An-Nur Verse 11

Indeed, those who came up with that ˹outrageous˺ slander are a group of you. Do not think this is bad for you. Rather, it is good for you.[[ Because now you can tell who is a true believer and who is a hypocrite. ]] They will be punished, each according to their share of the sin. As for their mastermind,[[ This refers to ’Abdullâh ibn Ubai, the leader of the hypocrites in Medina. ]] he will suffer a tremendous punishment.

Indeed, those who came up with the slander are a group among you. Do not think that it is bad for you, rather it is good for you. Each one of them is responsible for what he earned of the sin, and the one who played the major role, for him there will be a grave punishment.

Those who came with the slander are a band of you; do not reckon it evil for you; rather it is good for you. Every man of them shall have the sin that he has earned charged to him; and whosoever of them took upon himself the greater part of it, him there awaits a mighty chastisement.

It was a group from among you that concocted the lie––do not consider it a bad thing for you [people]; it was a good thing––and every one of them will be charged with the sin he has earned. He who took the greatest part in it will have a painful punishment.

Verily those who brought forward the calumny were a small band among Deem it not an evil for you; nay, it was good for you. Unto every one of them shall be that which he hath earned of the sin, and he among them who undertook the bulk of it---for him shall be a torment mighty.

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.

Those who have invented the slander, are some of your own people. You should not, however, regard this matter as evil for it has good in it for you. Whoso took any part in this, he earned his share of the sin accordingly, and the one, who had the greatest share of responsibility in it, shall have a terrible punishment.

Those who spread lies were a clique among you. Do not think that it was bad for you: In fact it has been good for you. Each of them will pay for the sin he has committed, and he who had greater share (of guilt) will suffer grievous punishment.

Indeed those who have brought this great accusation are a group from among you; do not consider it bad for you; on the contrary, it is good for you; for each man among them is the sin that he has earned; and for the one among them who played the greatest part in it – for him is a terrible punishment.

Indeed those who initiated the calumny are a group from among yourselves. Do not suppose it is bad thing for you. No, it is for your good. Each man among them bears [the onus for] his share in the sin, and as for him who assumed its major burden from among them, there is a great punishment for him.

Surely those who invented and spread the slander (against ‘A’ishah, the Messenger’s wife) are a band from among you. However, do not deem this incident an evil for you; rather, it is good for you. (As for the slanderers:) every one of them has accumulated sin in proportion to his share in this guilt, and he who has the greater part of it will suffer a tremendous punishment.

Verily, those (- hypocrites) who brought the false accusation (against âishah, the wife of the Prophet), are a section of your own people. Do not think this (- incident) to be bad for you, rather it is good for you. (As for the accusers,) everyone of them shall receive (his due punishment according to) that which he has accomplished in the form) of sin. As for him (- Abdullâh bin Ubayy bin Salûl) who among them took the principal part thereof (in fabricating and spreading malicious scandal against her) there awaits him a grievous punishment.

That those who came with the lies/falsehood a group/band/company from you, do not think/suppose it (is) bad/evil/harm for you, rather/but it is best for you to each/every human from them what he earned/gained from the sin/crime; and who followed his arrogance/great sin from them (there is) for him a great torture.

Indeed those who have brought this great accusation are a group from among you; do not consider it bad for you; on the contrary, it is good for you; for each man among them is the sin that he has earned; and for the one among them who played the greatest part in it – for him is a terrible punishment.

And were it not for the grace of Allah upon you and His mercy unto you, and that Allah is Relenting, Wise (he would have been ruined).

Verily! Those who brought forth the slander (against 'Aishah, the wife of the Prophet SAW) are a group among you. Consider it not a bad thing for you. Nay, it is good for you. Unto every man among them will be paid that which he had earned of the sin, and as for him among them who had the greater share therein, his will be a great torment.

And were it not for Allah’s grace upon you and His mercy -- and that Allah is Oft-returning (to mercy) Wise!

Surely they who concocted the lie are a party from among you. Do not regard it an evil to you; nay, it is good for you. Every man of them shall have what he has earned of sin; and (as for) him who took upon himself the main part thereof, he shall have a grievous chastisement.

Lo! they who spread the slander are a gang among you. Deem it not a bad thing for you; nay, it is good for you. Unto every man of them (will be paid) that which he hath earned of the sin; and as for him among them who had the greater share therein, his will be an awful doom.

Those of you who have brought forward a false report (against Aisha) do not think that it will harm you. Rather it will be a benefit to you. Each one of you will face the result of his sin. The one among the group who was the chief instigator will face a great torment.

those who came with the slander were a number of you. Do not regard it evil for you, rather it is good for you. Every person of them shall have the sin that he has earned charged to him. As for he who took upon himself the greater part there is a mightier punishment.

Verily, those who brought forth the slander are a group among you. Consider it not a bad thing for you. Nay, it is good for you. Unto every man among them will be paid that which he had earned of the sin, and as for him among them who had the greater share therein, his will be a great torment.

Those who brought up that slander were a band from among you. Do not regard it as a misfortune, for it is good for you. Every one of them shall be held to account for the sin he has committed; and he who took the greater part in it shall have a terrible punishment.

Those who perpetrated the slander are a band of you. Do not consider it bad for you, but it is good for you. Each person among them bears his share in the sin. As for him who played the major role—for him is a terrible punishment.

Truly those who initiated the slander, the worst calumny against `'isha -- mother of the believers, may God be pleased with her -- accusing her [of fornication], are a band from among yourselves, a group from among the believers. She said [that these were] Hassn b. Thbit, `Abd Allh b. Ubayy, Mistah [b. Uththa], and Hamna bt. Jahsh. Do not suppose, O you believers other than the [mentioned] band, that it is bad for you; rather it is good for you, for God will reward you for it and reveal `'isha's innocence and [the innocence of] the one who [is supposed to have] committed it with her, namely, Safwn [b. al-Mu`attal]. She [`'isha] related; `I accompanied the Prophet (s) during a raid, and this was after the [requirement to wear the] veil had been revealed. When he was through with it [the raid], he headed back [to the campsite] and one night, having drawn close to Medina, he announced that all should march off [home]. So I walked a distance [away from the campsite] and relieved myself. But when I came back to the campsite, [I realised that] my necklace (`iqd meaning qilda) had snapped. So I went back to look for it. In the meantime they had strapped my litter' -- in which one rides -- `thinking that I was inside, for in those days women were slight and ate very small portions (`ulqa). [Finally] I found my necklace, but when I went back to where I had been staying overnight, they had already departed. I sat in the place where I had camped; I assumed that the group would notice my absence and come back for me. But my eyes were overcome [by drowsiness] and I fell asleep. Safwn had pitched camp behind the army to rest for some of the night (`arrasa), then set off while it was still night until he reached the site of the camp. He saw what looked like a person sleeping and recognised me when he [eventually] saw me, having seen me on numerous occasions before the [requirement of the] veil. I woke up to the sound of him saying, `To God we belong and to Him we shall surely return' (inn li'Llhi wa-inn ilayhi rji`n), for he had recognised me. So I concealed my face with my gown (jilbb) -- in other words, I covered it up with my wrap (mul'a). By God he did not so much as say a word to me, nor did I hear him say anything other than the words, `To God we belong and to Him we shall surely return', as he brought his camel to its knees and pressed with his foot against its foreleg [for me to mount it]. I then mounted it and he set off leading me back on the camel until we reached the army which had stopped because of the extreme midday heat; some had died [searching] for me. The one who bore the greater share of it [the sinful accusation] was `Abd Allh b. Ubayy b. Sall' ... her [`'isha's] words end here; this was reported by the two Shaykhs [al-Bukhr and Muslim]. God, exalted be He, says; Upon every man of them shall be the [onus of the] sin which he has earned, in this [affair], and as for him who bore the greater share thereof, that is, [him who] assumed most of [the responsibility for] it, having initiated it and made it public, namely, `Abd Allah b. Ubayy; there will be an awful chastisement for him, namely, the Fire in the Hereafter.

Al-Ifk (the Slander)

The next ten Ayat were all revealed concerning A'ishah, the mother of the believers, may Allah be pleased with her, when the people of slander and falsehood among the hypocrites made their accusations against her and spread lies about her. Allah became jealous on her behalf and on behalf of His Prophet, and revealed her innocence to protect the honor of the Messenger of Allah .

He said;

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ جَاوُوا بِالاِْفْكِ عُصْبَةٌ مِّنكُمْ

Verily, those who brought forth the slander are a group among you.

meaning they were not one or two, but a group.

Foremost among this group was Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul, the leader of the hypocrites, who fabricated the lie and whispered it to others, until some of the Muslims started to believe it, and others thought it might be possible and began to talk about it. This is how matters remained for almost a month, until Qur'an was revealed.

This is reported in Sahih Hadiths.

Imam Ahmad recorded that Az-Zuhri said;

Sa`id bin Al-Musayyib, Urwah bin Az-Zubayr, Alqamah bin Waqqas and Ubaydullah bin Abdullah bin Utbah bin Mas`ud told me about the story of A'ishah, the wife of the Prophet, when the people of the slander said what they said about her, and Allah declared her innocence.

Each of them told something about the story, and some of them knew more details than others or had memorized more than others.

I learned the story from each of them, who had heard it from A'ishah herself, and what one told me confirmed what the others said.

They mentioned that A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, the wife of the Prophet, said;

"When the Messenger of Allah wanted to go on a journey, he would cast lots among his wives, and the one whose lot was drawn would go with him."

A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said,

"So he drew lots among us with regard to a campaign he was going out on, and mine was drawn, so I went out with the Messenger of Allah. This was after the commandment of Hijab had been revealed, so I traveled in my howdah and stayed in it when we camped. We traveled until the Messenger of Allah completed his campaign, then we returned.

As we were approaching Al-Madinah, we paused for a while, then they announced that the journey was to be resumed.

When I heard this, I walked quickly away from the army to answer the call of nature, then I came back to my howdah. Then I put my hand to my chest and noticed that a necklace of mine that was made of onyx and cornelian had broken, so I went back and looked for it, and was delayed because of that. In the meantime, the people who used to lift my howdah onto my camel came along and put it on the camel, thinking that I was inside.

In those times women were more slender and not so heavy, they only ate mouthfuls of food. So the people did not think anything of the howdah being so light when they lifted it up, as I was a young woman.

They set off, and I found my necklace after the army had moved on. Then I came back to the place where we had stopped, and I saw no one to call or answer. So I went to the place where I had been, thinking that the people would miss me and come back for me.

While I was sitting there, I fell asleep. Safwan bin Al-Mu`attal As-Sulami Adh-Dhakwani had rested during the night behind the army. Then he set out just before daybreak and reached the place where I was in the morning, where he saw the outline of a person sleeping. He came to me and recognized me when he saw me, as he had seen me before Hijab was made obligatory for me.

When he saw me and said `Truly, to Allah we belong, and truly, to Him we shall return,'

I woke up, and covered my face with my Jilbab (outer garment).

By Allah, he did not speak a word to me and I did not hear him say anything except `Truly, to Allah we belong, and truly, to Him we shall return,' until he brought his camel and made it kneel so that I could ride upon it, then he set out leading the camel until we caught up with the army at Zuhr time.

There are people who are doomed because of what happened to me, and the one who had the greater share therein was Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul.

When we came back to Al-Madinah, I was ill for a month, and the people were talking about what the people of the slander were saying, and I knew nothing about it. What upset me when I was ill was that I did not see the kindness I used to see on the part of the Messenger of Allah. When I was ill; he would just come in and say,

كَيْفَ تِيكُمْ


How is that (lady)?

That is what upset me. I did not feel that there was anything wrong until I went out after I felt better, and Umm Mistah went out with me, walking towards Al-Manasi`, which is where we used to go to relieve ourselves, and we would not go out for that purpose except at night.

This was before we had lavatories close to our houses; our habit was similar to that of the early Arabs in that we went out into the deserts to relieve ourselves, because we considered it troublesome and harmful to have lavatories in our houses. So I went out with Umm Mistah, who was the daughter of Abu Ruhm bin Al-Muttalib bin Abd Manaf, and her mother was the daughter of Sakhr bin `Amir, the paternal aunt of Abu Bakr As-Siddiq. Her son was Mistah bin Uthathah bin Abbad bin Al-Muttalib.

When we finished what we had to do, the daughter of Abu Ruhm Umm Mistah and I came back towards my house. Umm Mistah stumbled over her apron and said, `May Mistah be ruined!'

I said to her, `What a bad thing you have said! Are you abusing a man who was present at Badr!'

She said, `Good grief, have you not heard what he said!'

I said, `What did he say?'

So she told me what the people of the slander were saying, which made me even more ill.

When I returned home, the Messenger of Allah came in to me and greeted me, then he said,

كَيْفَ تِيكُمْ

How is that (lady)?

I said to him, `Will you give me permission to go to my parents?' At that time I wanted to confirm the news by hearing it from them.

The Messenger of Allah gave me permission, so I went to my parents and asked my mother, `O my mother, what are the people talking about?'

My mother said, `Calm down, for by Allah, there is no beautiful woman who is loved by her husband and has co-wives but those co-wives would find fault with her.'

I said, `Subhan Allah! Are the people really talking about that?' I wept throughout the whole night until morning. My tears never ceased and I did not sleep at all, and morning came while I was still weeping.

Because the revelation had ceased, the Messenger of Allah called Ali bin Abi Talib and Usamah bin Zayd, and consulted with them about divorcing his wife.

As for Usamah bin Zayd, he told the Messenger of Allah about what he knew of his wife's innocence and his fondness for her. He said,

`O Messenger of Allah, she is your wife, and we do not know anything about her but good.'

But Ali bin Abi Talib said,

`O Messenger of Allah, Allah has not imposed restrictions on you, and there are plenty of other women besides her. If you ask her servant girl, she will tell you the truth.'

So the Messenger of Allah called Barirah and said,

أَيْ بَرِيرَةُ هَلْ رَأَيْتِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ يَرِيبُكِ مِنْ عَايِشَةَ

O Barirah, have you ever seen anything that might make you suspicious about A'ishah?

Barirah said to him,

`By the One Who sent you with the truth, I have never seen anything for which I could blame her, apart from the fact that she is a young girl who sometimes falls asleep and leaves her family's dough unprotected so that the domestic goats come and eat it.'

So then the Messenger of Allah got up and (addressed the people) and asked who could sort out Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul for him. While he was standing on the Minbar, the Messenger of Allah said,

يَامَعْشَرَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ مَنْ يَعْذِرُنِي مِنْ رَجُلٍ قَدْ بَلَغَنِي أَذَاهُ فِي أَهْلِ بَيْتِي فَوَاللهِ مَا عَلِمْتُ عَلَى أَهْلِي إِلاَّ خَيْرًا وَلَقَدْ ذَكَرُوا رَجُلًا مَا عَلِمْتُ عَلَيْهِ إِلاَّ خَيْرًا وَمَا كَانَ يَدْخُلُ عَلَى أَهْلِي إِلاَّ مَعِي

O Muslims, who will help me against a man who has hurt me by slandering my family? By Allah, I know nothing about my family but good, and the people are blaming a man of whom I know nothing except good, and he has never entered upon my family except with me.

Sa`d bin Mu`adh Al-Ansari stood up and said,

`O Messenger of Allah, by Allah I will deal with him for you. If he is from (the tribe of) Al-Aws, then I will cut off his head, and if he is from our brothers of (the tribe of) Al-Khazraj, tell us what to do and we will do it.'

Then Sa`d bin Ubadah stood up. He was the leader of Al-Khazraj, and he was a righteous man, but he was overwhelmed with tribal chauvinism. He said to Sa`d bin Mu`adh,

`By Allah, you will not kill him and you will never be able to kill him.'

Then Usayd bin Hudayr, who was the cousin of Sa`d bin Mu`adh, stood up and said to Sa`d bin Ubadah,

`You are lying! By Allah, we will kill him, and you are a hypocrite arguing on behalf of the hypocrites!'

Then the two groups, Al-Aws and Al-Khazraj, started to get angry and were about to come to blows, with the Messenger of Allah standing there on the Minbar, trying to calm them down until they became quiet, then the Messenger of Allah also fell silent.

On that day I kept on weeping so much, my tears never ceased and I did not sleep at all. My parents thought that my liver would burst from all that weeping.

While they were sitting with me and I was weeping, a woman of the Ansar asked for permission to see me. I let her in, and she sat and wept with me. While we were in that state, the Messenger of Allah came in, greeted us and sat down.

He had never sat with me since the rumors began, and a month had passed by without any revelation coming to him concerning my case.

The Messenger of Allah recited the Tashahhud when he sat down, then he said,

أَمَّا بَعْدُ يَا عَايِشَةُ فَإِنَّهُ قَدْ بَلَغَنِي عَنْكِ كَذَا وَكَذَا فَإِنْ كُنْتِ بَرِييَةً فَسَيُبَرِّيُكِ اللهُ وَإِنْ كُنْتِ أَلْمَمْتِ بِذَنْبٍ فَاسْتَغْفِرِي اللهَ ثُمَّ تُوبِي إِلَيْهِ فَإِنَّ الْعَبْدَ إِذَا اعْتَرَفَ بِذَنْبِهِ ثُمَّ تَابَ تَابَ اللهُ عَلَيْهِ

Thereafter, O `A'ishah, I have been told such and such a thing about you, and if you are innocent, then Allah will reveal your innocence, but if you have committed a sin, then seek Allah's forgiveness and turn in repentance to Him, for when a servant confesses his sin and repents to Allah, He accepts his repentance.

When the Messenger of Allah finished what he had to say, my tears stopped completely and I not longer felt even one drop.

Then I said to my father, `Answer the Messenger of Allah on my behalf.'

He said, `I do not know what I should say to the Messenger of Allah.'

So I said to my mother, `Answer the Messenger of Allah on my behalf.'

She said, `I do not know what I should say to the Messenger of Allah.'

So even though I was just a young girl who had not memorized much of the Qur'an, I said;

`By Allah, I know that you have heard so much of this story that it has become planted in your minds and you believe it. So now if I tell you that I am innocent -- and Allah knows that I am innocent -- you will not believe me; but if I admit something to you -- and Allah knows that I am innocent -- you will believe me. By Allah, I cannot find any example to give you except for that which the Prophet Yusuf's father said,

فَصَبْرٌ جَمِيلٌ وَاللّهُ الْمُسْتَعَانُ عَلَى مَا تَصِفُونَ
(So (for me) patience is most fitting. And it is Allah Whose help can be sought against that (lie) which you describe). (12;18)

Then I turned my face away and lay down on my bed.

By Allah, at that point I knew I was innocent and that Allah would prove my innocence because I was innocent, but by Allah, I did not think that Allah would reveal Qur'an that would be forever recited concerning my situation, because I thought of myself as too insignificant for Allah to reveal anything concerning me. But I hoped that the Messenger of Allah would see a dream in which Allah would prove my innocence.

By Allah, the Messenger of Allah did not move from where he was sitting and no one left the house before Allah sent down revelation to His Prophet, and he was overtaken by the state that always overtook him when the revelation came upon him, until drops of sweat like pearls would run down him, even on a winter's day; this was because of the heaviness of the words which were being revealed to him.

When that state passed -- and the Messenger of Allah was smiling -- the first thing he said was,

أَبْشِرِي يَا عَايِشَةُ أَمَّا اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ فَقَدْ بَرَّأَكِ

Be glad O A'ishah, Allah has declared your innocence.

My mother said to me, `Get up and go to him.'

I said, `By Allah, I will not go to him and I will not give praise to anyone except Allah, may He be glorified, for He is the One Who has proven my innocence.'

So Allah revealed;

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ جَاوُوا بِالاِْفْكِ عُصْبَةٌ مِّنكُمْ


Verily, those who brought forth the slander are a group among you, until the ten Ayat.

Allah revealed these Ayat concerning my innocence.

Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, who used to spend on Mistah bin Uthathah because he was a close relative and because he was poor, said, `By Allah, I will never spend anything on him again after what he has said about A'ishah.'

Then Allah revealed,

وَلَا يَأْتَلِ أُوْلُوا الْفَضْلِ مِنكُمْ وَالسَّعَةِ أَن يُوْتُوا أُوْلِي الْقُرْبَى وَالْمَسَاكِينَ وَالْمُهَاجِرِينَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَلْيَعْفُوا وَلْيَصْفَحُوا أَلَا تُحِبُّونَ أَن يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ


And let not those among you who are blessed with graces and wealth swear not to give to their kinsmen, the poor, and those who left their homes for Allah's cause. Let them pardon and forgive. Do you not love that Allah should forgive you And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (24;22)
So Abu Bakr said, `By Allah, certainly I love that Allah should forgive me.'
So he resumed spending on Mistah as he had spent on him before, and he said, `By Allah, I shall never stop spending on him.'
The Messenger of Allah asked Zaynab bint Jahsh about my situation, and said,

يَا زَيْنَبُ مَاذَا عَلِمْتِ أَوْ رَأَيْتِ

O Zaynab, what do you know and what have you seen?

She said, `O Messenger of Allah, may Allah protect my hearing and my sight. By Allah, I know nothing but good.'

She is the one who used to compete with me among the wives of the Prophet, but Allah protected her (from telling lies) because of her piety. But her sister Hamnah bint Jahsh kept on fighting on her behalf, so she was doomed along with those who were doomed."

Ibn Shihab said,

"This is as much as we know about this group of people."

It was also recorded by Al-Bukhari and Muslim in their Sahihs from the Hadith of Az-Zuhri, and by Ibn Ishaq also from Az-Zuhri.

He also said;

"Yahya bin Abbad bin Abdullah bin Az-Zubayr told me from his father, from A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, and Abdullah bin Abi Bakr bin Muhammad bin `Amr bin Hazm Al-Ansari told me from Amrah, from A'ishah, (a report) similar to that quoted above.

And Allah knows best.

Allah's saying;

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ جَاوُوا بِالاِْفْكِ

Verily, those who brought forth the slander,

means, the lies, falsehood and fabrications.

عُصْبَةٌ

are a group,

means, a gang among you.

لَاا تَحْسَبُوهُ شَرًّا لَّكُم

Consider it not a bad thing for you.

O family of Abu Bakr,

بَلْ هُوَ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ

Nay, it is good for you.

means, in this world and the Hereafter, honorable mention in this world and raised status in the Hereafter.

Allah demonstrated the esteem with which He regarded the family of Abu Bakr when He defended A'ishah the Mother of the believers, may Allah be pleased with her, by revealing her innocence in the Qur'an,

لااَّ يَأْتِيهِ الْبَـطِلُ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَلَا مِنْ خَلْفِهِ

Falsehood cannot come to it from before it or behind it. .. (41;42)

Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, entered upon her when she was dying, he said to her,

"Rejoice, for you are the wife of the Messenger of Allah and he used to love you; he did not marry any virgin other than you, and your innocence was revealed from heaven."

لِكُلِّ امْرِيٍ مِّنْهُم مَّا اكْتَسَبَ مِنَ الاِْثْمِ

Unto every man among them will be paid that which he had earned of the sin,

means, each of those who spoke about this matter and accused the Mother of the believers A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, of any immoral action, will have a great share of punishment.

وَالَّذِي تَوَلَّى كِبْرَهُ مِنْهُمْ

and as for him among them who had the greater share therein,

It was said that this referred to the one who initiated the rumors, or that it was the one who collected rumors and spread them among the people.

لَهُ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ



his will be a great torment.

means, for that.

He was Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul, may Allah disfigure him and curse him