Author: Obaidullah Nimruzi
The Mother of the believers Hazrat Ayesha Siddiqa, MAPH (Part 4)
From Acquittal to Passing
Ayesha Siddiqa, may Allah be pleased with her, was immersed in the love of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Even for a day or a night, she could not bear to be away from him.
Allah wanted to raise her position and dignity and bring her to “Fanafiullah.” For this reason, He caused this difficult test and increased her love and affection in his heart so that in the future she could part with the Messenger of Allah for half a century. May Allah bless him and let her live her life with the love of Allah.
Hazrat Ayesha Siddiqa, may Allah be pleased with her, says: “When the Messenger of Allah, PBUH, recited the revealed verses and expressed his happiness with me, my mother said: O Ayesha! stand up! Go to the Messenger of Allah, PBUH.” She meant to thank the Messenger of Allah, PBUH. I replied: “I swear by Allah, I would not thank anyone except him who sent down my purity from above the seven heavens.”
Yes! These words of Ayesha, may Allah be pleased with her, were in her heart along with the love of the Messenger of Allah, PBUH. But because of his chaste and faithful cuteness, he utters these words.
The hearts of the Muslims became happy, the bent backs of Safwan straightened, and happiness returned to the house of prophecy and righteousness!
With the revelation of the clear and strong verses at the beginning of Surah Noor, the suffering of Mohammad PBUH, changed into happiness, and the withered and sad face of the mother of the believers, Ayesha Siddiqa, may Allah be pleased with her, became bright and happy like the sun, and the bent back of “Safwan bin Samban” was straightened due to suffering. And the face of the hypocrites, was dragged to the soil of shame and regret, and “Abdullah bin Abi” and his accomplices were forever trapped in the torment of this unjust slander, and history left behind another page of bitter days.
After the recitation of the verses of Surah “Noor”, by the Messenger of Allah, PBUH, Happiness returned to the house of Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, and their withered heart got a new lease of life. He got up and kissed Ayesha’s forehead, and at this time Ayesha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: “O dear father! Why didn’t you believe me before and didn’t you consider me innocent?
Abu Bakr Siddique, may Allah be pleased with him, said with complete honesty and sincerity: “If I had spoken about this issue while I had no knowledge of the truth, then which sky would have cast a shadow over me, and which earth would have carried me.”
Execution of punishment for slanderers
After this conversation, the Messenger of Allah, PBUH, went to the mosque and after delivering a sermon, he recited the revealed verses about the acquittal of Hazrat Ayesha Siddiqa, may Allah be pleased with her, to the companions (Sahaba), companions and all the people of Madinah and ordered to punish those who had slandered them by the rules of sharia which is
Hadd Qazf (eighty lashes).
According to the Qur’an, whoever accuses someone of adultery and is unable to prove it (bringing four witnesses to testify), he should be punished.
Those who participated in the “Afek” incident and promoted it, because they did not have a religious reason and were unable to prove it, committed ghazf and the limit of ghazf was imposed on them.
Most of the slanderers were hypocrites and only three of the real Muslims fell into this trap and believed the matter, and after applying the Shariah limit on them, they repented, and these three people were:
1.Mustah ibn Asasah (nephew of Abu Bakr Sadiq).
2.Hasan bin Sabit.
3.Hamna bint Jahsh.
And in this way, happiness and joy returned to the house of the believers and the love of the mother of the believers multiplied in the hearts of the companions of the Messenger of Allah and all Muslims.
Afek and its reflection in Islamic society
Afek’s case had a wide impact in the Islamic society of that day and left unfortunate effects. The discussion about this matter quickly spread in Madinah, and young and old, men and women, scholars and common people, all talked about it.
The people were divided into several groups in this incident, a group that had doubted the honor and purity of Ayesha Siddiqa, may Allah be pleased with her, due to their Doubty beliefs and false thoughts.
Another group who were satisfied with the purity of Ayesha’s soul and disliked listening to this matter and the words of the opponents and hypocrites, and what they heard, they would tear their eyes out and say, “There is no power but the power of Allah (S.W.T).”
Another sect came to the position of defense and rejected the slander and defamation of Siah Dalan, among them, the group of Aws and some of the Companions.
Why was it acquitted by the Qur’an?
Prophets (PBUH) was all infallible, that is why his dreams was true and what he saw was like a revelation.
Hazrat Ayesha, may Allah be pleased with her, also expected that her innocence would be revealed in the dream and vision of the Messenger of Allah,PBUH , and she did not expect the revelation of the Qur’anic verses on her dignity at all.
But the Almighty Allah had something else in mind and wanted to keep the name of Ayesha Siddiqa alive until the Day of Resurrection and in every age and time to tell her purity, honesty and faith for the future generations so that others would benefit from mentioning her name, get rewards and they should love this kind mother with her memory.
On the other hand, if the acquittal of Ayesha appeared in a dream, some people with weak faith might be influenced by the negative propaganda of the hypocrites, stating that this story (Ayesha’s acquittal) was invented by Mohammad PBUH, and in some way, there was room for doubt. It remains, but with the revelation of the Qur’anic verses and its recording in Surah “Noor”, no one could deny it; Rather, every bigoted enemy had no choice but to accept it, because not accepting Ayesha’s acquittal means not accepting the verses of the Qur’an, and this means disbelief and atheism.
Imam Tabari says: “Allah (S.W.T) has recorded the purity and innocence of four of his friends in four ways:
Hazrat Yusuf (peace be upon him) was acquitted by a witness from the people of Zulikha. «اللهُ نُور السَمواتِ وَالآرض». The rules of light that are mentioned in this surah, such as: the etiquette of marriage, divorce, entering and leaving the house, hijab and communication with others, etc., the observance of which brings light to individual and social life.
Removing the darkness and ignorance that had reigned in Madinah and in the hearts of some people due to this great slander against Ayesha Siddiqa, these verses broke that darkness like the light of sun , and the purity and innocence of Ayesha, may Allah be revealed, appeared from the darkness of suspicions.
Although many commentators believe that verse 11 of this sura directly refers to the case of “Afek”; But some are also of the opinion that from the beginning of the chapter to the verse 26, it is about Ayesha Siddiqa, may Allah be pleased with her, and because of this incident, Allah has stated those rules at the beginning of the chapter, in any case, from the verse 11 to the verse 26, directly and explicitly to the purity and innocence of Ayesha may Allah be pleased with her indicates that a brief translation of these verses is presented.
Do not consider Afek incident unfortunate!
“This one who comes to me is not evil to you, but he is good to you. I have not gained from sin and the one who is great.” Menhum laho azaabmo azeem” (those who have paid this great slander [about Ayesha Umm al-Mu’minin] and bowed their heads, a group they are from you, but you think that this incident is good for you, because it separates the hypocrites from the sincere believers and shows the greatness of the offended. It brings the naive, those who committed such a sin, each of them will have their share of responsibility and punishment as much as they participated in this accusation, and each of them will be caught by the sin of what they have done, and whoever that was in this conspiracy] and was responsible for a huge part of it, there is a great punishment and a heavy punishment.)
In the first verse that Allah (S.W.T) revealed about the “Afek” story, Allah Almighty wants to comfort the heart of the Messenger of Allah, PBUH, the family of Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, and the oppressed Ayesha, may Allah be pleased with him, and tell them not to think of this incident as evil and unfortunate, whatever they may do.
The evil that is unfortunate and unpleasant before you, may it be full of good and goodness; Therefore, Allah knows the condition of his servants and their situation better.
Allah comforts and consoles the afflicted with beautiful words, and then a believer should also use beautiful words and sentences to comfort them and provide them with peace when a problem occurs for Muslims.
Many times a Muslim person may be slandered by those around him, this should not be taken for granted, perhaps the worst slanders come from those close to him; Therefore, this work should not make a Muslim to believe that he is safe from the slander and evil of his relatives and to trust anyone.
Do not think of any kind of bad incident as evil and unfortunate; Rather, perhaps there are many benefits for you and your people around you; Therefore, it is important not to lose contact with the Allah and turn to him in any situation and circumstances and ask him for help and assistance.
This incident is not only a source of embarrassment and notoriety for Hazrat Ayesha. Rather, it increased her honor and dignity; Therefore, I see that it has been all good for the family of the Messenger of Allah,PBUH , and the house of Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, and many Muslims. However it had brought sadness, sorrow, pain and suffering for a long time.
Everyone is punished according to his sin, people who design, lead and execute sinister plans will be punished more than others; Therefore, one should know the position of each criminal well and not look at them all from the same point of view.
continues…
