The Role of Aishah in the History of Islam (volume Three)

'a'ishah Is Penitent About the Battle of Al-jamal

Oh! The battle of Jamal is stuck in my throat like a bone!

'A'ishah

Abu Jundab, a man of Kufah, narrates the story of his meeting with 'A'ishah as follows: When I went to the house of Umm al-Mu'minin and met her, she asked me who I was. I said: "I am a man of the al-Azd tribe, living in Kufah." She asked me: "Did you take part in the battle of al-Jamal?" I said: "Yes". She asked: "Were you fighting for us or against us?" I told her that I was fighting against her.

She asked: "Do you know the person who declared in his slogan: 'O dear mother! O the best mother that we know?'" I said: "Yes, he was my cousin." Then she began to weep so profusely that I thought she would never calm down.(267)

Ibn al-Athir writes: One day in 'A'ishah's presence the conversation led to a mention of the battle of al-Jamal. She asked: "Do the people still remember it?" They said: "Yes". She said: "I wish I had not taken part in that battle and had sat down in my house like the other wives of the Prophet. Keeping to my house like them would have been worthier for me than having by him ten noble children as 'Abd Allah ibn az-Zubayr and 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Harath ibn Hisham."(268)

Historians and commentators quoted a man named Masruq, saying: When 'A'ishah was reciting this verse of the Qur'an which orders the wives of the Prophet to stay at home,(269) she wept so much that her head cover was wet with tears.(270)

'A'ishah before her death

Muhammad ibn Sa'd author of the book of Tabaqat al-kubra narrates that Ibn 'Abbas one day went to visit 'A'ishah before her death, and praised her. After his departure, 'A'ishah said to 'Abd Allah ibn az-Zubayr: "The son of 'Abbas praised me. Now I do not like anyone to speak well of me. How I long to be forgotten by the people, or that I had never been born!"(271) In the old and reliable Book of Balaghat an-nisa' we read:

When 'A'ishah was on the point of death, she was very uneasy and distracted. They asked her: "Why are you so distressed? You are the daughter of Abu Bakr the Truth, and mother of all the faithful!"

She answered: "Indeed the battle of al-Jamal is stuck like a bone in my throat. I wish I had died before that day, or I had been one of the forgotten creatures."(272) Another time she had said: "I swear to God that I wished to be only a tree! I wished to be a stone; I wished God had never brought me into the world!" It is said: At the time of her death she said regretfully: "After the Prophet's decease I have caused some events. Now that I am departing from this world, bury me alongside the other wives of the Prophet." adh-Dhahabi, the great Sunni scholar writes:

What 'A'ishah meant by the word "events" was the battle of al-Jamal and her role in starting it.(273)

He says also: In the night of 17th Ramadan of the 58 of the Hijrah she died after her one-unit prayer. She had willed to be buried the same night. The Emigrants and Ansar assembled and a large crowd gathered. They lighted date palm branches to illuminate the way for the procession. The narrator of the story says: I saw the women of Medina in the al-Baqi' cemetery that night assembled like festival days. Abu Hurayrah performed her burial prayer, since he governed the city on behalf of Marwan. At her death 'A'ishah was 63 years and a few months old. (274)

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We have studied 'A'ishah's life from the first days of her arrival at the Prophet's house until the last moments of her life in the time of Mu'awiyah (275) and have made a survey of all her personality as a social and political genius in the forthcoming pages we will discuss some of her fine qualities.

Part 5 : The Qualities and Characteristics of 'A'ishah

'A'ishah's generosity

One day I saw 'A'ishah giving people seventy thousand drachmas. 'Urwah ibn az-Zubayr Although generosity is an admirable quality, yet sometimes it is performed on the basis of a divine thought, meaning that a person voluntarily offers something to which he is attached or gives up a wish or property for the sake of God in the hope of winning His satisfaction or receiving a heavenly reward. Such a person is bound to be rewarded heavily and to receive divine satisfaction.

But if a person shows generosity for the sake of a worldly benefit such as gaining a good reputation, although his action is good in itself, yet he will not be rewarded in the next world since his action's motive has been related to this world.

Among the Arabs it had long been customary for great men and chiefs of tribes to perform certain acts such as showing generosity in their offer of money and property. If a person came to the house of such men and returned empty-handed and disappointed, it was considered a great disgrace for the master of the house.

With the advent of Islam, such ideas were not forgotten altogether, and the people who showed generosity were divided into two groups: One group engaged in generous acts for the sake of Islamic teachings and in the way of God, and the next group did so in accordance with pagan and Arab customs, such as the generosity shown by two powerful chiefs of the Banu Tamim tribe in the caliphate of Imam 'Ali in the region of Kufah. One of these was named Ghalib ibn Sa'sa'ah ad-Darami and the other Suhaym ibn Wathil ar-Riyahi. These two began to compete with each other in killing camels and feeding people for the sake of ostentation, rivalry and pride, which were based on pagan ideas. Each of them tried to excel the other in order to win fame and reputation. The contest began with the sacrifice of one camel and reached the number of one hundred camels.

The last time that this camel-killing contest took place was in the time of caliphate of the Alawite. The people of Kufah hurried with their baskets to the place of the slaughter where several hundred camels were slaughtered, to obtain free meat.

The Imam heard of this incident, and declared: "Do not eat the flesh of these camels, since they have been killed, not in the Name of God, but for the sake of pride and glory and on the basis of pagan customs." The declaration of the Imam is related to the yerse of the Qur'an which says: "Forbidden to you is that which dies of itself, and blood and flesh of swine, and that on which any other name than that of Allah has been invoked." (276).

The people of Kufah obeyed the order of Imam 'Ali and refused to partake of that flesh. They threw it all on a heap of rubbish at Kanasah of Kufah to be eaten by dogs and vultures.(277) In our opinion 'A'ishah belongs to the second group since she was always desirous prestige, reputation and respect, and to gain these benefits .the best way was such a show of generosity. She could not easily let all the reputation and influence which she had gained during the rule of the former caliphs, be forgotten.(278) Credit and greatness, too, required assets. Therefore, as we shall see, she did her utmost to tolerate hardships and sometimes indigence caused by her extravagant offers, or she found herself compelled to be indebted to the tyrannical son of Abu Sufyan for securing money to be bountiful.

The reason why we venture to make such a claim is that we find 'A'ishah scattering as bounties the money that was repeatedly sent to her by such oppressive rulers as Mu'awiyah and his governors. Could such riches which have been gathered by oppression, be really offered for the sake of God and His satisfaction, whereas the first Islamic and heavenly duty of 'A'ishah would in such a case have been to keep away from Mu'awiyah and whatever was connected to him?

She brought her some bread and olive oil. Umm Dharrah says: I told her: "Couldn't you get us some meat with some of the money that you gave away to the people today, to break our fast?" 'A'ishah said: "Don't trouble me. If you had reminded me of it, I would have done so."(279)

'Urwah, son of az-Zubayr and 'A'ishah's nephew, says: "One day I saw 'A'ishah dividing seventy thousand drachmas among the people, whereas her own dress was patched." This extravagant bounty vexed 'Abd Allah son of az-Zubayr, and he could not bear such squandering of money by his aunt.

This separation lasted long. 'Abd Allah begged many people to intercede with her for him but 'A'ishah remained obdurate and said: "By God, I will never commit a sin for his sake by breaking my vow." The intercessions were of no avail, and 'A'ishah refused to admit 'Abd Allah to her presence. A long time after this separation, one day 'Abd Allah accompanied by Miswar ibn Makhramah and 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Aswad, while 'Abd Allah had covered his head and face with a piece of cloth, went to 'A'ishah's house and begged leave to enter. Permission was given and the three of them went to her presence.

'Abd Allah went towards and threw his arms round his aunt's neck, and both of them began to weep. Then he begged her in the Name of God and for the sake of their kinship to speak with him. Upon his importunity and insistence, 'A'ishah would in such a case have been to keep away from Mu'awiyah and whatever was connected to him?

Umm Dharrah, who was a woman who occasionally visited 'A'ishah narrates: They sent 'A'ishah two large bags full of money. She said: "I think there must be eighty thousand or one hundred thousand drachmas in these bags." Then she asked to bring her a large tray. On that day she had been observing a fast. Then she began to distribute all that money, and by nightfall not a single drachma was left with her. That night she told her slave girl to bring some food to break her fast. She brought her some bread and olive oil. Umm Dharrah says: I told her: "Couldn't you get us some meat with some of the money that you gave away to the people today, to break our fast?" 'A'ishah said: "Don't trouble me. If you had reminded me of it, I would have done so."(279)

Abu Nu'aym writes: 'A'ishah put her camels for sale. 'Abd Allah ibn az-Zubayr said: "I will declare myself her guardian so that she can no longer take possession of her property." When 'A'ishah heard this remark, she said: "I will make a vowed never to speak with him until I die." This separation lasted long. 'Abd Allah begged many people to intercede with her for him but 'A'ishah remained obdurate and said: "By God, I will never commit a sin for his sake by breaking my vow." The intercessions were of no avail, and 'A'ishah refused to admit 'Abd Allah to her presence.

A long time after this separation, one day 'Abd Allah accompanied by Miswar ibn Makhramah and 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Aswad, while 'Abd Allah had covered his head and face with a piece of cloth, went to 'A'ishah's house and begged leave to enter. Permission was given and the three of them went to her presence. 'Abd Allah went towards and threw his arms round his aunt's neck, and both of them began to weep. Then he begged her in the Name of God and for the sake of their kinship to speak with him. Upon his importunity and insistence, 'A'ishah began to speak with him.(280)(281)

These were a few examples of 'A'ishah's generosity some cases of which we have already cited in connection with Mu'awiyah's financial considerations for her. Here we assert once more that not every bounty is followed by God's satisfaction, since that satisfaction requires devotion and sincerity towards God. Moreover, the granted money should have been obtained legitimately, not through the offers of such a man as Mu'awiyah who plundered Muslims' pubhe fund and offered them to such influential people as 'A'ishah Abu Hurayrah, al-Mughayrah ibn Shu'bah, and 'Amr ibn al-'As so as to win their collaboration in his hostility to Imam 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, and that to attain this end, they should reinforce his organization for forging and fabricating traditions, and inventing a fresh tradition as the circumstances required, and then attributing it to the Prophet of Islam.

'A'ishah's family bigotry

All that strictness and hostility of 'A'ishah towards the enemies of her relatives, were due to her deep attachment to the latter.

As historical researches have shown, 'A'ishah was deeply prejudiced in favour of her relatives, and loved them almost to the point of worship. In this bigotry she had climbed to the highest possible point, so that for their sake ignored all laws and regulations. All that harshness and enmity which she displayed to the enemies of her kith and kin, was the result of her intense love for her relatives. The events, which we have already cited in her life, have been a proof of the above claim, and the clear-sighted reader must have paid attention to this matter.

One of the clearest signs of this deep and excessive attachment to her relatives, are the events which have taken place in connection with her brother Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr. These two sister and brother strongly supported each other at the commencement of the public movement of the Muslims against 'Uthman, so that these two may be regarded as the most effective personalities who directed the uprising against 'Uthman's rule until the moment of his assassination.

But with 'Uthman's death, the matter assumed a different shape, and each of them chose a different course to follow. Muhammad went under the Alawite banner and drew sword against 'A'ishah, and never ceased his efforts to the end of the combat. As we know, the battle of Basra or battle of al-Jamal ended with the defeat of 'A'ishah and death of her military commanders. At this time the Imam ordered Muhammad to approach the litter of his sister and treat her kindly and take charge of her affairs.

Muhammad went forth and found her sister's litter in a corner. Then he put his head inside it to discover her condition. 'A'ishah cried out: "Woe upon you! Who are you?"

He said: "I am he to whom you are more hostile than to all your kith and kin." 'A'ishah said: "Oh, then you are the son of that Khath'ami woman." Muhammad said: "Yes." 'A'ishah said: "Thank God that I see you safe and sound."(282)

It was not long before Muhammad was killed in Egypt and his severed head was placed in the belly of a donkey and burnt. When 'A'ishah heard of it, despite her vexation with him, she became very sad and shed many tears. But when the matter was reported to Umm Habibah, Mu'awiyah's sister who was one of the wives of the Prophet, she roasted a lamb and sent it to 'A'ishah in spitefulness, hinting thereby that her brother was killed and burnt like that lamb in revenge for 'Uthman. On seeing the roasted lamb, 'A'ishah exclaimed: "May God destroy the daughter of that adulteress (meaning Hind)! By God henceforth I shall never eat roasted meat!" Then she placed her brother's wife and children under her own protection.(238)

al-Qasim, son of Muhammad ibn Abj Bakr, narrates: "When my father was killed by Mu'awiyah ibn Khudayj al-Kindi and 'Amr ibn al-'As, the officials of the Umayyad government in Egypt, my uncle, 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr went to that land and brought back my sister to Medina with him. After arriving there, 'A'ishah sent someone to take us from 'Abd ar-Rahman's horse to her. We had never seen such a kind and affectionate, mother. She always held us in her arms or caressed us on her knees.

Some time passed in this manner, and the conduct of her brother and our uncle, 'Abd ar- Rahman gave her the feeling that he had become uneasy at our being taken to her house. So she sent someone for him and when 'Abd ar-Rahman came to her presence, 'A'ishah said to him:

"Dear brother!" Ever since the day I brought Muhammad's children to my house, I feel that you have been displeased with me. But I swear to God, I did not take them out of your house by transgressing upon your sanctity. I have neither had any ill feeling towards you, nor anything that might displease you. My only reason was that, as you have several wives and these children are small and cannot look after themselves, I was afraid that your wives might observe something in these children that may rouse their dislike of them. But I could treat them more kindly, and their behavio?r and the incidents which are bound to occur, would not annoy me.

Therefore, I felt I deserved more than anyone else to take care of them. Now that after some years 'they have left their childhood behind and can look after themselves, they are quite ready to be placed under your care and stay in your home. Dear brother, take care of them like Hujiyah ibn al-Mudarrab." Then she told the story of Hujiyah ibn al-Mudarrab to her brother. He was a man of the. Kanda tribe. His brother died leaving his small children behind. Hujiyah took them to his own house and acted as their guardian, and treated them even more kindly than he treated his own children.

He happened to go on a journey, and so he instructed his wife to take charge of the children, in his absence. When he returned after, some months, lie noticed that the children were unhappy and had become lean and weak. He said to his wife:

"Woe upon you! Why do 1 see my nephews lean and your own children fat?" She said: "I am not at fault! I showed no discrimination between them. They must have fallen into this condition by their negligence and naughtiness!" Hujiyah became very angry, and when camel-drivers returned from the pasture, he said to them: "You two and my camels belong to my nephews!"(284)

Then 'A'ishah delivered her nephews to their uncle and begged him to treat his nephews In the way of Hujiyah ibn alMudarrab, and give them preference over his own children, and never cease being kind and affectionate to them.

Another example of this excessive affection was that when 'Abd Allah ibn az-Zubayr fell into the hands of valiant man of the Kufah army, Malik al-Ashtar, in the battle of al-Jamal and managed to flee and save his life, she gave a reward of ten thousand drachmas to the man who had brought her the news of his safety.(285) Many such events, which had occurred in the life of 'A'ishah show her excessive affection and bigotry towards her relatives, and her readiness to display such a self- sacrifice.

The sermons which have been quoted from her in praise of her father, and the efforts made by her for making her cousin, Talhah, assume the position of caliph, the story of which we have already narrated at length,(286) and some of the traditions that she has quoted from the Prophet in praise of her father and his loyal friend 'Umar and other authorities of as-Saqafah such as Abu 'Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah, show this strong and irresistible conduct of 'A'ishah. We have dealt with these traditions in some parts of this book.

'A'ishah as an eminent orator

By God! I know of no better orator than 'A'ishah.

Mu'awiyah

One of the most effective means of the influence of social and political personalities on human society, is the manner of their speech. If such individuals an peak loquently nd now he value of using words in their proper place without being boring, they can produce a deep impression on the society. It should, of course, be said that the rightfulness and religious character f person may not produce a perfect effect in this process, but every great social personality who is blessed with this gift,(287) can deeply influence a society even though he may be antagonistic towards God, morality and humanity. 'A'ishah, in addition to her social and political genius, possessed this quality to a very high degree. When Mu'awiyah was leaving 'A'ishah's house, as he was leaning on the arm of his slave, Dhakwan, he exclaimed: "By God! With the exception of the Prophet, I have never seen a more eloquent person than 'A'ishah."(288)(289) al-Ahnaf ibn Qays has said: "I have heard the speech of Abu Bakr and others, but I know of no speech stronger than that of 'A'ishah."(290)

One day Mu'awiyah asked Ziyad: "Who speaks better and more eloquently than others?" Ziyad answered: "You, O caliph!" Mu'awiyah said: "Swear it!" Ziyad said: "In that case I must stay that 'A'ishah is the most eloquent speaker." Mu'awiyah said: "A'ishah has not opened a door, which she wished to shut except that she was able to close it, and she has not shut a door that she wished to open except that she opened it."(291)

From her conversations that we have already quoted with Umm Salamah and Abu al-Aswad ad- Du'ali (292), and from 'A'ishah's writings, letters and sermons in the battle of alJamal, we can easily see her extraordinary power of oratory.

Naturally we do not wholly accept the words of Mu'awiyah, al-Ahnaf ibn Qays and other about 'A'ishah, since we consider them to be an exaggeration. For, on the one hand they collaborated with each other and exchanged favors, and on the other hand they were all intent on their hostility to the Prophet's household and concealing their virtues. But what we may conclude is that 'A'ishah was an extraordinary woman and a genius as an orator and her power of discerning the proper time and place for speaking.

In addition to her eloquence and power of expression 'A'ishah was familiar with the Arab poetry, and very often in her talk she quoted the poems of Lubayd (293) who was a famous poet of pagan times. She herself has said: "I have memorized one thousand couplets of Lubayd and can recite them."(294)

Historians have said: Sometimes 'A'ishah recited an ode of sixty couplets or more by heart:(295) a fact which showed her strong memory. Even with the limited knowledge of the time, she was familiar with medicine. 'Urwah, son of az-Zubayr and 'A nephew has said something about her aunt, which, despite its exaggeration, is an evidence of 'A'ishah's talent and strong memory. He says: "I know of no one who is so familiar with medicine as she is. One day I said to her: "Dear aunt! From whom have you learnt medicine?" She said: "I have always listened to what people narrate about the words and experiences of others and commit them to my memory."(296)

Historians say: 'A'ishah could read well, but not write.(297)

In conclusion we must unfortunately state that 'A'ishah made use of all those God-given gifts in the way of fabricating traditions in order to vanquish Jmam 'Ali and his friends, and for the promotion of her father's party (as-Sacufah friends) in the interest of Mu'awiyah's caliphate organization. But as she was greatly talented, the traditions which are attributed to her in the name of the Prophet on the basis of the above-said motives, are not weak and insipid, unlike some of the traditions of Abu Hurayrah or other tradition forgers, and most of them contain eloquent and tasteful words and phrases.

Consequently the task of discovering the truth of the traditions quoted from the Prophet is a very difficult one. Therefore it is very hard to get a real picture of the character of the Prophet from what our Sunni brothers and Orientalists have gathered through her traditions, since truth and lies are so mingled in them that they cannot be sifted except through many long years of research even then by an impartial and discerning scholars.

'A'ishah as a well-dressed woman

'A'ishah in the time of pilgrimage adorned herself with gold ornaments and was dressed in red garments.

Al-Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr

Before the advent of Islam, the Arab society was a poor and indigent one, and with the exception of a few who included big merchants and animal breeders of Mecca, Medina and at- Ta'if no one possessed the comforts and magnificence of life.

When the bright sun of Islam, with all its spiritual greatness and glory, spread its warm light over the cold and spiritless life of the Arabs, no change took place in their simple way of Living, since the Prophet's intention was to build up their soul and spirit and then see to the moderate welfare of the material life of his people, not to increase its dazzling grandeur and magnificence or create a consumer community devoid of spirituality. One can even claim that some combats of Islam were intended to demolish such tendencies.

But with the decease of the Prophet and assumption of power by others, the people had to change their ways, so that in the time of 'Uthman those Islamic ways were wholly forgotten, and the cultural ideas of the decayed Roman civilizations began to penetrate the Islamic society. The houses of great men began to be adorned; clothes became rich; and wealth was heaped up. Thus the balance which had been brought as souvenir by Islam for the society under whose auspices God was to be recognized and worshipped, was destroyed, moving toward ostentation and turning people's thoughts and inclinations towards non-Islamic ideas and ways.

'A'ishah, the personality under our discussion in this book, was one of those who proceeded in this direction after the Prophet passed away. Owing to her excessive and violent ambition, she resorted to every possible means in order to win public favour and greatness. All those bounties of hers, all these traditions which she quoted from the Prophet on various occasions, all her connection with the caliphate organization etc. etc. were manifestations of this strong characteristic. Here we get familiar with other examples of the manifestation of this quality in her.

At a time when all Muslim women and other wives of the Prophet dressed simply and without any gaudiness, 'A'ishah made use of all kinds of clothes of different colors and textures. She did not abstain from wearing precious ornaments, and even on pilgrimage and during the performance of this great act of religious devotion when everyone lays aside all the material garishness, she did not abstain from wearing rich, colorful and beautiful clothes. The texts, which are quoted below, support our claim.

The author of Tabaqat quotes al-Qasim, a nephew of 'A'ishah, saying: She wore yellow dresses and gold rings. Muslim woman named Shumaysah narrates that one, day she went to see 'A'ishah and saw her dressed in a yellow dress and a yellow head-cover and veil. 'Urwah, her nephew, narrates: " 'A'ishah had a silk(298) surcoat which she wore occasionally, and she offered it to 'Abd Allah ibn az-Zubayr."

Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath, a chief of the Kindah tribe, brought a fur garment as a gift for 'A'ishah which she wore in cold weather.

A Muslim woman named Aminah says: One day I saw 'A'ishah wearing a red surcoat and a black head-cover.(299)

Ma'adhah, a woman of the Adi tribe, narrates: "I saw 'A'ishah wearing a yellow surcoat."(300) Bakrah, daughter of 'Uqbah says: "One day I went to 'A'ishah's house. She was sitting down and had worn a yellow dress."(301) Abu Malikah says: "I saw 'A'ishah in a "mudarraj" dress." They asked: "What is "mudarraj"?" He said: "You call it "pink"."(302)

al-Qasim, son of Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, says: "'A'ishah wore a yellow dress for pilgrimage ceremony, and adorned herself with gold ornaments."(303) 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Qasim quotes his mother saying: "I saw 'A'ishah in a dress, which was as red as fire, although it was during the pilgrimage ceremony."(304)

'Ata' says: " 'Ubaydah ibn 'Umayr and I went to visit 'A'ishah. She was staying in az-Zubayr mountain near the House of God, and they had installed a cupola with a cover for her there. I was only a child and saw her in a red dress."(305)

al-Bukhari quotes this narration with some addition and says: They asked: "What was she covered in?" He said: "She was in a Turkish tent with a cover, which was between us and her, and I saw her in a red dress."(306)