Witness

Narrated Aisha: (the wife of the Prophet)
"Whenever Allah's Apostle intended to go on a
journey, he would draw lots amongst his wives
and would take with him the one upon whom
the lot fell. During a Ghazwa of his, he drew
lots amongst us and the lot fell upon me, and
I proceeded with him after Allah had decreed
the use of the veil by women. I was carried in
a Howdah (on the camel) and dismounted
while still in it. When Allah's Apostle was
through with his Ghazwa and returned home,
and we approached the city of Medina, Allah's
Apostle ordered us to proceed at night. When
the order of setting off was given, I walked till I
was past the army to answer the call of
nature. After finishing I returned (to the camp)
to depart (with the others) and suddenly
realized that my necklace over my chest was
missing. So, I returned to look for it and was
delayed because of that. The people who used
to carry me on the camel, came to my
Howdah and put it on the back of the camel,
thinking that I was in it, as, at that time,
women were light in weight, and thin and lean,
and did not use to eat much. So, those people
did not feel the difference in the heaviness of
the Howdah while lifting it, and they put it
over the camel. At that time I was a young
lady. They set the camel moving and
proceeded on. I found my necklace after the
army had gone, and came to their camp to
find nobody. So, I went to the place where I
used to stay, thinking that they would
discover my absence and come back in my
search. While in that state, I felt sleepy and
slept. Safwan bin Mu'attal As-Sulami Adh-
Dhakwani was behind the army and reached
my abode in the morning. When he saw a
sleeping person, he came to me, and he used
to see me before veiling. So, I got up when I
heard him saying, "Inna lil-lah-wa inn a ilaihi
rajiun (We are for Allah, and we will return to
Him)." He made his camel knell down. He got
down from his camel, and put his leg on the
front legs of the camel and then I rode and sat
over it. Safwan set out walking, leading the
camel by the rope till we reached the army
who had halted to take rest at midday. Then
whoever was meant for destruction, fell into
destruction, (some people accused me falsely)
and the leader of the false accusers was
'Abdullah bin Ubai bin Salul. After that we
returned to Medina, and I became ill for one
month while the people were spreading the
forged statements of the false accusers. I was
feeling during my ailment as if I were not
receiving the usual kindness from the Prophet
which I used to receive from him when I got
sick. But he would come, greet and say, 'How
is that (girl)?' I did not know anything of what
was going on till I recovered from my ailment
and went out with Um Mistah to the Manasi
where we used to answer the call of nature,
and we used not to go to answer the call of
nature except from night to night and that was
before we had lavatories near to our houses.
And this habit of ours was similar to the habit
of the old 'Arabs in the open country (or away
from houses). So. I and Um Mistah bint Ruhm
went out walking. Um Mistah stumbled
because of her long dress and on that she
said, 'Let Mistah be ruined.' I said, 'You are
saying a bad word. Why are you abusing a
man who took part in (the battle of) Badr?'
She said, 'O Hanata (you there) didn't you
hear what they said?' Then she told me the
rumors of the false accusers. My sickness was
aggravated, and when I returned home, Allah's
Apostle came to me, and after greeting he
said, 'How is that (girl)?' I requested him to
allow me to go to my parents. I wanted then
to be sure of the news through them I Allah's
Apostle allowed me, and I went to my parents
and asked my mother, 'What are the people
talking about?' She said, 'O my daughter!
Don't worry much about this matter. By Allah,
never is there a charming woman loved by her
husband who has other wives, but the women
would forge false news about her.' I said,
'Glorified be Allah! Are the people really taking
of this matter?' That night I kept on weeping
and could not sleep till morning. In the
morning Allah's Apostle called Ali bin Abu
Talib and Usama bin Zaid when he saw the
Divine Inspiration delayed, to consul them
about divorcing his wife (i.e. 'Aisha). Usama
bin Zaid said what he knew of the good
reputation of his wives and added, 'O Allah's
Apostle! Keep you wife, for, by Allah, we know
nothing about her but good.' 'Ali bin Abu
Talib said, 'O Allah's Apostle! Allah has no
imposed restrictions on you, and there are
many women other than she, yet you may ask
the woman-servant who will tell you the
truth.' On that Allah's Apostle called Buraira
and said, 'O Burair. Did you ever see anything
which roused your suspicions about her?'
Buraira said, 'No, by Allah Who has sent you
with the Truth, I have never seen in her
anything faulty except that she is a girl of
immature age, who sometimes sleeps and
leaves the dough for the goats to eat.' On that
day Allah's Apostle ascended the pulpit and
requested that somebody support him in
punishing 'Abdullah bin Ubai bin Salul. Allah's
Apostle said, 'Who will support me to punish
that person ('Abdullah bin Ubai bin Salul) who
has hurt me by slandering the reputation of
my family? By Allah, I know nothing about my
family but good, and they have accused a
person about whom I know nothing except
good, and he never entered my house except
in my company.' Sad bin Mu'adh got up and
said, 'O Allah's Apostle! by Allah, I will relieve
you from him. If that man is from the tribe of
the Aus, then we will chop his head off, and if
he is from our brothers, the Khazraj, then
order us, and we will fulfill your order.' On that
Sad bin 'Ubada, the chief of the Khazraj and
before this incident, he had been a pious man,
got up, motivated by his zeal for his tribe and
said, 'By Allah, you have told a lie; you cannot
kill him, and you will never be able to kill him.'
On that Usaid bin Al-Hadir got up and said
(to Sad bin 'Ubada), 'By Allah! you are a liar.
By Allah, we will kill him; and you are a
hypocrite, defending the hypocrites.' On this
the two tribes of Aus and Khazraj got excited
and were about to fight each other, while
Allah's Apostle was standing on the pulpit. He
got down and quietened them till they became
silent and he kept quiet. On that day I kept on
weeping so much so that neither did my tears
stop, nor could I sleep. In the morning my
parents were with me and I had wept for two
nights and a day, till I thought my liver would
burst from weeping. While they were sitting
with me and I was weeping, an Ansari woman
asked my permission to enter, and I allowed
her to come in. She sat down and started
weeping with me. While we were in this state,
Allah's Apostle came and sat down and he
had never sat with me since the day they
forged the accusation. No revelation regarding
my case came to him for a month. He recited
Tashah-hud (i.e. None has the right to be
worshipped but Allah and Muhammad is His
Apostle) and then said, 'O 'Aisha! I have been
informed such-and-such about you; if you are
innocent, then Allah will soon reveal your
innocence, and if you have committed a sin,
then repent to Allah and ask Him to forgive
you, for when a person confesses his sin and
asks Allah for forgiveness, Allah accepts his
repentance.' When Allah's Apostle finished his
speech my tears ceased completely and there
remained not even a single drop of it. I
requested my father to reply to Allah's Apostle
on my behalf. My father said, By Allah, I do
not know what to say to Allah's Apostle.' I
said to my mother, 'Talk to Allah's Apostle on
my behalf.' She said, 'By Allah, I do not know
what to say to Allah's Apostle. I was a young
girl and did not have much knowledge of the
Quran. I said. 'I know, by Allah, that you have
listened to what people are saying and that
has been planted in your minds and you have
taken it as a truth. Now, if I told you that I am
innocent and Allah knows that I am innocent,
you would not believe me and if I confessed to
you falsely that I am guilty, and Allah knows
that I am innocent you would believe me. By
Allah, I don't compare my situation with you
except to the situation of Joseph's father (i.e.
Jacob) who said, 'So (for me) patience is
most fitting against that which you assert and
it is Allah (Alone) whose help can be sought.'
Then I turned to the other side of my bed
hoping that Allah would prove my innocence.
By Allah I never thought that Allah would
reveal Divine Inspiration in my case, as I
considered myself too inferior to be talked of
in the Holy Qur'an. I had hoped that Allah's
Apostle might have a dream in which Allah
would prove my innocence. By Allah, Allah's
Apostle had not got up and nobody had left
the house before the Divine Inspiration came
to Allah's Apostle. So, there overtook him the
same state which used to overtake him, (when
he used to have, on being inspired divinely).
He was sweating so much so that the drops of
the sweat were dropping like pearls though it
was a (cold) wintry day. When that state of
Allah's Apostle was over, he was smiling and
the first word he said, 'Aisha! Thank Allah, for
Allah has declared your innocence.' My mother
told me to go to Allah's Apostle . I replied, 'By
Allah I will not go to him and will not thank
but Allah.' So Allah revealed: "Verily! They
who spread the slander are a gang among
you . . ." (24.11) When Allah gave the
declaration of my Innocence, Abu Bakr, who
used to provide for Mistah bin Uthatha for he
was his relative, said, 'By Allah, I will never
provide Mistah with anything because of what
he said about Aisha.' But Allah later revealed:
-- "And let not those who are good and
wealthy among you swear not to help their
kinsmen, those in need and those who left
their homes in Allah's Cause. Let them forgive
and overlook. Do you not wish that Allah
should forgive you? Verily! Allah is Oft-
forgiving, Most Merciful." (24.22) After that
Abu Bakr said, 'Yes ! By Allah! I like that Allah
should forgive me,' and resumed helping
Mistah whom he used to help before. Allah's
Apostle also asked Zainab bint Jahsh (i.e. the
Prophet's wife about me saying, 'What do you
know and what did you see?' She replied, 'O
Allah's Apostle! I refrain to claim hearing or
seeing what I have not heard or seen. By
Allah, I know nothing except goodness about
Aisha." Aisha further added "Zainab was
competing with me (in her beauty and the
Prophet's love), yet Allah protected her (from
being malicious), for she had piety."