Al-W¥^idÏ's Asb¥b al-Nuz‰l - The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies ...
Al-W¥^idÏ's Asb¥b al-Nuz‰l - The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies ...
Al-W¥^idÏ's Asb¥b al-Nuz‰l - The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies ...
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Asbab <strong>al</strong>-Nuzul<br />
until I go and bring four witnesses. By <strong>Al</strong>lah, by the time I go to bring them, the man would have finished<br />
his business’. Not a long time had passed after this incident when Hil<strong>al</strong> ibn Umayyah found a man with<br />
his wife upon returning in the afternoon from his field. He saw with his eyes and heard with his ears. He<br />
did not react and waited until the following morning and went to see the Messenger of <strong>Al</strong>lah, <strong>Al</strong>lah bless<br />
him and give him peace. He said to him: ‘O Messenger of <strong>Al</strong>lah, I went to my wife in the afternoon and<br />
found her with a man. I saw them with my own eyes and heard them with my own ears’. <strong>The</strong> Messenger<br />
of <strong>Al</strong>lah, <strong>Al</strong>lah bless him and give him peace, disliked what he heard and was greatly distressed as a result.<br />
‘Ubadah ibn <strong>al</strong>-Samit said then: ‘Now the Messenger of <strong>Al</strong>lah, <strong>Al</strong>lah bless him and give him peace,<br />
will flog Hil<strong>al</strong> ibn Umayyah and his testimony will be void among the Muslims’. Hil<strong>al</strong> said: ‘By <strong>Al</strong>lah, I am<br />
hoping that <strong>Al</strong>lah will make for me a way out of this’. <strong>The</strong>n he said: ‘O Messenger of <strong>Al</strong>lah, I can see that<br />
you are distressed because of what I have told you. But <strong>Al</strong>lah knows that I am saying the truth’. By <strong>Al</strong>lah,<br />
just as the Messenger of <strong>Al</strong>lah, <strong>Al</strong>lah bless him and give him peace, was about to order his flogging, the<br />
revelation from heaven came to him. When the revelation came to him, the prophetic Companions knew<br />
about it by the change in the complexion of his skin. <strong>The</strong>y held back until the revelation stopped. <strong>The</strong><br />
following verse was reve<strong>al</strong>ed (As for those who accuse their wives but have no witnesses except themselves)<br />
up to the end. <strong>The</strong> Messenger of <strong>Al</strong>lah, <strong>Al</strong>lah bless him and give him peace, was relieved. He said: ‘Good<br />
news for you, O Hil<strong>al</strong>! <strong>Al</strong>lah has put you at ease and made for you a way out’. Hil<strong>al</strong> exclaimed: ‘That is<br />
what I was hoping for from my Lord’ ”. 4 And the he mentioned the rest of the narration.<br />
Muhammad ibn ‘Abd <strong>al</strong>-Rahman ibn Muhammad <strong>al</strong>-Faqih informed us> Muhammad ibn Muhammad<br />
ibn Sinan <strong>al</strong>-Muqri’> Ahmad ibn ‘<strong>Al</strong>i <strong>al</strong>-Muthanna> Abu Khaythmah> Jarir> <strong>al</strong>-A‘mash> Ibrahim><br />
‘<strong>Al</strong>qamah> ‘Abd <strong>Al</strong>lah who said: “We were in the mosque on Thursday night when a man from the Helpers<br />
came in and said: ‘A man finds his wife with another man [what can he do]. If he speaks about it, you<br />
will flog him; if he kills the man, you will kill him; and if he keeps quiet, he will suffer inwardly. By <strong>Al</strong>lah,<br />
I will ask the Messenger of <strong>Al</strong>lah, <strong>Al</strong>lah bless him and give him peace, about this’. <strong>The</strong> following morning<br />
he went to the Messenger of <strong>Al</strong>lah, <strong>Al</strong>lah bless him and give him peace, and said: ‘If a man finds his<br />
wife with another man [what can he do]. If he speaks about it, you will flog him; if he kills the man, you<br />
will kill him; and if he keeps quiet, he will suffer inside. O <strong>Al</strong>lah, clarify the matter for us’, and he began<br />
making supplications. <strong>The</strong> verse of the public imprecation (li‘an) was reve<strong>al</strong>ed after that (As for those who<br />
accuse their wives but have no witnesses except themselves). One of the people was tried with this and so<br />
he came with his wife to the Messenger of <strong>Al</strong>lah, <strong>Al</strong>lah bless him and give him peace, for public imprecation.<br />
<strong>The</strong> man gave testimony by <strong>Al</strong>lah four times that he was saying the truth, on the fifth occasion he<br />
invoked <strong>Al</strong>lah’s curse on himself if he was lying. When his wife was about to contribute her part of this<br />
public imprecation, the Messenger of <strong>Al</strong>lah, <strong>Al</strong>lah bless him and give him peace, asked her not to, but she<br />
went ahead and did it. <strong>The</strong> Messenger of <strong>Al</strong>lah, <strong>Al</strong>lah bless him and give him peace, said: ‘<strong>The</strong> child she<br />
will give birth to will be black with curly hair’. And, surely, she gave birth to a child who was black and<br />
had curly hair”. 5 This was narrated by Muslim from Abu Khaythmah.<br />
(Lo! they who spread the slander are a gang among you…) [24:11].<br />
Abu’l-Hasan ‘<strong>Al</strong>i ibn Muhammad <strong>al</strong>-Muqri’ informed us> Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn ‘<strong>Al</strong>i <strong>al</strong>-Muqri’><br />
Abu Ya‘la> Abu’l-Rabi‘> <strong>al</strong>-Zahrani> Fulayh ibn Sulayman <strong>al</strong>-Madani> <strong>al</strong>-Zuhri> ‘Urwah ibn <strong>al</strong>-Zubayr><br />
Sa‘id ibn <strong>al</strong>-Musayyab> ‘<strong>Al</strong>qamah ibn Waqqas> ‘Ubayd <strong>Al</strong>lah ibn ‘Abd <strong>Al</strong>lah ibn ‘Utbah> ‘A’ishah, the<br />
wife of the Messenger of <strong>Al</strong>lah, <strong>Al</strong>lah bless him and give him peace, when she was slandered by a group<br />
of people and <strong>Al</strong>lah, ex<strong>al</strong>ted is He, exonerated her from what they accused her of. <strong>Al</strong>-Zuhri said: “<strong>Al</strong>l of<br />
them related to me a portion of her narration. Some of them remembered better what she related to them<br />
but they related only a summary of the report. I remembered <strong>al</strong>l the reports related to me by each one of<br />
them. <strong>Al</strong>l the reports they related to me support each other. <strong>The</strong>y mentioned that ‘A’ishah, may <strong>Al</strong>lah be<br />
well pleased with her, the wife of the Prophet, <strong>Al</strong>lah bless him and give him peace, said: ‘When the Messenger<br />
of <strong>Al</strong>lah, <strong>Al</strong>lah bless him and give him peace, travelled, he was in the habit of drawing lots, such<br />
that the one among his wives whose name is drawn travelled with him. On one occasion, he wanted to<br />
4<br />
Tabari, :82; Qurtubi, :183; Durr, :133-135.<br />
5<br />
Tabari, :84; Qurtubi, :184; Durr, :136-137.<br />
164
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