Aisha BINT ABU
BAKR
RA
Umm-Al-Mu’minin (Mother of
Believers)
Note:
For
ease of reading, we have not inserted “May Allah be pleased
with her (RA)” each
time Aisha’s RA name or the name of each Companion is mentioned, but please take
it that the salutations apply to all of them,
may Allah be pleased with them
all.
Narrated Amr bin Al-As: I came to the Prophet SAW and said, “Who is the most
beloved person to you?” He said, “Aisha.” I asked, “Among the men?” He
said,
“Her father.” I said, “Who then?” He said, “Then Umar bin Al-Khattab.”
He then
named other men
[Bukhari].
Who is Aisha ibn Abu
Bakr?
Out of the wives of the
Prophet Muhammad SAW, two have received prominence
above the others. The
first was Khadija, and the second was Aisha. Aisha was the
favourite
daughter of one of the Prophet’s favourite companions, Abu Bakr, and
was
the most beloved wife of the Prophet SAW after
Khadijah.
Sawdah, the Prophet’s SAW second
wife, and Aisha entered the life of the
Prophet’s SAW household after the
death of Khadijah. If we recall, the Messenger
of Allah SAW never had
another wife for over two decades during the time he was
married to
Khadijah. He was deeply grieved by her death, and it is acknowledged
that
he still felt sorrow at her passing years
later.
Those around the Prophet SAW
understood the sadness that he faced, not just
for the loss of his lifetime
companion, but also for the other turbulent events
that happened in what we
now call the Year of Sadness. While many were concerned
and offered their
support in their own individual ways, Khawlah bint Hakeem was
the one who
took the initiative and broached the subject of marriage with the
Prophet
SAW. Khawlah was the wife of `Uthmaan ibn Math`oon, both of them being
among the first persons to embrace Islam. It was Khawlah who originally
suggested that Abu Bakr should offer his daughter Aisha for marriage to the
Prophet SAW. For the sake of completeness, it is worth mentioning that it was
also Khawlah who initiated the marriage of Sawdah to the Prophet SAW,
however we shall not be covering this aspect in this
article.
The suggestion to marry Aisha,
while well received, proved to be
diplomatically delicate for Abu Bakr, for
the six year old Aisha was already
engaged to a non Muslim, Jubayr ibn
Mut’im. It would have been
socially unacceptable for Abu Bakr
to have broken the engagement. However, with
the will of Allah, the
engagement was repudiated by the potential groom’s family
on account of
their disbelief in Islam, enabling Aisha to be engaged to the
Prophet
SAW.
Allegations against the
marriage
We pause at this
juncture to deal with a sensitive topic, which is the age of
Aisha during
marriage. Of late, this has created unnecessary controversy.
However, if we
look at the historical accounts of the social structure of the
time, Aisha
was already engaged to another man prior to her marriage to the
Prophet
SAW, indicating that it was socially acceptable for marital alliances
between families to be forged at an early age. Also women during that time
reached maturity relatively quickly – psychologically, emotionally and
physically – due to their upbringing and surroundings. In the case of Aisha, she
attained intellectual, physical and emotional maturity exceptionally fast
compared to her peers.
If we look at
the various claims made against the Prophet SAW during his
lifetime and
after – he was called a madman, a liar, a magician, possessed by
the devil
– yet not one of these claims, even by his own worst enemies, touched
upon
his marriage to Aisha. Had the marriage been controversial, his enemies
would have scandalized and sensationalized the event. Yet no claims of this sort
were raised for hundreds and hundreds of years, whether by the pagan Arabs,
the
Romans, or any of the subsequent societies, until very
recently.
If allegations were made against
the Prophet SAW in respect of abuse or
impropriety during the marriage,
then one would expect all these claims to
surface after his death, when
Aisha was free to speak without fear of
repercussion from the Prophet SAW.
Yet, even after his death, there is not a
single recorded account of any
complaint or statement about their marriage, save
that the Prophet SAW was
the best of husbands and that the marriage was an
extremely happy and
harmonious one. In today’s society, very few, if any, women
would describe
their husbands in such unequivocal terms. Aisha was nineteen when
the
Prophet SAW passed away, and until her own death over forty five years
later, she spoke of him lovingly. The aspersion cast upon the marriage by the
modern media is totally unsubstantiated, as there is not a single recorded
statement to support any of these those
claims.
Life after
Marriage
Although the engagement
took place while Aisha was six or seven, they were
only married around
three years later, shortly after she migrated to Medina, by
which time she
had reached puberty. She moved into the household of the Prophet
SAW. It
was not luxurious by any means, the room was barely six feet wide, built
beside the mosque out of clay and palm trees. The ceiling was so low that a
person standing upright could touch the roof. The room was sparsely furnished
with a mattress of palm leaves which lay on a mat. It was not a room of
worldly
wealth, but it was rich in spiritual
treasures.
The Messenger of Allah SAW
later told Aisha, “You have been shown to me in
(my) dreams on three
nights. An angel was carrying you in a silken cloth and
said to me, `This
is your wife.’ And when I uncovered it; behold, it was you. I
then said:
`If this dream is from Allah, He will cause it to come true.’”
[Bukhari and
Muslim].
Aisha said “I have been given
nine (virtues) that were not given to any woman
after Maryam bint Imran
(the mother of Nabi Isa AS): Jibril AS descended with my
picture in his
sleep until Allah’s Messenger SAW was commanded to marry me; he
had married
me when I was a virgin and he never married any virgin besides me;
his soul
was taken while his head was on my lap and he was buried in my house.
The
angels had surrounded my house, I am the daughter of his Khalifah and his
Siddiq; my excuse was revealed from the heaven. I was created pure. I have been
promised forgiveness (of sins) and noble
provision.”
Thus, this was a marriage
between two exceptional people – the last of the
Prophets who was nearing
the end of his life, and a woman still at the beginning
of hers. Aisha was
a very intelligent and observant young girl with an extremely
sharp memory.
Due to her proximity with the Prophet Muhammad SAW, she was
able to
recount and educate the ummah on intimate details regarding marital
relationships, personal grooming, medical prescriptions and behaviour within the
household.
Aisha spent approximately
nine or ten years of her life with the Prophet SAW.
Her greatest asset was
not her youth or beauty, but her piety, extraordinary
generosity, ability
to record the sayings and behaviour of the Prophet SAW, her
accurate
memory, and her intimate knowledge of the Qur’an. She absorbed
knowledge
like a sponge and this ability made her the educator and transmitter
of the
sacred knowledge to men and woman. A great deal of the knowledge that we
still have today, about how our beloved Prophet SAW lived and behaved, was first
remembered and then taught to others by
Aisha.
Aisha became so wise that one of
her contemporaries used to say that if the
knowledge of Aisha was placed on
one side of the scales and that of all other
women on the other, Aisha’s
side would outweigh the other. She used to sit with
the other women and
transmit the knowledge that she had received from the
Prophet SAW long
after he had died. As long as she lived, she was a source of
knowledge and
wisdom for both women and men. Abu Musa once said, “Whenever a
report
appeared doubtful to us, the Companions of the Prophet SAW, and we asked
Aisha about it, we always learned something from her about
it.”
As the prophetic guidance continued to
be revealed through Prophet Muhammad
SAW during the years of their
marriage, Aisha’s way of life – along with that of
all the Muslims – was
gradually reshaped and refined. It was during this time
that Islamic
jurisprudence was established and when the rites of worship in
Islam were
finalised and clarified. In other words, it was during their marriage
that
the teachings of the religion of Islam were
perfected.
Aisha was once asked to
describe the Prophet SAW, and she replied that he was
‘the Qur’an walking’,
meaning that his behaviour was the Qur’an translated into
action. She did
all that she could to do likewise. Thus she not only knew and
embodied the
Sunnah, but also she memorized the Qur’an by heart, understood it
and lived
it. Such knowledge was eventually compiled in various Islamic
literature,
providing an encyclopaedia for generations to come, supporting the
Muslims
and even the Caliphs of the later
generations.
It was during the course of
their marriage that, amongst others, the battles
of Badr, and Uhud, and
Al-Khandaq (the Ditch) were fought. These were the three
major battles
against the Quraish, that shifted the balance of power out of the
hands of
the disbelievers and into the hands of the Muslims. Although she was
still
very young, Aisha participated in them all, bringing water for the Muslims
warriors, and helping to look after the wounded. She witnessed life, and she
witnessed death – both in the way of Allah and in the way of the
disbelievers –
and she understood both. Indeed one of the meanings of her
name, Aisha, is
‘life’.
Aisha’s
knowledge was like a beacon that illuminated the hearts and minds of
Muslims for generations to come. This is not surprising, for she is one of the
four people who have transmitted more than two thousand hadiths, the others
being Abu Huraira, Abdullah ibn Umar, and Anas ibn Malik RA. Al-Haakim said
in
his book, Al-Mustadrak. “One fourth of the rule of Sharee`ah was
narrated on the
authority of Aisha.” Umar Ibn Al Khattab, during his own
Caliphate said that
without Aisha, he would be lost and destroyed, in every
small and big issue, he
used to ask her for advice and consultation. How
many Muslim men today seek
consultation from a woman if she has more piety
and knowledge than them? How
many Muslim men today respect their wives,
spouses, or daughters or anyone in
society for their knowledge and calibre,
regardless of their gender? How many
Muslim women today are authorities on
religious knowledge and texts?
The
Fitnah
If there was a dark cloud
in Aisha’s life, it was when the hypocrites
conspired against her and made
accusations regarding her honour and fidelity to
the Prophet SAW. An
accusation of adultery is a very serious charge, and this
slander created a
huge deal of strife and discord in the household. The details
of her
personal anguish and the events that transpired can be found in all
reliable biographies of her life. Suffice to say, however, that Aisha remained
steadfast in the belief that Allah would reveal the truth, and she was
eventually acquitted, not though a trial of men, but by Allah Himself in the
clearest terms, through the following
revelation:
Surely those who fabricate the
lie are a group from among you. Do not think
it is bad thing for you; no it
is good for you. Every man will receive what he
has earned for this sin,
and whoever had the greater part in it will have a
great punishment. Why
did the men and women believers, when they heard it, not
think good in
their selves and say: ‘This is clearly a lie?’ Why did they not
produce
four witnesses? Since they did not produce witnesses, they are certainly
liars in the sight of Allah. If it were not for the grace of Allah, and His
mercy on you in this world and in the next world, an awful doom would have
overtaken you for what you repeated. Since you received it with your tongues,
and repeated what you did not know anything about with your mouths, you
thought
it was a trifle, but in the sight of Allah it is serious. Why, when
you heard
it, did you not say: ‘It is not for us to repeat this, Glory be
to You (O
Allah), this is a serious rumour.’ Allah warns you to never
repeat anything like
this again, if you are indeed believers and Allah
makes the signs clear to you;
and Allah is Knowing, Wise. Surely those who
love to spread around slander about
those who believe will have a painful
punishment in this world and in the next
world; and Allah knows and you do
not know. (Qur’an 24:11-19).
The fact that
Aisha’s honour and reputation had been protected by a
revelation from Allah
could not be ignored by anyone, and from then on everyone
was more aware of
her high station with Allah.
Her
Generosity and Simple Lifestyle
Aisha endured poverty and hunger with the Prophet SAW. It is authentically
related that months went by without the fire in the hearth being lit, i.e.
without any food being cooked, during which time they simply survived on dates
and water.
Once the Prophet SAW
stayed away from his wives for a month because they had
distressed him by
asking of him that which he did not have. This was after the
Khaybar
expedition when an increase of riches whetted the appetite for presents.
Returning from his self-imposed retreat, he went first to Aisha’s apartment. She
was delighted to see him but he said he had received revelation which
required
him to put two options before her. He then recited the
verses:
O Prophet, say to your wives: ‘If
you desire the life of this world and its
adornments, then come, and I will
make you content, and I will release you with
a fair release. But if you
desire Allah and His Messenger and the abode of the
next world, then truly
Allah has prepared an immense reward for those of you who
do good.’
(Qur’an 33:28-29)
Her reply was:
“Indeed I desire God and His Messenger and the abode of the
Hereafter,” and
her response was followed by all the other
wives.
Once, when the Muslims were
favoured with great wealth, she has given a gift
of one hundred thousand
Dirhams. She was fasting when she received the money,
and distributed it to
the poor and needy, even though she had no provisions in
her house. Shortly
after that, her maid servant said to her, “Couldn’t you have
brought a
dirham’s worth of meat with which to break your fast?” “If I had
thought of
it,” she replied, “I would have done
so!”
She developed the nickname the Mother
of Fragrance, for every time a beggar
knocked on her door, she would touch
the money with perfume before giving it to
him. When asked why, she
explained that the charity would reach Allah before it
reached the beggar’s
hands, and she wanted the charity to be given to Allah in a
fragrant
condition.
In another report, a needy
person knocked on the door. She only had one
grape, and gave it to him.
When asked what the value of a single grape was as a
charity, she quoted
the following verses from the Qur’an:
“So
whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, And whoever does an
atom’s weight of evil will see it.” (Qur’an 99:7 –
99:8)
She rationalised – how many atoms
are there in a grape?
How many of us are
of such a status, where our vigilance, thinking and even
the smallest
action is completely for the pleasing of Allah, and reflected by
the Qur’an
and teaching of the Prophet
SAW.
The death of Muhammad SAW and
after
While the Prophet SAW was
fair in the treatment of his wives and loved all of
them, Allah is the
owner of the hearts, and the Prophet’s SAW heart was inclined
towards
loving Aisha the most.
There are many
accounts which indicate that Aisha was the favourite wife of
the Prophet
SAW after Khadija. The Companions noticed this and reserved their
presents
to the Prophet SAW when it was his turn with her. Naturally this
inspired
some jealousy amongst the other wives, however, Aisha was gracious and
never belittled them, nor did she view them as her rivals. The only wife that
she was truly jealous of was Khadija, the Prophet SAW’s first wife, who had
passed away before she was married to
him.
Aisha said: “The Prophet’s SAW wives
sent Fatimah, the Prophet’s SAW daughter
to him. She asked permission to
enter while he was lying down with me in my
woollen blanket. He permitted
her to enter and she said: `O’ Messenger of Allah,
your wives sent me to
you demanding for fairness concerning (your treatment of)
the daughter of
Ibn Abu Quhaafah (meaning Aisha, daughter of Abu Bakr).’ And I
was there
(listening but) silent. The Messenger of Allah SAW told her, `O’
daughter,
don’t you love whatever I love?’ She said: `Yes.’ He then said: `Then
you
should love this (lady).”‘
Hence, it was
fitting that Allah chose for the Prophet SAW to breathe his
last when in
her house. Narrated Aisha: During his sickness, Allah’s Apostle SAW
was
asking repeatedly, “Where am I today? Where will I be tomorrow?” And I was
waiting for the day of my turn (impatiently). Then, when my turn came, Allah
took his soul away (in my lap) between my chest and arms and he was buried
in my
house. [Bukhari]
The room in
which he died is the only room of his wives which is preserved up
to today.
Two years later, his Companion, Abu Bakr, Aisha’s father, was buried
beside
him. Later, as Umar Al Khattab was in his death throes, he appealed to
Aisha to be buried next to Muhammad SAW. Aisha had actually reserved that space
for herself, for she wished to be buried next to her husband. However, the
love
that the Prophet SAW bore for Umar caused her to honour Umar by
sacrificing her
beloved burial ground for him. Such was her generosity and
nobility.
Her chaste nature was such that
she used to say (before Umar was buried
there): “It is only my husband and
my father that are here.” But after Umar was
buried there, she said: “I do
not longer enter the room but with my garment
fastened because I was shy
(of being in the presence) of Umar.”
After
the death of Prophet Muhammad SAW, Aisha was readily involved in
continuing
his messages. She was present through the reigns of at least the
first four
Caliphs. She continued commitment to the memory of her husband and
her firm
belief about being reunited with him in the
Paradise.
In the month of Ramadhan in the
year 58 A.H. Aisha had her fatal illness and
she said in her
will:
“Do not follow my bier with a fire
nor lay a red velvet piece.”
She then
surrendered her soul in the night of 17th of Ramadhan at the age of
sixty
six.
Aisha’s life after the death of the
Prophet SAW is evidence against all the
stereotypes of how Islam treats
women, and accusations of how women in Islam
have no status. We can read
the detail of all the stories of Aisha and realise
the wisdom of Allah and
His Messenger, to have, for over forty years after the
death of the Prophet
SAW, the highest and most authentic level of knowledge from
Aisha.
Look at the ultimate wisdom of
Allah. Abu Bakr sacrificed his entire life in
the path of Allah, and Allah
granted him a beautiful gift which was to let his
daughter be the most
beloved wife of Rasulullah SAW after Khadija, and decorate
his daughter
Aisha with the charm, intelligence, integrity and memory, and make
her the
library of knowledge and source of wisdom for many generations to come.
She
carried the in depth legacy and knowledge of Rasulullah’s SAW memory. One
cannot open Islamic books about the Qur’an, the biography of Muhammad SAW or
jurisprudence, without finding Aisha’s name referenced in there. What a
great
honour for such a woman.
Aisha,
Umm-Al-Mu’minin, even though she never had a single
child, yet she is the Mother of Believers.
Source:
Ibn Kathir: Wives of the Prophet
Muhammad SAW
Great Women of Islam –
Mahmood Ahmad Ghadanfar
Women Around the
Messenger – Muhammad Ali Qutub
Men and
Women Around the Messenger – Sa’d Yusuf Abu
Aziz
Great Women of Islam – Mahmood Ahmad
Ghadanfar (translated by Jamilah
Muhammad
Qawi)
BAKR
RA
Umm-Al-Mu’minin (Mother of
Believers)
Note:
For
ease of reading, we have not inserted “May Allah be pleased
with her (RA)” each
time Aisha’s RA name or the name of each Companion is mentioned, but please take
it that the salutations apply to all of them,
may Allah be pleased with them
all.
Narrated Amr bin Al-As: I came to the Prophet SAW and said, “Who is the most
beloved person to you?” He said, “Aisha.” I asked, “Among the men?” He
said,
“Her father.” I said, “Who then?” He said, “Then Umar bin Al-Khattab.”
He then
named other men
[Bukhari].
Who is Aisha ibn Abu
Bakr?
Out of the wives of the
Prophet Muhammad SAW, two have received prominence
above the others. The
first was Khadija, and the second was Aisha. Aisha was the
favourite
daughter of one of the Prophet’s favourite companions, Abu Bakr, and
was
the most beloved wife of the Prophet SAW after
Khadijah.
Sawdah, the Prophet’s SAW second
wife, and Aisha entered the life of the
Prophet’s SAW household after the
death of Khadijah. If we recall, the Messenger
of Allah SAW never had
another wife for over two decades during the time he was
married to
Khadijah. He was deeply grieved by her death, and it is acknowledged
that
he still felt sorrow at her passing years
later.
Those around the Prophet SAW
understood the sadness that he faced, not just
for the loss of his lifetime
companion, but also for the other turbulent events
that happened in what we
now call the Year of Sadness. While many were concerned
and offered their
support in their own individual ways, Khawlah bint Hakeem was
the one who
took the initiative and broached the subject of marriage with the
Prophet
SAW. Khawlah was the wife of `Uthmaan ibn Math`oon, both of them being
among the first persons to embrace Islam. It was Khawlah who originally
suggested that Abu Bakr should offer his daughter Aisha for marriage to the
Prophet SAW. For the sake of completeness, it is worth mentioning that it was
also Khawlah who initiated the marriage of Sawdah to the Prophet SAW,
however we shall not be covering this aspect in this
article.
The suggestion to marry Aisha,
while well received, proved to be
diplomatically delicate for Abu Bakr, for
the six year old Aisha was already
engaged to a non Muslim, Jubayr ibn
Mut’im. It would have been
socially unacceptable for Abu Bakr
to have broken the engagement. However, with
the will of Allah, the
engagement was repudiated by the potential groom’s family
on account of
their disbelief in Islam, enabling Aisha to be engaged to the
Prophet
SAW.
Allegations against the
marriage
We pause at this
juncture to deal with a sensitive topic, which is the age of
Aisha during
marriage. Of late, this has created unnecessary controversy.
However, if we
look at the historical accounts of the social structure of the
time, Aisha
was already engaged to another man prior to her marriage to the
Prophet
SAW, indicating that it was socially acceptable for marital alliances
between families to be forged at an early age. Also women during that time
reached maturity relatively quickly – psychologically, emotionally and
physically – due to their upbringing and surroundings. In the case of Aisha, she
attained intellectual, physical and emotional maturity exceptionally fast
compared to her peers.
If we look at
the various claims made against the Prophet SAW during his
lifetime and
after – he was called a madman, a liar, a magician, possessed by
the devil
– yet not one of these claims, even by his own worst enemies, touched
upon
his marriage to Aisha. Had the marriage been controversial, his enemies
would have scandalized and sensationalized the event. Yet no claims of this sort
were raised for hundreds and hundreds of years, whether by the pagan Arabs,
the
Romans, or any of the subsequent societies, until very
recently.
If allegations were made against
the Prophet SAW in respect of abuse or
impropriety during the marriage,
then one would expect all these claims to
surface after his death, when
Aisha was free to speak without fear of
repercussion from the Prophet SAW.
Yet, even after his death, there is not a
single recorded account of any
complaint or statement about their marriage, save
that the Prophet SAW was
the best of husbands and that the marriage was an
extremely happy and
harmonious one. In today’s society, very few, if any, women
would describe
their husbands in such unequivocal terms. Aisha was nineteen when
the
Prophet SAW passed away, and until her own death over forty five years
later, she spoke of him lovingly. The aspersion cast upon the marriage by the
modern media is totally unsubstantiated, as there is not a single recorded
statement to support any of these those
claims.
Life after
Marriage
Although the engagement
took place while Aisha was six or seven, they were
only married around
three years later, shortly after she migrated to Medina, by
which time she
had reached puberty. She moved into the household of the Prophet
SAW. It
was not luxurious by any means, the room was barely six feet wide, built
beside the mosque out of clay and palm trees. The ceiling was so low that a
person standing upright could touch the roof. The room was sparsely furnished
with a mattress of palm leaves which lay on a mat. It was not a room of
worldly
wealth, but it was rich in spiritual
treasures.
The Messenger of Allah SAW
later told Aisha, “You have been shown to me in
(my) dreams on three
nights. An angel was carrying you in a silken cloth and
said to me, `This
is your wife.’ And when I uncovered it; behold, it was you. I
then said:
`If this dream is from Allah, He will cause it to come true.’”
[Bukhari and
Muslim].
Aisha said “I have been given
nine (virtues) that were not given to any woman
after Maryam bint Imran
(the mother of Nabi Isa AS): Jibril AS descended with my
picture in his
sleep until Allah’s Messenger SAW was commanded to marry me; he
had married
me when I was a virgin and he never married any virgin besides me;
his soul
was taken while his head was on my lap and he was buried in my house.
The
angels had surrounded my house, I am the daughter of his Khalifah and his
Siddiq; my excuse was revealed from the heaven. I was created pure. I have been
promised forgiveness (of sins) and noble
provision.”
Thus, this was a marriage
between two exceptional people – the last of the
Prophets who was nearing
the end of his life, and a woman still at the beginning
of hers. Aisha was
a very intelligent and observant young girl with an extremely
sharp memory.
Due to her proximity with the Prophet Muhammad SAW, she was
able to
recount and educate the ummah on intimate details regarding marital
relationships, personal grooming, medical prescriptions and behaviour within the
household.
Aisha spent approximately
nine or ten years of her life with the Prophet SAW.
Her greatest asset was
not her youth or beauty, but her piety, extraordinary
generosity, ability
to record the sayings and behaviour of the Prophet SAW, her
accurate
memory, and her intimate knowledge of the Qur’an. She absorbed
knowledge
like a sponge and this ability made her the educator and transmitter
of the
sacred knowledge to men and woman. A great deal of the knowledge that we
still have today, about how our beloved Prophet SAW lived and behaved, was first
remembered and then taught to others by
Aisha.
Aisha became so wise that one of
her contemporaries used to say that if the
knowledge of Aisha was placed on
one side of the scales and that of all other
women on the other, Aisha’s
side would outweigh the other. She used to sit with
the other women and
transmit the knowledge that she had received from the
Prophet SAW long
after he had died. As long as she lived, she was a source of
knowledge and
wisdom for both women and men. Abu Musa once said, “Whenever a
report
appeared doubtful to us, the Companions of the Prophet SAW, and we asked
Aisha about it, we always learned something from her about
it.”
As the prophetic guidance continued to
be revealed through Prophet Muhammad
SAW during the years of their
marriage, Aisha’s way of life – along with that of
all the Muslims – was
gradually reshaped and refined. It was during this time
that Islamic
jurisprudence was established and when the rites of worship in
Islam were
finalised and clarified. In other words, it was during their marriage
that
the teachings of the religion of Islam were
perfected.
Aisha was once asked to
describe the Prophet SAW, and she replied that he was
‘the Qur’an walking’,
meaning that his behaviour was the Qur’an translated into
action. She did
all that she could to do likewise. Thus she not only knew and
embodied the
Sunnah, but also she memorized the Qur’an by heart, understood it
and lived
it. Such knowledge was eventually compiled in various Islamic
literature,
providing an encyclopaedia for generations to come, supporting the
Muslims
and even the Caliphs of the later
generations.
It was during the course of
their marriage that, amongst others, the battles
of Badr, and Uhud, and
Al-Khandaq (the Ditch) were fought. These were the three
major battles
against the Quraish, that shifted the balance of power out of the
hands of
the disbelievers and into the hands of the Muslims. Although she was
still
very young, Aisha participated in them all, bringing water for the Muslims
warriors, and helping to look after the wounded. She witnessed life, and she
witnessed death – both in the way of Allah and in the way of the
disbelievers –
and she understood both. Indeed one of the meanings of her
name, Aisha, is
‘life’.
Aisha’s
knowledge was like a beacon that illuminated the hearts and minds of
Muslims for generations to come. This is not surprising, for she is one of the
four people who have transmitted more than two thousand hadiths, the others
being Abu Huraira, Abdullah ibn Umar, and Anas ibn Malik RA. Al-Haakim said
in
his book, Al-Mustadrak. “One fourth of the rule of Sharee`ah was
narrated on the
authority of Aisha.” Umar Ibn Al Khattab, during his own
Caliphate said that
without Aisha, he would be lost and destroyed, in every
small and big issue, he
used to ask her for advice and consultation. How
many Muslim men today seek
consultation from a woman if she has more piety
and knowledge than them? How
many Muslim men today respect their wives,
spouses, or daughters or anyone in
society for their knowledge and calibre,
regardless of their gender? How many
Muslim women today are authorities on
religious knowledge and texts?
The
Fitnah
If there was a dark cloud
in Aisha’s life, it was when the hypocrites
conspired against her and made
accusations regarding her honour and fidelity to
the Prophet SAW. An
accusation of adultery is a very serious charge, and this
slander created a
huge deal of strife and discord in the household. The details
of her
personal anguish and the events that transpired can be found in all
reliable biographies of her life. Suffice to say, however, that Aisha remained
steadfast in the belief that Allah would reveal the truth, and she was
eventually acquitted, not though a trial of men, but by Allah Himself in the
clearest terms, through the following
revelation:
Surely those who fabricate the
lie are a group from among you. Do not think
it is bad thing for you; no it
is good for you. Every man will receive what he
has earned for this sin,
and whoever had the greater part in it will have a
great punishment. Why
did the men and women believers, when they heard it, not
think good in
their selves and say: ‘This is clearly a lie?’ Why did they not
produce
four witnesses? Since they did not produce witnesses, they are certainly
liars in the sight of Allah. If it were not for the grace of Allah, and His
mercy on you in this world and in the next world, an awful doom would have
overtaken you for what you repeated. Since you received it with your tongues,
and repeated what you did not know anything about with your mouths, you
thought
it was a trifle, but in the sight of Allah it is serious. Why, when
you heard
it, did you not say: ‘It is not for us to repeat this, Glory be
to You (O
Allah), this is a serious rumour.’ Allah warns you to never
repeat anything like
this again, if you are indeed believers and Allah
makes the signs clear to you;
and Allah is Knowing, Wise. Surely those who
love to spread around slander about
those who believe will have a painful
punishment in this world and in the next
world; and Allah knows and you do
not know. (Qur’an 24:11-19).
The fact that
Aisha’s honour and reputation had been protected by a
revelation from Allah
could not be ignored by anyone, and from then on everyone
was more aware of
her high station with Allah.
Her
Generosity and Simple Lifestyle
Aisha endured poverty and hunger with the Prophet SAW. It is authentically
related that months went by without the fire in the hearth being lit, i.e.
without any food being cooked, during which time they simply survived on dates
and water.
Once the Prophet SAW
stayed away from his wives for a month because they had
distressed him by
asking of him that which he did not have. This was after the
Khaybar
expedition when an increase of riches whetted the appetite for presents.
Returning from his self-imposed retreat, he went first to Aisha’s apartment. She
was delighted to see him but he said he had received revelation which
required
him to put two options before her. He then recited the
verses:
O Prophet, say to your wives: ‘If
you desire the life of this world and its
adornments, then come, and I will
make you content, and I will release you with
a fair release. But if you
desire Allah and His Messenger and the abode of the
next world, then truly
Allah has prepared an immense reward for those of you who
do good.’
(Qur’an 33:28-29)
Her reply was:
“Indeed I desire God and His Messenger and the abode of the
Hereafter,” and
her response was followed by all the other
wives.
Once, when the Muslims were
favoured with great wealth, she has given a gift
of one hundred thousand
Dirhams. She was fasting when she received the money,
and distributed it to
the poor and needy, even though she had no provisions in
her house. Shortly
after that, her maid servant said to her, “Couldn’t you have
brought a
dirham’s worth of meat with which to break your fast?” “If I had
thought of
it,” she replied, “I would have done
so!”
She developed the nickname the Mother
of Fragrance, for every time a beggar
knocked on her door, she would touch
the money with perfume before giving it to
him. When asked why, she
explained that the charity would reach Allah before it
reached the beggar’s
hands, and she wanted the charity to be given to Allah in a
fragrant
condition.
In another report, a needy
person knocked on the door. She only had one
grape, and gave it to him.
When asked what the value of a single grape was as a
charity, she quoted
the following verses from the Qur’an:
“So
whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, And whoever does an
atom’s weight of evil will see it.” (Qur’an 99:7 –
99:8)
She rationalised – how many atoms
are there in a grape?
How many of us are
of such a status, where our vigilance, thinking and even
the smallest
action is completely for the pleasing of Allah, and reflected by
the Qur’an
and teaching of the Prophet
SAW.
The death of Muhammad SAW and
after
While the Prophet SAW was
fair in the treatment of his wives and loved all of
them, Allah is the
owner of the hearts, and the Prophet’s SAW heart was inclined
towards
loving Aisha the most.
There are many
accounts which indicate that Aisha was the favourite wife of
the Prophet
SAW after Khadija. The Companions noticed this and reserved their
presents
to the Prophet SAW when it was his turn with her. Naturally this
inspired
some jealousy amongst the other wives, however, Aisha was gracious and
never belittled them, nor did she view them as her rivals. The only wife that
she was truly jealous of was Khadija, the Prophet SAW’s first wife, who had
passed away before she was married to
him.
Aisha said: “The Prophet’s SAW wives
sent Fatimah, the Prophet’s SAW daughter
to him. She asked permission to
enter while he was lying down with me in my
woollen blanket. He permitted
her to enter and she said: `O’ Messenger of Allah,
your wives sent me to
you demanding for fairness concerning (your treatment of)
the daughter of
Ibn Abu Quhaafah (meaning Aisha, daughter of Abu Bakr).’ And I
was there
(listening but) silent. The Messenger of Allah SAW told her, `O’
daughter,
don’t you love whatever I love?’ She said: `Yes.’ He then said: `Then
you
should love this (lady).”‘
Hence, it was
fitting that Allah chose for the Prophet SAW to breathe his
last when in
her house. Narrated Aisha: During his sickness, Allah’s Apostle SAW
was
asking repeatedly, “Where am I today? Where will I be tomorrow?” And I was
waiting for the day of my turn (impatiently). Then, when my turn came, Allah
took his soul away (in my lap) between my chest and arms and he was buried
in my
house. [Bukhari]
The room in
which he died is the only room of his wives which is preserved up
to today.
Two years later, his Companion, Abu Bakr, Aisha’s father, was buried
beside
him. Later, as Umar Al Khattab was in his death throes, he appealed to
Aisha to be buried next to Muhammad SAW. Aisha had actually reserved that space
for herself, for she wished to be buried next to her husband. However, the
love
that the Prophet SAW bore for Umar caused her to honour Umar by
sacrificing her
beloved burial ground for him. Such was her generosity and
nobility.
Her chaste nature was such that
she used to say (before Umar was buried
there): “It is only my husband and
my father that are here.” But after Umar was
buried there, she said: “I do
not longer enter the room but with my garment
fastened because I was shy
(of being in the presence) of Umar.”
After
the death of Prophet Muhammad SAW, Aisha was readily involved in
continuing
his messages. She was present through the reigns of at least the
first four
Caliphs. She continued commitment to the memory of her husband and
her firm
belief about being reunited with him in the
Paradise.
In the month of Ramadhan in the
year 58 A.H. Aisha had her fatal illness and
she said in her
will:
“Do not follow my bier with a fire
nor lay a red velvet piece.”
She then
surrendered her soul in the night of 17th of Ramadhan at the age of
sixty
six.
Aisha’s life after the death of the
Prophet SAW is evidence against all the
stereotypes of how Islam treats
women, and accusations of how women in Islam
have no status. We can read
the detail of all the stories of Aisha and realise
the wisdom of Allah and
His Messenger, to have, for over forty years after the
death of the Prophet
SAW, the highest and most authentic level of knowledge from
Aisha.
Look at the ultimate wisdom of
Allah. Abu Bakr sacrificed his entire life in
the path of Allah, and Allah
granted him a beautiful gift which was to let his
daughter be the most
beloved wife of Rasulullah SAW after Khadija, and decorate
his daughter
Aisha with the charm, intelligence, integrity and memory, and make
her the
library of knowledge and source of wisdom for many generations to come.
She
carried the in depth legacy and knowledge of Rasulullah’s SAW memory. One
cannot open Islamic books about the Qur’an, the biography of Muhammad SAW or
jurisprudence, without finding Aisha’s name referenced in there. What a
great
honour for such a woman.
Aisha,
Umm-Al-Mu’minin, even though she never had a single
child, yet she is the Mother of Believers.
Source:
Ibn Kathir: Wives of the Prophet
Muhammad SAW
Great Women of Islam –
Mahmood Ahmad Ghadanfar
Women Around the
Messenger – Muhammad Ali Qutub
Men and
Women Around the Messenger – Sa’d Yusuf Abu
Aziz
Great Women of Islam – Mahmood Ahmad
Ghadanfar (translated by Jamilah
Muhammad
Qawi)