Seerah (54): The Return from Muraysi' and the Slander of Aisha In the last lesson we had discussed

the Ghazwa of Murasyi' and specifically that it wasn't the battle that was important but rather the three incidents that occured after. The first was the marriage of the Prophet (s) to Juwayriyyah and the entire tribe of Banu Mustalliq's conversion to Islam. The tribe returned to their land and to their norms except that now they were all Muslim with the blessing and beautiful Wisdom of Allah. And the marriage to Juwayriyyah truly illustrates the plurality of the Prophet's marriages. A controversial issue is the date as to when the battle occured. The slander of Aisha incident and the Prophet's marriage to Juwayriyyah are thus also dependant on this date. There are two strong positions to this; the first is for Sha'baan of 6. A.H. and the second for Sha'baan of 5 A.H. This is a theoretical difference and frankly speaking it does not matter, it is but a historical fact. The problem is when people remember narratives, they do so many years after the incident occured. Piecing together all these narratives, there are two individuals mentioned, both of which could not have been alive or present in the story the same year chronologically. Both the names are mentioned in Bokhari and have authentic chains. One of the individuals is Sa'ad ibn Mua'dh who dies right after Khandaq and he would not have been alive in the 6th year of Sha'baan. Khandaq occurs in the 5th year of Shawwal. Those who say this incident takes place in the 5th year of Sha'baan everything fits here. The other person mentioned is Zaynab bint Jahsh, the wife of the Prophet (s) who did not become his wife except at the end of the 5th year. So if we say that this incident occured in 5th year Sha'baan than Zaynab is not the wife of the Prophet (s). So the memories of the people narrating were confused and the narrations of one of the two people is not correct. This is one of the many issues. And Seerah researchers have a monumental task in piecing together narrations and aligning them chronologically. And this difference has always been present since the beginning. What we are following in this class is that of 5th year of Sha'baan while we know that there is a strong case for the 6th year of Sha'baan. And the two dates are but a historical curiosity with no actual relevance. But the majority of Seerah books are following Ibn Ishaac who said it occured in the 6th year of Sha'baan. But modern researchers have moved away from making Ibn Ishaac the main authority and have made him one of many authority. The majority of researchers have thus concluded that the battle occured in the 5th year of Hijrah and the mention of Sa'ad bin Mua'adh is correct for either Zaynab was not a wife at the time and only a cousin or it is a mistake in that it was not Zaynab but rather something else. As mentioned in the last lesson, the majority of hypocrites participated in Muraysi' because it was very close, there were was no harvest season (so no temptation to stay) and there is a guaranteed win. And there were no casualties at this battle except for one accidental one. And thus all the hypocrites joined in this battle, the head of them being Abdullah ibn Ubayy without having participated in an expedition before or after. Because of the large amount of hypocrites, tension was thus bound to occur and this is why 2 of the 3 stories involve hypocrites. Why are they playing a central role thus in the events that are going to be discussed now? Because they have the highest concentration ever than in any expedition. And Abdullah ibn Ubayy had obviously converted reluctantly after Badr when it was clear that there was no point in remaining a Pagan and he was the last to convert. Before he converted he had some very harsh statements. Once the Prophet (s) passed by riding a donkey and Abdullah snuck his nose up and clamped it, saying, "don't bring this stench around me!." And he would also tell the Prophet (s) and the Muslims to recite the Qur'an to lower their voices and not disturb them. Clearly there was arrogance from the beginning and after he realized he had no hope he decided t become Muslim. He was thus burning from the inside and at Muraysi' he had a chance to make some very harsh comments. The second of the 3 incidents involved the return journey from the battle to Madinah. It is mentioned that one Ansari and one Muhajir amongst the young men of both sides went to collect water for the caravan and as happens with youth, they began to dispute over something and one kicked the other while the other responded with a punch. The two began fist fighting as youth do often. Immediately the Muhajir said, "oh muhajiroon come and help me!" and the ansar said, "oh Ansar come and help me!" and so the adults came to see what was happening, each one siding with their own member. We do not know what the dispute was; the wisdom of the sahaba was that they would not record petty details. The voices began to increase and the two began to shout

at each other, tempers flared and weapons were about to be drawn. And when the Prophet (s) heard this commotion he rushed to find the ansar and muhajiroon lined up oppositely in anger, and upon asking they tell him about what happened. So the Prophet (s) said, "you are going back to the calls of Jahiliyyah? (breaking up of the Ummah on lines and divisions) Leave it because it is disgusting or rotten." Here we see the weakness of human nature. This was the best generation of makind ever! And two youth get involved in a fight - whatever it is it must be very petty - but still tempers flared so easily and divisions so easy. Shaytaan is indeed always waiting to divide the ummah, and the potential exists to flare up and this is exactly what happened. And in this we see the humanity of the sahaba in that they were humans. And this time it didn't but indeed there would be fighting later on amongst the sahaba - the battles of Siffeen and Jabbal were unwanted by the sahaba yet they still did occur. We also see that the Prophet (s) called racism and ethnic division filthy, rotting and decaying. And this shows us that dividing ourselves up over any divisions is completely filthy, and we should find racism like rotting flesh. What is especially noteworthy here is that this division of ansar versus muhajir was unknown 4 years ago and a division that the Qur'an itself sanctions, and it is an Islamic division. Yet it can be misused and abused as it was right now and even this Islamic division can become unIslamic. If this is the case that has Qur'anic origin - Ansar and Muhajir - how about something that has completely human origin? Syrian versus Sudanese versus Pakistan versus Egyptian? And worse we even start to pinpoint locations within a country. If the Prophet (s) said it is filthy and disgusting when used in this manner, (and if used correctly the divisions are ok as the Qur'an affirms) how about the divisions that are manmade? How do they fall into the scheme of things? And this shows us of the filthy and ugly nature of the concept of racism. This also shows us that the Prophet (s) solved this not by getting involved in the petty details, but rather he told the others to simply just get over it and move on as getting into details would cause worse problems! This shows us the wisdom of arbitrating between two sides that sometimes one must get into details and other times they should avoid them. And in the wisdom of the Prophet (s) he did not get involved with the minute details and neither are they recorded, why so? It would make it much worse. When Abdullah ibn Ubayy heard this he became angry as he was happy to see the division. This was productive for him and he wanted to spread this. When the fitnah was quelled he became iritated and said, "is this what they have done? They (the muhajiroon) have competed with us in their numbers and quantities and this is exactly like fattening your dog so that it will come back to eat you (this is a very vulgar expression in the Arabic language and means that it is possible that your friend that you help will become your enemy)" He thus called the Muhajiroon like this animal. And he continued, "by Allah, when we come back to the city, the ones who have more honor will expel the ones who have no honor!" And here he started blaming his own hypocrites, saying, "you have brought this on yourselves; allowing them to come to your lands, give them your money and shared your wealth, had you not given them this they would have gone back to their lands." This shows that by this time, 5 years after Hijrah, the Muhajiroon and other emigrants are increasing in numbers. And there is without a doubt a sense of jealousy, protection and hypocrisy from Abdullah ibn Ubayy. And this was the general feeling amongst the hypocrites, but there was a young lad amongst them whose heart was full of emaan and his name was Zaid ibn Arqam. When he heard this he could not believe it as this is clear Kufr - making fun of the Prophet (s) and his statement comparing the Muslims to dogs - so he rushed to his uncle (he is a teenager and does not know what to do) and narrates what he heard. And the two go to the Prophet (s) and narrate what the boy heard directly from the mouth of the Prophet (s). And Abdullah is called by the Prophet (s) to verify this, and the narrations mention that Abdullah began oath after oath and used the strongest oaths possible. And the Prophet (s) accepted the oath of Abdullah. But this caused a huge issue between the hypocrites and the Ansar of Madinah. The Ansar were already mad at Abdullah and the hypocrites were obviously siding with him. And after Abdullah left Ummar asked for permission to kill him and the Prophet (s) told Ummar to leave him and he continued, "because I do not want the people to say that Mohammed (s) kills his own companions." And he immediately ordered all of the sahaba to pack their bags and rush to Madinah. And he marched non-stop for over 20 hours for the rest of the day and the entire night, reaching Madinah in the morning . The wisdom of this became very appaernt; as soon as the sahaba stopped into Madinah they fell asleep for the rest of the day and this helped diffuse the tension of the situation

and it did not progress. Zaid ibn Arqam became very depressed as his testimony was rejected, saying that this was the worst day of his life. He was young so this was expected but even an older man would be depressed that the Prophet (s) woud reject his testimony. Right that morning outside Madinah, Allah revealed the entirety of Surah Munafiqun,

63:1 When the Hypocrites come to thee, they say, "We bear witness that thou art indeed the Messenger of Allah." Yea, Allah knoweth that thou art indeed His Messenger, and Allah beareth witness that the Hypocrites are indeed liars. Allah mentions that all of their oaths are but a shield, preventing people from the way of the Allah. And Allah goes on about how He truly knows what is in their hearts and Allah quotes Abdullah exactly,

63:8 They say, "If we return to Medina, surely the more honourable (element) will expel therefrom the meaner." But honour belongs to Allah and His Messenger, and to the Believers; but the Hypocrites know not. That 'izzah belongs to Allah and the believers and the hypocrites have no understanding whatsoever. When this Surah was revealed the Prophet (s) called Zaid bin Arqam and held him by the ear, telling him that indeed Allah has affirmed Zaid's testimony. The news had spread in Madinah about what had happened between the Ansar and Muhajiroon. This happened because customarily the crier that tells the city of the arrival of the army also gives news of the events of the expedition. Abdullah ibn Ubayy's son heard this news and his name was also Abdullah and he was a Muslim. Abdullah ibn Abdullah ibn Ubayy, when he heard all of this he went outside to meet the Prophet (s) before he came in and told him, "Ya Rasool Allah (s), it has reached me that you are considering executing my father and if you command anyone to execute him I don't think that I can see another man walk around in the streets of Madinah knowing he has killed my father and therefore I will have to kill him. But if I kill him I would have killed an innocent Muslim and therefore I would have to go to Jahannum. So the only solution is that you command me to do this execution of my father myself. " It is clear that Abdullah was worried and had thought out all the scenarios. The Jahiliy custom, which he had some remaining of, was that of tribal loyalty and so he could not see another man who had killed his father. And if he would kill this man he would kill an innocent Muslim, so what does he decide? That with the command of Allah and His Messenger he would have to kill his own father himself. This is a great show of emaan from Abdullah ibn Abdullah in that he would be obedient to Allah and His Messenger (s) if the order was given to kill his own fatehr. The Prophet (s) replied to him, "No rather your duty is to be a good companion to him." The Prophet (s) further promised him, "we shall be good and gentle to him as long as he lives with us " and this was the promise that the Prophet (s) lived up to. At this news Abdullah was relieved but he was very angry at his father. When Abdullah ibn Ubayy arrived at the outskirts of Madinah, his son met him there and told him, "you were the one who said such and such about the Muslims therefore I will not allow you to come inside Madinah unless the Prophet (s) himself gives permission." Therefore Abdullah ibn Ubayy was held captive by his own son outside Madinah and he had to wait until the Prophet (s) came and gave permission to allow Abdullah ibn Ubayy to enter. This is an amazing story in many respects. Abdullah ibn Ubayy did eventually die in the lifetime of the Prophet (s). When this happened his son was the one who went to the Prophet (s) himself and said, "ya Rasool Allah, give me one of your garments to use as a kaffan for my father,

perhaps Allah will forgive him." The Prophet (s) not only gave the garment but went to the grave, lowered the body himself into it and prayed Janazah on Abdullah ibn Ubayy as well. Why? At the end of the day the Prophet (s) wanted the best for Abdullah ibn Ubayy even though he was a hypocrite. And at this action Allah revealed the verses in Surah Taubah prohibiting the Prophet (s) from ever visiting the grave of the hypocrites or praying Janazah on them Wala tussali ala // abadan xx And after this Abdullah ibn Abdullah died a shaheed in the battles of Rida in the Khilafah of Abu Bakr. The outcome of this incident was that the true nature of Abdullah ibn Ubayy was exposed explicitly in the Qur'an and it wasn't even this clear after Uhud. Therefore many hypocrites abandoned Abdullah ibn Ubayy and became true Muslims. And at this the Prophet (s) later asked Ummar, "what do you think Ya Ummar? For indeed had I killed him the day you wanted me to command to kill him I would have turned away many of his followers. Those same people today, if I were to tell them to kill Abdullah ibn Ubayy now, they would be the ones doing this ." And Ummar responded, "By Allah I know that the opinion of the Prophet (s) is always more blessed than my own." This incident of the Prophet (s) not ordering the execution of Abdullah ibn Ubayy is one of the main evidences of something known as, "public welfare" or maslaha. The issue of public welfare is one of the central sources of Islamic law. The Muslim jurist looks at what is good for the Ummah and basis his laws on what is good for the public. The Prophet (s) here took into account the repurcussions of killing Abdullah ibn Ubayy that it would have on Islam as a whole. The perception would be that the Prophet (s) is killing his own people (and he even explicitly stated this) and many would not really know that he was a hypocrite really. This also shows that it is part of our religion to have good public relations. Many people say who cares what the non-Muslims think but here the Prophet (s) clearly says that he does not want people to think wrong about Islam and that the Prophet (s) of Allah kills his own people. Thus it is important to think about the image you give to your religion in your daily life and prioritize it over your ego and yourself. The Muslim must always be careful of this. Even though Abdullah ibn Ubayy deserves to be punished in this case the negatives outweighed the positives. The issue of the, "public welfare" is very important today because many progressives believe that maslaha can be used to trump Islamic law. One organization has released over 10 books about maslaha with their goal being to chip away from the texts of the Qur'an and Sunnah. Their view is that if the Qur'an and Sunnah says something and maslaha says otherwise than they follow the maslaha over the Qur'an and the Sunnah. Yet the classical 4 sunni schools all say that maslaha is present only in the absence of Islamic text, not when there is an Islamic text on an issue. Even in this very incident Ummar bin Khattab himself concludes that he knows in this situation the Prophet's decision has more wisdom. Thus there is no maslaha that is opposed to a text, rather it is used when the texts and Shari'ah are silent. This is very important to understand. As for something explicit in the Qur'an or Sunnah that is commanded by Allah, the maslaha is in obeying the command and this is the opinion followed without exception in all 4 Sunni madhaahib. The third incident after this battle was the incident of the slander of Aisha. This is one of the most traumatic stories in the Seerah because it deals with the Prophet's intimate affairs and the honor and sanctity of his marriage. This shows us how low the hypocrites really went in their treachery, you can't go lower than this! It became a very traumatic time for the Muslims, especially the Prophet (s). The interesting thing about this story is that it has been preserved in vivid detail by Aisha herself in the most authentic books. Ahadith in Bokhari are 2-4 pages long where Aisha describes from her own memory the entire story of the slander. And therefore this is even more beneficial and interesting because we see it from the perspective of the main victim. And the talk of this story revolves around Aisha herself because her narrations are most detailed. To quote the translation of exactly what Aisha said as narrated in Sahih al-Bokhari: "The Prophet (s), whenever he wanted to go on a journey would cast lots amongst his wives so

whatever lot was picked, that wife would accompany him..." The meaning of this is that the Prophet (s) was being fair with all of his wives in what he could control in choosing who would accompany him on his expedition. It would not be fair to alternate all expeditions were not equal, some had more priority, some required wars and some were just longer than the others. This shows us that drawing lots in this manner is allowed by all scholars and there are many fiqh cases of such where it is a part of the Shari'ah. This also shows us that the Prophet (s) would sometimes take his wives and this is the exception rather than the rule and he would only do so when the victory was very likely. And Aisha continues, "..so he cast lots on one of his expedition (and other books mention in their narrations that this was the Ghazwa of Muraysi') and my name came up. So I travelled with the Prophet (s) and this was after the verses of Hijaab had been revealed.." The verses of Hijaab were revealed in Dhul Qa'dah in the 4th year of the Hijrah thus they can not help us in knowing whether this incident occured in the 5th or 6th year of Hijrah. These verses were of the last commandments to be revealed after the laws of Salah, Zakah, inheritance, fasting, Zakatul Fitr and Marriage and divorce were revealed. This shows the order of importance in that Hijab is definitely not the most important factor of a Muslimah. Unfortunately we have made this the most important priority of a woman becoming more religious in Islam. No doubt it is important but we must put it in it's place and the five pillars of Islam and other matters are more important than this. And Aisha narrates that the laws of Hijab being revealed "...and therefore I would travel in a Hawdajj.. " The Hawdajj is a mini-tent or canopy that is put on top of the camel. It is an envelope that a person can sit inside. To this day some cultures use it. The Hijab of the Prophet's wives was extra; they had to be covered not only in their personal body but also that their space that they occupied needed to be covered. This is maintioned explicitly in the Qur'an: Wa idha sa altamuhum xxx If you ask the wives of the Prophet (s) for anything, speak to them from behind a hijab. And this is what Aisha is saying.about her personal space being covered as well in the Haw-dajj. And the term Hijab in the Qu'ran does not mean, "head-scarf" even though to us this is what we refer it to in our times. in Qur'anic arabic the Hijab meant a physical curtain that seperates the entire body; a curtain between you and the speaker. And this usage of the Hijab was only for the wives of the Prophet (s) according to the Qur'an. As for the head scarf, the Qur'an references this with the term Khimaar. ala juyuubinna xxx Let them wear their Khimaar over their Jayub (bossoms) The women of Jahiliyyah would wear a head scarf just like in America 100 years ago women of dignity would wear headscarves. Only the peasent women of America would not cover their head. But the Jahiliy and American headscarf were the same in that they would be thrown back and the dresses would get lower and lower, exposing more and more of the front. And Allah revealed that with wearing the headscarf the bossom would have to be covered as well. Thus when Aisha says that the verses of Hijab had been revealed, she refers to an extra layer over and above the Khimar and this was Hijab. These days some modernists and progressives will argue that the Hijab was only for the wives of the Prophet (s) and this is technically true but the word Hijab in the Qur'an is intended for something false. It is true that the Qur'anic hijab is only for the wives of the Prophet (s) and it is an extra layer of curtain whereas these people try to say this is Hijab as we understand it today. This is foolishness that shows a complete ignorance of the Qur'an. The Qur'an clearly uses the word Jilbab and Khimaar as well, wal yadrina bi khumrina All believing women (including the wives of the Prophet and Aisha would wear a Khimar indeed but she would also have a hijab). Back to the story. Aisha explained why she was in a Haw-dajj, because she unlike other women could no longer ride a camel and her figure could not be seen anymore due to these verses. Even in her own house no one could speak to her except from behind a curtain. This is why the main narrator of Aisha is her nephew and marham, Urwah, who could enter upon her. So she continues, "after the expedition finished we were on our way back, the Prophet (s) gave orders to encamp outside Madinah.."

This is the night that the hypocrites had basically lost and now we understand why they stooped to such a low level. This is the night that Surah Munafiqun was revealed about Abdullah ibn Ubayy's hypocrisy and he was very angry at this. His revenge that he exacted in such a disgusting way ]shows the true depth of the darkness of his heart. So Aisha says, "when the orders were given to encamp I stood up and walked away from the army to relieve myself (as we said that no one saw her because everyone completely fell asleep and she went far away). On the way back I felt my chest and my onix (a whitish translucent rock) necklace had been broken so I panicked and went back to find it, spending a long time trying to find the necklace.." This necklace had sentimental value to her as this was the gift of the Prophet (s) to her. But here we observe a very important point; Aisha was the most beloved wife of the best of mankind, the Prophet (s). Yet what was she wearing around her neck? Not a gold or diamond, expensive or exotic necklace unlike what the wives of the kings of Rome and Persia were wearing (and all Queens have worn through out history) but rather a basic and simple Quartz stone. She she gives herself an exuse that because she was searching for this necklace she was late in returning to the camp. As the necklace had sentimental value we can assume that she spent much time searching for it. Aisha narrates further.. "and I myself was a young girl who did not weigh much so when the people assigned to my Haw-dajj picked it up they did not realize that I was not in it.." What is amazing is that she narrates this incident 50 years later and she not only does not mention their names to hide their identity but even gives them an excuse! Saying it was not their fault that they did not realize that she was not in her Haw-dajj. Further, this was the wife of the Prophet (s) and the man assigned to her would not speak to her out of respect and honor for her. There was a lot of protocol as this was the wife of the Prophet (s). And Aisha's narration continues; "..so the men did not question the lightness and put the haw-dajj on the camel and moved it forward. And when I returned to the camp there was not a single person in sight.... it turned out that the necklace was in fact beneath the camel and when I returned there was not a soul in sight. I stayed in my place assuming that as soon as they would discover that I was missing they would return for me. And while I was sitting under a tree I fell asleep.." This is a brave girl! She is a young girl, all alone and lost in the desert without a camel, yet she falls asleep with confidence and trust in Allah. "..And I only woke up when I heard a man say, 'La howla huwa quwata ila billah' and it was Sufwan ibn Mu'attal as-Sulami who was lagging behind the army" It was his Qadr that he was so tired that he overslept the entire order from the Prophet (s) to leave and the leaving of the army itself. So he was left way behind and he took his camel and slowly made his way back to Madinah. And as he does so he sees a figure all alone and this was Aisha, and she narrates, "..he had seen me before the verses of Hijab had been revealed and so he recognized me" and this is an evidence from the scholars that in those days Niqab was less common (as he had seen her face and recognized it). And Aisha continued, "So when I woke up and saw him I covered my face with my Jilbab.." This shows her intelligence and Sufwan's words upon seeing her of 'La howla huwa quwata ila billah' further shows us that when the sahaba would fall into a hardship they would make dhikr and remember Allah immediately. Sadly we are the opposite in that we curse and say bad words. But we must work to change these habits and substitute these words to say things from the sunnah - Alhumdulilah, Astaghfirullah, SubhanAllah, La Howla Wala Quwataa ila Billah - instead of cursing. Even if we do not utter a vulgar curse, saying things like, "oh man" or "stupid" and so on have no meaning or benefit. When you make good speech a part of your habits when anything happens a word of praise would come out automatically. And this is good Da'wah as well where someone would ask us upon hearing this what this means. This is definitely a part of our culture. So Sufwaan said this and Aisha says, "..I swear by Allah he did not speak one word to me. All he did was that he lowered the camel, walked away so I could get on it (and so that he would not see her 'awrah should it be exposed as she got on the camel) and than he guided the camel with his hands all the way back to Madinah. He guided the camel until it reached the group (they caught up) before it entered Madinah."

And at the back of the army was the standard place of the hypocrites and here was Abdullah ibn Ubayy. And Aisha says, "..that was when the rumors began to be spread by Abdullah ibn Ubayy" Sufwaan was a noble companion. He died a shaheed in the time of Ummar bin Khattab at Armenia and this is where he is buried today. He was single at the time of the incident of the slander of Aisha. And Aisha says, "..when I came to Madinah I fell sick with the fever for an entire month and I was oblivious with the rumors as they were spreading around" A beautiful thing about the Seerah books shows us the adab of the authors and the protection of society from vulgarity and immorality in Islam; the authors do not even mention what the rumor was. It is simply called, "the slander" and that is it. Not a single Islamic book has ever verbalized the slander. This shows us the etiquettes of the early scholars which is in stark comparison to culture today where every single minute vulgar detail is spread on the news. Our religion asks us to cover up such incidents and not talk about these things. Why so? Because the more you spread vulgarity and violence the more the peope become desensitized. We simply never hear of people in third world countries walking into schools and killing many children. But this is what happens when you raise a generation desensitized by all sorts of evil and this is what happens in that the bar of sensitivity to violence and immorality is raised. And the real story which will now begin will be covered in the next lesson.