Lobna Mulla – #4 Trust in God Aisha bint Abu Bakr rA Upheld Allah Women in the Quran
AI: Summary ©
A woman named Aisha who was ill after returning home from a rumored wedding proposal was exposed by Prophet Muhammad Sallallali Alaihi Wasallam. She experienced a tragic sad experience and lost her sense of beauty, leading to a series of sad events. Her father's actions, including listening to Prophet Muhammad Sallallali Alaihi Wasallam's story, have been considered significant. The speaker also discusses various stories of the Bible, including a young girl's story of her father's words and actions, and the importance of patience and faith in difficult tests of life.
AI: Summary ©
Have you ever had a rumor spread about
you? Did you ever have great difficulty in
restoring your reputation
despite the lies that were told against you?
How did it feel when you found out
that those who you thought were close to
you were also involved in smearing your name?
No doubt it is very difficult to remain
patient when your reputation is at stake. Allah
provides a beautiful example of a person who
had an optimistic hope that Allah would clear
her name. Meet, Aisha Bintu Abi Bakr.
What's so powerful about her story is that
we sometimes see the best of people who
are truly innocent go through the painful test
of slander.
An intentional smear campaign is not only sinful,
but it is even more upsetting when it
comes from your inner circle or from those
whom you know should know better.
Perhaps they enjoy the temporary notoriety from spreading
gossip in this life. But if only they
knew the punishment of the next life, people
would think twice before indulging in such a
sinful deed.
Whatever the reason for why people spread lies
and rumors, it happened to one of the
greatest women, one of the wives of the
Prophet Muhammad SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. The daughter of
one of the greatest companions
and the first Khalifa in Islam. One of
the greatest relators of hadith and a notable
scholar of her time. It happened to none
other than Aisha Radilu Anha.
The incident leading up to the slander happened
when Aisha Radu Anha accompanied prophet Muhammad Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam during one of his battles.
She was carried in a haudaj or a
covered carrier that was mounted on top of
the camel.
One night, Aisha Radu Anha went past the
army to answer the call of nature.
And on her way back, she noticed she
lost her necklace.
So Aisha Radu Anha retraced her steps so
that she could find her necklace.
Well, Aisha Radi Lu Anha found her necklace,
but she ended up losing the caravan.
What happened was Aisha Radi Lu Anha was
younger and lighter. And as she recalls that
many of the women at the time were
lighter, since in those days, there was not
much for them to eat. So when the
men came to lift her haudage back onto
her camel, they didn't notice she wasn't in
there.
And thus the caravan left without her.
A'isha does something very wise and decides to
stay put.
She starts to get tired and then she
falls asleep. Now one of the companions, his
job was to come up and make sure
that nothing was left behind. His name was
Safwan ibn Mu'athil.
Sure enough, Safwan Rajillahu Anhu found Aisha Rajillahu
Anha sleeping and said, Inna lillahi wa innalayhi
rojiroun, to wake her up and get her
attention. Now Safwan Rajilu Anhu dismounted his camel
and made it kneel so that Aisha could
mount it. In that way, Aisha Rajilu Anhu
rode the camel and Safwan walked ahead leading
the camel. The 2 of them eventually caught
up with the army.
But before they even reached Medina, the destructive
storm of rumors about Aisha was already spreading.
SubhanAllah,
what an evil yet perfect opportunity for the
hypocrites of Medina to hurt Prophet Muhammad SallAllahu
Alaihi Wasallam by spreading rumors about his most
beloved wife.
Now Aisha Radhi Lou Anha was ill when
she returned home, so she hadn't heard any
of the rumors just yet.
However, she did notice that Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam was not showing the same amount
of kindness he normally would when she was
sick. After about a month after she had
recovered, she was able to go into town.
It's only then that she heard of the
great slander about her. Poor Aisha,
imagine the devastation of these rumors despite being
an upright person
from an upright family, married to the best
of creation SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam.
Upon hearing these horrible lies, Aisha cried and
cried, and got sick once again. And this
time she asked permission from Prophet Muhammad SallAllahu
Alaihi Wasallam to stay at her parents' house.
More time has now passed. Now it's important
for us to remember that Prophet Muhammad SallAllahu
Alaihi Wasallam also suffered greatly from this great
slander.
And although he trusted Aisha and knew her
character, he hoped to hear from Allah Subhana
Wa Ta'ala revealing Quran proving her innocence, to
clear all doubts in the minds of the
people. Yet a whole month passes and Jibreel
Alayhi Salaam does not bring any revelation.
He is advised in the meantime to consult
with the one who knows her the best,
Barira, her servant.
So Prophet Muhammad SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam called Merida
and said, Oh, Merida,
did you ever see anything which roused your
suspicion
about her? Merida said, no,
by Allah who has sent you with the
truth. I have never seen in her anything
faulty, except that she is a girl of
immature age who sometimes sleeps and leaves the
dough for the goats to eat. SubhanAllah, that's
her only crime.
Now, in the meantime, Aisha Radu Anha is
at home with her parents. And as she
relates, she had been crying for 2 days
and a night. So much so that she
felt her liver would burst. And this is
the backdrop for a powerful scene out of
the life of Aisha Radi Law Anha that
highlights her trust in Allah Subh'anahu Wa Ta
A'la.
Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam enters the room,
where Aisha is lying in bed and he
sits next to her. The first time he
is sitting next to her since the rumors
were spread.
He Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam says,
Oh Aisha, I have been informed of such
and such about you.
If you are innocent, then Allah will soon
reveal your innocence. And if you have committed
a sin, then repent to Allah and ask
him to forgive you. For when a person
confesses his sin and ask Allah for forgiveness,
Allah accepts his repentance.
When Allah's messenger finished his speech, my tears
ceased completely, and there remains not even a
single drop of it. I requested my father
to reply to Allah Subhana Wa Ta'la's Messenger
on my behalf.
My father said, by Allah, I do not
know what to say to Allah's Messenger SallAllahu
Alaihi Wasallam.
I said to my mother, talk to Allah
Subhana Wa Ta'la's Messenger on my behalf SallAllahu
Alaihi Wasallam. She said, by Allah, I do
not know what to say to Allah's messenger
SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam.
I was a young girl and I did
not have much knowledge of the Quran.
I said, I know by Allah that you
have listened to what people are saying, and
that has been planted in your minds, and
you have taken it as a truth.
Now, if I told you that I am
innocent,
and Allah knows that I am innocent, you
would not believe me. And if I confess
to you falsely that I'm guilty, and Allah
knows that I am innocent, you would believe
me. By Allah, I don't compare my situation
with you except to the situation of Yusuf's
father, Yaqub Alaihi Salam who said, fasaburun jameel,
so patience is most fitting. And Allah is
the one sought for help against that which
you describe.
SubhanAllah,
a reflection here is that there is divine
wisdom in difficult tests of this life.
Ibn Abbas radiAllahu Anhu reported that prophet Muhammad
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
know that there is much good in being
patient with what you detest.
Victory will come with patience,
relief will come with affliction
and with hardship will come ease. In the
ma'ala was 3usra.
Here she felt utterly alone and in one
sense she was alone. No one close to
her came rushing in her defense. And Aisha's
strength despite this loneliness
becomes more apparent.
Aisha continues to tell her story.
Then I turned to the other side of
my bed, hoping that Allah would prove my
innocence.
By Allah, I never thought that Allah would
reveal divine inspiration in my case, as I
considered myself too inferior to be talked of
in the Holy Quran.
I had hoped that Allah's Messenger SallAllahu Alaihi
Wasallam might have a dream in which Allah
would prove my innocence.
By Allah, Allah's Messenger SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam had
not got up, and nobody had left the
house before the divine inspiration came to Allah's
Messenger SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam.
So there overtook him the same state which
used to overtake him when he used to
receive revelation.
He was sweating so much so that the
drops of sweat were dropping like pearls though
it was a cold wintery day. When that
state of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala's messenger was
over, he was smiling. And the first word
he said was, Aisha,
thank Allah for Allah has declared your innocence.
SubhanAllah,
look at her reaction now. She says, my
mother told me to go to Prophet Muhammad
SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. I replied, bye Allah, I
will not go to him and will not
think but Allah.
SubhanAllah,
Aisha didn't beg, grovel or demand that her
loved ones should believe her. Instead, despite her
young age, she maintained her confidence
and dignity, put her complete trust in Allah
Subhanu Wa Ta'ala. So Allah revealed, verily they
who spread the slander are a gain among
you. When Allah Subhan Anhu Wa Ta'ala gave
the declaration of my innocence, Abu Bakr, who
used to provide for mister ibn Uthatha for
he was his relative said, by Allah, I
will never provide Mista with anything because of
what he said about Aisha. But Allah later
revealed, and let not those who are good
and wealthy among you swear not to help
their kinsmen, those in need and those who
left their homes in Allah's cause.
Let them forgive and overlook.
Do you not wish that Allah should forgive
you?
Verily Allah is oft forgiving, most merciful.
After that, Abu Bakr said, yes, by Allah
I like that Allah should forgive me, and
resumed helping Misdah,
whom he used to help before.
Another point to note here is how quickly
Abu Bakr took the divine advice of Allah
Subhana Wa Ta'ala to not cut off the
charity he used to give Mis'Tah,
despite his direct involvement in hurting his beloved
and innocent daughter. The words of Allah and
Abu Bakr's response to it is a great
reminder of why he's named as siddiq.
And looking at Aisha story, we're reminded that
our reputation is one of the most important
aspects of our public life at school, work,
in the community and in society at large.
And sometimes our reputation can get wrongfully, even
intentionally smeared or tarnished.
Aishia Radi Lo Anha showed us that even
when our reputation is under attack, we remain
cool. We don't do anything that is unbecoming,
out of character and definitely nothing that would
be displeasing to Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala.
With so much online discourse these days, attacks
on social media and virtual mud flinging, it's
easy to get pulled into this toxic culture.
Again, Aisha story reminds us that Allah Subh'anaHu
Wa Ta A'la has our back and he
is ever watching and aware and that ultimate
justice is with Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta A'la.
Now tying this back to Mary M Alaihi
Salam's story, Mary M Alaihi Salam bore the
pain of slander and had her honor cleared
by the words of baby Isa Alayhi Salaam.
Aisha Radi Law Anha too bore the pain
of slander. And this time Allah is the
one who cleared her reputation.
SubhanAllah, both of these amazing women had their
righteous character highlighted and forever preserved in the
Quran.
And this reminds
us, Innamaalaosriyusra
that surely with hardship comes ease.