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THE SLANDER AFFAIR:
This extremely painful incident took place on the Prophet’s return from the expedition against Bani
Mustaliq. The Muslim army had to halt for a night at a place, a short distance from Madinah. In this
expedition, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) was accompanied by his noble and talented wife,
‘Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) As it so happened, ‘Aishah (May Allah be pleased her) went
out some distance from the camp to attend to the call of nature. When she returned, she discovered
that she had dropped her necklace somewhere. The necklace itself was of no great value, but as it
was a loan from a friend, ‘Aishah (May Allah be pleased her) went out again to search for it. On her
return, to her great grief and mortification, the army had already marched away with the camel she
was riding, her attendants thinking that she was in the litter as she was then thin, very young and
light of weight. In her helplessness she sat down and cried till sleep overpowered her. Safwan bin
Mu‘attal, an Emigrant, who was coming in the rear recognized her as he had seen her before the
verse enjoining the veil was revealed, and brought her on his camel to Madinah without saying a
single word to her, himself walking behind the animal. The hypocrites of Madinah led by ‘Abdullah
bin ‘Ubai bin Salul, sought to make capital out of this incident and spread a malicious scandal
against ‘Aishah (May Allah be pleased her) and unfortunately some of the Muslims also became
involved in it. On arrival in Madinah, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) held counsel with his
Companions, who pronounced different opinions ranging from divorce to retention. The incident
almost roused a fight between two rival factions, Al-Aws and Al-Khazraj, but the Prophet’s
intervention silenced both parties on the sport. ‘Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) unaware of
the rumours being circulated, fell ill and was confined to bed for a month. On recovering, she heard
of the slander and took permission to go and see her parents seeking authentic news. She then
burst into tears and stayed for two days and one sleepless night ceaselessly weeping to such an
extent that she felt her liver was about to rip open. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) visited her in
that situation, and after testifying to the Oneness of Allâh he told her, “If you are innocent, Allâh will
acquit you, otherwise, you have to beg for His forgiveness and pardon.” She stopped weeping and
asked her parents to speak for her, but they had nothing to say, so she herself took the initiative
and said “Should I tell you I am innocent, and Allâh knows that I am surely innocent, you will not
believe me; and if I were to admit something of which, Allâh knows, I am innocent, you will believe
me, then I will have nothing to make recourse to except the words of the father of Prophet Yusuf
(Joseph):
·
“So (for me) patience is most fitting. And it is Allâh (Alone) Whose Help can be sought
against that which you assert.” [12:18]
She then turned away and lay down for some rest. At that decisive moment the Revelation came
acquitting ‘Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) of all the slanderous talk fabricated in this
concern. ‘Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) of course, was wholeheartedly joyful and praised
Allâh thankfully. Allâh’s Words in this regard went as follows:
·
“Verily! Those who brought forth the slander (against ‘Aishah (May Allah be pleased with
her) — the wife of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) are a group among you.” [24:11]
The principal elements involved in the slander affair, Mistah bin Athatha, Hassan bin Thabit and
Hamnah bint Jahsh, were flogged with eighty stripes.
As for the man who took the principal part, ‘Abdullah bin Ubai, he was not flogged, either because
the corporal punishment commutes the chastisement in store for him in the Hereafter, and he does
not deserve this merit, or for the same public interest for which he was not killed previously. He,
moreover, became the butt of reproach and humiliation amongst his people after his real intentions
had been unequivocally exposed to all the public.
Almost a month later, the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) and ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab were
engaged in the following talk: “Don’t you see ‘Umar if I had had him (Abdullah bin Ubai) killed, a
large number of dignitaries would have furiously hastened to fight for him. Now, onthe contrary, if I
ask them to kill him, they will do so out of their own free will.” ‘Umar replied “I swear by Allâh that
the Prophet’s judgement is much more sound than mine.”
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