The Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him] had a cordial relationship with all of his companions to such an extent that each or them thought and hoped he was the most beloved to him. One day this happened; Narrated Amr bin al- As: "The Prophet [peace. and blessings be upon him] deputed me to lead the Army of Dhat-as-Salasil. I came to him and said: "Who is the most beloved person to you?" He said, " Aisha. I asked, "Among the men?" He said, "Her father i.e [Abubakr] ... [Bukhari]
This answer of the Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him] will make many of us ask the question what is it about Aisha [RA] that made her the most beloved person to him; even more than her father, Abubakr [RA] who did a lot of things for the Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him] and Islam?
Who is Aisha?
She is Aisha bint Abeebakr Abdullaah bn Abee Quhaafah Uthman bin Aamir bin Kab bin Sad bin Murrah al-Qurashiyyah [RA]. Her mother was Umm Ruman bint Aamir bin Uwaymir, from Kinaanah. Born five years after the Messengership of the Prophet Muhammad, [peace and blessings be upon him] in Makkah into the family of the first adult male to accept Islam - Abubakr as-sddeeq [RA]. Aisha [RA] never knew any deen other than Islaam right from the time of her birth. She narrated; Since I reached the age when I could remember things, I have seen my parents worshipping according to the right faith of Islam. [Bukhari].
Thus, through the early periods of her life she was raised to love and worship, Allaah alone and to love and obey the Messenger [peace and blessings be upon him]. She grew up as one of the few females who would grow to know the deen coupled with the art of reading and writing at a time when women were generally considered as lacking any worthy status. Married to the Messenger of Allaah [peace and blessings be upon him] In the month of Shawwal two years preceding the year of the migration of the Messenger [peace and blessings be upon him] from Makkah to Madeenah, her father Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq married Aisha [RA] to the Messenger [peace and blessings be upon him].
She was the second wife [some say the first] to be married by the Messenger [peace and blessings be upon him] after the death of Khadeejah [RA] and the first virgin to be married to him. Aisha was a young girl of six when the Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him] got married to her and the marriage was consummated when she was nine.
Narrated Hisham's father; ...He [the Prophet] married Aisha when she was a girl of six years of age, and he consumed that marriage when she was nine years old .[BuKhari]"
The marriage was divinely inspired. After the marriage the Messenger [peace and blessings be upon him] narrated to her, "I saw you in dreams three nights. An angel brought you covered up in a piece of silk and said, This is your wife I took the cloth off your face and it was you in it and I said, If this is from Allaah it will surely happen. "In the month of Shawwal in the year of Hijrah, after the battle of Badr, Aisha [RA] finally joined the household of the Messenger [peace and blessings be upon him]. So was Aisha's special position to the Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him] in this world. And so shall it be in the Hereafter.
Narrated Abu Wail When Ali sent Ammar and AI-Hasan to (the people of) Kufa to urge them to fight, Ammar addressed them saying, "I know that she (i.e. Aisha) is the wife of the Prophet in this world and in the Hereafter (world to come) ... " [Bukhari]
Her Virtues
Aisha [RA] was so honoured amongst the wives of the Messenger [peace and blessings be upon him], that revelation never came to the Messenger [peace and blessings be upon him] while in the room of anyone of them except in the room of Aisha [RA]. The Messenger [peace and blessings be upon him] spoke to his wives concerning Aisha saying:
"Verily By Allaah! Revelation never came to me while I am in the room of any woman amongst you except her. "(Bukhaari and Muslim).
Once Malak Jibril [AS] visited the Messenger [peace and blessings be upon him] and he [the Messenger] said to her, 0 Aaisha! This is Jibril saying Salaam to you" She said, "May the peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him. You see what we do not see." [Bukhari]. All these clearly show the honour and virtue of Aisha [RA]. Her Knowledge and Eloquence Abu Moosah al-Asharee [RA] narrated that, "No hadeeth (statement of the Messenger [peace and blessings be upon him] or his actions and approvals) gave we the companions problems and we asked Aisha [RA] except that she had knowledge of it." (Tirmidhee).
Besides her knowledge and piety based background, she was herself intelligent and has a highly retentive memory. The science of inheritance is a vast sphere of knowledge. For so many, it’s a field not to be approached. AI-Imaam Masrooq [RH] one of the scholars amongst the taabioon (students of the Companions) and an eminent student of Aisha [RA] said, "I saw the scholars amongst the companions of the Messenger asking her about the science of inheritance." She was equally established in the science of hadeeth and Fiqh. AI-Imaamﾕ Ataa bn Abee Rabaah [RH] said of her, "Aisha was of the most learned amongst the people in Fiqh." AI-Imaam Adh-Dhahabee [RH] said, "Her narrations [from the Messenger] numbered two thousand two hundred and ten."
Urwah bn Zubayr RA was one of her students and was the son of her sister Asmaa bint AbeeBakr. Urwah became one of the most learned people ever in the Ummah. He said, "I never knew anyone more knowledgeable in the verses of the Quraan, matters of Halaal and Haraam, Medicine, the history of the Arabs and their genealogy and poetry than Aisha [RA]."
Aisha's intelligence and knowledge are powered by tier beautiful eloquence. She was so eloquent. Except for her Mahram she generally spoke to the companions and the taabioon from behind the veil. AI-Ahnaf [RH] said, "I have heard the speeches of Abubakr, Umar, Uthmaan, Ali and the Khulafaa after them [RA] l have never heard a speech from the mouth of a created being as majestic and brilliant as that from Aisha [RA]," Her Wisdom and Justice. Aisha [RA] was equally blessed with agreat deal of wisdom as well as good sense of justice. Once, Muawiyah wrote to Aisha asking her to write him a letter giving him advice but not to make it lengthy.
She quickly went into the statement of the Prophet of Allaah [peace and blessings be upon him] and she wrote: Peace be upon you! To proceed: I heard Allah's Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) say:
"If anyone seeks Allaah good pleasure at the cost of men displeasure Allaah will keep from him the trouble caused by men; but if anyone seeks men good pleasure at the cost of Allaah displeasure Allaah will leave him in men hand. " [Tirmidhi]
Aisha [RA] was also noted for her sense of justice irrespective of whoever is concerned. Abdur Rahman ibn Shumasah narrated: I came to Aisha to inquire about something from her. She said: From which country are you? I said: I am from the people of Egypt. She said: What was the behaviour of your governor towards you in this war of yours? (Note: The governor was Malik ibn Ashath who had executed Muammad ibn Abubakr Aisha's brother for his perceived role in the death of Caliph Uthmaan [RA]) I said: We did not experience anything bad from him. If the camel of one of our men died, he would bestow on him another camel. If anyone of us lost his slave, he would give him another slave. If anybody was in need of the basic necessities of life, he would provide them with provisions. She said: Behold! The treatment that was meted out to my brother, Muhammad ibn-AbuBakr, does not prevent me from telling you what I heard from the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings be upon him). He said in this house of mine: O AIlaah, he who (happens to) acquire some kind of control over the affairs of my people and is hard upon them, be you hard upon him, and he who (happens to) acquire some kind of control over the affairs of my people and is kind to them, be You kind to him. [Muslim]
Her Generosity
When it comes to generosity and kindness, Aisha [RA] can hardly be compared to anyone else during her time. A very few people, perhaps her father, Abubakr [RA], seems to be similar to her in this matter! Her generosity has been mentioned in many books of Islamic history. In a particular narration, Urwah bin Zubayr [her niece] said, I saw Aisha [RA] giving seventy thousand dirhams as sadaqah! In another narration, Umm Oharra said, Ibn Zubayr [RA] sent Aisha sent some money in two sacks which amounted to one hundred thousand dirhams and she called for a bowl. She was fasting that day and she began to divide it between people. In the evening, she said, Girl, bring me my fast breaking [meal]. Umm Dharra said, O Umm al-Muminin, out of what you spent you could have used some dirhams to buy some meat with which to break your fast. She said, Dont scold me. If you had reminded me, I would have done it."
[The women of Medina] Her generosity caused a disagreement between her and his nephew. She narrated that she was told that Abdullah bin Az-Zubair [RA] (on hearing that she was selling or giving something as a gift) said, "By AIIaah, if Aisha [RA] does not give up this, I will declare her incompetent to dispose of her wealth." I said; "Did he (,Abdullah bin Az-Zubair) say so?" They (people) said, "Yes." Aisha [RA) said, "I vow to Allaah that I will never speak to Ibn Az-Zubair." People eventually pleaded on behalf of Abdullah bn Zubayr and she accepted and forgave her. [Bukhari] Her care for others Aisha [RA] cared about the condition of other people. This is irrespective of whether they are related to her or not. In a narration in Bukhari, it was narrated that Aisha [RA] paid the price of Barirah[RA] to her former master and manumitted her. She stands out! When compared to the women of her age, Aisha [RA] stand out! ln describing Aisha [RA], the Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him] said about her excellence as compared to other women:
"The excellence of Aisha over other women is like the excellence of tharid over other types of food" [Muslim]
Her Worship Urwah bn Zubayr reported concerning Aaisha [RA], "When I set out, in the morning I start with the room of Aisha[RA] and I say tasleem to her. I set out on a day and met her standing making nawaafil reciting,
"So, AIlaah has been gracious to us and has saved us from the torment of the fire." (Q 52:27)
and making supplications. I stood waiting until I was tired of standing. I went to the market to cater for my needs came back and she was still standing making nawaafil and weeping." He also said of her, "She does not keep what comes to her of Rizq from Allaah except that she gave it out in Sadaqah." The Great Slander, one of the most remarkable points in the life history of Aisha [RA] is the Ifk [slander]. How It Happened. The hypocrites led by Abdullah bin abi Salul, realized the great position that Aisha [RA] occupied in the Prophets life and wanted to attack his honour through her. They slandered and accused her of having committed adultery with a companion called Safwaa bin al-Muttal [RA]. It happened when the Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him] and some of his companions along with Aisha who accompanied him were returning to Madina from a journey.
At one of the stops, Aisha found that her necklace was missing and she went searching for it. She came back to find that the army had departed. She wrapped herself in her clothes and sat waiting for some people to come back for her. After a while, she fell asleep, Safwan bin al-Muattal[RA]was riding behind the army trying to catch up with it. He later found her. He dismounted his camel and waited for her to ride on it, then walked in front of her, leading the camel, until he caught up with the army. The hypocrites saw this as an opportunity to put the family of the Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him] into disrepute and this went on for over a month. Eventually, Allaah revealed a verse in which He declared her innocent of any wrongdoing. Allaah says;
"Verily! Those who spread the slander are a gang among you . [Q 24: 11-20].
The Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him] also said to her [Aisha]: "Indeed) by Allaah, Allaah has declared your innocence [Bukhari] Umm al-Mumineen Allaah says about the wives of the Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him]; "The Prophet is closer to the believers than their own selves and his wives are their mothers ... (Q 33 vs 6)
All the wives of the Messenger [peace and blessings be upon him] got the title of Umm al- Mumineen. So, Umm Abdillah Aisha [RA] never had a child for the Messenger [peace and blessings be upon him] but she is a mother of all believers; male and female. Umm al-Mumineen. Aaisha [RA] lived with the best of mankind the Messenger [peace and blessings be upon him].
She died 58 AH during the Khilaafah of Muaawiyah and Abu Hurayrah [RA]prayed on her corpse. She was buried in al-Baqee .
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited