Tafsir of An-Nur 24:11

"Indeed, those who brought forth the slander" (that is, the most extreme form of lies and fabrication). It is often interpreted as lying in an absolute sense. It is also said: It is a calumny so unexpected that it strikes you suddenly. It is permitted to read the hamza and the fa with fatha [i.e., al-afk], and its root is from al-afk (with fatha on the alif and sukun on the fa), meaning "turning" or "diverting," because the lie is diverted away from the path of truth. The intention here is that by which the truthful woman, the Mother of the Believers—may Allah be pleased with her—was slandered. The lam (in al-ifk) is for al-‘ahd (specific reference to this incident). It is also permitted to consider it as generic, in which case it implies exclusivity, as if to say: "There is no slander except this slander." The word "brought forth" (or "came with") signals that they manifested it from their own selves without any foundation.

The detail of the story is as recorded by al-Bukhari and others from ‘Urwah, from ‘Aishah—may Allah be pleased with her—who said: "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ, when he intended to set out on a journey, would draw lots among his wives. Whichever of them was drawn, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would take her with him." ‘Aishah said: "He drew lots among us for a campaign he went on, and my lot fell out, so I went with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ after the veil had been ordained. I was carried in my hawdaj (litter) and would descend from it. We traveled until the Messenger of Allah ﷺ finished that campaign and headed back. When we neared Medina on the return, he announced departure at night. I walked until I had passed the army, and when I finished my business, I turned back to my luggage. There, I found that a necklace of mine made of Jaza’ Zafar (beads) had broken. I searched for my necklace, and looking for it detained me. Meanwhile, the party that used to load my litter for me came and carried it, loading it onto my camel, which I had ridden, thinking that I was inside it. Women in those days were light; they did not become heavy with flesh, for we only ate small morsels of food. Thus, the people did not find the lightness of the litter strange when they lifted it. I was a young girl. They drove the camel and set off. I found my necklace only after the army had moved on. I came to their quarters, but there was no caller or responder. So I went to the place where I had been, thinking that they would notice my absence and return for me. While I was sitting in my place, my eyes became heavy, and I slept."

‘Aishah continued: "Safwan ibn al-Mu‘attal as-Sulami, then adh-Dhakwani, was behind the army. He traveled during the night and reached my place in the morning. He saw the figure of a sleeping person and came to me. He recognized me, as he had seen me before the veil. I woke up due to his saying ‘Inna lillahi’ when he recognized me, so I covered my face with my outer garment. By Allah, he did not speak a single word to me, nor did I hear a word from him other than his ‘Inna lillahi’ when he made his camel kneel. He stepped on its front legs, so I mounted it. He set off, leading the animal with me, until we reached the army after they had halted at the peak of the noon heat. Those who perished [in the slander] perished, and the one who took the lead in the slander was ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul."

‘Aishah said: "We arrived in Medina, and I fell ill for a month after our arrival. The people were circulating the talk of the slanderers, and I was unaware of any of it. What troubled me during my illness was that I did not see from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ the kindness I used to see when I was sick; he would only enter upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, give the greeting, and say, 'How is she?' then leave. That troubled me, and I was unaware of the evil until I went out after I had recovered. I went out with Umm Mistah toward al-Manas'—which was our place for relieving ourselves—and we would only go out at night to night, this being before we had built latrines near our houses. We found them [the latrines] offensive. We were like the early Arabs regarding relieving ourselves in the open, and we found it offensive to build them near our houses."

"I went out with Umm Mistah—she was the daughter of Abi Rahm ibn ‘Abd Manaf, and her mother was the daughter of Sakhr ibn ‘Amir, the maternal aunt of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, and her son was Mistah ibn Uthatha. I came back with Umm Mistah, having finished our business, when Umm Mistah stumbled over her garment and said: 'May Mistah be ruined!' I said to her: 'How terrible is what you said! Are you cursing a man who witnessed Badr?' She said: 'Oh simple woman, have you not heard what he said?' She asked: 'What did he say?' She then told me the talk of the slanderers. I added illness upon my illness."

"When I returned home, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered upon me and said: 'How is she?' I said: 'Do you permit me to go to my parents?' I wanted to confirm [the news] from them. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ permitted me. I came to my parents and said to my mother: 'O mother, what are the people talking about?' She said: 'O my daughter, take it easy on yourself. By Allah, there is rarely a beautiful woman married to a man who has co-wives but that they create trouble for her.' I said: 'Subhan Allah! Are the people really talking about this?' I wept that night until morning; my tears did not dry, nor did I apply kohl for sleep."

"The Messenger of Allah ﷺ called ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib and Usamah ibn Zayd when the revelation was delayed, to consult them about separating from his wife. Usamah ibn Zayd advised the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with what he knew of his wife's innocence and the love he felt for them, saying: 'O Messenger of Allah, your family! We know nothing but good.' As for ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, he said: 'O Messenger of Allah, Allah has not restricted you, and there are many women besides her. If you ask the maid, she will tell you the truth.' The Messenger of Allah ﷺ called Barirah and said: 'O Barirah, have you seen anything that troubles you?' Barirah said: 'No, by the One who sent you with the truth! If I have seen anything against her, it is only that she is a young girl who sleeps and leaves the family’s dough, and the domestic fowls come and eat it.'"

"The Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood up that day and sought redress from ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said while he was on the pulpit: 'O assembly of Muslims, who will excuse me regarding a man whose harm has reached me regarding my household? By Allah, I have known nothing but good about my household, and they have mentioned a man about whom I know nothing but good, and he would not enter upon my household except with me.' Sa‘d ibn Mu‘adh al-Ansari stood and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, I will excuse you from him. If he is from the Aws, I will strike his neck; if he is from our brothers the Khazraj, command us and we will carry out your command.' Sa‘d ibn ‘Ubadah, the chief of the Khazraj—who was a righteous man before that, but was overcome by zeal—stood up and said to Sa‘d: 'You have lied, by the life of Allah! You shall not kill him, and you are not able to kill him.' Usayd ibn Hudayr, Sa‘d’s cousin, stood and said to Sa‘d ibn ‘Ubadah: 'You lied, by the life of Allah! We shall kill him, for you are a hypocrite arguing on behalf of the hypocrites.' The two tribes, Aws and Khazraj, flared up until they intended to fight, while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was standing on the pulpit. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ continued to calm them until they fell silent, and he fell silent."

"I spent that day with tears not drying and not sleeping. My parents were with me, and I had wept for two nights and a day, neither sleeping nor drying my tears, until they thought that weeping would rend my liver. While they were sitting with me and I was weeping, a woman from the Ansar asked permission to enter, and I permitted her. She sat and wept with me. While we were in that state, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered, greeted us, and sat down. He had not sat with me since the day what was said was said, and he had waited a month without revelation coming to him regarding my affair. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited the tashahhud when he sat, then said: 'Afterwards, O ‘Aishah, it has reached me such and such about you. If you are innocent, Allah will exonerate you. If you have committed a sin, then seek Allah’s forgiveness and repent to Him, for when a servant confesses his sin and then repents to Allah, Allah accepts his repentance.'"

"When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ finished his speech, my tears stopped until I did not feel a single drop. I said to my father: 'Answer the Messenger of Allah ﷺ regarding what he said.' He said: 'By Allah, I do not know what to say to the Messenger of Allah.' I said to my mother: 'Answer the Messenger of Allah.' She said: 'I do not know what to say to the Messenger of Allah.' I said—I was a young girl and did not recite much of the Qur'an—: 'I, by Allah, know that you have heard this talk until it has settled in your hearts 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. And if I confess to something—and Allah knows that I am innocent of it—you will believe me. By Allah, I find no example for me and you except the words of the father of Yusuf (Jacob): “So patience is beautiful, and Allah is the one sought for help against what you describe.” I lay on my bed, knowing then that I was innocent and that Allah would exonerate me through my innocence. But I did not think that Allah would reveal a revelation to be recited regarding my affair, for my status in my own eyes was too lowly for Allah to speak about me in a matter to be recited. However, I hoped that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would see a vision in his sleep in which Allah would exonerate me."

"By Allah, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had not moved, nor had anyone from the household gone out, until the revelation descended upon him. He was overtaken by what usually overtook him during the onset of revelation, until pearls of sweat were dripping from him—even on a cold day—due to the weight of the speech being revealed to him. When the state was lifted from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he was smiling. The first word he spoke was: 'O ‘Aishah, Allah has exonerated you.' My mother said: 'Stand up to him.' I said: 'By Allah, I will not stand up to him, and I will not praise anyone except Allah.' And Allah revealed: 'Indeed, those who brought forth the slander' [Surah An-Nur: 11]... all ten verses."

It is apparent that His saying, “A band among you” (a group), is the predicate of “Indeed.” Al-Hufi and Abu al-Baqa’ held this view. Ibn ‘Atiyyah said: "It is a substitute for the pronoun in 'brought forth' (ja’u), and the predicate is the sentence 'Do not think it is bad for you.' The estimation is: 'Indeed, the action of those who...' This is more coherent in meaning and more beneficial than having 'a band' be the predicate." But it is not hidden that this is forced, and the benefit in the predicate in the first case is said to be: consolation by the fact that those who brought this slander are a faction that is prejudiced and collaborating, and this is one of the signs that it is a slander with no foundation. It is also said: It is better that the consolation be that this was not something agreed upon by everyone, but was brought by a mere group from among you. Abu al-Baqa’ claimed that by describing the band as being "from among you," the predicate is achieved, but there is a view against this.

The address in “among you”—according to what I incline toward—is to the believers whom this distressed. This includes the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Abu Bakr, Umm Ruman, ‘Aishah, and Safwan primarily. The root of ‘usbah (band) is a group that is prejudiced, whether few or many. It is often applied to ten people or more, up to forty, and the Sahih dictionary limits it to that. It can also be applied to fewer than that; in Hafsah’s copy, it says "a band of four." It has been confirmed that ‘Aishah—may Allah be pleased with her—counted the hypocrite ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul, Hamnah bint Jahsh (the sister of the Mother of the Believers Zaynab), the wife of Talhah ibn ‘Ubaydullah, Mistah ibn Uthatha, and Hassan ibn Thabit. Some people have exonerated Hassan, but this contradicts what is in Sahih al-Bukhari and others.

Yes, it is apparent that he—may Allah be pleased with him—did not speak it from the depth of his heart; rather, he relayed it from Ibn Ubayy—may Allah curse him. It has been reported that he—may Allah be pleased with him—apologized for what was attributed to him regarding ‘Aishah—may Allah be pleased with her—saying: "A chaste, poised woman who is not accused of any suspicion; she wakes up innocent of the meat of the negligent. The wife of the best of people in religion and lineage, the Prophet of guidance, possessor of virtues and honors. A noble lady of the clan of Lu’ayy ibn Ghalib, whose noble endeavors and glory do not vanish. Refined, for Allah has perfumed her nature and purified her from every evil and falsehood. If I have said what you have alleged, then may my hand not lift my whip. My affection and support remain as long as I live for the family of the Messenger of Allah, the adornment of assemblies. He has a status above all people, which the efforts of the arrogant fall short of. What has been said is not true, but is the speech of a person who has fallen into what I have." ‘Aishah—may Allah be pleased with her—honored him after that and mentioned him with goodness.

Ibn Jarir reported from ash-Sha‘bi from her that she said: "I never heard anything more beautiful than the poetry of Hassan, and I never cited it without hoping for Paradise for him." His saying to Abu Sufyan ibn al-Harith ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib: "You slandered Muhammad and I answered for him, and with Allah is the reward for that. Indeed, my father, my mother, and my honor are a shield for the honor of Muhammad from you. You insult him, and you are not his equal, so may the worst of you be a ransom for the best of you. My tongue is a sharp sword with no defect, and my sea is not reached by buckets." Some counted Zayd ibn Rifa‘ah among the four, but we have seen no authentic report for that, and it is said to be a mistake.

The meaning of “from among you” is: from the people of your religion and those who identify with Islam, whether they are truly so or not in reality. Thus, it includes Ibn Ubayy because he identifies with Islam outwardly, even if he is a disbeliever in reality. It is also said that His saying “from among you” is meant as the general rule, for most of that band were sincere believers, and likewise the address in “Do not think it is bad for you.” It is also said that the address in the first is to the Muslims, and in the second to the Master of those addressed, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and to Abu Bakr, ‘Aishah, and Safwan—may Allah be pleased with them—and the speech is presented for their consolation.

Ibn Abi Hatim and al-Tabarani reported from Sa‘id ibn Jubayr that the address in the second is to ‘Aishah and Safwan. Far from the truth is the one who claims it is for those who brought the slander, and he labored for goodness in a way that he labored. Perhaps its attribution to al-Hasan is not authentic. The apparent meaning is that the pronoun for the absent in “do not think it” refers to the slander. It is permitted that it refers to the accusation, or to the verbal noun understood from “brought forth,” or to the grief that reached the Muslims. All of these, as you see, and according to what Ibn ‘Atiyyah held, it refers to the omitted object of Inna, which is the noun in reality. They were forbidden from thinking of that as evil for them to provide comfort to their minds by removing what would necessitate the continuation of their distress. The Exalted followed the prohibition of that with the disjunctive particle “bal” (rather) in His saying: “rather, it is good for you,” as a concern for the matter of consolation. The intent is: rather, it is a great good for you because you will attain great reward through patience, and your honor will be made manifest before Allah—the Exalted and Majestic—by the revelation of what contains the exaltation of your status and the intensifying of the threat against those who spoke what saddened you. The verses revealed regarding this, as you heard earlier from ‘Aishah—may Allah be pleased with her—are ten.

Ibn Abi Hatim reported from Sa‘id ibn Jubayr that he said: "Eighteen consecutive verses were revealed regarding the falsehood of those who accused ‘Aishah and her innocence." Al-Tabarani reported from al-Hakam ibn ‘Utaybah that he said: "He, the Exalted, revealed fifteen verses regarding her from Surah An-Nur," then he read until he reached: “Corrupt women are for corrupt men.” It is as if the disagreement is based on the disagreement regarding the verse endings.

“For every man among them” (that is, from those who brought the slander) “is what he earned of the sin” (that is, the recompense for what he earned). That is according to the extent of his participation; for some spoke, some laughed like one amazed and pleased with what he heard, some increased, and some decreased.

“And he who took the lead in it” (with a kasra on the kaf). Al-Hasan, az-Zuhri, Abu Raja’, Mujahid, al-A‘mash, Abu al-Barhasm, Humayd, Ibn Abi ‘Ablah, Sufyan ath-Thawri, Yazid ibn Qutayb, Ya‘qub, az-Za‘farani, Ibn Miqsam, ‘Amrah bint ‘Abd ar-Rahman, Surah from al-Kisa’i, and Mahbub from Abu ‘Amr read: “kibrahu” with a damma on the kaf (while the kasra version is also read). They are two verbal nouns for the greatness of a thing, and their meaning is one. It is said that al-kubr with damma is the major part, and with kasra it is the initiation of a thing. It is also said: it means the sin. The majority are on the first, meaning: he who bore the major part of it “among them” (from those who brought it) “has a great punishment.”

In the worldly life and the hereafter, or in the hereafter only. In the expression with the relative pronoun, the repetition of the attribution, the indefiniteness of the punishment, and its description as "great," there is a terrifying of the affair that is not hidden. The one who took the lead in it, as in Sahih al-Bukhari from az-Zuhri from ‘Urwah from ‘Aishah—may Allah be pleased with her—is ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy, upon whom is the curse. That is the view of most traditionists. He—may he be cursed by Allah—used to gather people at his place and mention to them what he mentioned of the slander, and he was the first to fabricate and spread it, out of his enmity toward the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. His punishment in the hereafter, after he is placed in the lowest depths of the Fire, cannot be estimated except by Allah—the Exalted and Majestic. As for in this world, he was branded with the mark of humiliation and the exposure of his hypocrisy before the witnesses, and he was lashed with two punishments, as reported by al-Tabarani and Ibn Marduyah from Ibn ‘Umar—may Allah be pleased with them—that the Prophet ﷺ, after the verses were revealed, went out to the mosque, called Abu ‘Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah, gathered the people, then recited to them what Allah—the Exalted—revealed of the exoneration of ‘Aishah. He sent for ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy, and he was brought, so he—peace be upon him—lashed him with two punishments. He also sent for Hassan, Mistah, and Hamnah, and they were lashed painfully and struck on their necks. It is also said that he lashed him once. Al-Tabarani reported from Ibn ‘Abbas that he interpreted the punishment in this world as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ lashing him eighty lashes, and his punishment in the hereafter as his ending in the Fire. It is also said that he was not lashed at all because he did not confess, and he was not bound to establish evidence against him, delaying his recompense to the Day of Resurrection, just as he was not bound to establish evidence of his hypocrisy and the issuance of what necessitated his killing for that, and there is a view against this. Some claimed that Mistah was not lashed, and others that none of those who brought the slander were lashed because there was no confession and no establishment of evidence. In al-Bahr, it is mentioned that the famous view is that Hassan, Mistah, and Hamnah were lashed, and al-Bazzar and Ibn Marduyah reported this with a hasan chain from Abu Hurayrah. This has also come in verses mentioned by Ibn Hisham in the summary of the Sirah by Ibn Ishaq...

...Some also counted Zayd ibn Rifa‘ah among the four, but we have not seen a correct report on it. It is also said that the one who took the lead in it was Hassan, and it was evidenced by what is also in Sahih al-Bukhari from Masruq who said: Hassan entered upon ‘Aishah and praised her and said: "A chaste..." (the verse). She said: "But you are not like that." I said: "You permit someone like this to enter upon you when Allah—the Exalted—has revealed: 'And he who took the lead in it among them has a great punishment'?" What punishment is greater than blindness? It came in some reports that it was said to her: "Does not Allah—the Exalted—say: 'And he who took the lead in it' (the verse)?" She said: "Has he not suffered a great punishment? Has he not lost his sight and been struck with a sword?"—meaning the blow that Safwan struck him when it reached him that he was talking about that. For it is narrated that he struck him with a sword on his head for that...

...In a narration in Sahih al-Bukhari from ‘Aishah—may Allah be pleased with her—she said regarding “he who took the lead in it among them”: He is the hypocrite Ibn Ubayy, and Hamnah. It is also said: It is he, Hassan, and Mistah. The punishment of the hypocrite is expulsion and the manifestation of his hypocrisy, and the punishment of the latter two is the loss of sight. The intention of a plural does not prevent the singularity of the relative pronoun, for in al-Kashshaf it is noted that "the one who" (alladhi) can be plural, and the singularity of its pronoun is permissible considering the intention of the group, the party, or the team, or looking at the fact that its form is the form of the singular. It has come as singular in His saying: “And the one who brought the truth and believed in it,” and plural in His saying: “and you engaged in talk like those who engaged in talk.” The famous view is the permissibility of using "the one who" (alladhi) as a plural absolutely, while Ibn Malik in at-Tashil requires that it be intended as the genus, not a specific group; if specificity is intended, it is restricted to necessity. This is not hidden that intending the plural here is not free from remoteness, and what I chose is the intention of the singular, and that that single one is the enemy of Allah—the Exalted—His Messenger ﷺ, and the believers: Ibn Ubayy. Az-Zuhri narrated this from Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyib, ‘Urwah ibn az-Zubayr, ‘Alqamah ibn Waqqas, and ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Utbah, all of whom heard ‘Aishah say: "He who took the lead in it is ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy." Many reports have converged upon that, and the number of exegetes who went to this view is greater than those who went to other than it. Among the slander originating from partisanship is the statement of Hisham ibn ‘Abd al-Malik—may he deserve what he deserves from Allah—when az-Zuhri was asked about “he who took the lead in it,” and he said to him: "It is Ibn Ubayy." He said: "You lied! It is ‘Ali," meaning the Commander of the Faithful, ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib—may Allah—the Exalted—honor his face. This has been reported from Hisham by al-Bukhari, al-Tabarani, Ibn Marduyah, and al-Bayhaqi in ad-Dala’il. It is no wonder for an Umayyad to fabricate against the Commander of the Faithful ‘Ali—may Allah honor his face and be pleased with him—and you know that the extent of what was narrated from the Commander—may Allah be pleased with him—is that he said to his brother and cousin, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, when he consulted him: "O Messenger of Allah, Allah has not restricted you, and there are many women besides her. If you ask the maid, she will tell you the truth."

In a narration, he said: "O Messenger of Allah, the people have talked, and it has become permissible for you to divorce her." In a narration, he—may Allah be pleased with him—struck Barirah and said: "Tell the truth to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ." There is nothing in that which serves as a basis for that Umayyad Nasibi. Most of the Commander's intention in what he mentioned was to relieve the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from the grief he was in. The utmost in the case is that he did not follow the path of Usamah, which is a matter that is not fixed. Whoever reflects deeply knows the meaning of the Commander—may Allah honor his face—and that it is far from what the Nawasib claim, as far as the East is from the West, so let it be pondered.