Sunni Feedback on The Issues of Infallibility and Ahulbayt [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Who are Ahlul-Bayt? (Part V)

The Mother of Believers
One thing that our Sunni brothers/sisters usually say as means
of justifying Aisha is that she was Ummul Mu'minin
-- the mother of believers.

In fact, Quran states that the wives
of the Prophet (PBUH&HF) are the mothers of the believers.

But let us ponder the following points:

1.
Let's consider someone who is a believer.

It naturally follows
that his mother becomes a mother of believer.

Does it automatically
mean that his mother is also a good believer? Most certainly not!
Being a mother of believer does not make that mother a good believer
and righteous.

The same argument applies for the mother of all
the believers.

2.
All the Sunni collections of traditions are replete with the
traditions reported by Ummul Mu'minin Aisha.

The Prophet (PBUH&HF)
had many other wives, and all of them were mothers of believers.

Many of the wives of the Prophet were highly pious and righteous,
such as Umm Salama and Umm Ayman.

But unfortunately there are
not many traditions from them in the Sihah Sittah (not even 5%
of what is conveyed by Aisha).

But we hear from Aisha in a bulk
rate.

Was it because she was the daughter of Abu Bakr? or because
she was the only one among the wives of the Prophet who fought
Imam Ali (AS)?

3.
According to Islam, a believer is required to respect his
mother.

However, if such mother goes against the instruction of
the Messenger of Allah, conducts and leads the rebellions, and
kills innocents, we are religiously required to disassociate ourselves
from such mother, and more importantly, we can NOT trust such
mother for transmitting the traditions of the Prophet in such
volume.

4.
Indeed, there is a good reason why Allah gave them the title
of Mothers of Believers.

Allah gave them this title
in order to prevent people to marry them after the demise of the
Prophet (PBUH&HF).

We can not marry our mother.

Right? If
Allah wouldn't have given this title to them, some influential
people would have married them and would probably have brought
sons from them and would have ordered people to follow them as
the Ahlul-Bayt, or even worst, they might have claimed that they
are the real sons of the Prophet and would have claimed prophethood
for them and many more possible dangerous consequences.

As such,
Allah (SWT) gave them this title (the mother of believers) to
prevent such marriages.

The Best Wife of the Prophet vs.

the Most Envious
It is well-known among Muslims that the best wife of the Prophet
(PBUH&HF) was Khadija (RA).

She was the first woman who embraced
Islam and spent all her wealth for the cause of Allah and the
Prophet never married another woman as long as Khadija was alive.

The Messenger of Allah gave the name of the best women of the
world in chronological order and one should not be surprised that
the name of Aisha is missing:

The Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF) said: The most excellent
of the women of all worlds whom Allah chose over all women are:
Asiya the wife of Pharaoh, Mary the daughter of Imran, Khadija
the daughter of Khuwaylid, and Fatimah the daughter of Muhammad.

Sunni references:

Sahih al-Tirmidhi, v5, p702
al-Mustadrak, by al-Hakim, v3, p157, who said this tradition
is authentic based on the criteria of two Shaikhs (al-Bukhari
and Muslim)
Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v3, p135
Fadha'il al-Sahaba, by Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v2, p755, Tradition
#1325
Hilyatul Awliyaa, by Abu Nu'aym, v2, p344
Majma' al-Zawa'id, by al-Haythami, v9, p223
al-Isti'ab, by Ibn Abd al-Barr, v4, p377
al-Awsat by al-Tabarani, as well as Ibn Habban, etc.

Furthermore, Ibn Abbas (RA) narrated:

The Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF) said: Four women are the
mistress of the worlds: Mary, Asiya (the wife of Pharaoh), Khadija,
and Fatimah.

And the most excellent one among them in the world
is Fatimah.

Sunni references: Ibn Asakir, as quoted in Tafsir al-Durr al-Manthoor
Moreover, after the demise of Khadija (RA) when the Prophet (PBUH&HF)
married Aisha and others, he explicitly preferred some of them
over Aisha and said they are better than Aisha (see Sahih al-Tirmidhi;
al-Isti'ab by Ibn Abd al-Barr; and al-Isabah, by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani,
in the biography of Safiyya).

Also the verse: Perhaps if he divorces you, his Lord will
give him wives who are better than you, who submit and believe
(Quran 66:5) clearly indicates that there were believing
women among the Muslims who were much better than Aisha.

Envy so controlled her heart and her mind that she conducted herself
in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF) without
respect or manners.

On one occasion, Aisha said to the Prophet
(PBUH&HF), when he mentioned Khadija in her presence:

Sahih Bukhari Hadith: 5.
168.
b
.

Narrated Aisha: Once Hala Bint Khuwailid, Khadija's sister,
asked the permission of the Prophet to enter.

On that, the Prophet
remembered the way Khadija used to ask permission, and that made
him sad.

He said, O Allah! Hala! So I became jealous
and said, What makes you remember an old woman amongst the
old women of Quraish an old woman (with a teethless mouth) of
red gums who died long ago, and in whose place Allah has given
you somebody better than her?
The Prophet of Allah (PBUH&HF) became very angry at this until
his hair stood.

(also reported in Muslim).

Moreover, al-Bukhari
narrated that Aisha confessed:

Sahih Bukhari Hadith: 5.
166

Narrated Aisha:

I did not feel jealous of any of the wives of the Prophet as much
as I did of Khadija though I did not see her, but the Prophet
used to mention her very often, and whenever he slaughtered a
sheep, he would cut its parts and send them to the women friends
of Khadija.

When I sometimes said to him, (You treat Khadija
in such a way) as if there is no woman on earth except Khadija,
he would say, Khadija was such-and-such, and from her I
had children.

Khadija was the foremost believing woman, to whom Gabriel gave
Greetings, and was given the glad tidings of Paradise:

Sahih Bukhari Hadith: 9.
588

Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet said that Gabriel said, Here is Khadija coming
to you with a dish of food or a tumbler containing something to
drink.

Convey to her a greeting from her Lord (Allah) and give
her the glad tidings that she will have a palace in Paradise built
of Qasab wherein there will be neither any noise nor any fatigue
(trouble).

Similar traditions was reported by the authority of Isma'il and
Aisha (See Sahih al-Bukhari, Traditions: 3.
19, 5.
164, 5.
165, 5.
167,
5.
168, 7.
156, 8.
33, and 9.
576).

When Aisha was jealous, she would exceed her bounds and would
do strange things like breaking dishes or tearing clothes.

On
another occasion when the Prophet was in the house of Aisha, one
of the mothers of the believers (namely Safiyya) sent to the Prophet
a dish that he really loved.

She destroyed the dish, together
with the food in it.

Let us see how Aisha herself described this
episode:

Aisha said: Safiyya, the wife of the Prophet (PBUH&HF),
sent a dish she had made for him when he was with me.

When I saw
the maidservant, I trembled with rage and fury, and I took the
bowl and hurled it away.

The Prophet of Allah (PBUH&HF) then
looked at me; I saw the anger in his face and I said to him: 'I
seek refuge from Allah's Apostle cursing me today.

' The Prophet
said: 'Undo it'.

I said: 'What is its compensation, O Prophet
of Allah?' He said: 'The food like her food, and a bowl like her
bowl.
'

Sunni references:

Musnad, by Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v6, p227
Sahih al-Nisa'i, v2, p148

al-Bukhari confirms this episode as well:

Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith: 7.
152

(The Chapter of Envy)

Narrated
Anas:

While the Prophet was in the house of one of his wives, one of
the mothers of the believers sent a meal in a dish.

The wife at
whose house the Prophet was, struck the hand of the servant, causing
the dish to fall and break.

The Prophet gathered the broken pieces
of the dish and then started collecting on them the food which
had been in the dish and said, Your mother (my wife) felt
jealous.

Then he detained the servant till a (sound) dish
was brought from the wife at whose house he was.

He gave the sound
dish to the wife whose dish had been broken and kept the broken
one at the house where it had been broken.

And on another occasion, speaking of herself:

Aisha said: I said to the Prophet (PBUH&HF) 'Enough
for you about Safiyya is such and such.

' The Prophet of Allah
(PBUH&HF) said to me: 'You have uttered words which, if they
were mixed with the waters of the sea, would color it.

'
Sunni reference: Sahih al-Tirmidhi, and al-Zamakhshari has related
it from him on, p73
By this Aisha was trying to disclose Safiyya's faults.

Glory be
to Allah! How far was this mother of the believers away from the
ethics and basic rights which Islam has enjoined concerning forbidding
of backbiting and slander? No doubt her speech: Enough for
you about Safiyya is such and such and the response of the
Prophet of Allah (PBUH&HF) You have uttered words which,
if they were mixed with the waters of the sea, would color it
shows what Aisha had said regarding Safiyya was a grave thing
and of immense concern.

The narrators of the Hadith found it repulsive,
and since they respected her, they changed the words to so
and so as is their normal practice in such scandals.

And here is Aisha, the mother of the believers, narrating, once
again, of her envy of Mariya (another mother of the believers).

Aisha said:

I have never been as jealous of any woman as I have been
of Mariya.

That was because she had beautiful ringlets.

She used
to stay in the house of Haritha Ibn al-Numan.

We frightened her
and I became concerned.

The Prophet of Allah (PBUH&HF) sent
her to a higher place and he would visit her there.

That was very
hard upon us, and then Allah blessed him with a boy through her
and we shunned him.

Sunni references:

al-Tabaqat, by Ibn Sa'd, v8, p212
al-Ansab al-Ashraf, by al-Baladhuri, v1, p339

Aisha's jealousy went beyond the person of Mariya, and was directed
even against Ibrahim, the innocent, newly born suckling baby:

Aisha said: When Ibrahim was born, the Prophet of Allah
(PBUH&HF) brought him to me and said: 'Look how much he resembles
me.

' I said: 'I do not see any resemblance.

' The Prophet of Allah
(PBUH&HF) said: 'Don't you see how robust and fair he is?'
Aisha said: I said: 'Whoever is fed with the milk of sheep
becomes fair and robust.
'

Sunni references:

al-Tabaqat, by Ibn Sa'd, v1, p37
also in al-Ansab al-Ashraf, by al-Baladhuri

Aisha was very partial and yielded to emotions and selfish motives.

When some people maliciously accused Mariya (the wife of the Prophet),
she was Aisha who supported the accusers and tried to confirm
the false blame.

But Allah, the Mighty and Glorious, absolved
her from blame and saved her from injustice, through the Commander
of Believers, Imam Ali (AS).

(For details refer to the account
of Lady Mariya, may Allah be gracious to her, in al-Mustadrak,
by al-Hakim, v4, p30, or Talkhis of al-Mustadrak, by al-Dhahabi).

When she was overcome by suspicion and devilish insinuation, her
jealousy crossed all boundaries and was beyond the expression
of words, leading her to suspect the Prophet of Allah (PBUH&HF).

Quite often, she used to pretend to be asleep when the Prophet
stayed the night at her house, but, in fact, she would closely
observe her husband, spying upon him in the darkness, following
behind where he went.

Here is a report, in her own words, which
was narrated by Muslim in his Sahih, and Ahmad Ibn Hanbal in his
Musnad and other Sunni scholars:

Aisha said: When it was my turn for Allah's Messenger to spend
the night with me, he turned his side, put on his mantle, and
took off his shoes and placed them near his feet and spread the
corner of his shawl on his bed and then lay down till he thought
that I had gone to sleep.

He then took hold of his mantle and
put on the shoes slowly, and opened the door and went out and
then closed the door lightly.

I covered my head, put on my veil,
and tightened my waist wrapper, and then went out following his
steps till he reached (the cemetery of) al-Baqi.

He stood there
for a long time and then he lifted his hand three times and then
returned, and I also returned.

He hastened his steps and I also
hastened my steps.

He ran and I also ran.

He came (to the home)
and I also came (to the home).

I, however, preceded him and entered
and lay down on the bed.

He entered and said: Why is it, O Aisha,
that you are out of breath? I said: There is nothing.

He said:
Tell me or the Subtle and the Aware will inform me.

I told him
the story.

He said: Was it the darkness (of your shadow) that
I saw in front of me? I said: Yes.

He struck me on the chest which
caused me pain and the said: Did you think Allah and His Apostle
would deal unjustly with you?
Sunni references:

Sahih Muslim, English version, chapter CCCLII (titled: What
is to be said while visiting the graveyard), v2, pp 461-462, Tradition
#2127
Sahih Muslim, Arabic version, 1980 Edition Pub.

in Saudi Arabia,
v2, pp 669-670, Tradition #103
Musnad, by Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v6, p147

On another occasion, she said:

I lost track of the Prophet of Allah (PBUH&HF), and
I suspected that he had gone to another of his wives.

I went looking
for him and I found him in prostration, saying.

O My
Lord! Forgive me
Sunni reference: Musnad, by Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v6, p147
On another occasion:

Aisha said: One night, when he was with me, the Messenger
of Allah (PBUH&HF) went out.

She said: I became
jealous.

When he came and saw what I had done, he said: 'What
is the matter, O Aisha? Are you jealous?' I replied: 'And
why should not those like me be jealous of those like you?' The
Prophet of Allah (PBUH&HF) then said: 'Has your devil taken
possession of you?'.

Sunni reference: Musnad, by Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v6, p115
No doubt Aisha was quite often overcome or confused by her devil,
for he found a way to her heart through jealousy.

It has been
narrated that the Prophet (PBUH&HF) said: Jealousy for
a man is faith and for a woman disbelief, meaning that a
man may get jealous concerning his wife, for his wife is not religiously
allowed to have sexual relation with another man.

The woman, however,
does not have the right to be jealous of her husband, because
Allah, Glory be to Him, has allowed him to marry more than one
wife.

An upright and believing woman who submits to the rulings
of Allah, accepts her co-wife wholeheartedly, especially if her
husband is just, upright, and God-fearing.

How about the leader
of humanity, the symbol of perfection and justice, and the most
noble character, the Messenger of Allah?

Once the Prophet asked Aisha to collect certain information about
a particular woman, namely, Sharraf, the sister of Dihya al-Kalbi.

The information that she conveyed to him was not the information
she had gathered, but wrong information prompted by selfish motives.

When the Prophet (PBUH&HF) informed her of the truth of what
she had observed, Aisha replied: O Prophet of Allah! No
secret is unknown to you.

Who is able to hide anything from you?

Sunni references:

Kanz al-Ummal, by al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, v6, p294
al-Tabaqat, by Ibn Sa'd, v8, p115

She said once she addressed to the Messenger of Allah: I
smell Maghafir (a kind of flower having a very bad odor) from
you.

She said this in order to prevent him from visiting
the house of Umm al-Mu'minin Zainab (RA) and eating honey there.

This is the claim of Aisha.

No other people mentioned this.

As
I will point out shortly, the story said by Umar regarding the
revelation of divorce verses, is much different than the context
of what Aisha said.

Sahih Bukhari Hadith: 6.
434

Narrated Aisha:

Allah's Apostle used to drink honey in the house of Zainab, the
daughter of Jahsh, and would stay there with her.

So Hafsa and
I agreed secretly that, if he come to either of us, she would
say to him It seems you have eaten Maghafir (a kind of bad-smelling
resin), for I smell in you the smell of Maghafir.

Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith 7.

192 Narrated 'Ubaid bin Umar:

I heard Aisha saying, The Prophet used to stay for
a long while with Zainab Bint Jahsh and drink honey at her house.

So Hafsa and I decided that if the Prophet came to anyone of us,
she should say him, I detect the smell of Maghafir (a nasty
smelling gum) in you.

Have you eaten Maghafir?'.

So there was
revealed:

'O Prophet ! Why do you ban (for you) that which Allah
has made lawful for you .

If you two (wives of Prophet) turn
in repentance to Allah,' (66:1-4) addressing Aisha and Hafsa.

'When the Prophet disclosed a matter in confidence to some of
his wives.

'(66:3)
Tradition 8.

682 of Sahih al-Bukhari is also similar to above and
is narrated by Aisha himself.

No other person narrated the story
of honey in connection with the divorce verses.

Please also see
the previous article where we mentioned Sahih al-Bukhari, Tradition
7.
119.

In that tradition which is narrated by Umar, the Prophet
(PBUH&HF) did not enter to the house of Aisha and Hafsa for
one full month as a punishment for their aggressive actions.

Considering
the compassionate and the gentle personality of the Prophet (PBUH&HF),
such severe punishment and the threat to divorce just for their
saying to the Prophet You smell Maghafir (as Aisha
claimed) does not seem reasonable.

Quran confirms that the charges
against Hafsa and Aisha was revealing a secret news:

When the Prophet disclosed a matter in confidence to one of
his wives (i.
e.
, Hafsa) and she then divulged it (i.
e.
, to
Aisha) and Allah made it known to him, he made known (to her)
part thereof and passed over part.

Then when he (i.
e.
, the Prophet)
told her thereof, she said: Who told you this? He
said He who knows and is well-aware (of all things) told
me.

(Quran 66.
3)
It seems that the report of Umar is more accurate.

Umar said:
The Prophet kept away from his wives for twenty-nine days
because of the story which Hafsa had disclosed to Aisha.

(See Sahih al-Bukhari 7.
119 and 6.
435).

This is much different
than the story made by Aisha about honey.

After one month that the Prophet deserted his wives, and when
the words of Allah: You may defer any one of them you wish
and take to your self any you wish and there is no sin for you
to take back any of them you have (temporarily) set aside (33:51)
were revealed, Aisha said to the Prophet:

It seems to me that your Lord hastens to satisfy your
desire!
Sunni references:

Sahih Muslim, English version, Chapter DLXXII (titled: Permissibility
of bestowing the turn on one's fellow wife), v2, pp 748-749, Traditions
#3453-3454
Sahih Muslim, Arabic version, 1980 Edition Pub.

in Saudi Arabia,
v2, pp 1085-1086, Traditions #49-50

Her evil conduct in the presence of the Prophet of Allah (PBUH&HF)
reached a point that while he was praying, she would spread her
feet towards his direction of prostration.

When he prostrated
and pinched them, she retracted them.

When he stood up for the
rest of the prayer, she would spread her feet out again:

Sahih Bukhari Hadith: 1.
492 & 1.
379

Narrated Aisha:

I used to sleep in front of Allah's Apostle with my legs
opposite his Qibla (facing him); and whenever he prostrated, he
pushed my feet and I withdrew them and whenever he stood, I stretched
them.

One day, in the presence of her father, she started a quarrel
with the Prophet and told him: Be just.

Her father
punished her for the impudence by giving a powerful a slap on
her face so that she bled profusely and the blood ran onto her
clothes.

Sunni references:

Kanz al-Ummal, by al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, v7, p116, Tradition
#1020
Ihyaa al-Ulum, by al-Ghazzali, Chapter 3, Bab al-Nikah, v2,
p35
Mukashifat al-Qulub, by al-Ghazzali, Chapter 94, p238

If Aisha got angry at the Prophet - which she did quite often
- she would avoid uttering the name of the Prophet (PBUH&HF).

She would not mention the name of Muhammad, but rather used to
say: By the Lord of Abraham (Sahih al-Bukhari, Arabic-English
version, Tradition #7.
155 and #8.
101, The Chapter of Jealousy
and Wiles of a woman).

Once she angrily said to the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF):

It is you who pretend to be a prophet from Allah.

Sunni references:

- Ihyaa al-Ulum, by al-Ghazzali, Chapter 3, v2, p29, The Book
on the Etiquettes of Marriage
- Mukashifat al-Qulub, by al-Ghazzali, Chapter 94

Subhana Allah!!! This is the Messenger of Allah, and submitting
to his order is obligatory for every believing men and women.

Disputing him is a sign of great impurity and the one who does
that can not be regarded as pure and righteous since s/he has
committed a grave sin, let alone casting doubt on the prophethood
of Muhammad (PBUH&HF).

End of Part 5 of 8