The Role of Aisha in the History of Islam (volume 3)

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 crea- tures."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,

267. at-Tabari 5/11 on the events of the battles of al-Jamal.

268. Usd al-ghabah 3/284, and Tabaqat of Ibn Sa'd 5/1.

269. The Holy Qur'an, Chapter al-Ahzab, Verse 33.

270. Tabaqat 8156 printed Europe, and ad-Durr al-manthur in the commentary on this verse. (Chapter al-Ahzab, Verse 33)

271. Tabaqat 8/51' and Sahih of al-Bukhari 3/11 in the commentary on the Quranic Chapter an- Nur and Hilyat al-awliya' 2/45 on the life of 'A'ishah, and Musnad of Ahmad 276 and 349. 272. Balaghat an-nisa' 8, and Tadhkirat al-khawas at a greater length.

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

*** 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'awiyah275 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.

273. Siyar al-a'lam an-nubala' 2/134-135, and al-Mustadrak 416.

274. Siyar al-a'lam 2/136.

275. This subject is described in the first two volumes of this book and this is the translation of it. Part 5 L 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 verse 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?

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

276. The Holy Qur'an, Chapter al-Ma'idah, Verse 3, Chapter al-An'am, Verse 145, and Chapter an-Nahl, Verse 115.

277. Refer to the biography of Sahim in al-Isabah 2/109, and al-Aghani. 19/5-6 published by Sasi, and al-Kuna wa al-alqab 3/17-18.

278. Refer to the translation of Volume One of this book.

279. Siyar al-a'lam an-nubala' 2/131. According to this narration the money had been sent by 'Abd Allah ibn az-Zubayr, but we have not observed this quality in 'Abd Allah.

'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. 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' public 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, 280. Hilyat al-awliya' 2/47-49, and Siyar al-a'lam an-nubala' 2/120. See the traditions related to 'A'ishah's generosity in these two books. 281. According to the common and jurisprudentially laws of Islam, it is not right to make such a vow at all, since making a vow permitted only in the case of good and legitimate matters. Moreover, breaking a vow on the insistence of others is not permissible, and the maker of the vow is religiously obliged to act upon it.

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 282. at-Tabari 5/204, and al-'Iqd al-farid 4/328, and al-Ya'qubi Volume Two.

and children under her own protection.283 al-Qasim, son of Muhammad ibn Abi 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 behaviour 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, he noticed that the children were unhappy and had become lean and weak. He said to his wife: "Woe upon you! Why do I 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 283. Tadhkirat al-khawas al-ummah 114 Battle of Khawarij, at-Tamhid wa al-bayan 209.

284. al-Aghani 21/9-10 on the life of Hujiyah ibn al-Mudrrab, for his lineage refer to al-Ishtiqaq 371.

his nephews in the way of Hujiyah ibn al-Mudarrab, 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-Saqifah 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 in- dividuals can speak eloquently and know the 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 of a 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 285. al-'Iqd al-farid 3/102 on the history of the battle of al-Jamal, published by Jamaliyah.

286. Refer to the translation of Volume Two this book.

287. Hitler who possessed a great powers of oratory a perfect example of such a personality. 288. Siyar al-a'lam an-nubala' 2/229.

288. It is probable that his praise of 'A'ishah at her door has not been a sincere one, since he may have wished it to be reported to her and make her pleased with him.

'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'ali292, and from 'A'ishah's writings, letters and sermons in the battle of al-Jamal, 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 Lubayd293 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'ishah's 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 288. Siyar al-a'lam an-nubala' 2/229.

289. It is probable that his praise of 'A'ishah at her door has not been a sincere one, since he may have wished it to be reported to her and make her pleased with him.

290. Siyar al-a'lam an-nubala' 2/134.

291. Tahdhib of Ibn 'Asakir 5/417.

292. Refer to the translation of the second volume of this book.

293. The last one of the famous poets of pagan times who composed "The Seven Suspended Poems".

294. Siyar al-a'lam an-nubala' 2/138.

295. Siyar al-a'lam an-nubala' 2/136.

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 Imam 'Ali and his friends, and for the promotion of her father's party (as-Saqifah 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.

296. Siyar al-a'lam an-nubala' 2/128.

297. Futuh al-buldan 472.

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. A 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 silk298 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 298. The word "fur" is mentioned in history, but it is changed into "silk". But some think it was a mixture of silk and wool.

299. All the traditions quoted so far can be found in Tabaqat al-kubra 8/69-73 in the biography of 'A'ishah.

300. Siyar al-a'lam an-nubala' 2/132.

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

'A'ishah's monopoly of verdicts on sucking period

'A'ishah ordered her brother's sister or daughters to suck the man that she wished to visit her house, so that they may be considered religiously legitimate intimates. Al-Muwatta' of Malik We have already seen that 'A'ishah was considered a great authority in religious matters from the time of her father's caliphate until the period of Mu'awiyah, with the exception of the period of the Alawite rule. She was frequently consulted by the caliphs and was asked to issue verdicts on various questions. Consequently she was treated with a great respect, and inquirers crowded at the door of her house. Among the Prophet's wives she was the only

301. Biography of 'A'ishah in Tabaqat and Siyar al-a'lam an-nubala'.

302. The same books.

303. The same books.

304. Tabaqat al-kubra, biography of 'A'ishah.

305. Biography of 'A'ishah in Siyar al-a'lam an-nubala' al-Bukhari too has some narrations on this subject in the chapter on pilgrimage garments in his book of Hajj 1/480.

306. al-Bukhari in al-Jami' as-sahih in the Chapter on the circumambulation of men and women 1/195.

one who took part in the great political events of his life, and also, as we saw, she caused so much bloodshed, whereas the other consorts of the Prophet did not interfere in such affairs. It was probably due to this reason that she quoted the Prophet's tradition concerning the sucking period, while the other wives of the Prophet contradicted her in this matter. According to Musnad of Ahmad, 'A'ishah says about this tradition: Sahlah, daughter of Suhayl ibn 'Amr and wife of Abu Hudhayfah, came to the Prophet and said: Salem, the freed slave of Abu Hudhayfah enters our house while we are not fully dressed and not properly covered. We used to call him our son, since Abu Hudhayfah had adopted him as his son, in the same way that the Prophet had adopted Zayd as his son.

The following verse of the Qur'an descended about this matter: "Assert their relationship to their fathers; this is more equitable with Allah." 307 The Prophet said to Sahlah: "You may suckle your freed slave and adopted son five times; than he may be regarded as your foster son and thereby become a religiously legitimate relation." By relying on this tradition the narrator of which was she, she ordered her sisters and nieces to give suck five times to the men that she wished to visit her, even though they were full-grown adults, so that thereby they could be considered as religiously legitimate intimates and be allowed to enter house without any inconvenience.

But the other wives of the Prophet abstained from this action and did not allow an adult man to visit them by means of sucking their sister's milk, and treat them like an intimate relation. They regarded sucking as something solely related to babyhood. They said to 'A'ishah: "We do not know. Maybe the verdict of the Prophet has been given only in the case of Salem, the slave-girl of Abu Hudhayfah and his adopted son, and it is not applicable to others."308 This incident has been narrated in Sahih of Muslim within six traditions, the last of which in his own words is as follows: They said to 'A'ishah: "By God! We consider the matter of Salim as a leave given by the Prophet to him only. Therefore we cannot in that way allow anyone to become intimately related to us."309

Salim ibn 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar was one of those who, in adulthood, was allowed by means of suckling to visit 'A'ishah. The author of Tabaqat writes:

307. The Holy Qur'an, Chapter al-Ahzab, Verse 5.

308. The Holy Qur'an, Chapter al-Ahzab, Verse 5.

309. Sahih of Muslim, chapter on Great Sucking 4/168-170, and Sunan of an-Nisa'i chapter on Major Sucking in the book of Marriage, and Tabaqat al-kubra 8/270-271, and in the biography of Salim 3/87 almost the same subject has been quoted, and Musnad of Ahmad 6/312 from Umm Salamah, and Sunan of Ibn Majah, tradition 1947, and Sunan of Abu Dawud 1/278-279 from 'A'ishah and Umm Salamah.

'A'ishah sent Salem to her sister Umm Kulthum, wife of 'Abd Allah ibn Rabi'ah to be given suck, so that he would legitimately be allowed to visit her and listen to some tradition.310 The next tradition, which is narrated by Muslim in his Sahih, confirms the opinion of Umm Salamah and other wives of the Prophet in the question of suckling. 'A'ishah says: One say the Prophet came in and saw a man sitting before me. He was annoyed and I could observe signs of anger on his face. I told him that the man was my foster brother. He made a remark311 which is explained as follow by an-Nawawi, a famous interpreter of tradition in Sahih of Muslim:

It means: You must reflect to see whether this sucking has been effected in accordance with the required condition and laws of Islam or not. For, sucking is due to hunger, and the legitimacy of the glance is due to the face that the child is so young that his hunger is satisfied through sucking without needing any other food, whereas in the case of grown-ups milk alone would not serve as an adequate food, and they required some other food, too. Therefore, not every person who suckles the milk of a mother maybe regarded as her foster offspring, or a foster brother of her children. Thus the above legitimate intimacy can be obtained only by giving suck to a small baby.

In at-Tirmidhi's tradition there is a sentence which means: Only that kind of sucking creates legitimacy of intimacy as a relative and bans marriage when the milk serves as the only food for the baby. Therefore its period is confined to the normal period of sucking in a baby. an-Nawawi adds that this is a well-known point in religious jurisprudence, about which there is, of course, a different of opinion.312,313

The above tradition which we mentioned as a quotation of an-Nawawi in the book of Sahih of Muslim, has been quoted in the book of Tradition of at- Tirmidhi from Umm Salamah which makes this relationship more conditional, namely: "The state of sucking create sanctity and close relationship and prohibits marriage only if milk is offered as a substitute to food and the infant's 310. Tabaqat of Ibn Sa'd 8/462 in the biography of Umm Kulthum daughter of Abu Bakr and 8/271 in the biography of Sahlah, and al-Muwatta' Book of Sucking 3/114, and al-Bukhari 3/162, and Sunan of an-Nisa'i 2/83, and Sunan of ad-Darami, chapter on Major Sucking 1/158.

311.Sahih of Muslim 4/170, and Musnad of Ahmad 6/174, and Ibn Majah, tradition 1945.

312. We have quoted this part from an-Nawawi's Description, which is printed as commentary of Muslim's Sahih 4/170.

313. One of the reasons of differences of view in the Sunni jurisprudence about sucking is the existence of these different traditions which are quoted from 'A'ishah on this subject, so that a group consider five times' sucking adequate for legitimacy intimacy, while another group think that ten sucking are necessary.

bones are still soft (and not become hard)."314 Then Abu 'Isa at-Tirmidhi, the famous author of the book writes: This is a correct tradition, which is acted upon by most scholar friends of the Prophet and others on the basis of the above remark of the Prophet. According to the verdict of the Prophet in reference to this tradition, they believe that if the suckling occurs in the first two years of a baby's life, it created a legitimate intimacy, but after two full years, no intimacy is possible.

These traditions were contrary to 'A'ishah's views. The words which, she quoted from the Prophet could not hold out against all the traditions of others, especially as her opponents were all the wives of the Prophet. To remove this obstacle, the best way for her was to invent a Quranic verse to prove that it is possible to produce legitimate intimacy in adults with oneself through sucking. To attain this goal, again 'A'ishah narrates that a verse had descended about stoning to death and also about the sucking of adults in which it was said that ten suckings would be enough for obtaining legitimate intimacy. She claimed

that this verse was written on a piece of paper, placed under her bed, she said:

"When the Prophet was ill in bed and we were looking after him in his last hours of life, a domestic animal entered the room and ate the paper, and thus the said verse was lost."315,316

In other narrations quoted from 'A'ishah by Muslim in his Sahih, 'A'ishah says: In the Qur'an which had been descended to the Prophet, there existed the following verse: "Ten times of clear and known suckings provide legitimate intimacy." Then this verse was abrogated by the phrase 'five known times', but as this verse was being recited from the Qur'an, the Prophet passed away. an-Nawawi, great Sunni scholar and interpreter of Muslim's book of Sahih says: The narration means that the abrogation of 'ten times' for 'five times of known suckings' has taken place at the end of the Prophet's life, and some people recited the phrase 'ten times' without knowing that it was abrogated. 314. Sunan of at-Tirmidhi 5/96-97 printed (first) Egypt.

315. Refer to Sahih of Muslim with an-Nawawi's Description 10/29-30 for these narrations and their explanation.

316. It seems that in making the above remarks 'A'ishah had forgotten that God Almighty, according to the verse 9 of the al-Hijr which says: "Surely We have revealed the Reminder and We will most surely be its guardian", has undertaken the preservation of His own Book. Moreover, the Qur'an as the most fundamental evidence and text of God's religion, cannot be so unimportant as to be allowed to be destroyed by an animal. Had the Prophet communicated this verse with 'A'ishah alone? Would he in the performance of his universal mission confine himself to such a small effort and propagation? Would the Muslims, in view of their attachment to the Qur'an and their efforts to preserve it, be likely to forget a verse of it? This is not possible especially as in those times many people had the ability to write, and they would make every effort to write it down and keep it for himself.

We can definitely declare that after the Prophet's decease there existed hundreds of handwritten copies of the Qur'an in the possession of his companions, irrespective of thousands of people who knew the Qur'an by heart. In answer to the above claim, we must declare that 'A'ishah's narration is wholly untrue, and the narrator's intention has been to offer a strong evidence to prove her own view and convince the people by that means! Then an-Nawawi describes the difference of views of the Shafi'ite and Malikite Jurisprudents, and adds on behalf of the Malikites that Quranic words are proved by the statement of one person. Then in explaining the sucking of adult men and the manner of it, he quoted Judge 'Ayyad that the manner of sucking took this form that the milk offering woman milked herself in a pot, and the man drank out of it, and not by sucking her breast.

In this way 'A'ishah answered the criticism levelled at her by the other wives of the Prophet, and acted upon his own monopoly of verdicts.