the narration of the ifk (the great slander of aisha -may allah be pleased with her-) and the verses...

8/3/2019 The Narration of the Ifk (the great Slander of Aisha -May Allah be Pleased with her-) and the Verses That Were Rev

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The Narration of The Ifk

and the Verses that Wererevealed concerning it:

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The Narration of ishah (z) which describes the Ifk as itis found in a al-Bukhr:

Yay ibn Bukayr said that al-Layth told him upon the authority ofYnus whonarrated from Ibn Shihb that he said: Urwah ibn az-Zubayr, Sad ibn al-Musayyib,Alqamah ibn Waqq, Ubaydullh ibn Abdullhibn Utbah ibn Masd; all of theminformed me of the narration of ishah (z), the wife of the Prophet (),concerning the incident of the ifk when those people said what they saidconcerning her. However, Allh would exonerate her and vindicate her of whatshe had been accused of; and each of them [those individuals that I mentioned]have narrated to me a part of this narration. Some of what they have narratedreinforce and provide support for other parts of this narration, even though someof those who narrate this story are more detailed and accurate than others. Sofrom what Urwah has narrated to me from ishah (z) is the following: ishah(z), the wife of the Prophet () said: The Messenger ofAllh (), whenever heused to travel, would draw lots among his wives. So whomever from his wivesupon whom the lot had fallen, would be the one to accompany him on his

journey. ishah (z) said: So he drew lots between us for a military campaign,and the lot fell upon me. So I left along with the Messenger ofAllh () after theijb had been legislated and was thus transported in my own covered carriageand likewise would be mounted upon my riding animal and dismounted while Iwas concealed within it. So we continued until the Messenger ofAllh () hadfinished his expedition and began the journey back toMadnah. During the night,permission was granted to move about. So since we had been permitted to moveabout, I got up and walked until I had completely left the encampment. Once Ihad answered the call of nature, I began to return to my carriage but was


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surprised to discover that a necklace of mine that was made of sweet-smellingblack beads had broken. So I grabbed what remained of my necklace and was

detained as I searched for the rest of it. Those who were assigned to my carriagelifted it into place upon the camel which carried me assuming that I was in it.Women at that time were very lean and slim since they did not carry much extraweight. They used to satisfy themselves with small portions of food so the menwere not surprised by the light weight of the carriage when they lifted it. I wasalso a young lady at the time. However, they drove my camel away andproceeded. I finally recovered the rest of my necklace after the army had left.Then I returned to their original encampment but there was no one there to befound. I then proceeded to the place where they had initially set down mycarriage. I thought that they would realize that they had left me and return to me.So while I was seated in the place where my carriage was, my eyes became heavyand I was overcome by sleep. afwn ibn al-Muaal as-Sulam then adh-Dhakwnused to follow the army from the rear. He was following the army during theearly morning light to recover whatever may not have been visible and thusabandoned at night. He saw the blackness of a person sleeping, so he came closerand recognized me once he saw me. He had seen me prior to the legislation of theijb. I immediately woke up when I heard him say inn lillhi wa inn ilayhirjin once he realized who I was and immediately covered my face with myjilbb. By Allh he did not speak a single word to me and I did not hear anythingfrom him except for his statement: inn lillhi wa inn ilayhi rjin until heprompted his camel to lower itself such that I could mount it without assistance.

Then he began to walk leading his camel which carried me until we reached thearmy after they had stopped to rest from the afternoons heat. Then whoever wasmeant for destruction fell into destruction. And the one who led those whofalsely accused me of indiscretion was Abdullh ibn Ubay ibn Sall. So after wearrived inMadnah, I began to complain of a sickness that remained with me forclose to a month. The people had begun to involve themselves in the statementsof those who slandered me. While this was happening, I was completelyunaware. However, I began to suspect something was different while I was sicksince I had not received from the Messenger of Allh () the same level ofsensitivity and empathy that I used to witness from him prior to my becoming ill.

The Messenger ofAllh () would enter, offer me the salms and then say: Howis that [young lady]? Then he would leave. That made me suspicious but I didnot suspect any evil or wrongdoing until I left after having completely recoveredfrom my illness. Umm Misa left with me in the same direction towards a wideexpansive field located on the outskirts ofMadnah where we used to answer thecall of nature. We did not used to go there for this purpose except from night tonight. This was before we had concealed places to relieve ourselves that werecloser to our homes. And our habit was similar to the affair of the earlier Arabswho also relieved themselves far from their homes since using places inside ofthe home for this purpose would be difficult to bear and troublesome. So I along


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with Umm Misa proceeded, and she was the daughter ofAb Ruhm ibn AbdiManfand her mother was the daughter ofakhr ibn mir who was the maternal

aunt ofAb Bakr a-iddq. Her son wasMisa ibn Uththah. As myself and UmmMisa approached my house after having walked such a great distance, UmmMisa stumbled over her own garment and then said: Misa is wretched! So Isaid to her: How evil is the statement that you just said. How could you dishonora man who attended the battle ofBadr?! She said: O you there, have you notheard what he said? ishah (z) said: Then I said: What did he say? Then sheinformed me of what the false accusers were spreading, which added insult toinjury. Then when I returned to my home, the Messenger ofAllh () came to me,offered me the salms and then said: How is that [young lady]? Then I said tohim: Would you permit me to go be with my parents? She said: I wanted to

verify this news with them. She said: The Messenger ofAllh (

) gave me hispermission, and I returned to my parents. Then I said to my mother: O mother,what are the people saying? She responded: O my daughter, dont botheryourself with that. ByAllh, there is rarely ever a woman that is beloved and heldin high regard by her husband except that for her there are other wives thatconspire against her. ishah (z) said: I said: SubnaAllh, the people are reallysaying this? Then she said: Then I wept that night until the morning came. Thetears would not stop falling nor could I fall asleep and then morning came and Iwas still crying. The Messenger of Allh () summoned Al ibn Ab lib andUsmah ibn Zayd (C) since revelation regarding this matter had been delayed. Heconsulted both of them concerning the possibility of leaving his wife. She said:As for Usmah ibn Zayd (), then he advised the Messenger of Allh () fromwhat he knew of the innocence of his wife and from what he knew concerningthe love that existed between them. He said: O Messenger of Allh (), yourfamily, we dont know of anything but good concerning her. As forAl ibn Ablib (), then he said: O Messenger ofAllh (), Allh has not restricted you inany way, there are many other women besides her. And if you were to ask theservant girl, she will tell you the truth.ishah (z) then said: So the MessengerofAllh () summoned [the servant girl] Barrah and then said: O Barrah, haveyou ever seen anything from her that would make you doubt her? Barrah said:No, by the One who has sent you with the truth, I have never seen anything fromher that I could fault her for except that she is a young lady who occasionallysleeps and leaves her familys dough unprotected such that some of thedomesticated animals come and eat it. Then the Messenger ofAllh () stood upand then sought justice that day from Abdullh ibn Ubay ibn Sall.ishah (z)said: The Messenger ofAllh () announced from the pulpit: O Muslims, whowill help me to establish justice from a man whose harm has reached me and myfamily? By Allh, I do not know of anything regarding my family but good!Certainly, concerning the individual who has been accused of this, then I do notknow anything about him but good. But he has never entered my household


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except when accompanied by me. Sad ibn Mudh al-Anr stood up and said: OMessenger ofAllh (), I will help you to receive justice from him. If he was from

the tribe ofAws, then I will strike his neck. But if he were from our brothers fromthe tribe ofKhazraj, then we await your command and will carry out whateveryou command us. ishah (z) said: Then Sad ibn Ubdah stood up and he wasan elder member of the tribe ofKhazraj. And while, before this incident he wasknown to be a righteous man, he was overcome by zealousness and responded toSad[ibn Mudh] saying: You have lied! By the eternity ofAllh, you will not killhim, nor do you have the ability to kill him. ThenUsayd ibn uayr who was thecousin ofSad [ibn Mudh] stood up and said: to Sad [ibn Ubdah]: You havelied! By the eternity ofAllh, we will most certainly kill him. And you are like thehypocrite who has come to the defense of other hypocrites. So the tempers flared

between the two neighboring tribes of theAws and the Khazraj until they were onthe verge of fighting one another while the Messenger of Allh () was stillstanding on the pulpit. Then the Messenger ofAllh () continued to calm themdown until all of them became silent and then he too became silent.ishah (z)said: Then I spent the remainder of that day crying so much that the tears wouldnot stop falling nor could I fall asleep. Thenishah (z) said: In the morning myparents were there with me. I had certainly cried for two whole nights and a dayyet I could not fall asleep and the tears would not stop falling. My parentsthought that my continuous crying would rupture my liver. ishah (z) thensaid: Then while they were seated beside me and I was weeping, a woman from

the Anr sought my permission to enter. I gave her my permission, and shecame in sat down and cried with me. ishah (z) said: And while we remainedin this state, the Messenger ofAllh () entered. He offered his salms and thensat down. ishah (z) said: And he had not sat beside me since before what wassaid had been said. An entire month had passed, and nothing was revealedconcerning my situation. ishah (z) then said: Then the Messenger ofAllh ()said: Ashhadu anl ilhahillaAllhwa Ashhadu anna Muammadan Raslullh as hesat down and then he said: As to what follows, O ishah; indeed such & suchhas reached me concerning you. If you are innocent of this, then certainly Allhwill vindicate you. And if you have fallen into sin then seek the forgiveness ofAllh and repent to Him. For indeed, whenever the servant confesses to his sinand then repents to Allh, then Allh will accept his repentance. She [ishah(z)] said: Once the Messenger ofAllh () had finished with what he wanted tosay, my tears stopped falling to the extent that I did not detect a single drop.Then I asked my father: Answer the Messenger of Allh () on my behalfconcerning what he has said. He responded: By Allh, I dont know what I cansay to the Messenger of Allh (). Then I asked my mother: Answer theMessenger ofAllh () on my behalf. She responded: I dont know what I can sayto the Messenger ofAllh (). Then ishah (z) said: I said, and at that time Iwas a young woman who hadnt read a lot of the Qurn: Certainly, by Allh, I


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have come to realize that you have surely heard enough of this speech that youmay have come to accept it within yourselves and perhaps even believe it. So if I

were to say to you that certainly I am innocent and Allh knows that I aminnocent, you still may not believe me. And if I were to confess to this [while I aminnocent of it] and Allh knows that I am innocent you may believe me. ByAllh,I dont know of an example that I can offer you other than the example of thefather ofYsufwho said: So patience is most fitting. And it isAllh whose helpis sought against that which you assert [Srah Ysuf 12:18] She ishah (z)said: Then I turned over to the other side and lay on my bed. Sheishah (z)said: At the time, I knew that I was innocent and thatAllh would ultimately bethe one to prove my innocence. But by Allh, I never thought that Allh wouldsend down revelation concerning my situation that would be recited. In my

mind, my situation was much less significant than what might require thatAllhspeaks concerning it with revelation that is thereafter recited. Rather, at the time Ihoped that the Messenger ofAllh () would see something in a dream whereinAllh would establish my innocence. She ishah (z) said: By Allh, theMessenger of Allh () did not leave this sitting nor did any of my familymembers until after revelation had descended upon him. He was overcome bythe state that often accompanied revelation. Indeed, it caused pearls of sweat todescend from him in the winter because of the heaviness and weight of thespeech that was revealed to him. She ishah (z) said: And once the revelationhad ended, and this state of his subsided, he was laughing. And the first wordthat he said after this had occurred was: O ishah, as for Allh the Mighty andMajestic, then He has indeed vindicated you. Then my mother said: Stand upand go to him! Then she ishah (z) said: I said: By Allh, I will not stand upand go to him and I will not praise another besides Allh the Mighty andMajestic. Allh revealed: Indeed, those who introduced the slander [or ifk] are agroup amongst you. Do not consider it bad for you [Srah an-Nr24:11] allten of those verses. Once Allh had revealed this concerning my innocence, AbBakr a-iddq (), who used to provide for Misa ibn Uththah because of hisfamilys ties to him as well as his poverty said: By Allh, I will never provideanything for Misa after what he said concerning ishah (z). Then Allhrevealed: And let not those among you who are blessed with affluence andwealth, swear not to give to their kinsmen, the poor, and those who have made

Hijrah for the sake ofAllh. Rather forgive them and pardon them. Do you notlove thatAllh should forgive you? AndAllh is Forgiving, Merciful. [Srahan-Nr24:22] Ab Bakr said: Of course, by Allh, I would love for Allh to forgiveme. So he then resumed providing forMisa as he used to do and said: By Allh,I will never withhold this provision from him.ishah (z) said: The MessengerofAllh () used to askZaynab bint Jash about my affair saying: O Zaynab, whatdo you know or what did you see? She then said: O Messenger ofAllh () I amvery protective of my hearing and sight. I do not know anything but good.


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ishah (z) said: And out of all of the wives of the Messenger ofAllh (), shewas the one who used to compete with me the most for their husbands

affections. But Allh has safeguarded and protected her with piety andrighteousness. However, her sister amnah, continued to fight on her behalf andaggravate the situation so she thrust herself into ruin along with those whopromoted and spread this evil and slanderous lie.

As for the ten verses from Srah an-Nr that were revealed concerning ishah(z), then they begin from verse number 11 and continue until verse 21.

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Indeed, those who introduced the slander [or the ifk] are a groupamongst you. Do not consider it bad for you; rather it is good for you.For every person among them will receive what they have earned fromthe sin,and the one who bears the greatest responsibility from amongthem; for him is a great punishment.

12.

Why then, when you heard it; didnt the believing men and womenthink good of one another and say: This is obviously a slanderous lie?

13.

Why then, did they not produce for it four witnesses? And since theydid not produce the witnesses, then they are withAllh, the liars.

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And had it not been for the favor ofAllhupon you and His mercy inthis world and in the Hereafter, a great torment would have touched youfor what you involved yourselves in.


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15.

When you repeated it with your tongues and spoke with your mouthsconcerning that of which you had no knowledge and you thought it wasinsignificant while it was withAllh a grave matter.

16.

And why then, when you heard it, did you not say: It is not appropriate

for us to speak of this. Glory be to You, [O Allh]; this is a grossfabrication?

17. Allh cautions you from ever returning to anything similar to this, ifyou are be believers.

18. AndAllhmakes clear to you the signs, andAllhis All-Knowing and

Ever-Wise.

19.

Indeed, those who like that illicit sexual behavior should be spread

amongst those who have believed, for them there is a painfulpunishment in this world and in the Hereafter. AndAllhknows whileyou do not know.

20. And were it not from the favor ofAllhupon you and His mercy, andbecauseAllhis Ever-Kind and Most Merciful.


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21.

O you who have believed, do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Andwhoever follows the footsteps of Satan, then indeed he will incite illicitsexual behavior, immorality and wrongdoing. And had it not been forthe favor of Allh upon you and His mercy, not a single one of youwould have ever been purified [of your sins]. But Allh purifieswhomever He wills, andAllhis All-Hearing, All-Knowing.

the narration of the ifk (the great slander of aisha -may allah be pleased with her-) and the verses...

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