(Lo! they who spread the slander are a gang among you…) [24:11].
Abu'l-Hasan 'Ali ibn Muhammad al-Muqri' informed us> Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn 'Ali al-Muqri'> Abu Ya'la> Abu'l-Rabi'> al-Zahrani> Fulayh ibn Sulayman al-Madani> al-Zuhri> 'Urwah ibn al-Zubayr> Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab> 'Alqamah ibn Waqqas> 'Ubayd Allah ibn 'Abd Allah ibn 'Utbah> 'A'ishah, the wife of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, when she was slandered by a group of people and Allah, exalted is He, exonerated her from what they accused her of. Al-Zuhri said: “All of them related to me a portion of her narration. Some of them remembered better what she related to them but they related only a summary of the report. I remembered all the reports related to me by each one of them. All the reports they related to me support each other. They mentioned that 'A'ishah, may Allah be well pleased with her, the wife of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: 'When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, travelled, he was in the habit of drawing lots, such that the one among his wives whose name is drawn travelled with him. On one occasion, he wanted to set off for one of his military expedition, and so he drew lots to decide who would accompany him among us. My lot was drawn and so I travelled with the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. This happened after the verse of segregation (Hijab) was revealed. I was therefore transported on my howdah and remained inside it for as long as we travelled. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, finished from his military expedition, he travelled back. We were close to Medina when one night it was announced that we were to make a move. When they announced that they were moving, I walked until I went far beyond the camp. I relieved myself and headed back toward the camp. As I was walking back, I felt my chest and noticed that I had dropped my necklace which was made of gems from Dhafar. I went back to look for my necklace and got delayed. The people who were in charge of my transportation came along, picked up my howdah and placed it on the mount I was travelling on, assuming I was inside it. Women at that time were quite slim as a result of eating very little. This is why the lightness of the howdah did not disturb any of those men when they picked it up and placed it on the mount. Moreover, I was quite young. And so they made the camel to stand and set off. My necklace was found only after they had moved camp. I went back to the camp and found it deserted. I headed toward the spot where I was camping and stayed there. I figured that people will notice my absence and come back to fetch me. As I was sitting in my location, my eyes dropped and I slept. Safwan ibn al-Mu'attil al-Sulami/al-Dhakwani had camped behind the army. He set off the night before and by morning he reached my spot. He saw the silhouette of a person sleeping and came toward me. When he saw me, he recognized me because he had seen me before I was commanded to stay out of the sight of men. When he said 'Verily, we are unto Allah and unto Him we shall return', upon recognizing me, I woke up and covered my face with my outer garment. By Allah, he did not speak to me with another word nor did I hear him utter any other words except 'Verily, we are unto Allah and unto Him we shall return'. He made his camel kneel down, stepped on its front legs [so that it does not move suddenly] and I mounted it. He led the mount until we caught up with the army which had stopped to rest from the heat of the afternoon. Slander against me started at that point, and the main person behind it was 'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul. When we arrived at Medina, I fell ill for a month, all while people were engaged in the talk of those who slandered me. What made me bewildered during the time I was ill was that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, did not show toward me the gentleness I was used to see from him when I was sick. He would enter, greet me the greeting of peace and simply say 'how art thou?' This used to pain me but I was still unaware of the evil that was going on. I started going out after my health improved. I went along with Umm Mistah toward the location where we relieve ourselves. We did not go to this location except at night. This happened before we had lavatories at our houses. Before that our custom was that of the Arabs as far as relieving oneself is concerned, we disliked having lavatories close to our houses. I went out with Umm Mistah to the lavatory'. Umm Mistah was the daughter of Abu Ruhm ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib ibn 'Abd Manaf and her mother was the daughter of Sakhr ibn 'Amir; she was the maternal aunt of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq and her son was Mistah ibn Uthathah ibn 'Abbad ibn al-Muttalib. As we were returning home, after we finished, Umm Mistah stumbled on her raiment and fell. She said [out of anger]: 'May Mistah be wretched!' I said to her: 'What an awful thing to say! Do you insult a man who has fought at Badr?' She said: 'Did you not hear what he said?' 'And what did he say?' I asked. And so she informed me about the slander perpetuated against me. I got even more ill. When I went back to my house, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, came in and after greeting me and asking me how I was, I said: 'Allow me to go to my parents!' I wanted then to ascertain the matter from both of them. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, gave me permission to go to my parents. I asked my mother: 'Mother, what are people saying about me?' She said: 'My daughter, pay little attention to what is being said. By Allah, it is seldom that a man marries a beautiful woman except that the other co-wives cause troubles for her'. I said: 'Glory be to Allah, did people say this about me and the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, heard about it?' When she answered in the affirmative, I cried all night until the morning. I could not stop crying nor was I able to sleep'. When revelation was slow to come, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, summoned 'Ali ibn Abi Talib and Usamah ibn Zayd to consult them about leaving his wife. As for Usamah ibn Zayd, his advice to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was given on the basis of his knowledge that the Prophet's wife was innocent and also because of the affection he had toward her. He said: 'O Messenger of Allah, she is your wife and we know nothing but good about her'. On the other hand, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib said: 'Allah, exalted is He, has not constricted you; there are plenty other women. If you ask her slave-girl, she will surely tell you the truth'. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, summoned Barirah and said to her: 'O Barirah, did you see anything suspicious from 'A'ishah?' Barirah said: 'By Him Who has sent you with the truth, I have never found fault with her regarding any matter more than the fact that she is a young lady who sometimes sleeps while looking after her family's dough and domesticated animals come and eat it'. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, went and asked to be excused if he should harm 'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul. He said while on the pulpit: 'O Muslims, who would give me leave to punish a man who has hurt me regarding my wife. By Allah, I know nothing but good about my wife, and they have mentioned a man about whom I also know nothing but good; this man never entered in on my wife except with me'. Sa'd ibn Mu'adh stood up and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, I give you leave; if this man is of the Aws, I will behead him; and if he is of our brothers the Khazraj, you command us to do with him as you see fit'. Sa'd ibn 'Ubadah, who was a righteous man but stirred up by tribal solidarity, stood up and said: 'You lie, by Allah, you will not kill him nor will you be able to do so!' Usayd ibn Hudayr, the cousin of Sa'd ibn Mu'adh, said to Sa'd ibn 'Ubadah: 'You lie, by Allah, we will kill him. You are but a hypocrite arguing on behalf of the hypocrites'. The two tribes of Aws and Khazraj erupted and were on the verge of fighting each other while the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was still standing on the pulpit. He kept trying to be quiet until they all stopped talking and then he went silent himself. I cried all that day and could not sleep. My parents thought that crying would eventually kill me. As they were sitting with me while I was crying, a woman from the Helpers asked permission to come in to see me. She came in and sat down, crying with me. As we were in this state, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, entered in on us and sat down. He had not sat with me since I was slandered. Since then, one month had elapsed and he still did not receive any revelation concerning me. When he sat down, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, uttered the testification of faith and then said: 'O 'A'ishah, I was told such-and-such a thing about you. If you are innocent, Allah will clear you. But If you have committed a sin, then you should ask forgiveness from Allah and repent to Him, for when a slave acknowledges his sins and then repents, Allah will accept his repentance'. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, had finished what he wanted to say, my tears receded such that I could not feel even a drop of it coming out. I said to my father: 'Answer the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, on my behalf'. He said: 'By Allah, I do not know what to say to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace'. I said to my mother: 'Answer the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, on my behalf'. She said: 'By Allah, I do not know what to say to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace'. I said, [keeping in mind that] I was then a very young lady who did not read much of the Qur'an: 'By Allah, I know that you heard this [slander] and since it has already been established in your mind, you have believed it. If I were to tell you I am innocent - and Allah knows that I am innocent - you will not believe me; and if I were to confess something from which Allah knows I am innocent, you would believe me. By Allah, I cannot find anything to describe the like of me and you, except what the father of Joseph said: ((My course is) comely patience. And Allah it is Whose help is to be sought in that (predicament) which ye describe) [12:18]'. I turned away and lied down on my couch. By Allah, I knew I was innocent and I also knew that Allah will clear me of this slander. However, by Allah, I did not think that a recited revelation would be sent down regarding me. I thought myself to be too insignificant for Allah to speak about me something recited. I was merely hoping that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, would see a dream vision in which Allah, exalted is He, would clear me of the slander. By Allah, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, did not leave his position nor did anyone of the household go out until Allah, exalted is He, sent down a revelation to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. He was seized by the fever that usually seizes him upon receiving revelation, such that he sweated profusely even in rainy days, as a result of the heaviness of the speech revealed to him. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was smiling when he relaxed again. The first thing he said was: 'Good news for you, O 'A'ishah! By Allah, Allah has declared your innocence'. My mother said: 'Go to him', but I said: 'By Allah, I will not, nor will I thank anyone but Allah, glorified and exalted is He, for it is Him Who has cleared me of the slander'. Allah, glorious and exalted is He, revealed (Lo! they who spread the slander are a gang among you) and the following ten verses. When Allah, exalted is He, revealed these verses regarding my innocence, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq who used to spend on Mistah because of his ties of kinship and poverty said: 'By Allah, I will not spend a thing on him after what he said about 'A'ishah'. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (And let not those who possess dignity and ease among you swear not to give to the near of kin) up to His words (Yearn ye not that Allah may forgive you? Allah is Forgiving, Merciful) [24:22], upon which Abu Bakr said: 'By Allah, I yearn that Allah may forgive me', and resumed his previous spending on Mistah, saying: 'I will never stop spending on him' ”. This was narrated by Bukhari and Muslim, both from Abu'l-Rabi' al-Zahrani.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou