The Great Accusation
By Mufti Menk | 2026-01-12T07:16:28.186645+00:00 | Topic: Iman
The Great Accusation
By Mufti Menk
Opening
"[Peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you]"
"[In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful]"
"[I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan]"
"[In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful]"
Opening Quranic Verse
"Indeed, those who came with falsehood are a group among you. Do not think it bad for you; rather it is good for you. For every person among them is what [punishment] he has earned from the sin; and he who took upon himself the greater portion thereof - for him is a great punishment."
Main Khutbah
If they had not heard it, they would have thought that it was a lie. So, as he came in, Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم would ask this question. And Aisha was a little bit uneasy, she did not know.
She used to be at home all the time. She was at home. She hardly went out.
The Discovery of the Accusations
One day she went out with a lady known as Umm Mistah. Umm Mistah was the cousin of Abu Bakr As- Siddiq, which means Abu Bakr As-Siddiq's cousin would be the aunt of Aisha. One of the aunts of Aisha was the second in order cousin.
Now, when the two of them went to Aisha as they were walking by, and they went together, Umm Mistah says, that is Umm Mistah. Now, that could mean, Umm Mistah is at a great loss, or in another wording, perhaps destruction of Umm Mistah. Now, that is her own son.
She is saying, he is at a loss, or destruction being upon him, or what a loss he is in. And Aisha says, how could you say that? That is a man who took part in the battle of Badr, and you are saying that he is at a loss? What is it? So, Umm Mistah looks at Aisha and says, did you not hear what he is saying? She says, no, what did he say? What is he saying? Then, she told him, she told her, she told Aisha that they are accusing you of having done wrong with Safwan Ibn Mu'attal. And this is where she says, I was sick
anyway, meaning I was feeling ill because of the treatment I was getting from Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم which was not bad, but it was not good either.
The Importance of Communication in Marriage
And I was used to so good treatment. You know, those who have husbands or wives, every time they are smiling at you, and they are so happy, and they always ask you brilliant questions, how are you, and they are always looking, informing you every time, and asking you even when they are away from you, what is happening, and so on. And the day you just see them somber, something tells you, did I do something wrong? It is not like they are doing something bad to you, they are just a little bit somber.
They perhaps have an attitude that you are not used to. So, they, we would feel, obviously, that if I did something wrong, did I say something wrong, are you sure this is okay? You know, I always tell people that, and this is supposed to say, and it used to be used to address the women, but now you address the men as well with the same advice. When you are upset, please communicate that you are upset.
Say why. When you are not feeling well, don't just be looking sad and upset and angry without telling your spouse that, you know, I am not feeling well because I have a back pain, or my baby is aching, or I have a headache. It solves a lot of problems.
We don't realize that people sometimes create problems by not explaining or not communicating why they are sad. So, the poor husband is crying, you know, he brings you a rose, and as he gives it to you and he is smiling, you should come in. It really leaves a bad taste in the mouth, or should I say in the heart, because here is a man trying to make you smile, and he perhaps got the rose from wherever, I hope it is not from the graveyard.
He got the rose from wherever it is, and he came and gave it to you, and now you are just looking at him. You need to tell him, I am really not feeling well, but thank you so much for listening, and so on. That is just the point we learn, but let's get back to the story.
Aisha's Reaction to the News
So, Aisha, Allahumma says, I was feeling unwell, and this made me even more unwell. And I was a young innocent person who had never done anything wrong, not at all, not at all. And she says, you know, here we are listening to people talking.
I began to cry, and she was crying, and she says, I got back home, and the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم greeted me, salamu alaikum, and he says, take care. You know the question, how was that one? And she says, I asked him, please can I go to meet my parents? Beautiful question, imagine. Please can I go and see my parents, there is a problem here, obviously she didn't say the whole detail, but she knows that there is an issue. Can I go and visit my parents? And he says, yes you may, yes you may. So she ran home. At that time it wasn't far away, you know, you married in Australia and your parents lived in Britain.
Subhanallah, it wasn't as bad as that. It was around the corner, not even around the corner, perhaps even less than that. I was actually told now that the Medina of Allah, the size of the Haram that we see today, is
larger than the size of the entire Medina of the time of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم
So you can imagine where the house was. Just in the next stop, Allahumma, Allah found us good with it. So, amazingly, we find when she goes home, she told her mother, mum, you know, this is what people are saying, listen, I come now from Umm Mistah, and this is what they are saying, and so on and so forth.
The Mother's Comfort and Advice
And the mother says, you know what? This is the comfort of the mother. Um Quman, only Allahumma, I am the wife of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, only Allahumma. Mother of Aisha, only Allahumma.
She says, you know, my beloved daughter, you are a young, pretty girl who is married, your husband is so happy with you, he loves you so much, you will definitely get people who say things here and there. You know, just take it easy. You know, people say, relax, take it easy.
Don't worry, just ignore these people. They say things, they don't always say things. You know, my father always tells me, if you want to gauge your success, just count your enemies.
If they are decreasing in number, you are becoming more successful. If they are decreasing in number, something is wrong. Allahu Akbar.
Something big is wrong. Even if you have a business, and now your business is booming, you will know that you are doing well when people really are trying so hard to do you down. That's when you know, Alhamdulillah, something right is happening.
But the minute everyone is okay with you, I think you can do better. I think you can do better. Don't look at those who spread rumor about you and those who hate you as something bad.
It actually is a sign of recognition that you have achieved something, subhanAllah. In most cases, it is a sign of recognition. And even Allah wants you to develop further.
Because when people really want to see you down, and you are determined to work harder, you will work much harder than you would have had if no one wanted to see your downfall. So you will be more alert and you will be more aware of what's going on and so on. May Allah help us all grow in a good way. Ameen. So, the mother gives you a beautiful advice and says don't worry and so on. But, she was not happy.
She was crying, crying so much. And Allah definitely had a plan. Anyway, Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم this thing lasted a month.
The Head of the Hypocrites
And things started becoming clear. Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul, who was the head of the hypocrites, who had a gripe against Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم . One of the reasons was because they were about to appoint him the leader of Medina.
When Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم made hijrah to Medina, and he was appointed the leader, obviously as a nabi. So he had a gripe to say, okay, I will just pretend to be a Muslim, but my aim is to drop him and his family and all the good beliefs and so on, and to really make sure that whatever happens will happen negative and not positive. So this was Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul.
He was known as the head of the hypocrites in Medina Munawwarah. He caused a lot of problems.
One of them was, he created the tale. He made up the story. Wallahi, my brothers and sisters, this happens in our communities, nearly every community.
And sometimes our tongues get meshed. And sometimes between two people. It is one of the most dangerous things.
The Seven Major Sins
Today I was reading the hadith of Abu Hurairah, which is Muttafaq alayh, where the Prophet صلى الله :says عليه وسلم
(Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith 2766 & Sahih Muslim Hadith 89)
"Stay away from the seven major sins. The seven sins which will bring severe punishment."
The sin would commit or would cause a lot of punishment to be drawn towards us. And one of the things is to accuse the innocent believing women of that which they did not do. And obviously men will be included as well.
But the hadith makes mention of women. Because people are creeping to accuse women. A man can get up and praise himself.
Hey, what are you talking about? I'll beat you up. I'll do this. A man can do a lot of things.
But a woman, sometimes she has no option but to sit back and perhaps ask Allah's help. Sometimes there is very little she can do to. Allah will take the dignity of our women.
And may He honor and respect them. May He make us of those who can respect them and speak highly of them.
The Danger of Spreading Rumors
So what happens in our society is we nudge each other and we say, you know what, did you see that? You know what, you saw those two things, they are having an affair.
Those are the words we are talking about today. They are having an affair. You know what that means? You have accused them of the most dangerous thing that you can ever accuse a woman.
What's going on here? You know what the verse says in our language today? Allah protects. It is a dangerous word. So dangerous that if we cause the downfall of ourselves, our offspring sometimes, our
surroundings and generations to follow sometimes, we find the damage of the statement being uttered.
May Allah protect us. More so, we ourselves will face the wrath of it in our lives before we actually die. We face the wrath of it.
Today, I like to think, you know, a lot of people go through a lot of divorce. May Allah protect us. Obviously for the right reasons.
But sometimes you wonder, why did this happen? And sometimes you just begin to think, did Allah penalize these people? Are they punished because they utter words about others? So you talk about the marriages of others negatively, what happens in yours? You talk about the children of others negatively, what would happen? What happens to your children? You talk about the lives of others negatively, see your life go upside down. This is why we have stories like this mentioned in the Quran. This did not happen because any one of them would close their mouth, to close their mouth because the minute we open our mouth, we enter the ranks of those like Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul, the head of the hypocrites.
It's just that there's no revelation to actually pinpoint who are the head of the hypocrites. But we may just be some of them. May Allah never do that to us.
Watch your tongues, my brothers and sisters. Be careful. Who you say what about, or what you say about others, Allah cannot escape.
Quranic Revelation About the Incident
So, you find that Allah has made mention of the detail of this in surah An-Nur, starting from verse number 11 all the way up to quite a few verses, 10 verses all at once, and the other verses a little bit later.
And even before these verses, in the world of the Quran, there is made mention of rules and regulations of accusations of human beings, women in particular, although a person who accuses a man is also included in that. Beautiful how a woman is made mention of in the Quran, but the ruling is for men as well.
Sometimes women say, you know, every time Allah speaks in masculine gender, saying, oh, the men, who do you believe? It's obviously men and so on. Why is it the greatest inclusion by the way? But these are verses where men are included by the way. So if you accuse a woman, that's what the Quran says, then you should be punished in this way.
But men are included in that. If you were to accuse a man, the same thing would happen. May Allah protect us all.
The Punishment for False Accusation
So, Aisha, they created the tale, Abdullah ibn Ubayy Masud, and he was the main one who fabricated it. He faced the punishment in the dunya and in the akhirah, in the dunya as well. There was a time when he lost his eyesight, and so many things happened to him, and he was known as the worst.
He had a bad life. He led a life of misery because of the rotten behavior that he had, because of what he did. And there were others who had misused their tongues.
Some of them engaged in tawbah later on, so Allah forgave them later on, and they were forgiven also by the family of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, by Aisha, and by Rasulullah, and so on. But they had misused their tongues initially, such as, we'll give you examples, made mention of in the books of Tarikh, and even in the ahadith. Hassan ibn Thabit, may Allah be pleased with him, was one of those whom, by error, he spread the tale.
So, he did not create the news, but he told people, if you hear what happened, you should say, this is what's going on. And one of them was, Mistah ibn Uthathah, we heard the name of, may Allah be pleased with him, they engaged in tawbah because they were forgiven, and their tawbah has been mentioned as well, but, they spread the tale. When the tale was spread, they were known as those who did the wrong thing.
One of them was Hamnah bint Jahsh, may Allah be pleased with her, she also uttered a few bad words against Aisha. So, what happened? Their names were recorded in history, and they were known, and they became people who were known as those who fell. Halaka man halak, you know, whoever fell in it, fell in it, they were from amongst them.
May Allah protect us. And then there were others who did not fall in it. We'll get to that in a moment. But let's go back to this Aisha, may Allah protect her. Innocent girl. Innocent lady.
Aisha's Suffering During the Trial
Innocent. Very innocent. Pure.
Completely pure. And people are spreading a tale that now has gone to the ears of so many. So, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was already very somber in his behavior, because he wanted closure here.
He wanted to know what happened, and revelation would inform him, but revelation had not come. So many days were passing. So, Aisha, may Allah protect her, asks her mother, that are the people of the city talking about it? And she says, yes, they are talking about it.
Which means the rumor is being spread by certain people, and some are spreading the tale. So, watch out. She began to cry.
She could not sleep properly. She could not eat properly. She used to cry so much.
She says, my tears ran out. I'm making dua to Allah. I know I'm clean.
I know Allah is going to clear my name. I know so much, but look at this. People are spreading tales. People I know. People who we know very well. People who are related to us, are saying bad words about us.
And subhanAllah, it is a test from Allah to watch, to watch who is going to do the right thing and who is going to fall. And at the same time, it was there in order to elevate the status of Aisha, may Allah protect her, and to teach mankind thereafter a lesson up to Qiyamah as to how to behave, and how to utter, and how to look at things. May Allah grant us protection.
The Prophet's Consultation
So, 30 days later, a long time later, the time I take it came. But if you take a look at how it came, it's amazing because Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) one day called Ali. And then all of a sudden, Ali says, come here.
I want to ask you. What should I do in this regard? Obviously, Ali, is the cousin of Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and he was supposed to love her by way of Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) because he was seeking Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم). And, so he asked him, what should I do? So Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, we only know her to be very pure.
She is clean and innocent. She is completely and totally innocent. And we may mention good qualities of Aisha and Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and that Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) also mentioned good words of Aisha too.
If it is true, we want to find out. Why don't you ask the one who works for her, known as Barirah, Barirah worked for Aisha. She was one of the slaves who was freed by Aisha.
So Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) called Barirah and asked her, what do you think? She says, you know what? Listen to this. She is a young girl, very innocent. She is at home and she is so free.
And we may mention good things about Aisha. When Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) got up and he spoke to his companions, one of them says, Who is going to avenge me? This man here or a person whose heart has reached my family. Who can sort this man out basically?
Who is the man? But the name was not mentioned yet.
The Public Confrontation
Which means that Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is so upset that he now is believing with women. This is entirely wrong. We need to talk about it.
We need to stop doing it. So, you find that man, he gets up and he says, I believe in the man. You tell me who he is.
It is from these people we believe in him in this way. It is from all people we believe in him in that way. We will talk about it.
Who is he? Say his name. And immediately the second thing, Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) one of the high level Salafi felt that these people might just kill a man from amongst us. So, he got up and in the army Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) saidono, no.
We won't execute you. We can do something else. And two began to debate.
The Moment of Revelation
Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was sitting there and Aisha said, I was crying, crying so much that my tears had stopped flowing because there were no tears left. And I don't know what to do. And I don't know you know, I absolutely have no idea besides the mercy of Allah.
It is Allah alone who will come through with some form of clarification. She said, I never expected the verses of Allah to be revealed because I felt my issue was so small to be mentioned in such a great word of Allah. But I knew that somehow making a dream of Allah means the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) will get him to know.
And he will know clearly that this is absolutely from Allah. So, she then says, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) came to my wife one day and he says, Oh Aisha. He greeted her and he said, Oh Aisha, you know, if you ever come from abroad, tell us.
You know, Allah is so forgiving and so kind that he spoke to her that day. And he said, If not, Allah will be real. Allah will clear your name.
Allah will clear your name. May Allah grant us all good reputation. And may Allah protect our women, especially from being accused of bad acts which they have not done.
And may Allah grant us the ability to recognize their lies and seriousness of words which we talk about a lot, which hurt a lot of people, which are untrue, and the fact that they have technically returned to hurt us negatively unless we engage in hellfire and ask the person for forgiveness. May Allah forgive us.
So, she says, I told my father, Oh my father, answer him on my behalf.
In front of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) she is saying, Oh my father, give an answer to me, my behalf. What is the father going to say? He says, Oh my daughter, I don't know what to say to Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم). So she says, I told him. My mother says, Oh my mother, say something to him.
So Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) she says I don't know what to say to Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) . And she was crying. And when she was crying, there was a visitor who was asked to enter. Just before, this time I don't say this, she had allowed this lady to enter and the two of them were crying together.
So, you know when people spread rumour about someone, they don't want to meet anyone, they don't want to see anyone, they don't trust anyone anymore, because anyone who visited could just be a person who wants to come and collect tales and spread even more tales. But, there was one lady who came and she was genuine, she was allowed in, she bought Ayatullah Manha, she came in and at the same time she helped her cry. Helped her cry, meaning she was with her and saying, don't worry, and so on.
And the two of them were sobbing and crying together. So she says, then Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) got up and as he's walking away, revelation came to him. And when revelation came to him, the
moment after the revelation came to him, he turns around and he says, Ya Aisha, That is a powerful word.
Powerful word, good news to you O Aisha. A month has passed, crying, so much happening. If my husband believes it, I am absolutely innocent, there is nothing else I want.
You know between husband and wife, if for as long as the two of you believe in innocence of the other, there is no harm. People can say one way but for as long as you know, your spouse knows. And you know when it happens to a person not relating to their spouse, then for as long as you know and Allah knows, there is nothing else for you to worry about.
Perhaps Allah wants something greater for you. It is the point of success that people sometimes spread rumour about you. I sometimes think that if there is no rumour about you, you can actually do better. People might think, what does it mean? Who made you go to my wife? Allah protect us. There was even little children. You find at school, one says something about my other.
From that age, they are already going on. Rumour must listen, deep listen. Oh well, she cheated in the examination.
The Revelation of Verses
But I didn't cheat. But that was just because I wanted you to get a zero. It happens.
You are doing well, that is what it means. Allah protect us. Just make sure that nothing is true.
Allah So, he says, Allah has revealed Quran in your regards. And he began to read verses and the mother says, get up, get up to him. Get up and embrace him.
And she says, no way. It is Allah who clears my name. Look at that.
Allah made mention of him in a hadith. And even in the books of Tafsir, he also makes mention of it where the narration that says, the mother says, get up to him. And she says, no, I will thank Allah.
And Allah knows she is in an emotional state. Now, the verses have been revealed.
Those who have come with a great accusation, I think it is a great accusation.
Those who have made up this great accusation are from amongst you. They are a group from amongst you. Which means they are in your midst. They are from amongst you. A group from you. They have come up with this fabrication.
Allah says, don't think it is bad for you. It is actually good for you. Without a brain, you wouldn't be able to understand.
But, take a look at the cleanliness of Aisha. It has become kufr to believe that Aisha was unclean. Why? Because it is denial of the verses of the Qur'an.
So, if you take a look at people who swear, you will find that the Qur'an has brought upon the verses that have mentioned the purity to the degree that if a person denies the verses of the Qur'an, they would leave the fold of Islam. And this is why we say that the purity of Aisha is undisputed because it is a verse of the Qur'an that we cannot deny. She was known as a person who, her purity was mentioned from the seven heavens.
Meaning Allah revealed. May Allah bless us. May Allah bless her.
And may He really unite us with Ummahatul Mu'mineen in a way that is befitting in general. May we learn from them. May we see them.
Whatever Allah wills, may He grant us that goodness in general in their hearts. And may He bring us all together as well to His mercy. Amen.
The Divine Wisdom Behind the Trial
So, this was a great accusation. And Allah says it is better for you. It is good for you.
Indeed it is better for you. It is good for you.
And for them who swear in, Allah says:
Each one of them who spread the tale and was involved in it, in any way, shall taste part of the punishment.
The punishment they deserve. The portion of punishment they deserve. So, when I miss my tongue or you miss your tongue, spread a rumour about someone.
Remember Allah has said, the portion of punishment will definitely visit you at some stage. So, watch what you say. And this is an accusation against anyone or anything.
Although the lesson is derived from the great accusation. This is why it's mentioned in the Quran. For us to derive lesson from it.
Not just for us to be people who say, wow, beautiful verses, beautiful story and walk away. No. And I'm involved in spreading rumour about someone in my hand.
Wow, I need to learn from these verses. And if I haven't, I've wasted my time being a Muslim because I don't even know what the Quran is all about. Allah.
And the source of it, the root of it, the one who created the tale, the main culprit shall face severe punishment. Severe punishment is awaiting the one who was the source of it. So, every tale has a
source.
Every story has a source. And the source will obviously receive the bulk of the punishment.
The Example of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari
Then Allah makes mention of a beautiful verse thereafter.
You see, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, he was a man al-Ansari. His name was Khalid ibn Zayd al-Ansari. A beautiful, powerful man, loved by all and so on. He served Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) in so many ways, especially just when the hijrah happened and so on. And this wife, Um Ayyub, told him, O Abu Ayyub, did you hear what the people are saying about Aisha?
Immediately, he said, you should not be saying these words. Would you ever do that, Um Ayyub? She says, never.
So he said, well, know that Aisha is purer than you. The story is closed. Did you hear the question? Would you ever do that, Um Ayyub? She said, never.
Well, you should then know that Aisha is purer than you. Like I said at the beginning, if we know that in our midst or within ourselves, we would never do this thing or something that is bad, we should know that those who are Sahabah, they would never have done that. May Allah help us.
The Proper Response to Accusations
So this is why he asked the question, would you do it? No. Well, if you would not do it, she would never ever have done it. It's over.
Don't even talk about it. So Allah says, and making this incident and giving advice and warning those who uttered the words:
Why, when you heard it, did not the believing men and believing women think good of one another and say, "This is an obvious falsehood"?
Then Allah says:
Why did they [who slandered] not produce for it four witnesses? And when they do not produce the witnesses, then it is they, in the sight of Allah, who are the liars.
It came to protect the dignity of a woman. It came to issue respect to a female.
It came to safeguard her name and to increase her in rank and to ensure that nobody utters bad words about her. Allah says, If you want to accuse her, if you have not come with four good eyewitnesses who have witnessed it, those are liars in the eyes of Allah. And Allah says in a verse before these verses, Allah
knows that if a person comes up with an accusation against the chaste women, they should definitely be lashed.
Eighty lashes. Unless they bring about four eyewitnesses because they are liars.
The Shariah's Protection of Women's Honor
So today when someone says, Did you hear about this woman? Did you hear about that girl? Did you hear what this one did? They need to bring up four eyewitnesses.
If not, they are liars. And the shari'ah law would get them and penalize them by lashing them eighty lashes each for having uttered with their mouth something that was derogatory against a believing woman who believes in Allah, a chaste woman whom they have no evidence against according to the shari'ah. So a rumor is not evidence.
A feeling in your heart is not evidence. People say, I have a feeling. I have a strong feeling.
I have this. Your strong feeling is not evidence. So much so that in the verses of Qazf, which is slander, were revealed and Allah says in the verses in surah an-Nur where Allah makes mention of:
Those who accuse chaste women and then do not produce four witnesses - lash them with eighty lashes.
And do not accept from them testimony ever after. And those are the defiantly disobedient.
If they bear witness to God, I'll somehow throw it out of the window. Why? They are liars and accusers. That's who they are.
They have done the wrong of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Allah continues to say, and this is something very very strong, where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:
They are the ones who are the liars in the eyes of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
They are the people who have done the wrong of Allah. Imagine just by accusing someone, just by saying, you know what, this person has done this, and you have no evidence. What kind of evidence do you need? All I request is for that type of an accusation.
If you don't have it, believe me, we don't want to hear you. Not only that, if it was a sharia, they would call you innocent, being a liar to you. May Allah protect us.
The Seriousness of False Accusations
You cannot just say with your tongue what suits your gazah, what suits your own will and fancy. I cannot
just accuse you or anyone or anything I feel like. No, I am responsible in the sharia.
We are all free to say whatever we want to say on condition that we do not trample over the rights of others. That's the difference between freedom in Islam and freedom outside of Islam. When those outside of Islam say you are free to speak and you have freedom of speech, they say you have freedom of insulting, you have freedom of lying or accusing, you have freedom of spreading rumour.
But Islam says no, a woman is too high for that. You have freedom of utterance in Islam but only if you are not going to trample over the rights of others. So Islam says you do not have the freedom of insulting, you do not have the freedom of spreading rumour, you do not have the freedom of accusing, you do not have the freedom of swearing, you do not have the freedom of uttering that which is irresponsible.
That is Islam. And that is the dignity of Islam. And this is what will last in Islam up to the day of Qiyamah. Because these verses were revealed in order to sort the matter out for once and for all. So there are people sometimes who don't understand the rulings of Islam. So they think that to spread a rumour is just an easy thing.
And you know, I won't face the wrath of Allah. Believe me, you will taste it in your life. Sometimes my brothers and sisters, I want to cry when people ask for help and they scream for help and they yell out for help and they haven't yet asked themselves, why am I facing this wrath? Is it because I have harmed an innocent person? When Allah says, if you have done so, you will taste the punishment in the dunya before the akhirah.
So sometimes we are suffering and suffering in our lives, in our families, in our health and so many things and we don't know it is because we have spread rumour about someone. That's why we say if I were to use the word shut up, I will actually not be wrong because it is so serious. The meaning of the word shut up is too light in that particular case.
You need to keep your mouth completely closed. Never ever find a tale juicy. Never ever find a rumour that which is worth spreading.
The Consequences of Spreading Rumors
No, no, no, no my brothers, never my sisters. You will pay for it and you will pay heavily for it. Allahu Akbar.
So this great accusation in surat an-Nur is not made mention of just by that. It is made mention of it all for me and you to watch our tongues, to be careful, to have good perception of others. Find hundred excuses to look at the good that people perhaps might have been engaged in.
If you were spreading something good and you were wrong, you are far more noble than a person who spreads something wrong and then right. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:
Except for those who repent thereafter and reform, for indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
And Abu Hanifa has mentioned something interesting, he says that the forgiveness of Allah is connected to the sins, but not to the acceptance of witnesses.
We will never believe what a person says ever again, even if they have made tawbah. But, between them and Allah, the sin is forgiven. So that's what Abu Hanifa implies.
The other scholars, some of them say, no, we will after their tawbah accept their witness once again. But to mention the difference of opinion to show you how serious it is. So Allah blesses those who take this.
The Law of Li'an (Mutual Cursing)
And this is why in the next verse, or when this was revealed, one of the sahabah came to Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم). And he says, oh messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) what if I found my wife with another man? You say, we need to bring four eyed witnesses. By the time I go to collect the witnesses, everything will be over, he will be gone, and then what? Will I remain alive? Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was silenced. And the next day, Hilal ibn Umayyah comes to Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم). And he says, oh messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) I have a problem.
What's the problem? I have found a man with my wife. Oh subhanAllah protect his soul. And he says, what do I do? Now this was dangerous because the sahabah told me, hey there were verses revealed just now, just previously, which said if anyone comes and they don't have four eyed witnesses, they shall be lashed.
Lashed for what? Lashed because you are a slanderous person. You have engaged in slander. You have tried to put someone into disrepute.
You have tried to put a, what can we say, you have tried to actually mess their reputation. Scratch their slate, so to speak. You are saying things that are untrue.
So you need to be lashed to wake up. And as we know in the sharia, criminalization is more deterrent than anything else. Because it is there to uplift the ummah and to make our lives easy and simple.
A lot of people get upset when they see, oh you know what, the sharia has hard laws and so on. Well, to be honest with you, if we were to work properly and we were to fulfill what Allah has revealed, we would save ourselves from a lot of difficulty that we are going through today. Anxiety, a lot of, can I say, there is a lot of mental problems that people are facing today because of depression and so on.
We save ourselves from that, from the issues of children, marital issues and so on. All these are connected to the fact that sometimes we do not adopt the laws that Allah has revealed. And we think we know better.
We think we know better. So people say, I am a normal person. So what is the problem? If I just sit in an intimate group, what is the problem?
You know if I, for example, am in an intimate group.
My husband is with me, what is the problem? Okay, no problem. I can tell you more than 100 cases that I know of people who lost their husbands to their best friends. I can tell you that.
And I can tell you more than a thousand cases of people who lost their wives to their best friends. How is that? Allahu Akbar. So you just have to implement the sharia and you will save more than those thousands of lives.
And people's marriage is broken. And even after they are lost to their best friends, the best friends get fed up of them after a little while. And then they end up depressed saying, I should have just stayed with my man.
But he was your man. And what happened? You allowed shaitan to become between you and your man. Allahu Akbar.
May Allah protect us all. So this is why we say, there is a reasoning behind the words of Allah. Don't think it's like this.
Do not think it's bad. Don't think for a moment that when Allah asks us to do this and to do that, then it is sometimes very, very bad. For your information, do you know that even some of the people of the book from amongst the Jews and so on have rules and regulations that are even stricter than what we have? And sometimes the orthodox from amongst them are still implementing it.
And they are leading happier lives than those who don't. Do you know that? But the problem is we are not educated or we haven't travelled the world and we haven't mixed. And we don't even know that they are sometimes stricter than we are.
And sometimes we do things that we, subhanallah, are not even ashamed of. But they become ashamed of how we behave. This is why I go back to the shariah.
Go back to Allah. And remember something. The laws of Allah are put in place not in order to make our lives difficult, but in order for us to lead the best of lives.
The Process of Li'an
And Allah says, watch your tongue. If you don't watch your tongue, others will start creating worse stories about you in a matter of years. Less contingent.
That's just a figure put by myself. But I'm saying the general norm is in a few years' time, in a few days' time, sometimes in a little while's time, you have something worse that will come in your direction.
Because you planted a seed and you watered it.
What will happen beside the throne of the tree that you plant? You plant a cactus. Do you think apples will grow? No. So this is why Allah then revealed verses as the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) I'm coming up with this huge statement, he's uttered, and the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is now concerned because he has to prepare to mete out the shari'a punishment.
And verses were revealed. About those who accuse their wives. Those who accuse their wives.
That is so serious in the eyes of Allah, that if you would like to accuse your wife, you need to know there is a system, there is a way of doing it. Those countries which have the shari'a implemented and you have courts, there is a way of doing it. Those who don't, there is a way of doing it.
Through a panel of scholars and so on. In the countries that are not Islamic countries for example. You cannot accuse your wife, you cannot.
You cannot accuse your spouse of something based on rumour. Based on what you think is happening. You cannot.
So this is why Allah revealed the verses. A person who wants to accuse his wife, he has to do it in a certain way. When that happens, the divorce automatically occurs.
And you can never, ever, ever get back with them again. You have done something so serious and so venomous that you will not be allowed to marry her ever again, on condition that you have engaged in li'an. So what is li'an? Li'an means, in front of the qadi or the judge, the man comes in, and he takes four oaths, in the name of Allah, that he promises that he is telling the truth regarding what he saw.
And he takes four oaths. And the first one, he says, if I am lying, then the curse of Allah be upon me. So each witness, each time he swears an oath by Allah.
The first one is equivalent to one eyewitness. The second one is equivalent to a second eyewitness. The third one is equivalent to a third eyewitness.
The fourth one is equivalent to a fourth eyewitness. And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) did this to Hilal ibn Umayyah ibn Umayyah. And after the four witnesses, he says, Oh Hilal, you better speak the truth.
This is something very serious. This is something very strong. It is the oath of Allah that is being called upon.
It is something very, very major in the eyes of Allah. Now you will utter the fifth oath, or the fifth statement saying, If I am a liar, then the curse of Allah be upon me. So Hilal ibn Umayyah uttered that.
Now he asks the wife, Look, there are four oaths against you. He says, he swears. You now have to take four oaths that he is lying, he is a liar.
So the first oath came. The second one came. The third one came.
The fourth one came. And then the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) told her, Now the fifth one you need to say, If he is telling the truth, The anger of Allah be upon you. Allah, Allah, Allah.
Look at how serious the statement is. From this we can deduce that if you accuse an innocent person of what they have not engaged in, the anger of Allah is upon you. The anger of your Maker is upon you.
Look at yourself in the mirror. Perhaps you look like a beast. May Allah protect us.
You become upset with yourself. Your children will have chaos in the whole home. Your home is turned absolutely upside down.
Why? Because the anger of Allah is what you are messing with. You are messing with the anger of Allah. That's why we say, keep your mouth shut.
That's what we say. May Allah protect us. May Allah grant our mouths the ability to be shut.
May He make us in control of our mouths. My mothers and sisters, My brothers and fathers, Never ever utter words of accusation against someone. Don't spread rumours about anyone.
Do not, do not, do not, do not. No, don't. You pay for it, everything.
And I've said this a second time. So she says, The woman, the wife of Hilal ibn Umayyah, may Allah protect him, She thought for a while and so on, And she thought for almost an hour, according to what narration. And then she took that statement, And she said, okay, may the anger of Allah not haunt me if he is telling a lie.
Sorry, if he is truthful. If he is truthful, the anger of Allah might not haunt me. Which means, if I am lying, may the anger of Allah not haunt me.
And she says, I can't do it. And then the story ends, whatever happened, happened and so on. But the point we are drawing from there is to watch our tongues.
And to be careful. And this is why Allah says, When the verses were revealed for Aisha, may Allah protect her, Later on Allah says:
Indeed, those who like that immorality should be spread [or publicized] among those who have believed will have a painful punishment in this world and the Hereafter. And Allah knows and you do not know.
So we like to spread juicy tales of immorality.
Whether it is true or not, in this verse is besides the point. The fact is, we want to spread juicy tales. Nowadays we do it via WhatsApp, and via BBM, and via everything else, And via Facebook and Twitter.
We spread tales, juicy details of immoral stories, Whether they are true or not. Allah says, they will face a punishment in the dunya, and then in the afterlife. Why? What's your crime? The crime is, all you did was you just forwarded a message.
That's all you did. And Allah says, Painful punishment in the dunya and the afterlife. Didn't I tell you moments ago, you are in pain of some sort?
Ask yourself, did I accuse people? Did I spread tales of immorality? Was I happy to spread a dirty tale amongst my friends? If that's the case, go to Allah.
Turn to Allah. Ask Allah forgiveness and you will save yourself from this painful punishment that Allah has mentioned. So then Allah says, Allah knows and you don't know.
Allah is the knower of all. So be careful, do not spread things amongst the believers. Do you know one of the reasons why you start encouraging people to do that which is bad? You know, a man spreads details to say, Oh, you know what I did? I did this, and I did that, and this is how I did it, and this is how nice it was.
I went to the club, and I did this, and I had this, and whatever. Why are you giving people details of your own sins? For what? People might be encouraged by your action. So even if you are forgiven for your action, you have now resulted, or your statements have resulted in them learning from you after you taught them, and this is why you will be earning a punishment even after you've done it.
(Sahih Muslim Hadith 1017)
Whoever introduces an evil practice, he will have to bear the burden of that, and the burden of all those who act upon it, until the Day of Resurrection.
Because the hadith says, Whoever sets a bad example, people are doing bad because of you. Do you know how? You were the inspirer.
You were the one who started all the bad. So what you need to know is, whoever follows that bad example, you are getting the evil of it even after you've done it up to the day of Qiyamah. Why would we allow that to happen to us? May Allah use us for the opposite inshaAllah.
May He use us for that which is good, so that people can be inspired to do good, because we did it, or we taught them, or we spoke about it. So we have this verse where Allah warns us to say, severe punishment awaiting those who want to utter words. You know when I read the newspapers, and they tell you the robbers have attacked this place, and this is how they had the dynamite, and this is how they blew up the door, this is how they went in, this is how they opened the safe, and this is what they did.
And I'm busy thinking, you know, the journalists think they're doing a good job, but they're teaching people who are innocent how to steal, and sometimes youngsters will look at themselves and say, guys, it was quite easy. He went away with a million dinars. I'm sure we can get away with 500,000.
It's so simple. You just got to go and put it in the paper clip and you're all in the know. Who taught you? Well, I read the newspaper.
So this is one of the reasons why Allah tells us to spread details of this nature. Amongst the believers, it is actually a crime and it is sinful. You don't do it because you're encouraging people to do bad.
Allahu Akbar. Allah grant us protection. So, Allah has made mention of His wrath and His anger.
The Lesson for Today
Here we have Aisha, whose cleanliness and purity was revealed from the seven heavens, and this was mentioned in the Quran for a reason, and for many reasons, we can say one of them, and that is for it to be a lesson for us, so that we apply it in our lives. This evening, mashallah, we are here in aid of the awareness. The awareness regarding women's diseases and things that women go through silently.
Things that sometimes they are too embarrassed to speak about. Sometimes they don't seek help regarding. My sisters, we are with you.
We stand with you. You need help, we are there to help you by the will of Allah. And you know what? This topic was so apt and so great.
I was so happy with great accusation. Not only does it show that, or connected to this particular theme, not only is it that we as men will support you, and we will help you, and we will really respect you and reach out to you, but at the same time, harm will not reach you from us. That's one thing you need to know.
If we cannot benefit you, the minimum is we won't harm you by the will of Allah. Remember that my beloved brothers and sisters as well. If you cannot benefit someone, at least do not harm them.
Remember that. So if we cannot be of major benefit to you, the minimum, by mentioning this whole story, and by learning a lesson from the great accusation, is the minimum we will not harm you. May Allah protect us from harming one another.
And this is why I say, beautiful topic, beautiful theme. Remember my sisters, if you need help, reach out for the help, but to those whom you trust. To those whom you trust.
Because sometimes when we reach out to those whom we do not trust, we could be opening a can of worms where people might deal with us in a way that is not befitting the treatment of a believing female. May Allah grant you integrity. May He open your doors.
May He grant you every form of goodness. My brothers and sisters, I have mentioned a little bit of detail regarding this beautiful story of Aisha. There are still so many issues that we could make mention of.
Look at the beautiful tears that was shed thereafter. The tears of joy. And Aisha was cleansed.
But today, wahi no longer comes to us. Revelation no longer comes to us. So if we were to accuse people today, yes, they will make dua.
They will ask Allah. Allah may choose to cleanse them. And even if Allah does not choose to directly and immediately cleanse them, it is a means of destruction for those who are spreading the fitfah.
Absolute destruction into smithereens, as I will say. Believe me. Why should we do that? Why? Should we allow ourselves to believe things and to spread things and to create things against one another? May Allah grant us goodness and protection.
The Example of Zainab bint Jahsh
I hope every one of us can take a lesson home. And I hope we can all learn to say good things about one another. Do you know Zainab bint Jahsh, the sister of Hamnah bint Jahsh, she was the co-wife of Aisha when she was asked by Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم)What do you know and what have you heard about this incident?
Do you know what she said? I have protected my eyesight from seeing and I have protected my ears from hearing.
All I know about Aisha is goodness. Subhanallah. Subhanallah.
Imagine she is a co-wife and she has such high words to utter of her co-wife to say I have protected my eyes from seeing and my ears from hearing. So all I know about Aisha is goodness. Amazing, amazing.
Exalted are You, [O Allah]; this is a great slander.
And why, when you heard it, did you not say, "It is not for us to speak of this. Exalted are You, [O Allah]; this is a great slander"?
You see the term لولا is in the meaning of هلا هلا is a warning and an encouragement at the same time to say when you heard this, you should have said this.
And when you heard this, this is what you must say. And why didn't you say this when you heard this? So mention is being made of how when you heard the story, do you know what you should have said? You should have said no way, it is not befitting for us to mess our mouth with these dirty words. They are indeed a fabrication.
That's what you should say. So when you and I hear a rumor and an accusation against a believing woman, an innocent woman, a person who really we have no sort of shari'ah evidence against, we need to say, Oh Allah protect our tongues from being messed from such statements. They are bad words.
Oh Allah forgive us if we've uttered bad words. There is always time to repent. And I want to close on this note.
Conclusion - The Path of Repentance
And the note is that Allah has shown us a way out. What is the way out? We need to engage in tawbah. Tawbah is a door.
It is a beautiful door. If you ask Allah's forgiveness, He will wipe out your sin. If you ask Allah's forgiveness, He will open your doors of goodness.
This is why Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم who did not have sin, he always asked Allah's forgiveness. Sometimes up to a hundred times a day. Because it is a means of achieving peace.
You want peace? Ask Allah's forgiveness a hundred times a day. Seriously, in a proper way. We ask Allah to forgive us.
And we ask Allah to give us the courage to go up to those whom we might have accused and spread rumor against. To say, I have said bad words about you in the past. Can you forgive me? And we ask Allah to grant us a big heart.
Like the heart of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq and the others who forgave those who wronged them. And Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم forgave those who wronged him as well. May Allah use us to forgive others.
Because when we forgive people, Allah will forgive you as well. May Allah bless us all. It's been a beautiful evening.
Until we meet again, inshallah, tomorrow evening.
Closing
"I say this statement of mine, and I ask Allah for forgiveness for me, for you, and for the rest of the Muslims."
"May Allah send blessings, peace, and grace upon Muhammad."
"And peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings."