْفَ تِيكُمْ؟»
(How is that (lady)) I said to him, `Will you give me permission to go to my parents' At that time I wanted to confirm the news by hearing it from them. The Messenger of Allah gave me permission, so I went to my parents and asked my mother, `O my mother, what are the people talking about' My mother said, `Calm down, for by Allah, there is no beautiful woman who is loved by her husband and has co-wives but those co-wives would find fault with her.' I said, `Subhan Allah! Are the people really talking about that' I wept throughout the whole night until morning. My tears never ceased and I did not sleep at all, and morning came while I was still weeping. Because the revelation had ceased, the Messenger of Allah called `Ali bin Abi Talib and Usamah bin Zayd, and consulted with them about divorcing his wife. As for Usamah bin Zayd, he told the Messenger of Allah about what he knew of his wife's innocence and his fondness for her. He said, `O Messenger of Allah, she is your wife, and we do not know anything about her but good.' But `Ali bin Abi Talib said, `O Messenger of Allah, Allah has not imposed restrictions on you, and there are plenty of other women besides her. If you ask her servant girl, she will tell you the truth.' So the Messenger of Allah called Barirah and said,
«أَيْ بَرِيرَةُ هَلْ رَأَيْتِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ يَرِيبُكِ مِنْ عَائِشَةَ؟»
(O Barirah, have you ever seen anything that might make you suspicious about `A'ishah) Barirah said to him, `By the One Who sent you with the truth, I have never seen anything for which I could blame her, apart from the fact that she is a young girl who sometimes falls asleep and leaves her family's dough unprotected so that the domestic goats come and eat it.' So then the Messenger of Allah got up and (addressed the people) and asked who could sort out `Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul for him. While he was standing on the Minbar, the Messenger of Allah said,
«يَامَعْشَرَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ مَنْ يَعْذِرُنِي مِنْ رَجُلٍ قَدْ بَلَغَنِي أَذَاهُ فِي أَهْلِ بَيْتِي، فَوَاللهِ مَا عَلِمْتُ عَلَى أَهْلِي إِلَّا خَيْرًا، وَلَقَدْ ذَكَرُوا رَجُلًا مَا عَلِمْتُ عَلَيْهِ إِلَّا خَيْرًا، وَمَا كَانَ يَدْخُلُ عَلَى أَهْلِي إِلَّا مَعِي»
(O Muslims, who will help me against a man who has hurt me by slandering my family By Allah, I know nothing about my family but good, and the people are blaming a man of whom I know nothing except good, and he has never entered upon my family except with me.) Sa`d bin Mu`adh Al-Ansari stood up and said, `O Messenger of Allah, by Allah I will deal with him for you. If he is from (the tribe of) Al-Aws, then I will cut off his head, and if he is from our brothers of (the tribe of) Al-Khazraj, tell us what to do and we will do it.' Then Sa`d bin `Ubadah stood up. He was the leader of Al-Khazraj, and he was a righteous man, but he was overwhelmed with tribal chauvinism. He said to Sa`d bin Mu`adh, `By Allah, you will not kill him and you will never be able to kill him.' Then Usayd bin Hudayr, who was the cousin of Sa`d bin Mu`adh, stood up and said to Sa`d bin `Ubadah, `You are lying! By Allah, we will kill him, and you are a hypocrite arguing on behalf of the hypocrites!' Then the two groups, Al-Aws and Al-Khazraj, started to get angry and were about to come to blows, with the Messenger of Allah standing there on the Minbar, trying to calm them down until they became quiet, then the Messenger of Allah also fell silent. On that day I kept on weeping so much, my tears never ceased and I did not sleep at all. My parents thought that my liver would burst from all that weeping. While they were sitting with me and I was weeping, a woman of the Ansar asked for permission to see me. I let her in, and she sat and wept with me. While we were in that state, the Messenger of Allah came in, greeted us and sat down. He had never sat with me since the rumors began, and a month had passed by without any revelation coming to him concerning my case. The Messenger of Allah recited the Tashahhud when he sat down, then he said,
«أَمَّا بَعْدُ، يَا عَائِشَةُ فَإِنَّهُ قَدْ بَلَغَنِي عَنْكِ كَذَا وَكَذَا،فَإِنْ كُنْتِ بَرِيئَةً فَسَيُبَرِّئُكِ اللهُ، وَإِنْ كُنْتِ أَلْمَمْتِ بِذَنْبٍ فَاسْتَغْفِرِي اللهَ ثُمَّ تُوبِي إِلَيْهِ، فَإِنَّ الْعَبْدَ إِذَا اعْتَرَفَ بِذَنْبِهِ ثُمَّ تَابَ، تَابَ اللهُ عَلَيْهِ»
(Thereafter, O `A'ishah, I have been told such and such a thing about you, and if you are innocent, then Allah will reveal your innocence, but if you have committed a sin, then seek Allah's forgiveness and turn in repentance to Him, for when a servant confesses his sin and repents to Allah, He accepts his repentance.) When the Messenger of Allah finished what he had to say, my tears stopped completely and I not longer felt even one drop. Then I said to my father, `Answer the Messenger of Allah on my behalf.' He said, `I do not know what I should say to the Messenger of Allah.' So I said to my mother, `Answer the Messenger of Allah on my behalf.' She said, `I do not know what I should say to the Messenger of Allah.' So even though I was just a young girl who had not memorized much of the Qur'an, I said: `By Allah, I know that you have heard so much of this story that it has become planted in your minds and you believe it. So now if I tell you that I am innocent -- and Allah knows that I am innocent -- you will not believe me; but if I admit something to you -- and Allah knows that I am innocent -- you will believe me. By Allah, I cannot find any example to give you except for that which the Prophet Yusuf's father said,
[فَصَبْرٌ جَمِيلٌ وَاللَّهُ الْمُسْتَعَانُ عَلَى مَا تَصِفُونَ]
(So (for me) patience is most fitting. And it is Allah Whose help can be sought against that (lie) which you describe) [12:18]. Then I turned my face away and lay down on my bed. By Allah, at that point I knew I was innocent and that Allah would prove my innocence because I was innocent, but by Allah, I did not think that Allah would reveal Qur'an that would be forever recited concerning my situation, because I thought of myself as too insignificant for Allah to reveal anything concerning me. But I hoped that the Messenger of Allah would see a dream in which Allah would prove my innocence. By Allah, the Messenger of Allah did not move from where he was sitting and no one left the house before Allah sent down revelation to His Prophet , and he was overtaken by the state that always overtook him when the revelation came upon him, until drops of sweat like pearls would run down him, even on a winter's day; this was because of the heaviness of the words which were being revealed to him. When that state passed -- and the Messenger of Allah was smiling -- the first thing he said was,
«أَبْشِرِي يَا عَائِشَةُ، أَمَّا اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ فَقَدْ بَرَّأَكِ»
(Be glad O `A'ishah, Allah has declared your innocence.) My mother said to me, `Get up and go to him.' I said, `By Allah, I will not go to him and I will not give praise to anyone except Allah, may He be glorified, for He is the One Who has proven my innocence.' So Allah revealed:
[إِنَّ الَّذِينَ جَآءُوا بِالإِفْكِ عُصْبَةٌ مِّنْكُمْ]
(Verily, those who brought forth the slander are a group among you.), until the ten Ayat. Allah revealed these Ayat concerning my innocence. Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, who used to spend on Mistah bin Uthathah because he was a close relative and because he was poor, said, `By Allah, I will never spend anything on him again after what he has said about `A'ishah. ' Then Allah revealed,
[وَلاَ يَأْتَلِ أُوْلُواْ الْفَضْلِ مِنكُمْ وَالسَّعَةِ أَن يُؤْتُواْ أُوْلِى الْقُرْبَى]
(And let not those among you who are blessed with graces and wealth swear not to give to their kinsmen.) until His saying:
[أَلاَ تُحِبُّونَ أَن يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ]
(Do you not love that Allah should forgive you And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful) [24:22]. So Abu Bakr said, `By Allah, certainly I love that Allah should forgive me.' So he resumed spending on Mistah as he had spent on him before, and he said, `By Allah, I shall never stop spending on him.' The Messenger of Allah asked Zaynab bint Jahsh about my situation, and said,
«يَا زَيْنَبُ مَاذَا عَلِمْتِ أَوْ رَأَيْتِ؟»
(O Zaynab, what do you know and what have you seen) She said, `O Messenger of Allah, may Allah protect my hearing and my sight. By Allah, I know nothing but good.' She is the one who used to compete with me among the wives of the Prophet , but Allah protected her (from telling lies) because of her piety. But her sister Hamnah bint Jahsh kept on fighting on her behalf, so she was doomed along with those who were doomed.'' Ibn Shihab said, "This is as much as we know about this group of people.'' It was also by Al-Bukhari and Muslim in their Sahihs from the Hadith of Az-Zuhri, and by Ibn Ishaq also from Az-Zuhri. He also said: "Yahya bin `Abbad bin `Abdullah bin Az-Zubayr told me from his father, from `A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, and `Abdullah bin Abi Bakr bin Muhammad bin `Amr bin Hazm Al-Ansari told me from `Amrah, from `A'ishah, (a report) similar to that quoted above. And Allah knows best. Allah's saying:
[إِنَّ الَّذِينَ جَآءُوا بِالإِفْكِ]
(Verily, those who brought forth the slander) means, the lies, falsehood and fabrications.
[عُصْبَةٌ]
(are a group) means, a gang among you.
[لاَ تَحْسَبُوهُ شَرّاً لَّكُمْ]
(Consider it not a bad thing for you.) O family of Abu Bakr,
[بَلْ هُوَ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ]
(Nay, it is good for you.) means, in this world and the Hereafter, honorable mention in this world and raised status in the Hereafter. Allah demonstrated the esteem with which He regarded the family of Abu Bakr when He defended `A'ishah the Mother of the believers, may Allah be pleased with her, by revealing her innocence in the Qur'an,
[لاَّ يَأْتِيهِ الْبَـطِلُ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَلاَ مِنْ خَلْفِهِ]
(Falsehood cannot come to it from before it or behind it. ..) [41:42]. Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, entered upon her when she was dying, he said to her, "Rejoice, for you are the wife of the Messenger of Allah and he used to love you; he did not marry any virgin other than you, and your innocence was revealed from heaven.''
[لِكُلِّ امْرِىءٍ مِّنْهُمْ مَّا اكْتَسَبَ مِنَ الإِثْمِ]
(Unto every man among them will be paid that which he had earned of the sin,) means, each of those who spoke about this matter and accused the Mother of the believers `A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, of any immoral action, will have a great share of punishment.
[وَالَّذِى تَوَلَّى كِبْرَهُ مِنْهُمْ]
(and as for him among them who had the greater share therein,) It was said that this referred to the one who initiated the rumors, or that it was the one who collected rumors and spread them among the people.
[لَهُ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ]
(his will be a great torment.) means, for that. He was `Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul, may Allah disfigure him and curse him.
[لَّوْلا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ ظَنَّ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَـتُ بِأَنفُسِهِمْ خَيْراً وَقَالُواْ هَـذَآ إِفْكٌ مُّبِينٌ - لَّوْلاَ جَآءُو عَلَيْهِ بِأَرْبَعَةِ شُهَدَآءَ فَإِذْ لَمْ يَأْتُواْ بِالشُّهَدَآءِ فَأُوْلَـئِكَ عِندَ اللَّهِ هُمُ الْكَـذِبُونَ ]
e(12. Why then, did not the believers, men and women, when you heard it, think good of their own people and say: "This is an obvious lie'') (13. Why did they not produce four witnesses against him Since they have not produced witnesses! Then with Allah, they are the liars.)
Disciplining the Believers for spreading the Slander
Here Allah disciplines the believers with regard to the matter of `A'ishah, because some of them spread this evil talk and the slander that had been mentioned. So Allah says:
[لَّوْلا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ]
(Why then, when you heard it,) meaning, the talk which accused the Mother of the believers, may Allah be pleased with her,
[ظَنَّ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَـتُ بِأَنفُسِهِمْ خَيْراً]
(the believers, men and women, think good of their own people) means, why did they not compare what was said to themselves -- if it was not befitting for them then it was even less appropriate for the Mother of the believers, and she was more likely to be innocent. Or it was said that this was revealed about Abu Ayyub Khalid bin Zayd Al-Ansari and his wife, may Allah be pleased with them. Imam Muhammad bin Ishaq bin Yasar narrated, "The wife of Abu Ayyub Khalid bin Zayd Al-Ansari, Umm Ayyub, said to him, `O Abu Ayyub, have you heard what the people are saying about `A'ishah' He said, `Yes, and it is all lies. Would you do that, O Umm Ayyub' She said, `No, by Allah, I would not do that.' He said, `And by Allah, `A'ishah is better than you.' When the Qur'an was revealed, Allah mentioned those who spoke about the evil deed among the people of the slander,
[إِنَّ الَّذِينَ جَآءُوا بِالإِفْكِ عُصْبَةٌ مِّنْكُمْ]
(Verily, those who brought forth the slander are a group among you.) [24:1] This refers to Hassan and his companions who said what they said. Then Allah said,
[لَّوْلا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ ظَنَّ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ]
(Why then, did not the believers, men, when you heard it, think...) means, as Abu Ayyub and his wife did.'' Allah's saying:
[ظَنَّ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ]
(the believers, men think...) meaning, `why did they not think good, because the Mother of the believers is his wife and is closer to him.' This is concerned with innermost feelings;
[وَقَالُواْ]
(and say:) means, with their tongues, verbally,
[هَـذَآ إِفْكٌ مُّبِينٌ]
("This (charge) is an obvious lie'') means, a clear untruth told about the Mother of the believers, may Allah be pleased with her. What happened should not have been the cause of suspicion. The fact that the Mother of the believers came openly, riding on the camel of Safwan bin Al-Mu`attal at midday, with the entire army watching and the Messenger of Allah among them, should have made it clear that there was no cause for suspicion. If there had been anything suspicious about the matter, they would not have come openly in this manner in front of so many witnesses; they would have come secretly. On this basis, what the people of the slander said accusing the Mother of the believers was an utter lie, false speech and evil foolish talk, by which people who indulged in it lost out. Allah said:
[لَّوْلاَ جَآءُو عَلَيْهِ بِأَرْبَعَةِ شُهَدَآءَ]
(Why did they not produce four witnesses against him) meaning, to prove that what they were saying was true.
[فَإِذْ لَمْ يَأْتُواْ بِالشُّهَدَآءِ فَأُوْلَـئِكَ عِندَ اللَّهِ هُمُ الْكَـذِبُونَ]
(Since they have not produced witnesses! Then with Allah they are the liars.)Allah has ruled that they are indeed wicked liars.
[وَلَوْلاَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُ فِى الدُّنْيَا وَالاٌّخِرَةِ لَمَسَّكُمْ فِى مَآ أَفَضْتُمْ فِيهِ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ - إِذْ تَلَقَّوْنَهُ بِأَلْسِنَتِكُمْ وَتَقُولُونَ بِأَفْوَهِكُمْ مَّا لَّيْسَ لَكُمْ بِهِ عِلْمٌ وَتَحْسَبُونَهُ هَيِّناً وَهُوَ عِندَ اللَّهِ عَظِيمٌ ]
(14. Had it not been for the grace of Allah and His mercy unto you in this world and in the Hereafter, a great torment would have touched you for that whereof you had spoken.) (15. When you were propagating it with your tongues, and uttering with your mouths that whereof you had no knowledge, you counted it a little thing, while with Allah it was very great.)
(Verily, those who brought forth the slander are a group among you.) meaning they were not one or two, but a group. Foremost among this group was `Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul, the leader of the hypocrites, who fabricated the lie and whispered it to others, until some of the Muslims started to believe it, and others thought it might be possible and began to talk about it. This is how matters remained for almost a month, until Qur'an was revealed. This is reported in Sahih Hadiths. Imam Ahmad recorded that Az-Zuhri said: Sa`id bin Al-Musayyib, `Urwah bin Az-Zubayr, `Alqamah bin Waqqas and `Ubaydullah bin `Abdullah bin `Utbah bin Mas`ud told me about the story of `A'ishah, the wife of the Prophet , when the people of the slander said what they said about her, and Allah declared her innocence. Each of them told something about the story, and some of them knew more details than others or had memorized more than others. I learned the story from each of them, who had heard it from `A'ishah herself, and what one told me confirmed what the others said. They mentioned that `A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, the wife of the Prophet , said: "When the Messenger of Allah wanted to go on a journey, he would cast lots among his wives, and the one whose lot was drawn would go with him.'' `A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said, "So he drew lots among us with regard to a campaign he was going out on, and mine was drawn, so I went out with the Messenger of Allah . This was after the commandment of Hijab had been revealed, so I traveled in my howdah and stayed in it when we camped. We traveled until the Messenger of Allah completed his campaign, then we returned. As we were approaching Al-Madinah, we paused for a while, then they announced that the journey was to be resumed. When I heard this, I walked quickly away from the army to answer the call of nature, then I came back to my howdah. Then I put my hand to my chest and noticed that a necklace of mine that was made of onyx and cornelian had broken, so I went back and looked for it, and was delayed because of that. In the meantime, the people who used to lift my howdah onto my camel came along and put it on the camel, thinking that I was inside. In those times women were more slender and not so heavy, they only ate mouthfuls of food. So the people did not think anything of the howdah being so light when they lifted it up, as I was a young woman. They set off, and I found my necklace after the army had moved on. Then I came back to the place where we had stopped, and I saw no one to call or answer. So I went to the place where I had been, thinking that the people would miss me and come back for me. While I was sitting there, I fell asleep. tSafwan bin Al-Mu`attal As-Sulami Adh-Dhakwani had rested during the night behind the army. Then he set out just before daybreak and reached the place where I was in the morning, where he saw the outline of a person sleeping. He came to me and recognized me when he saw me, as he had seen me before Hijab was made obligatory for me. When he saw me and said `Truly, to Allah we belong, and truly, to Him we shall return,' I woke up, and covered my face with my Jilbab (outer garment). By Allah, he did not speak a word to me and I did not hear him say anything except `Truly, to Allah we belong, and truly, to Him we shall return,' until he brought his camel and made it kneel so that I could ride upon it, then he set out leading the camel until we caught up with the army at Zuhr time.
There are people who are doomed because of what happened to me, and the one who had the greater share therein was `Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul. When we came back to Al-Madinah, I was ill for a month, and the people were talking about what the people of the slander were saying, and I knew nothing about it. What upset me when I was ill was that I did not see the kindness I used to see on the part of the Messenger of Allah . When I was ill; he would just come in and say,
«كَيْفَ تِيكُمْ؟»
(How is that (lady)) That is what upset me. I did not feel that there was anything wrong until I went out after I felt better, and Umm Mistah went out with me, walking towards Al-Manasi`, which is where we used to go to relieve ourselves, and we would not go out for that purpose except at night. This was before we had lavatories close to our houses; our habit was similar to that of the early Arabs in that we went out into the deserts to relieve ourselves, because we considered it troublesome and harmful to have lavatories in our houses. So I went out with Umm Mistah, who was the daughter of Abu Ruhm bin Al-Muttalib bin `Abd Manaf, and her mother was the daughter of Sakhr bin `Amir, the paternal aunt of Abu Bakr As-Siddiq. Her son was Mistah bin Uthathah bin `Abbad bin Al-Muttalib. When we finished what we had to do, the daughter of Abu Ruhm Umm Mistah and I came back towards my house. Umm Mistah stumbled over her apron and said, `May Mistah be ruined!' I said to her, `What a bad thing you have said! Are you abusing a man who was present at Badr' She said, `Good grief, have you not heard what he said' I said, `What did he say' So she told me what the people of the slander were saying, which made me even more ill. When I returned home, the Messenger of Allah came in to me and greeted me, then he said,
«كَيْفَ تِيكُمْ؟»
(How is that (lady)) I said to him, `Will you give me permission to go to my parents' At that time I wanted to confirm the news by hearing it from them. The Messenger of Allah gave me permission, so I went to my parents and asked my mother, `O my mother, what are the people talking about' My mother said, `Calm down, for by Allah, there is no beautiful woman who is loved by her husband and has co-wives but those co-wives would find fault with her.' I said, `Subhan Allah! Are the people really talking about that' I wept throughout the whole night until morning. My tears never ceased and I did not sleep at all, and morning came while I was still weeping. Because the revelation had ceased, the Messenger of Allah called `Ali bin Abi Talib and Usamah bin Zayd, and consulted with them about divorcing his wife. As for Usamah bin Zayd, he told the Messenger of Allah about what he knew of his wife's innocence and his fondness for her. He said, `O Messenger of Allah, she is your wife, and we do not know anything about her but good.' But `Ali bin Abi Talib said, `O Messenger of Allah, Allah has not imposed restrictions on you, and there are plenty of other women besides her. If you ask her servant girl, she will tell you the truth.' So the Messenger of Allah called Barirah and said,
«أَيْ بَرِيرَةُ هَلْ رَأَيْتِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ يَرِيبُكِ مِنْ عَائِشَةَ؟»
(O Barirah, have you ever seen anything that might make you suspicious about `A'ishah) Barirah said to him, `By the One Who sent you with the truth, I have never seen anything for which I could blame her, apart from the fact that she is a young girl who sometimes falls asleep and leaves her family's dough unprotected so that the domestic goats come and eat it.' So then the Messenger of Allah got up and (addressed the people) and asked who could sort out `Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul for him. While he was standing on the Minbar, the Messenger of Allah said,
«يَامَعْشَرَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ مَنْ يَعْذِرُنِي مِنْ رَجُلٍ قَدْ بَلَغَنِي أَذَاهُ فِي أَهْلِ بَيْتِي، فَوَاللهِ مَا عَلِمْتُ عَلَى أَهْلِي إِلَّا خَيْرًا، وَلَقَدْ ذَكَرُوا رَجُلًا مَا عَلِمْتُ عَلَيْهِ إِلَّا خَيْرًا، وَمَا كَانَ يَدْخُلُ عَلَى أَهْلِي إِلَّا مَعِي»
(O Muslims, who will help me against a man who has hurt me by slandering my family By Allah, I know nothing about my family but good, and the people are blaming a man of whom I know nothing except good, and he has never entered upon my family except with me.) Sa`d bin Mu`adh Al-Ansari stood up and said, `O Messenger of Allah, by Allah I will deal with him for you. If he is from (the tribe of) Al-Aws, then I will cut off his head, and if he is from our brothers of (the tribe of) Al-Khazraj, tell us what to do and we will do it.' Then Sa`d bin `Ubadah stood up. He was the leader of Al-Khazraj, and he was a righteous man, but he was overwhelmed with tribal chauvinism. He said to Sa`d bin Mu`adh, `By Allah, you will not kill him and you will never be able to kill him.' Then Usayd bin Hudayr, who was the cousin of Sa`d bin Mu`adh, stood up and said to Sa`d bin `Ubadah, `You are lying! By Allah, we will kill him, and you are a hypocrite arguing on behalf of the hypocrites!' Then the two groups, Al-Aws and Al-Khazraj, started to get angry and were about to come to blows, with the Messenger of Allah standing there on the Minbar, trying to calm them down until they became quiet, then the Messenger of Allah also fell silent. On that day I kept on weeping so much, my tears never ceased and I did not sleep at all. My parents thought that my liver would burst from all that weeping. While they were sitting with me and I was weeping, a woman of the Ansar asked for permission to see me. I let her in, and she sat and wept with me. While we were in that state, the Messenger of Allah came in, greeted us and sat down. He had never sat with me since the rumors began, and a month had passed by without any revelation coming to him concerning my case. The Messenger of Allah recited the Tashahhud when he sat down, then he said,
«أَمَّا بَعْدُ، يَا عَائِشَةُ فَإِنَّهُ قَدْ بَلَغَنِي عَنْكِ كَذَا وَكَذَا،فَإِنْ كُنْتِ بَرِيئَةً فَسَيُبَرِّئُكِ اللهُ، وَإِنْ كُنْتِ أَلْمَمْتِ بِذَنْبٍ فَاسْتَغْفِرِي اللهَ ثُمَّ تُوبِي إِلَيْهِ، فَإِنَّ الْعَبْدَ إِذَا اعْتَرَفَ بِذَنْبِهِ ثُمَّ تَابَ، تَابَ اللهُ عَلَيْهِ»
(Thereafter, O `A'ishah, I have been told such and such a thing about you, and if you are innocent, then Allah will reveal your innocence, but if you have committed a sin, then seek Allah's forgiveness and turn in repentance to Him, for when a servant confesses his sin and repents to Allah, He accepts his repentance.) When the Messenger of Allah finished what he had to say, my tears stopped completely and I not longer felt even one drop. Then I said to my father, `Answer the Messenger of Allah on my behalf.' He said, `I do not know what I should say to the Messenger of Allah.' So I said to my mother, `Answer the Messenger of Allah on my behalf.' She said, `I do not know what I should say to the Messenger of Allah.' So even though I was just a young girl who had not memorized much of the Qur'an, I said: `By Allah, I know that you have heard so much of this story that it has become planted in your minds and you believe it. So now if I tell you that I am innocent -- and Allah knows that I am innocent -- you will not believe me; but if I admit something to you -- and Allah knows that I am innocent -- you will believe me. By Allah, I cannot find any example to give you except for that which the Prophet Yusuf's father said,
[فَصَبْرٌ جَمِيلٌ وَاللَّهُ الْمُسْتَعَانُ عَلَى مَا تَصِفُونَ]
(So (for me) patience is most fitting. And it is Allah Whose help can be sought against that (lie) which you describe) [12:18]. Then I turned my face away and lay down on my bed. By Allah, at that point I knew I was innocent and that Allah would prove my innocence because I was innocent, but by Allah, I did not think that Allah would reveal Qur'an that would be forever recited concerning my situation, because I thought of myself as too insignificant for Allah to reveal anything concerning me. But I hoped that the Messenger of Allah would see a dream in which Allah would prove my innocence. By Allah, the Messenger of Allah did not move from where he was sitting and no one left the house before Allah sent down revelation to His Prophet , and he was overtaken by the state that always overtook him when the revelation came upon him, until drops of sweat like pearls would run down him, even on a winter's day; this was because of the heaviness of the words which were being revealed to him. When that state passed -- and the Messenger of Allah was smiling -- the first thing he said was,
«أَبْشِرِي يَا عَائِشَةُ، أَمَّا اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ فَقَدْ بَرَّأَكِ»
(Be glad O `A'ishah, Allah has declared your innocence.) My mother said to me, `Get up and go to him.' I said, `By Allah, I will not go to him and I will not give praise to anyone except Allah, may He be glorified, for He is the One Who has proven my innocence.' So Allah revealed:
[إِنَّ الَّذِينَ جَآءُوا بِالإِفْكِ عُصْبَةٌ مِّنْكُمْ]
(Verily, those who brought forth the slander are a group among you.), until the ten Ayat. Allah revealed these Ayat concerning my innocence. Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, who used to spend on Mistah bin Uthathah because he was a close relative and because he was poor, said, `By Allah, I will never spend anything on him again after what he has said about `A'ishah. ' Then Allah revealed,
[وَلاَ يَأْتَلِ أُوْلُواْ الْفَضْلِ مِنكُمْ وَالسَّعَةِ أَن يُؤْتُواْ أُوْلِى الْقُرْبَى]
(And let not those among you who are blessed with graces and wealth swear not to give to their kinsmen.) until His saying:
[أَلاَ تُحِبُّونَ أَن يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ]
(Do you not love that Allah should forgive you And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful) [24:22]. So Abu Bakr said, `By Allah, certainly I love that Allah should forgive me.' So he resumed spending on Mistah as he had spent on him before, and he said, `By Allah, I shall never stop spending on him.' The Messenger of Allah asked Zaynab bint Jahsh about my situation, and said,
«يَا زَيْنَبُ مَاذَا عَلِمْتِ أَوْ رَأَيْتِ؟»
(O Zaynab, what do you know and what have you seen) She said, `O Messenger of Allah, may Allah protect my hearing and my sight. By Allah, I know nothing but good.' She is the one who used to compete with me among the wives of the Prophet , but Allah protected her (from telling lies) because of her piety. But her sister Hamnah bint Jahsh kept on fighting on her behalf, so she was doomed along with those who were doomed.'' Ibn Shihab said, "This is as much as we know about this group of people.'' It was also by Al-Bukhari and Muslim in their Sahihs from the Hadith of Az-Zuhri, and by Ibn Ishaq also from Az-Zuhri. He also said: "Yahya bin `Abbad bin `Abdullah bin Az-Zubayr told me from his father, from `A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, and `Abdullah bin Abi Bakr bin Muhammad bin `Amr bin Hazm Al-Ansari told me from `Amrah, from `A'ishah, (a report) similar to that quoted above. And Allah knows best. Allah's saying:
[إِنَّ الَّذِينَ جَآءُوا بِالإِفْكِ]
(Verily, those who brought forth the slander) means, the lies, falsehood and fabrications.
[عُصْبَةٌ]
(are a group) means, a gang among you.
[لاَ تَحْسَبُوهُ شَرّاً لَّكُمْ]
(Consider it not a bad thing for you.) O family of Abu Bakr,
[بَلْ هُوَ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ]
(Nay, it is good for you.) means, in this world and the Hereafter, honorable mention in this world and raised status in the Hereafter. Allah demonstrated the esteem with which He regarded the family of Abu Bakr when He defended `A'ishah the Mother of the believers, may Allah be pleased with her, by revealing her innocence in the Qur'an,
[لاَّ يَأْتِيهِ الْبَـطِلُ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَلاَ مِنْ خَلْفِهِ]
(Falsehood cannot come to it from before it or behind it. ..) [41:42]. Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, entered upon her when she was dying, he said to her, "Rejoice, for you are the wife of the Messenger of Allah and he used to love you; he did not marry any virgin other than you, and your innocence was revealed from heaven.''
[لِكُلِّ امْرِىءٍ مِّنْهُمْ مَّا اكْتَسَبَ مِنَ الإِثْمِ]
(Unto every man among them will be paid that which he had earned of the sin,) means, each of those who spoke about this matter and accused the Mother of the believers `A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, of any immoral action, will have a great share of punishment.
[وَالَّذِى تَوَلَّى كِبْرَهُ مِنْهُمْ]
(and as for him among them who had the greater share therein,) It was said that this referred to the one who initiated the rumors, or that it was the one who collected rumors and spread them among the people.
[لَهُ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ]
(his will be a great torment.) means, for that. He was `Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul, may Allah disfigure him and curse him.
[لَّوْلا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ ظَنَّ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَـتُ بِأَنفُسِهِمْ خَيْراً وَقَالُواْ هَـذَآ إِفْكٌ مُّبِينٌ - لَّوْلاَ جَآءُو عَلَيْهِ بِأَرْبَعَةِ شُهَدَآءَ فَإِذْ لَمْ يَأْتُواْ بِالشُّهَدَآءِ فَأُوْلَـئِكَ عِندَ اللَّهِ هُمُ الْكَـذِبُونَ ]
e(12. Why then, did not the believers, men and women, when you heard it, think good of their own people and say: "This is an obvious lie'') (13. Why did they not produce four witnesses against him Since they have not produced witnesses! Then with Allah, they are the liars.)
Disciplining the Believers for spreading the Slander
Here Allah disciplines the believers with regard to the matter of `A'ishah, because some of them spread this evil talk and the slander that had been mentioned. So Allah says:
[لَّوْلا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ]
(Why then, when you heard it,) meaning, the talk which accused the Mother of the believers, may Allah be pleased with her,
[ظَنَّ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَـتُ بِأَنفُسِهِمْ خَيْراً]
(the believers, men and women, think good of their own people) means, why did they not compare what was said to themselves -- if it was not befitting for them then it was even less appropriate for the Mother of the believers, and she was more likely to be innocent. Or it was said that this was revealed about Abu Ayyub Khalid bin Zayd Al-Ansari and his wife, may Allah be pleased with them. Imam Muhammad bin Ishaq bin Yasar narrated, "The wife of Abu Ayyub Khalid bin Zayd Al-Ansari, Umm Ayyub, said to him, `O Abu Ayyub, have you heard what the people are saying about `A'ishah' He said, `Yes, and it is all lies. Would you do that, O Umm Ayyub' She said, `No, by Allah, I would not do that.' He said, `And by Allah, `A'ishah is better than you.' When the Qur'an was revealed, Allah mentioned those who spoke about the evil deed among the people of the slander,
[إِنَّ الَّذِينَ جَآءُوا بِالإِفْكِ عُصْبَةٌ مِّنْكُمْ]
(Verily, those who brought forth the slander are a group among you.) [24:1] This refers to Hassan and his companions who said what they said. Then Allah said,
[لَّوْلا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ ظَنَّ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ]
(Why then, did not the believers, men, when you heard it, think...) means, as Abu Ayyub and his wife did.'' Allah's saying:
[ظَنَّ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ]
(the believers, men think...) meaning, `why did they not think good, because the Mother of the believers is his wife and is closer to him.' This is concerned with innermost feelings;
[وَقَالُواْ]
(and say:) means, with their tongues, verbally,
[هَـذَآ إِفْكٌ مُّبِينٌ]
("This (charge) is an obvious lie'') means, a clear untruth told about the Mother of the believers, may Allah be pleased with her. What happened should not have been the cause of suspicion. The fact that the Mother of the believers came openly, riding on the camel of Safwan bin Al-Mu`attal at midday, with the entire army watching and the Messenger of Allah among them, should have made it clear that there was no cause for suspicion. If there had been anything suspicious about the matter, they would not have come openly in this manner in front of so many witnesses; they would have come secretly. On this basis, what the people of the slander said accusing the Mother of the believers was an utter lie, false speech and evil foolish talk, by which people who indulged in it lost out. Allah said:
[لَّوْلاَ جَآءُو عَلَيْهِ بِأَرْبَعَةِ شُهَدَآءَ]
(Why did they not produce four witnesses against him) meaning, to prove that what they were saying was true.
[فَإِذْ لَمْ يَأْتُواْ بِالشُّهَدَآءِ فَأُوْلَـئِكَ عِندَ اللَّهِ هُمُ الْكَـذِبُونَ]
(Since they have not produced witnesses! Then with Allah they are the liars.)Allah has ruled that they are indeed wicked liars.
[وَلَوْلاَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُ فِى الدُّنْيَا وَالاٌّخِرَةِ لَمَسَّكُمْ فِى مَآ أَفَضْتُمْ فِيهِ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ - إِذْ تَلَقَّوْنَهُ بِأَلْسِنَتِكُمْ وَتَقُولُونَ بِأَفْوَهِكُمْ مَّا لَّيْسَ لَكُمْ بِهِ عِلْمٌ وَتَحْسَبُونَهُ هَيِّناً وَهُوَ عِندَ اللَّهِ عَظِيمٌ ]
(14. Had it not been for the grace of Allah and His mercy unto you in this world and in the Hereafter, a great torment would have touched you for that whereof you had spoken.) (15. When you were propagating it with your tongues, and uttering with your mouths that whereof you had no knowledge, you counted it a little thing, while with Allah it was very great.)
Is it obligatory for women to do ghusl on fridays
Is it prescribed to do ghusl on Fridays for women?
Is doing ghusl on Fridays is obligatory for women too?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
Doing ghusl on Fridays is mustahabb, not obligatory, according to the majority of fuqaha’, although some of them were of the view that it is obligatory.
Secondly:
This ghusl is prescribed for those who come to Jumu‘ah prayers, whether men or women, although it is men who are addressed in the verse which tells them to attend the prayer, as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“O you who believe (Muslims)! When the call is proclaimed for the Salaah (prayer) on Friday (Jumu‘ah prayer), come to the remembrance of Allaah [Jumu‘ah religious talk (Khutbah) and Salaah (prayer)] and leave off business (and every other thing). That is better for you if you did but know!”
[al-Jumu’ah 62:9].
But if a woman attends Jumu‘ah prayer, it is prescribed for her to do ghusl for it and observe its etiquette.
Ibn Hibbaan wrote a chapter in his Saheeh entitled: It is mustahabb for women to do ghusl for Jumu‘ah if they want to attend it. Then he quoted the hadeeth of ‘Uthmaan ibn Waaqid al-‘Umari from Naafi‘ from Ibn ‘Umar, who said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever comes to Jumu‘ah, man or woman, let him do ghusl.”
The authenticity of the hadeeth is agreed upon, apart from the additional words “man or woman”. This additional material was narrated by Ibn Khuzaymah, Ibn Hibbaan, and al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan, and that there was a difference of opinion as to whether it is saheeh or not.
It was classed as saheeh by al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) in al-Majmoo‘ (4/405) and Ibn Mulaqqin in al-Badr al-Muneer (4/649).
Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said in al-Fath (2/358): According to the report of ‘Uthmaan ibn Waaqid from Naafi‘, which is narrated by Abu ‘Awaanah, Ibn Khuzaymah and Ibn Hibbaan in their Saheehs with the wording, “Whoever comes to Jumu‘ah, man or woman, let him do ghusl, and whoever does not come to it does not have to do ghusl,” its men are thiqaat (trustworthy). But al-Bazzaar said: I am afraid that there is some wahm (weakness of memory) in ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Aaqid.
What al-Bazzaar was afraid of, namely wahm (weak memory) of ‘Uthmaan ibn Waaqid, was stated with certainty by Abu Dawood, the author of al-Sunan, may Allah have mercy on him.
Abu ‘Ubayd al-Aajurri said: I asked Abu Dawood about him and he said: He is da‘eef (weak). I said to Abu Dawood: ‘Abbaas ibn Muhammad narrated from Yahya ibn Ma‘een that he is trustworthy. He said: He is da‘eef (weak). He narrated that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever comes to Jumu‘ah, man or woman, let him do ghusl.”, but we do not know of anyone who says this apart from him.
End quote from Tahdheeb al-Kamaal, 19/505
Al-Albaani (may Allah have mercy on him) stated definitively that this additional material is odd and he classed it as weak, as it says in al-Silsilah al-Da‘eefah (8/430).
What may support the view that women should do ghusl for Jumu‘ah is the reports narrated by Ibn Abi Shaybah in his Musannaf from ‘Ubaydah bint Naa’il who said: I heard Ibn ‘Umar and the daughter of Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqaas say: Whoever among you (women) comes to Jumu‘ah, let her do ghusl. Something similar was narrated from Tawoos, and it was narrated from Shaqeeq that he used to tell his family, both men and women, to do ghusl on Fridays. See al-Musannaf (2/9).
Doing ghusl for Jumu‘ah makes sense, because it is cleanliness and puts a stop to unpleasant odours that annoy other people present. Hence women are asked to do that if they want to attend.
Al-Haafiz said in al-Fath: al-Zayn ibn al-Muneer said: And it was narrated from Maalik that whoever attends Jumu‘ah apart from men, if their attendance is to seek virtue, it is prescribed for them to do ghusl and observe all the etiquettes of Jumu‘ah, but if they attend on the spur of the moment, then no.
End quote from al-Fath al-Baari.
Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said in al-Majmoo‘ (4/405):
Doing ghusl on Friday is Sunnah, not obligatory in the sense that not doing it is a sin, and there is no difference of opinion among us concerning that. With regard to the one for whom it is Sunnah, there are four views, but the correct view that is supported by the text and regard by the author and the majority as the correct view is the following: It is Sunnah for everyone who wants to attend Jumu‘ah, man, woman, child, traveller, slave and others, because of the apparent meaning of the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Umar, and because the aim is cleanliness, and they are all the same with regard to that. It is not Sunnah for the one who does not intend to attend, even if he is one of those who should attend Jumu‘ah, because of the meaning of the hadeeth and because the reason is no longer present; and because of the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Umar, according to which the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever comes to Jumu‘ah, man or woman, let him do ghusl, and whoever does not come to it, man or woman, does not have to do ghusl.” Narrated by al-Bayhaqi with this wording and with a saheeh isnaad. End quote.
And Allah knows best.
Is doing ghusl on Fridays is obligatory for women too?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
Doing ghusl on Fridays is mustahabb, not obligatory, according to the majority of fuqaha’, although some of them were of the view that it is obligatory.
Secondly:
This ghusl is prescribed for those who come to Jumu‘ah prayers, whether men or women, although it is men who are addressed in the verse which tells them to attend the prayer, as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“O you who believe (Muslims)! When the call is proclaimed for the Salaah (prayer) on Friday (Jumu‘ah prayer), come to the remembrance of Allaah [Jumu‘ah religious talk (Khutbah) and Salaah (prayer)] and leave off business (and every other thing). That is better for you if you did but know!”
[al-Jumu’ah 62:9].
But if a woman attends Jumu‘ah prayer, it is prescribed for her to do ghusl for it and observe its etiquette.
Ibn Hibbaan wrote a chapter in his Saheeh entitled: It is mustahabb for women to do ghusl for Jumu‘ah if they want to attend it. Then he quoted the hadeeth of ‘Uthmaan ibn Waaqid al-‘Umari from Naafi‘ from Ibn ‘Umar, who said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever comes to Jumu‘ah, man or woman, let him do ghusl.”
The authenticity of the hadeeth is agreed upon, apart from the additional words “man or woman”. This additional material was narrated by Ibn Khuzaymah, Ibn Hibbaan, and al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan, and that there was a difference of opinion as to whether it is saheeh or not.
It was classed as saheeh by al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) in al-Majmoo‘ (4/405) and Ibn Mulaqqin in al-Badr al-Muneer (4/649).
Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said in al-Fath (2/358): According to the report of ‘Uthmaan ibn Waaqid from Naafi‘, which is narrated by Abu ‘Awaanah, Ibn Khuzaymah and Ibn Hibbaan in their Saheehs with the wording, “Whoever comes to Jumu‘ah, man or woman, let him do ghusl, and whoever does not come to it does not have to do ghusl,” its men are thiqaat (trustworthy). But al-Bazzaar said: I am afraid that there is some wahm (weakness of memory) in ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Aaqid.
What al-Bazzaar was afraid of, namely wahm (weak memory) of ‘Uthmaan ibn Waaqid, was stated with certainty by Abu Dawood, the author of al-Sunan, may Allah have mercy on him.
Abu ‘Ubayd al-Aajurri said: I asked Abu Dawood about him and he said: He is da‘eef (weak). I said to Abu Dawood: ‘Abbaas ibn Muhammad narrated from Yahya ibn Ma‘een that he is trustworthy. He said: He is da‘eef (weak). He narrated that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever comes to Jumu‘ah, man or woman, let him do ghusl.”, but we do not know of anyone who says this apart from him.
End quote from Tahdheeb al-Kamaal, 19/505
Al-Albaani (may Allah have mercy on him) stated definitively that this additional material is odd and he classed it as weak, as it says in al-Silsilah al-Da‘eefah (8/430).
What may support the view that women should do ghusl for Jumu‘ah is the reports narrated by Ibn Abi Shaybah in his Musannaf from ‘Ubaydah bint Naa’il who said: I heard Ibn ‘Umar and the daughter of Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqaas say: Whoever among you (women) comes to Jumu‘ah, let her do ghusl. Something similar was narrated from Tawoos, and it was narrated from Shaqeeq that he used to tell his family, both men and women, to do ghusl on Fridays. See al-Musannaf (2/9).
Doing ghusl for Jumu‘ah makes sense, because it is cleanliness and puts a stop to unpleasant odours that annoy other people present. Hence women are asked to do that if they want to attend.
Al-Haafiz said in al-Fath: al-Zayn ibn al-Muneer said: And it was narrated from Maalik that whoever attends Jumu‘ah apart from men, if their attendance is to seek virtue, it is prescribed for them to do ghusl and observe all the etiquettes of Jumu‘ah, but if they attend on the spur of the moment, then no.
End quote from al-Fath al-Baari.
Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said in al-Majmoo‘ (4/405):
Doing ghusl on Friday is Sunnah, not obligatory in the sense that not doing it is a sin, and there is no difference of opinion among us concerning that. With regard to the one for whom it is Sunnah, there are four views, but the correct view that is supported by the text and regard by the author and the majority as the correct view is the following: It is Sunnah for everyone who wants to attend Jumu‘ah, man, woman, child, traveller, slave and others, because of the apparent meaning of the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Umar, and because the aim is cleanliness, and they are all the same with regard to that. It is not Sunnah for the one who does not intend to attend, even if he is one of those who should attend Jumu‘ah, because of the meaning of the hadeeth and because the reason is no longer present; and because of the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Umar, according to which the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever comes to Jumu‘ah, man or woman, let him do ghusl, and whoever does not come to it, man or woman, does not have to do ghusl.” Narrated by al-Bayhaqi with this wording and with a saheeh isnaad. End quote.
And Allah knows best.
Monday, January 4, 2010
How old was Aishah RA, when Prophet, sallal lahu alayhi wasallam, married her
Arab News
The Middle East's Leading English Language Daily
http://www.arabnews .com/?page= 5§ion=0&article=23375&d=8&m=3&y=2003
At What Age Was Aishah Married to the Prophet
Adil Salahi, Arab News Staff
Saturday 8 March 2003 (04 Muharram 1424)
Q. I have been asked numerous times about the Prophet’s marriage with Aishah and her age at the time. Could you please throw some light on this issue, and explain the reasons why this marriage took place at such an early age?
A. Ahmad, USA
A. Yes, this question will inevitably be raised time after time, particularly with the steadily increasing attacks against Islam and against the Prophet personally. Yet there is nothing in Islam, or in the character and behavior of Muhammad (peace be upon him), God’s last messenger to mankind, that we need to apologize for, or feel embarrassed about. However, some discussion of his marriage to Aishah and her age at the time of their marriage is needed in order to show that there was nothing wrong in all that.
The most commonly quoted report suggests that Aishah was only six years of age when the Prophet proposed to her, and their actual marriage took place when she was nine. People tend to take this as an established fact. But when we examine this report and take into consideration all factors and related reports, we find that this report does not stand to even elementary scrutiny.
The first thing we have to understand is that the Arabian society at the time of the Prophet was largely illiterate, with very few people able to read and write. There was no particular calendar used for dating major events, let alone the births and deaths of people. We read for example that the Prophet was born in the year of the elephant, which was the year when an Abyssinian commander went from Yemen to Makkah at the head of a large army with the aim of destroying the Kaaba. A large elephant marched in front of the army. Hence, the name given to the event and the year.
Reports of people’s ages in Arabia at the time of the Prophet are often confused, and always uncertain. For example, the common idea of the Prophet’s age at the time of his first marriage to Khadeejah is said to be 25, while she was 40. However, in the most reliable biography of the Prophet, written by Ibn Hisham, which gives him that age, we have two additional reports, one putting his age at 30 and the other at 21. There is simply no way we can determine with any degree of accuracy which of the three figures indicating the Prophet’s age is the correct one. Khadeejah’s age is also subject to speculation with different reports saying that she was 35 and 25. One report by Ibn Abbas, the Prophet’s cousin who was one of the most authoritative scholars among the Prophet’s companions, says that both the Prophet and his wife were 28 at the time of their marriage. Considering that Khadeejah gave the Prophet six children, there is no way she could have been 40 at the time of their marriage, which is the most common report. She must have been much younger, and the report that she was 28 or 25 seems far more reasonable.
The Prophet did not marry anyone else while Khadeejah was alive, and he lived with her for 25 years. When she died and he was facing great pressure, a woman companion of his suggested that he should get married, so that he would have companionship and comfort at home, after a long day of preaching his message. She suggested either a virgin, Aishah, or a previously married woman, Sawdah. The Prophet told her to go with his proposal to both of them.
The idea behind a new marriage was to give the Prophet companionship and comfort, and yet those who suggest that Aishah was six at the time want us to believe that the woman who wanted the Prophet to get married would suggest to him a girl of 6 to marry! That is some companionship! I wonder whether she meant companionship to him or to his youngest daughter who was older than Aishah, if we accept this report.
But then we cannot take the matter on logical factors alone. We have to have some other basis. Consider then that in Ibn Ishaq’s biography of the Prophet, which is the basis and most accurate of all biographies, we have a list of the early Muslims, who accepted Islam in the very early days of the Islamic message. He lists about 50 people and this list includes the names of Abu Bakr’s two daughters, Asmaa’ and Aishah, adding that she was young at the time. On that list, Aishah comes at number 20, but let us not attach any importance to this order. We will only take the fact that all these were Muslims before the message of Islam was in its fifth year, because in that year the first immigration to Abyssinia took place, when many of those included in this list were among the immigrants. So, at that time, in year 5 or earlier, Aishah was young but old enough to be listed among people accepting a new faith. What age do we give her? Surely it cannot be said that she was 2 or 4 or 5, and still be included in such a list of illustrious names. Otherwise, all children born to the other 50 people on the list would have been mentioned. She must have been old enough to make an informed decision of the serious magnitude of changing or accepting a religion. To me, she could not have been less than 10 or 8, if people would insist on making her younger.
We now need to find out how long after that her marriage took place. Well, we know that the marriage took place after the Prophet and his companions had settled in Madinah, which means year 13 or 14 of the beginning of Islamic revelations. Simple arithmetic shows that she could not have been less than 14 when she was named to the Prophet as a possible wife, or less than 17 when he married her, with the stronger possibility that she was even older, perhaps 19.
Then someone might ask why the Prophet would marry a young woman of that age when he was 53 or 54? In order to understand such issues we need to remember that we cannot apply our own social norms to a different society, even though we live at the same time. Thus, American social norms may not be applied in Africa, Malaysia or Japan, nor can the social norms of any of these societies be applied in the other. At that time in Arabia, people did not consider age difference between man and wife to be of great significance. Take the case of Umar ibn Al-Khattab and his daughter Hafsah. When she was divorced, Umar suggested to Abu Bakr, who was at least 10 years older than him, to marry her. The age difference in that marriage, had it taken place, would have been nothing less than 30 years, and Umar thought that it would have been a great and welcome match. When Abu Bakr was slow in answering Umar’s suggestion, Umar offered her to Uthman, who was only a few years younger than him. But Uthman had a reason for not marrying her, and then the Prophet married her. He was about the same age as Abu Bakr or slightly older. The age gap counted for nothing at the time.
The Middle East's Leading English Language Daily
http://www.arabnews .com/?page= 5§ion=0&article=23375&d=8&m=3&y=2003
At What Age Was Aishah Married to the Prophet
Adil Salahi, Arab News Staff
Saturday 8 March 2003 (04 Muharram 1424)
Q. I have been asked numerous times about the Prophet’s marriage with Aishah and her age at the time. Could you please throw some light on this issue, and explain the reasons why this marriage took place at such an early age?
A. Ahmad, USA
A. Yes, this question will inevitably be raised time after time, particularly with the steadily increasing attacks against Islam and against the Prophet personally. Yet there is nothing in Islam, or in the character and behavior of Muhammad (peace be upon him), God’s last messenger to mankind, that we need to apologize for, or feel embarrassed about. However, some discussion of his marriage to Aishah and her age at the time of their marriage is needed in order to show that there was nothing wrong in all that.
The most commonly quoted report suggests that Aishah was only six years of age when the Prophet proposed to her, and their actual marriage took place when she was nine. People tend to take this as an established fact. But when we examine this report and take into consideration all factors and related reports, we find that this report does not stand to even elementary scrutiny.
The first thing we have to understand is that the Arabian society at the time of the Prophet was largely illiterate, with very few people able to read and write. There was no particular calendar used for dating major events, let alone the births and deaths of people. We read for example that the Prophet was born in the year of the elephant, which was the year when an Abyssinian commander went from Yemen to Makkah at the head of a large army with the aim of destroying the Kaaba. A large elephant marched in front of the army. Hence, the name given to the event and the year.
Reports of people’s ages in Arabia at the time of the Prophet are often confused, and always uncertain. For example, the common idea of the Prophet’s age at the time of his first marriage to Khadeejah is said to be 25, while she was 40. However, in the most reliable biography of the Prophet, written by Ibn Hisham, which gives him that age, we have two additional reports, one putting his age at 30 and the other at 21. There is simply no way we can determine with any degree of accuracy which of the three figures indicating the Prophet’s age is the correct one. Khadeejah’s age is also subject to speculation with different reports saying that she was 35 and 25. One report by Ibn Abbas, the Prophet’s cousin who was one of the most authoritative scholars among the Prophet’s companions, says that both the Prophet and his wife were 28 at the time of their marriage. Considering that Khadeejah gave the Prophet six children, there is no way she could have been 40 at the time of their marriage, which is the most common report. She must have been much younger, and the report that she was 28 or 25 seems far more reasonable.
The Prophet did not marry anyone else while Khadeejah was alive, and he lived with her for 25 years. When she died and he was facing great pressure, a woman companion of his suggested that he should get married, so that he would have companionship and comfort at home, after a long day of preaching his message. She suggested either a virgin, Aishah, or a previously married woman, Sawdah. The Prophet told her to go with his proposal to both of them.
The idea behind a new marriage was to give the Prophet companionship and comfort, and yet those who suggest that Aishah was six at the time want us to believe that the woman who wanted the Prophet to get married would suggest to him a girl of 6 to marry! That is some companionship! I wonder whether she meant companionship to him or to his youngest daughter who was older than Aishah, if we accept this report.
But then we cannot take the matter on logical factors alone. We have to have some other basis. Consider then that in Ibn Ishaq’s biography of the Prophet, which is the basis and most accurate of all biographies, we have a list of the early Muslims, who accepted Islam in the very early days of the Islamic message. He lists about 50 people and this list includes the names of Abu Bakr’s two daughters, Asmaa’ and Aishah, adding that she was young at the time. On that list, Aishah comes at number 20, but let us not attach any importance to this order. We will only take the fact that all these were Muslims before the message of Islam was in its fifth year, because in that year the first immigration to Abyssinia took place, when many of those included in this list were among the immigrants. So, at that time, in year 5 or earlier, Aishah was young but old enough to be listed among people accepting a new faith. What age do we give her? Surely it cannot be said that she was 2 or 4 or 5, and still be included in such a list of illustrious names. Otherwise, all children born to the other 50 people on the list would have been mentioned. She must have been old enough to make an informed decision of the serious magnitude of changing or accepting a religion. To me, she could not have been less than 10 or 8, if people would insist on making her younger.
We now need to find out how long after that her marriage took place. Well, we know that the marriage took place after the Prophet and his companions had settled in Madinah, which means year 13 or 14 of the beginning of Islamic revelations. Simple arithmetic shows that she could not have been less than 14 when she was named to the Prophet as a possible wife, or less than 17 when he married her, with the stronger possibility that she was even older, perhaps 19.
Then someone might ask why the Prophet would marry a young woman of that age when he was 53 or 54? In order to understand such issues we need to remember that we cannot apply our own social norms to a different society, even though we live at the same time. Thus, American social norms may not be applied in Africa, Malaysia or Japan, nor can the social norms of any of these societies be applied in the other. At that time in Arabia, people did not consider age difference between man and wife to be of great significance. Take the case of Umar ibn Al-Khattab and his daughter Hafsah. When she was divorced, Umar suggested to Abu Bakr, who was at least 10 years older than him, to marry her. The age difference in that marriage, had it taken place, would have been nothing less than 30 years, and Umar thought that it would have been a great and welcome match. When Abu Bakr was slow in answering Umar’s suggestion, Umar offered her to Uthman, who was only a few years younger than him. But Uthman had a reason for not marrying her, and then the Prophet married her. He was about the same age as Abu Bakr or slightly older. The age gap counted for nothing at the time.
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