Al-W¥^idÏ's Asb¥b al-Nuz‰l - The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies ...

Chapter 24: Surah al-Nur
set off for one of his military expedition, and so he drew lots to decide who would accompany him
among us. My lot was drawn and so I travelled with the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him
peace. This happened after the verse of segregation (Hijab) was revealed. I was therefore transported on
my howdah and remained inside it for as long as we travelled. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless
him and give him peace, finished from his military expedition, he travelled back. We were close to Medina
when one night it was announced that we were to make a move. When they announced that they
were moving, I walked until I went far beyond the camp. I relieved myself and headed back toward the
camp. As I was walking back, I felt my chest and noticed that I had dropped my necklace which was
made of gems from Dhafar. I went back to look for my necklace and got delayed. The people who were
in charge of my transportation came along, picked up my howdah and placed it on the mount I was travelling
on, assuming I was inside it. Women at that time were quite slim as a result of eating very little.
This is why the lightness of the howdah did not disturb any of those men when they picked it up and
placed it on the mount. Moreover, I was quite young. And so they made the camel to stand and set off.
My necklace was found only after they had moved camp. I went back to the camp and found it deserted.
I headed toward the spot where I was camping and stayed there. I figured that people will notice my
absence and come back to fetch me. As I was sitting in my location, my eyes dropped and I slept. Safwan
ibn al-Mu‘attil al-Sulami/al-Dhakwani had camped behind the army. He set off the night before and by
morning he reached my spot. He saw the silhouette of a person sleeping and came toward me. When he
saw me, he recognized me because he had seen me before I was commanded to stay out of the sight of
men. When he said ‘Verily, we are unto Allah and unto Him we shall return’, 6 upon recognizing me, I
woke up and covered my face with my outer garment. By Allah, he did not speak to me with another
word nor did I hear him utter any other words except ‘Verily, we are unto Allah and unto Him we shall
return’. He made his camel kneel down, stepped on its front legs [so that it does not move suddenly] and
I mounted it. He led the mount until we caught up with the army which had stopped to rest from the heat
of the afternoon. Slander against me started at that point, and the main person behind it was ‘Abd Allah
ibn Ubayy ibn Salul. When we arrived at Medina, I fell ill for a month, all while people were engaged in
the talk of those who slandered me. What made me bewildered during the time I was ill was that the
Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, did not show toward me the gentleness I was
used to see from him when I was sick. He would enter, greet me the greeting of peace and simply say
‘how art thou’ This used to pain me but I was still unaware of the evil that was going on. I started going
out after my health improved. I went along with Umm Mistah toward the location where we relieve ourselves.
We did not go to this location except at night. This happened before we had lavatories at our
houses. Before that our custom was that of the Arabs as far as relieving oneself is concerned, we disliked
having lavatories close to our houses. I went out with Umm Mistah to the lavatory’. Umm Mistah was the
daughter of Abu Ruhm ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib ibn ‘Abd Manaf and her mother was the daughter of Sakhr
ibn ‘Amir; she was the maternal aunt of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq and her son was Mistah ibn Uthathah ibn
‘Abbad ibn al-Muttalib. As we were returning home, after we finished, Umm Mistah stumbled on her
raiment and fell. She said [out of anger]: ‘May Mistah be wretched!’ I said to her: ‘What an awful thing to
say! Do you insult a man who has fought at Badr’ She said: ‘Did you not hear what he said’ ‘And what
did he say’ I asked. And so she informed me about the slander perpetuated against me. I got even more
ill. When I went back to my house, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, came in
and after greeting me and asking me how I was, I said: ‘Allow me to go to my parents!’ I wanted then to
ascertain the matter from both of them. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace,
gave me permission to go to my parents. I asked my mother: ‘Mother, what are people saying about me’
She said: ‘My daughter, pay little attention to what is being said. By Allah, it is seldom that a man marries
a beautiful woman except that the other co-wives cause troubles for her’. I said: ‘Glory be to Allah, did
people say this about me and the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, heard about
it’ When she answered in the affirmative, I cried all night until the morning. I could not stop crying nor
was I able to sleep’. When revelation was slow to come, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give
him peace, summoned ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib and Usamah ibn Zayd to consult them about leaving his wife.
As for Usamah ibn Zayd, his advice to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was
given on the basis of his knowledge that the Prophet’s wife was innocent and also because of the affection
6
This Qur’anic expression is known as Istirja‘, and apart from its obvious meaning, it is used in many other contexts such as expressing
one’s utter helplessness or bewilderment or even protest.
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