Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 1 of 2

'Ali ibn Abi T6lib 169
that it was in the Prophet's best interests, and he believed that
because of what he saw of the extent of his anxiety and upset, so he
did his best to advise him sincerely because he wanted to put his
mind at rest."412 ' Ali (*) did not say any word that could be
understood as criticising 'A'ishah (&,) in the slightest or implying
anything negative about her.413 h at her his opinion of her was good;
all he was saying was: if you want to put your mind at rest about this
problem, then there are many others besides her, and if you want to
reach the truth of the matter, then ask the slave woman, and she will
tell you the truth, which is that 'A'ishah was innocent. Then after that
the Messenger of AUah (g) addressed the people and explained that
'A'ishah was innocent and pointed out the seriousness of tarnishing
his honour wrongfully on the basis of fabrication. The advice of both
'Ali and Usimah looked positive and was in the interests of 'kishah
(&), and it increased the Prophet's conviction of what he knew of
his wife's goodness.414
The reader should be wary of the worthless and false reports
which suggest that 'Ali (+) said negative things about 'kishah
(&) with regard to the slander, on which some researchers have built
the notion that 'A'ishah (I&,) hated 'Ali (&), resented him, falsely
accused him of killing '&%I (&) and rebelled against him,
inciting huge numbers of Muslims to do likewise.415 These
researchers include 'Ali Ibr2heem Hasan in at-Tareekh al-Zslami ul-
'iim and Taha Hussein in his book 'Ali wa Banuhu4I6, and others.
We will discuss the strong relationship between the Mother of the
Believers 'kishah (&) and 'Ali (&) below inshallah, when we
discuss the Battle of the Camel.
The story of the slander is one of a series of trials and
hardships that the Messenger of Allah (s) encountered at the hands
of the enemies of the faith, but by kah's kindness towards His
Prophet and the believers, He exposed its faults, and the sound