Al-Jalalayn

Al-Jalalayn — Al-Jalalayn

Truly those who initiated the slander the worst calumny against ‘Ā’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 Hassān b. Thābit ‘Abd Allāh b. Ubayy Mistah b. Uthātha 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 ‘Ā’isha’s innocence and the innocence of the one who is supposed to have committed it with her namely Safwān b. al-Mu‘attal. She ‘Ā’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 qilāda 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. Safwān 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’ innā li’Llāhi wa-innā ilayhi rāji‘ūn for he had recognised me. So I concealed my face with my gown jilbāb — in other words I covered it up with my wrap mulā’a.

Al-Jalalayn — Al-Jalalayn

Why when you first heard about it did the believing men and women not think good of themselves that is why did some not think good of others and say ‘This is a manifest calumny?’ this is a patent lie? there is a shift here in the address from the second to the third person in other words why did you not assume good of them O band of believers and say

Al-Jalalayn — Al-Jalalayn

Why did they that is this band of accusers not produce four witnesses to it? who had witnessed it. And since they did not produce the witnesses those in God’s sight in His judgement they are liars in this matter.

Al-Jalalayn — Al-Jalalayn

And were it not for God’s bounty to you and His mercy in the life of this world and the Hereafter there would have befallen you for what you O band of accusers engaged in for what you indulged in an awful chastisement in the Hereafter;

Al-Jalalayn — Al-Jalalayn

when you were receiving it welcomingly with your tongues that is to say when you were reporting it one from the other one of the two letters tā’ has been omitted from the verb tatalaqqawnahu ‘you were receiving it’; idh ‘when’ is dependent because of massakum ‘befallen you’ or afadtum ‘engaged in’ and were uttering with your mouths that whereof you had no knowledge supposing it to be a light matter a sinless act while with God it was grave in sinfulness.