Musnad Abu Ya'la al-Mawsili 150:423

Abu al-Rabi’ narrated to us, Fulayh ibn Sulayman al-Madani narrated to us, from Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri, from ‘Urwah ibn al-Zubayr, Sa’id ibn al-Musayyib, ‘Alqamah ibn Waqqas al-Laythi, and ‘Ubayd Allah ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Utbah, from ‘Aishah, the wife of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), when the people of the slander said what they said about her, and Allah declared her innocent of it. Al-Zuhri said: All of them narrated to me a portion of her hadith, and some of them were more retentive of it than others, and more established in it, and more established in narrating it. I have retained from each man among them the hadith which he narrated to me from ‘Aishah, and some of their hadith confirms others. They claimed that ‘Aishah said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), when he wanted to go on a journey, would cast lots among his wives, and whichever of them her lot came out for, he would take her with him. She said: So he cast lots among us during a campaign he was fighting, and my lot came out, so I went out with him after the veil had been revealed. I would be carried in a litter and I would descend in it. We traveled until, when the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) finished from that campaign of his and returned, and we drew near to Medina, he announced the departure at night. I stood up when they announced the departure and walked until I passed the army. When I had finished my need, I came to my baggage, and I touched my chest, and a necklace of mine made of *jaz’* (onyx) beads had broken. So I returned and sought my necklace, and searching for it detained me. Those who used to pack my litter came and took it, and they packed it onto my camel which I used to ride, and they thought that I was in it. The women at that time were light; they did not become heavy, and flesh did not cover them, for they only ate a morsel of food. So the people did not find it strange when they lifted the weight of the litter and carried it, and I was a young girl. They sent the camel and set off. I found my necklace after the army had moved on. I came to their campsite, and there was no one in it. I headed toward my place where I had been, and I thought that they would miss me and return to me. While I was sitting in my place, my eyes overcame me and I slept. Safwan ibn al-Mu’attal al-Sulami, then al-Dhakwani, was behind the army. He reached my place in the morning and saw the shadow of a person, so he came to me. He used to see me before the veil. I woke up at his saying "Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un" (Verily we belong to Allah and verily to Him we return) when he recognized me, so I covered my face with my jilbab. By Allah, I did not speak a word, nor did I hear a word from him other than his saying "Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un," until he made his riding beast kneel, and he stepped on its foreleg, so I mounted it. He set off leading the riding beast with me until we came to the army, who were resting in the heat of the noon. Then perished whoever perished, and the one who took on the greater part of it was ‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul. We arrived in Medina, and I fell ill there for a month, while the people were spreading the talk of the people of the slander, and I was not aware of anything of that. What made me suspicious in my illness was that I did not recognize from the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) the kindness I used to see from him when I was ill. He would only enter, greet, and then say, "How is she?" That made me suspicious, and I was not aware until I recovered. I went out with Umm Mistah bint Abi Ruhm toward the *Manasi’* to relieve ourselves. We would not go out except at night to night, and that was before we had latrines near our houses. Our affair was like the affair of the early Arabs in the wilderness or in the open country. I and Umm Mistah bint Abi Ruhm came walking, and she stumbled on her garment and said, "May Mistah be ruined." I said to her, "What a bad thing you have said! Do you revile a man who witnessed Badr?" She said, "O you simple woman, have you not heard what they said?" She said: I said, "And what did they say?" So she informed me of the saying of the people of the slander, and I increased in illness upon my illness. When I returned to my house, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) entered upon me and said, "How is she?" I said, "Permit me to go to my parents." She said: And I at that time wanted to verify the news from them. She said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) permitted me, so I came to my parents and said to my mother, "What are the people talking about?" She said, "O my daughter, be easy on yourself. For by Allah, rarely has there been a beautiful woman with a man who loves her and she has co-wives, except that they would increase against her." She said: I said, "Subhan Allah! Have the people really talked about this?" I spent that night until morning, my tears not ceasing and I not finding sleep. Then morning came, and the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) called ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib and Usamah ibn Zayd when the revelation was delayed, to consult them about separating from his wife. She said: As for Usamah ibn Zayd, he pointed out to him what he knew of the innocence of his wife and what he knew in his own self of the affection for her. Usamah said, "Your wife, O Messenger of Allah, and we do not know, by Allah, except good." As for ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, he said, "O Messenger of Allah, Allah has not made it difficult for you, and there are many women other than her. Ask the slave girl; she will tell you the truth." She said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) called Barirah and said, "O Barirah, have you seen anything about her that makes you suspicious?" Barirah said, "No, by the One who sent you with the truth. If I have seen anything about her that I could criticize, it is only that she is a young girl who sleeps and leaves the dough, so the domestic animal comes and eats it." She said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) stood up that day and sought excuse from ‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, "Who will excuse me from a man whose harm has reached my family? For by Allah, by Allah, by Allah"—three times—"I have not known about my family except good. And they have mentioned a man about whom I have not known except good, and he would not enter upon my family except with me." Sa’d ibn Mu’adh stood up and said, "O Messenger of Allah, by Allah, I will excuse you from him. If he is from the Aws, we will strike his neck, and if he is from our brothers the Khazraj, you command us, and we will do your command regarding him." Then Sa’d ibn ‘Ubadah stood up, and he was the leader of the Khazraj, and he was before that a righteous man, but tribal zeal carried him away. He said, "You lied, by the life of Allah! By Allah, you will not kill him, and you are not able to kill him." Usayd ibn Hudayr stood up and said, "You lied, by the life of Allah! By Allah, we will surely kill him, for you are a hypocrite arguing on behalf of the hypocrites." She said: The two tribes, the Aws and the Khazraj, flared up until they were about to fight, while the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was standing on the pulpit. He descended and lowered them until they became silent, and he became silent. She said: I wept that day, my tears not ceasing and I not finding sleep. My parents came to me in the morning, and I had wept for two nights and a day until I thought that weeping would split my liver. She said: While they were sitting with me and I was weeping, a woman from the Ansar asked permission to enter, and I permitted her, and she sat weeping with me. While we were like that, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) entered and sat down, and he had not sat with me from the day it was said what was said before that, and he had stayed a month without revelation coming to him regarding my affair. She said: He testified, then said, "Amma ba’d (as for what follows), O ‘Aishah, it has reached me about you such and such. If you are innocent, Allah will declare you innocent, and if you have committed a sin, then seek forgiveness from Allah and repent to Him, for the servant, when he confesses his sin and then repents, Allah accepts his repentance." When the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) finished his speech, my tears dried up until I did not feel a drop of them. I said to my father, "Answer the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) regarding what he said." She said: He said, "By Allah, I do not know what I should say to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)." I said to my mother, "Answer the Messenger of Allah regarding what he said." She said, "By Allah, I do not know what I should say to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)." She said: And I was a young girl who did not read much of the Qur’an, so I said, "I, by Allah, have known that you have heard what is being talked about, and it has settled in your souls and you have believed it. If I tell you that I am innocent—and Allah knows that I am innocent—you will not believe me in that. And if I confess to you a matter—and Allah knows that I am innocent of it—you will believe me. By Allah, I do not find for me and for you an example except the father of Yusuf when he said: 'So patience is beautiful, and Allah is the one sought for help against that which you describe.'" She said: Then I turned on my bed, and I was hoping that Allah would declare me innocent, but by Allah, I did not think that a revelation would be sent down regarding my affair that would be recited, and I was too insignificant in my own self for the Qur’an to be spoken regarding my affair. But I was hoping that the Prophet of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) would see a vision in his sleep that would declare me innocent. She said: By Allah, he did not leave his seat, and no one from the household went out, until it was sent down upon him. There overcame him what used to overcome him of the intensity, until sweat would drip from him like pearls on a winter day. She said: When it was relieved from the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), he was laughing, and the first word he spoke was that he said, "O ‘Aishah, praise Allah, for He has declared you innocent." My mother said to me, "Stand up to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)." I said, "By Allah, I will not stand up to him, and I will not praise anyone except Allah." And Allah sent down: "Verily, those who brought forth the slander are a group among you..." (Surah An-Nur, all the verses). When Allah sent this down regarding my innocence, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq—and he used to spend on Mistah ibn Uthathah because of his kinship to him—said, "By Allah, I will not spend anything on Mistah ever again after what he said about ‘Aishah." So Allah sent down this verse: "And let not those of virtue among you and wealth swear not to give [aid] to their relatives and the needy and the emigrants for the cause of Allah, and let them pardon and overlook. Would you not like that Allah should forgive you? And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." (Surah An-Nur). Abu Bakr said, "Yes, by Allah, I would love for Allah to forgive me," so he returned to Mistah what he used to provide for him. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) had asked Zaynab bint Jahsh about my affair and said, "O Zaynab, what have you known and what have you seen?" She said, "O Messenger of Allah, I protect my hearing and my sight. By Allah, I have not known about her except good." She said: ‘Aishah said: And she is the one who used to rival me, but Allah protected her with piety.