Nahjul Balagha [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

About the malice borne by A'ishah;
and warning the people of Basrah about what was to occur

Whoever can at this time keep himself clinging to
Allah should do so. If you follow me I shall certainly carry you, if Allah so wills, on
the path of Paradise, even though it may be full of severe hardship and of bitter taste.

As regards a certain woman ⁽¹⁾,
she is in the grip of womanly views, and malice is boiling in her bosom like the furnace
of the blacksmith. If she were called upon to deal with others as she is dealing with me
she would not have done it. (As for me), even hereafter she will be allowed her original
respect, while the reckoning (of her misdeeds) is an obligation on Allah.

A part of the same sermon

This path is the lightest course and the brightest
lamp. Guidance towards virtuous actions is sought through faith while guidance towards
faith is achieved through virtuous actions. Knowledge is made to prosper through faith,
and death is feared because of knowledge. This world come to an end with death, while the
next world is secured (by virtuous actions) in this world. For people there is no escape
from resurrection. They are heading for this last end in its appointed course.

A part of the same sermon

They have got up from the resting places in their
graves and have set off for the final objectives. Every house has its own people. They are
not changed nor shifted from there. Commanding for good and refraining from evil are two
characteristics of Allah, the Glorified. They can neither bring death near nor lessen
sustenance.

You should adhere to the Book of Allah because it is
the strong rope, a clear light, a benefiting cure, a quenching for thirst, protection for
the adherent and deliverance for the attached. It does not curve so as to need
straightening and does not deflect so as to be corrected. Frequency of its repetition and
its falling on ears does not make it old. Whoever speaks according to it, speaks truth and
whoever acts by it is forward (in action).

A man stood up and said:

O' Amir al-mu'minin, tell us about this disturbance
and whether you enquired about it from the Holy Prophet.

Thereupon Amir al-mu'minin said:

When Allah, the Glorified sent down the verse:

Alif lam mim. What! Do people imagine that they will
be let off on (their) saying: "We believe!" and they will not be tried ?
(Qur'an, 29:1-2)

I came to know that the disturbance would not befall
us so long as the Prophet (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him and his progeny) is
among us. So I said, "O' Prophet of Allah, what is this disturbance of which Allah,
the Sublime, has informed you?" and he replied, "O' Ali, my people will create
trouble after me." I said, "O' Prophet of Allah, on the day of Uhud, when people
had fallen martyrs and I was not among them, and this had been very annoying to me, did
you not say to me, 'cheer up, as martyrdom is for you hereafter?' " The Prophet
replied, "Yes it is so, but what about your enduring at present?" I said,
"O ' Prophet of Allah, this is not an occasion for endurance, but rather an occasion
for cheering up and gratefulness." Then he said: "O' Ali, people will fall into
mischief through their wealth, will show obligation to Allah on account of their faith,
will expect His mercy, will feel safe from His anger and regard His unlawful matters as
lawful by raising false doubts and by their misguiding desires. They will then hold lawful
(the use of) wine by calling it barley water, a bribe by calling it a gift, and taking of
usurious interest by calling it sale." I said, "O' Prophet of Allah, how should
I deal with them at the time, whether to hold them to have gone back in heresy or just in
revolt." He said, "in revolt."
⁽¹⁾.
There is no denying the fact that A'ishah's behaviour towards Amir al-mu'minin was
throughout inimical, and very often her heart's turbidity expressed itself on her face,
and her hatred and dislike became quite apparent, so much so that if in connection with
some affair Amir al-mu'minin's name came up a frown appeared on her forehead and she did
not relish pronouncing it with her tongue. For example, when Ubaydullah ibn Abdillah ibn
Utbah mentioned to Abdullah ibn Abbas the narration by A'ishah namely that "in
his death-illness the Prophet, taking support on al-Fadl ibn Abbas and another person,
came to her (A'ishah's) house," Abdullah ibn Abbas said: "Do you know who
this 'other man' was?" He said, "No." Then he said, ' "Ali ibn Abi
Talib, but she is averse to name him in a good context." (Ahmad ibn Hanbal,
al-Musnad, vol. 6, pp. 34, 228; Ibn Sad, at-Tabaqat al-Kabir, vol. 2, part 2, p. 29;
at-Tabari, at-Tarikh, vol. 1, pp. 1800-1801; al-Baladhuri, Ansab al-ashraf, vol. 1, pp.
544-545; al-Bayhaqi, as-Sunan al-kubra, vol. 3, p. 396).
One cause for this hatred and
malice was the presence of Hadrat Fatimah (p.b.u.h.) whose wholesome dignity and esteem
pricked her heart like a thorn. Her jealousy towards the other wives (of the Prophet) did
not allow her to let the Prophet love the daughter of his other wife to such a degree that
he should stand on her approach, seat her in his own place, declare her most honourable of
all the women of the world and bear such love towards her children as to call them his own
sons.
All these things pained her much
and naturally her feelings on such an occasion were that if she had borne children they
would have been the Prophet's sons and they would have been the pivot of the Prophet's
affection instead of Imam Hasan and Imam Husayn. But she was not gifted with any issue and
she gratified her own desire to be a mother by adopting the surname Umm Abdillah (mother
of the slave of Allah) after her sister's son. In short all these things created the
passion of hatred in her heart, as a result of which she off and on complained to the
Prophet against Hadrat Fatimah but could not succeed in diverting the Prophet's attention
from her.
News about this mortification and
estrangement also reached the ears of Abu Bakr. That would only perturb him as he too
could do nothing, except that his verbal sympathies were with his daughter. At last the
Prophet left this world and the reins of Government fell into his hands. Now was the
opportunity for him to avenge as best as he could and to perpetrate whatever violence he
had in mind. Consequently the first step he took was that, in order to deprive Hadrat
Fatimah of inheritance, he denied the principle of inheritance in the case of the prophets
and held that neither do the prophets inherit nor are they inherited from, but the
property left by them escheats to the state. Fatimah was so much affected that she gave up
speaking to him and passed away from this world with these very feelings. A'ishah did not
even take the trouble to express any sorrow at her tragic death. Thus Ibn Abi'l-Hadid has
written:
When Fatimah expired, all the wives
of the Prophet came to Bani Hashim in condolence except A'ishah. She did not come and
showed herself sick and words from her reached Ali which displayed her joy. (Sharh Nahj
al-balaghah, vol. 9, p. 198).
As long as she bore so much malice
against Hadrat Fatimah, how could Fatimah's spouse be spared similar enmity and malice.
Particularly when such events also occurred which worked like a fan and roused her feeling
of hatred, such as the incident of "Ifk" when Amir al-mu'minin said to the
Prophet: "She is no better than the buckles of your shoe, leave her and divorce her
away." On hearing this A'ishah must have felt miserable in her bed, and must have
developed the severest feeling of hatred against him. There were also moments when
distinction was conferred on Amir al-mu'minin in preference to Abu Bakr. For instance, in
connection with the dispatch of the Qur'anic verses on Bara'ah (innocence), the Prophet
removed Abu Bakr from the job, recalled him and assigned it to Amir al-mu'minin saying
that he had been commanded by Allah to take it himself or send it through a member of his
family. Similarly the Prophet closed all the doors opening into the mosque including that
of Abu Bakr but allowed the door of Amir al-mu'minin's house to continue to open
thereinto.
A'ishah could not relish Amir
al-mu'minin's distinction over her father, and whenever there was any occasion for such
distinction she did her best to undo it. When in his last days the Prophet ordered the
contingent under Usamah ibn Zayd to march, and ordered Abu Bakr and Umar also to go under
his command, they received a message from the wives of the Prophet that his condition was
serious and therefore the contingent should come back instead of proceeding further. This
was because their far-reaching sight had realised that the only purpose in getting Medina
vacated by the muhajirun and the ansar could be that after the death of the Prophet no one
should stand in Amir al-mu'minin's way and that he should get the caliphate without any
trouble. On receipt of this message the contingent under Usamah came back. When the
Prophet learnt this he again ordered Usamah to march with the contingent and even said,
"Allah may curse him who keeps away from the contingent," whereupon they again
set off, but they were again called back till the Prophet's illness assumed serious
proportions, but Usamah's contingent did not go out as it did not want to. After this Abu
Bakr was sent word through Bilal that he should deputise the Prophet in leading the
prayers in order to pave the way for his Caliphateship. Accordingly, keeping this in view
he was first shown as the Prophet's caliph (deputy) in prayers and eventually was accepted
as his caliph for all purposes. Thereafter matters were so contrived that Amir al-mu'minin
could not get the Caliphate. However, after the reign of the third caliph circumstances
took such a turn that people were obliged to swear allegiance at Amir al-mu'minin's hand.
On this occasion A'ishah was present in Mecca. When she learnt about Amir al-mu'minin's
caliphate her eyes began emitting flames, and rage and anger perturbed her mind, and her
hatred for Amir al-mu'minin assumed such seriousness that she rose against him on the
excuse of avenging blood of the same man (Uthman) whom she had herself proclaimed fit to
be killed, and openly declared war as a result of which so much bloodshed occurred that
the whole land of Basrah was smeared with the blood of those killed, and the door of
disunity was opened for good. (Sharh, Ibn Abi'l-Hadid, vol. 9, pp. 190-200).
.

Forward to Sermon 156.

Back to Sermon 154.