In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Beneficent
Those who concocted the falsehood were a band from among you. Do not regard it as bad for you; indeed it is good for you. Each one of them shall bear what he has earned of sin; and awesome suffering awaits the one who took on himself the lead among them. (Light, Al-Noor: 24: 11)
We looked at the account given by Aishah, the Prophet’s wife, about the false accusation of adultery leveled at her, with no evidence to support it other than her being brought back by a Muslim soldier to join the army, after she was unwittingly left behind when the Prophet ordered a speedy march. It is a long account that took up all space we had last week. We had to finish at the point when the Prophet received revelations from on high, declaring Aishah’s innocence. This declaration takes up 10 verses, 11-20, of the present surah. When the Prophet received them, he said to his wife: “Aishah, I have good news for you. God has declared your innocence.” She said: “Praise be to God.” The account goes further and we better complete it today.
“My mother said to me: ‘Rise and go to God’s messenger, (peace be upon him).’ I said: ‘No. I am not rising, and I am not praising anyone other than God who has declared my innocence.’ God revealed the passage starting with, ‘Those who concocted the falsehood were a band from among you,’ in ten verses. When God thus declared my innocence, Abu Bakr, who used to support Mistah ibn Athathah considering that he was a poor relation of his, said: ‘By God, I will never again give Mistah any assistance, after what he has said about Aishah.’ But God then revealed the verse that says: ‘Let not those of you who have been graced with God’s favor and ample means resolve by oath not to help those who are near of kin, the needy and those who have left their homes for the sake of God. But let them pardon and forbear. Do you not desire that God should forgive you your sins? God is indeed much-forgiving, merciful.’ Abu Bakr said: ‘Yes, indeed. I do hope that God will forgive me my sins.’ He then resumed his support of Mistah, saying: ‘I will never stop my assistance to him.’
“Aishah further mentions that the Prophet had asked another of his wives, Zaynab bint Jahsh, about me. She said: ‘Messenger of God! I want to protect my hearing and sight. By God, I have seen from her nothing but good.’ She was the one among the Prophet’s wives who used to vie with me for a favorite position with the Prophet. God has thus protected her through her keen sense of piety. Her sister, Hamnah, however, continued to speak, as though to enhance her position. She was thus involved with those who circulated the falsehood story.” This account tells us how the Prophet and his household, Abu Bakr and his family, as well as Safwan ibn Al-Mu’attal, and the entire Muslim community lived in such a suffocating atmosphere, suffering much mental pain because of the circulating false rumors.
It is hard to imagine this particularly difficult period in the Prophet’s life when his beloved wife, Aishah, young and particularly sensitive as she was, endured such profound pain. Aishah, pure, kind, innocent and experiencing only clear thoughts and clear conscience, faces an accusation about her most valued qualities. She, Abu Bakr’s daughter who enjoyed the most noble and moral upbringing, was accused with regard to her honor; the wife of Muhammad ibn Abdullah, who belonged to the noble clan of Hashim, faced an accusation concerning her honesty; the wife enjoying the great love of her husband was charged with being unfaithful; the girl brought up according to Islamic values from her very early age was accused of being false to her faith. And Aishah was none other than the wife of God’s messenger, (peace be upon him)!
Such accusations are leveled at her when she is innocent, unaware, taking no precautions as she expects no harm. Hence, she finds nothing to prove her innocence except to hope for help from God Almighty. Her dearest wish is that the Prophet should have a dream showing her to be innocent. But revelations slacken for a whole month, and this is for a definite purpose known to God alone. Hence, she continues to suffer.
Can we imagine her, much weakened by her illness, when she received the shocking news from Mistah’s mother? She suffers a recurrence of her fever. In her grief, she says to her mother: “Glory be to God. That people should repeat this sort of thing!” A different version of the story quotes her as saying to her mother: “Does my father know of this?” Her mother tells her that he does, and she goes on: “And God’s messenger?” Again her mother answers in the affirmative.
Great indeed was her pain when she heard the Prophet in whom she believed and her husband whom she loved saying to her: “People have been talking, as you are now well aware. If you are innocent, God will make your innocence known. If, however, you have committed a sin, then you should seek God’s forgiveness and repent. If a servant of God admits her sin and repents, God will forgive her.” Hearing these words, she realized that he was uncertain of her innocence, and he could not make a judgment about the accusation leveled at her. God has not yet told him the fact of which she herself was certain but had no means of proving, i.e. that she was absolutely innocent. She was aware that although she had a favorite position in his great heart, she now stood uncertain.
Consider the position of Abu Bakr, a man endowed with great sensitivity and a noble heart, feeling the painful sting of an accusation aimed at his daughter, married to his most intimate friend who was none other than the Prophet in whom he unhesitatingly believed, as he closely knew him to be genuine and truthful. Strong and pain-enduring as he was, he lets out an expression of his writhing pain and the thoughts troubling him: “We were never accused of such a thing in the days of ignorance! Are we to accept such a charge under Islam?” His sick and much-tormented daughter says to him: “Answer the Prophet!” Dejected and forlorn, he said: “By God, I do not know what to say to God’s Messenger, peace be on him.”
His wife, Umm Rawman, tries to put up a strong face in front of her daughter who was crying herself to the heart-breaking point, and says to her: “Calm down, child. Any pretty woman married to a man who loves her will always be envied, especially if she shares him with other wives.” But her fortitude collapses when her daughter says to her: “Answer the Prophet.” Like her husband before her, she said: “By God, I do not know what to say to God’s Messenger, peace be on him.”
And then, Safwan ibn Al-Mu’attal, a good believer who lays down his life to fight for God’s cause, is accused of being unfaithful to the Prophet. Thus, the accusation touches on his honor, honesty and faith. A God-fearing companion of the Prophet was falsely accused of being untrue to everything the Prophet’s companions held dear. Yet he is certain of his innocence. When he is faced with this false accusation, he says: “All praise be to God! By God I have never took a dress off a female’s shoulder.” When he heard that Hassan ibn Thabit was one of those who repeated the accusation, he hit him on his head with his sword, almost killing him. He knew that it was forbidden for him to hit a fellow Muslim, but his pain was unbearable when he faced this false accusation.
But what was the effect of the accusation on the Prophet himself? We will look into that next week, God willing.
Arab News Islam 22 August 2003
