Musnad Abu Ya'la al-Mawsili 150:429

Abu Ya'la and al-Hasan ibn Sufyan informed us, saying: Muhammad ibn Khalid ibn Abdullah al-Wasiti al-Tahan narrated to us, Ibrahim ibn Sa'd narrated to us, from Salih ibn Kaysan, from Ibn Shihab al-Wasiti. Urwah ibn al-Zubayr, Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, Alqamah ibn Waqqas, and Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah ibn Utbah narrated to me, from Aisha, that when the people of the slander said what they said about her, Allah declared her innocent. Each of them narrated to me a portion of her hadith, and some of them were more attentive to her hadith than others and more established in narrating it, and I have memorized from each one of them the hadith which he narrated to me from Aisha. Aisha said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would cast lots among his wives during a military expedition he undertook, and whichever of them the lot fell to, he would take her out with him. Aisha said: He cast lots among us during a military expedition he undertook, and my lot came out, so I went out with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) after the hijab had been ordained. I would be carried in a howdah and I would descend in it. We traveled until the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) finished from that expedition of his and returned. When we drew near to Medina returning, he gave permission for departure. I stood up when the departure was announced and walked until I passed the army. When I finished my need, I came to my baggage and touched my chest, and a necklace of mine made of *jaz' azfar* (onyx/beads) had broken. I returned and searched for my necklace, and searching for it detained me. Aisha said: The group of men who used to pack my baggage came and took my howdah and loaded it onto my camel which I used to ride, and they thought that I was in it. The women at that time were light, not burdened by flesh, and we only ate a little food, so the people did not find the lightness of the howdah strange. They lifted it and loaded it. I was a young girl, and they sent the camels off and traveled. I found my necklace after the army had moved on. I came to their camping grounds, and there was no caller and no responder. I headed to my place where I had been, thinking that they would miss me and return for 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 traveled through the night and reached my place in the morning. He saw the shadow of a sleeping person and recognized me when he saw me, as he used to see me before the hijab. I woke up to his *istirja'* (saying "Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un") 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 *istirja'* when he made his camel kneel. He stepped on its hand, and I stood up and mounted it. He set off leading the camel with me until we reached the army while they were camping. Aisha said: So those who perished, perished, and the one who took the lead in it among them was Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul. Urwah said: I was informed that it used to be rumored and spoken of in his presence, and he would approve of it, spread it, and investigate it. Ibrahim said: Meaning he investigated it. Urwah said: None of the people of the slander were named except Mistah ibn Uthathah and Hamnah bint Jahsh, among other people of whom I have no knowledge, except that they were a group as Allah said, and the greatest of that was said about Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul. Urwah said: Aisha used to dislike that Hassan ibn Thabit be insulted in her presence, and she would say: "He is the one who said: 'Indeed my father, his father, and my honor are a shield for the honor of Muhammad from you.'" Aisha said: I arrived in Medina and fell ill for a month when I arrived, while the people were spreading the talk of the people of the slander. I was not aware of anything of that, and it was making me suspicious in my illness that I did not recognize from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) the kindness I used to see when I was ill. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would only enter upon me and say, "How is she?" and then leave. That was what made me suspicious, and I was not aware until I went out after I had recovered. I went out with Umm Mistah before the *Manasi'* (a place for relieving oneself). It was our place for relieving ourselves, and we followed the custom of the early Arabs in avoiding the filth before the stool; we were bothered by having toilets near our houses. Aisha said: I went out with Umm Mistah, and she is the daughter of Abu Ruhm ibn al-Muttalib ibn Abd Manaf, and her mother is the daughter of Sakhr ibn Amir, the maternal aunt of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, and her son is Mistah ibn Uthathah ibn Abbad ibn Abd al-Muttalib. I and Umm Mistah came toward my house when we finished our business, and Umm Mistah stumbled on her garment and said, "May Mistah be ruined." I said to her, "What a bad thing you have said! Do you insult a man who witnessed Badr?" She said, "O you simpleton, have you not heard what he said?" I said, "And what did he say?" So she told me the statement of the people of the slander. Aisha said: My illness increased upon my illness. When I returned to my house, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) entered upon me and said, "How is she?" I said, "Give me permission to go to my parents." Aisha said: I wanted to verify the news from them. The Messenger of Allah gave me permission, so I went to them and said to my mother, "O mother, what are the people talking about?" She said, "Calm yourself, for by Allah, rarely has a beautiful woman ever been with a husband who loves her and has co-wives, but they would talk much about her." I said, "Subhan Allah! Have the people really talked about this?" She said: I wept that night until morning; my tears did not cease, and I did not apply kohl to my eyes with sleep. Aisha said: Then I became morning weeping. She said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) called Ali ibn Abi Talib and Usamah ibn Zayd to consult them regarding separating from his wife. She said: As for Usamah ibn Zayd, he pointed out to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) what he knew of the innocence of his wife and what he knew of them in his own heart. Usamah ibn Zayd said, "O Messenger of Allah, your wife, and we know nothing but good." As for Ali, he said, "O Messenger of Allah, Allah has not restricted the women for you, and there are many women besides her. Ask the servant girl; she will tell you the truth." Aisha said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) called Barirah and said, "O Barirah, have you seen anything that makes you suspicious?" Barirah said to him, "By the One who sent you with the truth, I have never seen anything on her that I could criticize, other than that she is a young girl who sleeps and leaves her family's dough, so the domestic animal comes and eats it." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) stood up that day and sought excuse from Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul while he was on the pulpit. He said, "O assembly of Muslims, who will excuse me from a man whose harm has reached me regarding my family? By Allah, I have known nothing but good about my family, and they have mentioned a man about whom I have known nothing but good, and he never entered upon my family except with me." Sa'd ibn Mu'adh, one of the Banu Abd al-Ashhal, stood up and said, "O Messenger of Allah, I will excuse you from him. If he is from the Aws, I will strike his neck, and if he is from our brothers, the Khazraj, you command us, and we will do what you command us to do." A man from the Khazraj stood up—and the mother of Hassan was his cousin from his tribe—and he was Sa'd ibn Ubadah, the leader of the Khazraj. He was a righteous man, but tribal zeal carried him away. He said to Sa'd ibn Mu'adh, "You lied, by the life of Allah! You will not kill him, and you are not able to kill him. If he were from your tribe, you would not have liked for him to be killed." Usayd ibn Hudayr, who was the cousin of Sa'd ibn Mu'adh, stood up and said to Sa'd ibn Ubadah, "You lied, by the life of Allah! We will surely kill him, for you are a hypocrite arguing on behalf of the hypocrites." Aisha said: The two tribes, the Aws and the Khazraj, flared up until they intended to fight, while the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was sitting on the pulpit. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) kept calming them down until they fell silent, and he fell silent. Aisha said: I wept that entire day; my tears did not cease, and I did not apply kohl to my eyes with sleep. She said: My parents became morning with me, and I wept for my day and night; my tears did not cease, and I did not apply kohl to my eyes with sleep, until I thought that weeping would split my liver. She said: While my parents were sitting with me and I was weeping, a woman from the Ansar asked permission to see me, and I gave her permission. She sat and wept with me. She said: While we were in that state, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) entered, greeted, and then sat down. She said: He had not sat with me since what was said to me was said, and he had remained for a month without anything being revealed to him regarding my affair. She said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) recited the *tashahhud* when he sat, then said, "Amma ba'd (as for what follows), O Aisha, 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 when the servant confesses and repents, Allah accepts his repentance." She said: When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) finished his speech, my tears dried up until I did not feel a single drop. I said to my father, "Answer the Messenger of Allah regarding what he said." He said, "By Allah, I do not know what to say to the Messenger of Allah." She said: I said to my mother, "Answer the Messenger of Allah regarding what he said." She said, "By Allah, I do not know what to say to the Messenger of Allah." She said: I said, and I was a young girl, "I do not recite much of the Quran. By Allah, I have known that you have heard until it has settled in your souls and you have believed it. If I tell you that I am innocent, you will not believe me, and if I confess to a matter—and Allah knows that I am innocent of it—you will believe me. By Allah, I find no example for me and for you 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: I turned away and lay on my bed, and Allah knows at that time that I was innocent and that Allah would declare me innocent by my innocence. But by Allah, I did not think that Allah would reveal a revelation regarding my affair, for my affair was too insignificant in my own eyes for Allah to speak about me with a matter that would be recited. But I hoped that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would see a dream in his sleep by which Allah would declare me innocent. She said: By Allah, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did not rise from his seat, nor did anyone from the household leave, until Allah revealed to him. He was overcome by what used to overcome him of the intensity, until sweat would drip from him like pearls, even on a cold day, due to the weight of the Quran that was revealed to him. She said: Then the state was relieved from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) while he was smiling. The first word he spoke was, "O Aisha, as for Allah, He has declared you innocent." Her mother said, "Stand up to him." I said, "By Allah, I will not stand up to him, and I do not praise anyone but Allah." And Allah revealed: "Indeed, those who brought forth the lie are a group among you. Do not think it is bad for you..." to the end of the verses. When Allah revealed this regarding my innocence, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq—who used to spend on Mistah ibn Uthathah due to his kinship and poverty—said, "By Allah, I will not spend anything on Mistah after what he said about Aisha." So Allah revealed: "And let not those of virtue among you and wealth swear not to give [aid] to their relatives..." until His saying: "And Allah is Forgiving, Merciful." Abu Bakr said, "Yes, by Allah, I love for Allah to forgive me." So he returned to Mistah the provision he used to spend on him and said, "By Allah, I will never take it away from him." She said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had asked Zaynab bint Jahsh about my affair. He said to Zaynab, "What have you known or seen?" She said, "O Messenger of Allah, I protect my hearing and my sight. By Allah, I have known nothing but good." Aisha said: She was the one who used to compete with me among the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), so Allah protected her through piety. Her sister Hamnah began to fight, so she perished among those who perished. Ibn Shihab said: This is what has reached me of the hadith of this group.