IN THE NAME OF GOD, MOST GRACIOUS, MOST MERCIFUL

ACADEMY OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT (AIT)

MODULE IIPERSONAL DEVELOPMENT:Illnesses of the Heart Part 1

Selfishness, Envy, Gossiping, Showing Off

SESSION 4Jihad Turk

GOSSIPING AND SLANDERThe Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) said, "Do you know what backbiting is?" They said, "Allah and His Messenger know best." He then said, "It is to say something about your brother that he would dislike." Someone asked him, "But what if what I say is true?" The Messenger of Allah said, "If what you say about him is true, you are backbiting him, but if it is not true then you have slandered him." (Muslim)

GOSSIPING AND SLANDER (cont.)

"O you who believe! Avoid much suspicion, in deeds some suspicions are sins. And spy not neither backbite one another. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it (so hate backbiting). And fear Allah, verily, Allah is the one who accepts repentance, Most Merciful." (49: 12)

THE SLANDERING OF AISHA ( R )

4. And those who launch a charge against chaste women, and produce not four witnesses (to support their allegations),- flog them with eighty stripes; and reject their evidence ever after: for such men are wicked transgressors;-

5. Unless they repent thereafter and mend (their conduct); for God is Oft- Forgiving, Most Merciful.

6. And for those who launch a charge against their spouses, and have (in support) no evidence but their own,- their solitary evidence (can be received) if they bear witness four times (with an oath) by God that they are solemnly telling the truth;

7. And the fifth (oath) (should be) that they

Solemnly Invoke the curse of God on themselves if

they tell a lie.

8. But it would avert the punishment from the wife,

If she bears witness four times (with an oath) By

God, that (her husband) is telling a lie;

9. And the fifth (oath) should be that she solemnly

Invokes the wrath of God on herself if (her

accuser) is telling the truth.

10. If it were not for God’s grace and mercy on

you, and that God is Oft- Returning, full of

Wisdom,- (Ye would be ruined indeed).

11. Those who brought forward the lie are a body among yourselves: think it not to be an evil to you; On the contrary it is good for you: to every man among them (will come the punishment) of the sin that he earned, and to him who took on himself the lead among them, will be a penalty grievous.

12. Why did not the believers - men and women - when ye heard of the affair,- put the best construction on it in their own minds and say, "This (charge) is an obvious lie" ?

13. Why did they not bring four witnesses to prove it? When they have not brought the witnesses, such men, in the sight of God, (stand forth) themselves as liars!

14. Were it not for the grace and mercy of God on you, in this world and the Hereafter, a grievous penalty would have seized you in that ye rushed glibly into this affair.

15. Behold, ye received it on your tongues, and said out of your mouths things of which ye had no knowledge; and ye thought it to be a light matter, while it was most serious in the sight of God.

16. And why did ye not, when ye heard it, say? - "It is not right of us to speak of this: Glory to God. this is a most serious slander!"

17. God doth admonish you, that ye may never repeat such (conduct), if ye are (true) Believers.

18. And God makes the Signs plain to you: for God is full of knowledge and wisdom.

19. Those who love (to see) scandal published broadcast among the Believers, will have a grievous Penalty in this life and in the Hereafter: God knows, and ye know not.

20. Were it not for the grace and mercy of God on you, and that God is full of kindness and mercy, (ye would be ruined indeed).

21. O ye who believe! follow not Satan's footsteps: if any will follow the footsteps of Satan, he will (but) command what is shameful and wrong: and were it not for the grace and mercy of God on you, not one of you would ever have been pure: but God doth purify whom He pleases: and God is One Who hears and knows (all things).

SHOWING OFF

...Verily, Allah does not like such as are proud and boastful; Those who are miserly and enjoin miserliness on other men and hide what Allah has bestowed upon them of His Bounties.... Qur'an 4:36-37

Narrated ‘Abdullah bin Mas’ud, Allah’s Messenger said, “He who has, in his heart, a grain of arrogance will not enter Paradise.” Someone said. “How about a person who likes to wear beautiful clothes and shoes?” Allah’s Messenger said, “All of Allah’s Affairs are Beautiful and He likes beauty; arrogance means ridiculing and rejecting the Truth and despising people.” (Muslim)

Narrated Harithah bin Wahab: Allah’s Messenger said, “Shall I not inform you about the inmates of Hell? It is every violent, impertinent and proud person.” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

Narrated Salamah bin Al-Akwa’: Allah’s Messenger said, “A person continues to display haughtiness and arrogance till he is recorded among the arrogant and will be therefore afflicted with what afflicts them.” (At-Tirmidhi)

As far as we know from Aisha, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) drew lots among his wives when he was about to go on an expedition and he would take with him who appeared in the lots. On the Ben-i -Moustaliq expedition, the lots fell to Aisha. (2)

Aisha relates the incident as follows: I went with the Prophet (PBUH) on the expedition too. It was after the verse about the veiling came. During expedition, I was carried in a small tent all the way. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was returning from the expedition. When we got pretty closer to Medina, he stopped to accommodate. He spent some part of the

night there and then ordered to move again. 

THE SLANDERING OF AISHA ( R ) II(Al-Ifk)

When he ordered to move, I left the others to relieve myself somewhere quiet. After that, I came back next to the camel. When I felt of my neck, I found out that my necklace was not there. (That necklace had been given by her mother as a gift at her wedding). I started to look for my necklace. Looking for it kept me away from the others further. I knew that they would not go ahead without me even if one month passes. But it turned out that they thought that I was on my camel. 

“At those times women were not heavy. They ate little. I was a small woman. When my servants set the tent on the camel, they could not realize that it was empty inside. They then let the camel go. 

I finally found my necklace after the army was gone. I immediately hastened to catch the army. But I found no one. All was gone. I then came back to where I first had been. I lied down and covered myself with my sheet. I thought that they would come here back to look for me when they realized that I was not on the camel. 

Sawfan Bin Muattal would stay behind the army, if the army left anything behind, he would bring them back to them. 

Sawfan came where I was at daybreak. When he saw someone lying down there, he came by me and recognized me as soon as he saw me. Because before the verse of veiling was sent down, he had seen me once. 

On seeing me there, Sawfan was astonished and said: Inna lillahi va inna ilayhi rajiun (a Qur’anic verse in Arab language meaning, “We are the servants of Allah and surely will return to Him.”

“I woke up hearing him. I covered my face with the sheet. By Allah, I never spoke to him even one word nor did he say anything else except “Inna lillahi va inna ilayhi rajiun.”

After that, Sawfan made his camel get up. He trod his foot on the forelegs of the camel so that I could mount the camel safely. He said, “please get on”, and then stayed away.

Then I got on the camel and Sawfan pulled the halter to lead the camel on foot speedily. We were not able to catch the army until morning. 

It was only after when the army stopped to accommodate could we attend them. (3)

The Head of the Hypocrites Makes Use of the Situation

While Sawfan Bin Muattal was bringing Aisha on camelback, they came across Abdullah Bin Ubayy, the head of the hypocrites. Abdullah Bin Ubayy asked people who on camelback was. 

They said it was Aisha. This hypocrite, whose reputation had been severely damaged and received so much of objection from his men, wished to make a big fuss about it. He expressed his evil wish right there. He said:

“By Allah, neither Aisha nor Sawfan will be saved from the punishment. And he said similar things of that sort. (4) 

The army was shaken up by the rumor.

Actually, Sawfan Bin Muattal, who was a real Muslim in its full sense and even was deprived of masculinity, did what his religion ordered him. (5) 

On the other hand, the hypocrites, who had a disease in their hearts and always said they were Muslims too and indeed were not, and whose main purpose is to play Muslims off against each other, thought of making use of the situation. To this end, they did not show any sign of hesitation even to slander the venerable wife of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).Their another purpose were to break the sensitive heart of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and to devastate their trust for each other. (6) 

Aisha was uninformed of what is going on for a long time 

Some gullible Muslims also believed the false version of the event of “ifk,” which was started by the head of the hypocrites, Abdullah Bin Ubayy, Hassan Bin Sabit, Mistah Bin Osase, and Khamne Binti Jahsh. Aisha had been unaware of it for a long time. Aisha relates it as follows:

When I came back to Medina, I felt terribly sick with fever. I suffered from it nearly for one month. I then was told that there was a widespread rumor around about the event. I was completely unaware of what was going on. Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) and my parents also heard about the event but they never told me anything.

But there was something, which made me quite suspicious. The Prophet (PBUH) did not show me compassion, which I used to have in my previous illnesses. He just asked my parents, “How is the patient?” And that’s all; he never even uttered my name. I did not know what lies the slanderers told about me. (7)

Although the Prophet Muhammad and Aisha’s parents also heard about the event, they did not tell her anything. But as we explained above, she was getting worried about the manners that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) had towards herself. But she did not know why. 

From whom and how does Aisha get the news of the slander? 

Aisha explains how and whom she got the news of the slander from as follows:

“There passed twenty or so days after the event. I was now convalescent. We then did not have toilets beside our houses due to their disgusting smell. Instead, we would go to open places far from the inhabited area. Women would go there to relieve themselves.

One night, Mistah Bin Osase’s mother and I went to the toilet at Manasa. When Mistah’s mother staggered and fell, she cursed her son saying, “May Mistah be damned!”

“Why did you curse your son?” I asked her. She said nothing.“She fell once more and cursed again in the same fashion. I again asked why she cursed her son, to which she said nothing again. 

She fell third time, and again cursed. I asked, “Why are you constantly cursing your son? He took part in the battle of Badr.”

“By Allah, I curse him because of what he said about you.” She said.

“What did he say about me?” I asked her.Mistah’s mother told me all about what the slanderers told about me. My sickness relapsed. I cried so much so that I thought my lungs would break into pieces. I could not feel okay even to relieve myself. (8) 

When Aisha was sick, her mother, Ommou Rouman would take care of her.

One day, Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) greeted everybody and came inside the room. Without mentioning her name, he asked, “How is your patient?” He said nothing else.

Aisha says; “I could not bear it anymore. O the Messenger of Allah (PBUH)! I suffer pain as never before. Please let me go to Mom’s house. Is it appropriate that they care for me there?”

Allah’s Messenger said: “You may go if you wish.”

“I wished to learn the inside story of the rumors about me in Mom’s house. The Prophet (PBUH) sent me to my father’s house with a maidservant along with me. “Why have you come here?” Mom asked me

“Mom! The folks have been speaking of me and you have told me nothing about it.

“My dear daughter,” said my mother, “do not be upset about it. Just think about your health. By Allah, it is impossible for a woman who is beautiful and gets on well with her husband not to be envied and people not always talk about her.”

“Does dad know about the matter?” I asked.

“Yes.” She said.

I could not help crying. Dad was reciting the Holy Qur’an on the roof when he heard me crying. He came down and asked mom what was wrong with me. 

“She has heard the gossips about her.” Mom answered.“Tears came to the eyes of dad, too,” I kept crying until morning. (9) 

In those days when the rumors about Aisha were being spoken of, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) would seldom go out of his home. 

The divine decree had not yet arrived and in the meanwhile, he (PBUH) often talked to his companions and asked for their opinions.

Omar stated his opinion: “O Allah’s Messenger (PBUH)! That is such a terrible slander. I do know for sure that this is another lie of the hypocrites. Allah Almighty never lets even a fly bother you let alone not protect your family from such wickedness.” 

This time, Osman said what he was thinking of the situation: “O Allah’s Messenger (PBUH)! Allah Almighty protects your shadow from being trodden on in case unpleasant things should be on it. However could Allah Almighty possibly let other people do harm to your family, if He does not even let them disrespect your shadow?”

Ali was another one to speak there: “O Allah’s Messenger (PBUH)! One day you were leading us in the namaz (prescribed prayer). During the namaz, you removed your shoes. We removed them too. You asked us why we too removed our shoes. And we said we did because we would always follow you. So you said that Gabriel wanted you to remove them since they were not clean. 

Is it ever possible that Allah Almighty order you to remove your shoes because of the dirt on them and not order you to remove the dirt on your family?” (10)

The Prophet (PBUH) also asked Barirah, the maidservant of Aisha, of her opinion about the event. 

Barirah told him “O Allah’s Messenger! I swear by Allah Almighty Who has sent you as a prophet that I know of her nothing else but goodness. I just can say one thing about her, which might be her only fault in her life. She was a very young woman. She often fell asleep while she was kneading dough, and the sheep in the house would come and eat it. (11)

Zainab, another wife of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), would see herself equal with Aisha with her beauty and with the place in the Prophet’s (PBUH) sight and sometimes would compete with her about it. Nevertheless, she did not have the slightest of suspicion of her about the case and besides, when she was asked of her opinion, she said: 

“O Allah’s Messenger! I take shelter in Allah from saying “I saw” which I did not see; and saying “I heard” which I did not hear. By Allah, I know nothing else of her but goodness.” (12)

Actually, the Noble Prophet (PBUH) knew very well that his wife was far from doing something like this. Yet the fact that such a heinous slander was spread among people upset him very much. This caused him to change his mood against Aisha though unwillingly. In the sermon he delivered in the mosque, he expressed this quite clearly:

“O Muslim community! Who is going to help me against some person who led me into great sadness with his slander about my family? In fact, I do not suppose anyone in my family could possibly do something like this. The slanderers involved another innocent man with that about whom I know nothing but goodness.” (13)

Although there had passed one month since she was subject to a nasty slander, there had come no verse from Allah Almighty to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) about the incident. 

A couple of days after he delivered the sermon, he came Abu Bakr’s home. He greeted those over there, sat next to Aisha, and said:

“O Aisha! I am informed of what is being told about you. If you are far from such allegations, Allah Almighty is sure to explain it soon. If you did commit such a sin, repent now and ask for forgiveness since if someone repents and confesses his/her sin, s/he shall find Allah Almighty merciful for him/herself. 

Later on, Aisha was to describe the event as follows:

“My tears stopped when the Prophet (PBUH) finished his words. It was such that I felt there was not any more of tears left that I had. I turned to dad and asked him to reply to the Prophet (PBUH) instead of me. 

“By Allah, I don’t know what I should say to the Prophet (PBUH),” said dad.

Then I turned to mom and asked her to reply to the Prophet (PBUH) instead of me. She said the same thing as dad, “By Allah, I don’t know what I should say to the Prophet (PBUH).” (14)

When her parents were unable to make explanation instead of herself, she became obliged to make a defense of herself. Firstly, she recited Islamic testimony of faith and then said:

“By Allah, I figure out that you have heard the gossip about me. What is more, you too believe them.

 “If I told you now I had not done this, you wouldn’t believe me. If I told you that I had done it, you would believe me. I now say what Jacob had once said. (15) He said; “(For me) patience is most fitting. Allah is He Whose help is sought for against what you describe.” (16) 

The Noble Prophet had not yet got up when the much-

expected verse came. Everybody was inside at that moment. Aisha describes it as follows:

The Prophet’s face was covered with sweat due to the heaviness of the revelation. Even in a winter’s day, there appeared beads of sweat on his face. We covered him with his clothes and put a leather pillow for his head to rest on. 

By Allah, I never feared nor got agitated for I knew that I had not committed such an abominable sin. As for my parents, they were nearly scared to death fearing that Allah Almighty also would confirm the sin. (17) 

When the Prophet (PBUH) came to himself, he smiled contentedly and said, “Good tidings for you, Aisha! Allah Almighty congratulated you! He confirmed you to have been innocent of that event.” (18) He rose to his feet and kissed

Aisha in the head.

Narrated by Aisha ( R ) herself, and preserved in Quran, Sahih al Bukhari and Sahih Muslim