23 October 2011

Ifk Lessons; Gaddafi's death 

Seerah of Muhammed*
*: May the Peace, Blessings and Mercy of Allah be upon him
TMQ: Translation to the nearest meaning of the Qur’an

Following the Ifk incident - these were the verses of the Qur'an revealed to the Prophet*:

Selected Verses Surah an-Nur (24)
11: Verily! Those who brought forth the slander (against Aisha, the wife of the Prophet*) are a group among you. Consider it not a bad thing for you. Nay, it is good for you. Unto every man among them will be paid that which he had earned of the sin, and as for him among them who had the greater share therein, his will be a great torment.
12: 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"?
13: 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.
14: And if it had not been for the favour of Allah upon you and His mercy in this world and the Hereafter, you would have been touched for that [lie] in which you were involved by a great punishment
15: When you received it with your tongues and said with your mouths that of which you had no knowledge and thought it was insignificant while it was, in the sight of Allah, tremendous.
16: 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"?
17: Allah forbids you from it and warns you not to repeat the like of it forever, if you are believers.
18: And Allah makes the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) plain to you, and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.
19: Indeed, those who like that immorality (the crime of illegal sexual intercourse) 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.
20: And had it not been for the Grace of Allah and His Mercy on you, (Allah would have hastened the punishment upon you). And that Allah is full of kindness, Most Merciful.
21: O you who believe! Follow not the footsteps of Shaitan (Satan). And whosoever follows the footsteps of Shaitan (Satan), then, verily he commands Al-Fahsha' [i.e. to commit indecency (illegal sexual intercourse, etc.)], and Al-Munkar [disbelief and polytheism (i.e. to do evil and wicked deeds; to speak or to do what is forbidden in Islam, etc.)]. And had it not been for the Grace of Allah and His Mercy on you, not one of you would ever have been pure from sins. But Allah purifies (guides to Islam) whom He wills, and Allah is All-Hearer, All-Knower.
22: And let not those of virtue among you and wealth swear not to give [aid] to their relatives and the needy and the emigrants for the cause of Allah , and let them pardon and overlook. Would you not like that Allah should forgive you? And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
23: Indeed, those who [falsely] accuse chaste, unaware and believing women are cursed in this world and the Hereafter; and they will have a great punishment
24: On a Day when their tongues, their hands and their feet will bear witness against them as to what they used to do.
25: That Day, Allah will pay them in full their deserved recompense, and they will know that it is Allah who is the perfect in justice.

The Ifk against Aisha (ra)
Summary
The Ifk against the Mother of the Believers, Aisha (ra), was perpetrated after the campaign of Banu al-Mustaliq. As the Prophet* and the expeditionary force were returning from a long and exhaustive journey, they camped not far from Medina in order to recoup their energies. At dawn, or before it, the Prophet* gave the orders to resume the journey. Aisha (ra) stepped out of the tent while her palanquin was placed outside the entrance to the tent. On her return she noticed that she had lost her necklace and retraced her footsteps in order to recover it. As she was a young lady and slight in build, those who carried the palanquin had not noticed that she was not in there. Hence, when she returned the Muslims had departed. Unafraid, she wrapped herself in her mantle and laid down waiting for the Muslims, believing that they would return for her once they found that she was missing. While she waited, Safwan ibn al-Mu'attal as-Salami, who had been out of the camp on an errand, returned to find that the Muslims had left. When he came close and discovered that it was indeed Aisha (ra), he brought her his camel and requested her to ride it. Safwan rushed back to Medina, and arrived in broad daylight.
Malicious rumours about Aisha (ra)
Soon afterwards people began whispering about her delayed return on the camel of Safwan, a young and handsome man. Needless to say that the mushrikeen and munafiqeen latched onto the issue and soon the whole subject became the basis of significant unrest within Medina. Among those who were instrumental in spreading the slander were Hamnah (sister of the Prophet's* wife Zaynab), Hassan ibn Thabit (the poet), and Mistah (son of the slave of Aisha). However, many Muslims and companions provided an audience to the rumours, thereby casting great doubt over the Prophet*'s household and the Prophet* himself. The evidence that even some of the companions were involved in the rumours is in the above verse of Qur'an.
 
Lessons
The Ifk (lie) against Aisha (ra), the Mother of the Believers, was another episode through which Allah (swt) showed us the true characteristics of the Islamic Personality. It was during this event that even some of the believers inadvertently fell into error. The lesson we learn is not just that the believers were prone to errors or that those who slander women unjustly are subjected to 80 lashes. Rather, we understand that believers exhibit a specific thought process, when confronted not only by slander, but by those who do not abide by al-Hukm ash-Shar'i. Fundamental to that thought process is the principle that those around us are only as good or bad as we are. Hence, any accusations at those around us have the potential to be applied on the accuser.
"Why did not, when they heard it, the believing men and women think the best of one another and say, this is an obvious lie (Ifk)." [TMQ 24:12]
Looking at ourselves through others
The fundamental issue is that the verse of Qur'an focuses on how the believing men and women should have evaluated the subject of the slander. Firstly, Allah (swt) addresses the believers in the verse. And in the address He (swt) asks that why did they not think good of themselves when they heard the slander. Aisha was from them, one of the believers. Hence, they should have asked the question, would we be capable of performing this action? If we cannot attribute this to ourselves how can we attribute this to Aisha (ra). This is because Aisha (ra) is from amongst us, one of the believers.
Secondly, from all we know of her excellent piety, such an action would be grossly out of character. Hence, their involvement in this slander was contrary to all the good they knew of her.
This process was illustrated by Abu 'Ayyub Khalid ibn Zaid Ansari. When he heard about the slander, he asked his wife 'Umm 'Ayyub whether she had heard it too. She replied that she had and judged it to be a lie. Abu 'Ayyub then went on to ask her if she would perform such an action. When she replied in the negative, Abu 'Ayyub said, " Aisha is better than you, and if my own wife is not capable of such an action how could we entertain such a thought about Aisha, the Mother of the Believers and the wife of the Prophet*."
From this incident, we learn some important lessons about the manner by which we should look at ourselves and other Muslims. The first is that when Allah (swt) talks of "thinking good about oneselves", Allah (swt) is effectively stating that an attack on Aisha is an attack on yourselves, because you were all from the believers. So if Aisha (ra) had performed such an action then it would be no more than a reflection of the prevailing attitudes amongst yourselves. So an attack on Aisha (ra) was indeed an attack on yourselves, because how could such ideas be allowed to become prevalent amongst you? And when you spread the slander against Aisha (ra) you were spreading slander against your own selves. Hence, the concept we take from this is that when we criticise those around us, how much of that criticism is implicitly a criticism of ourselves.
In the case of valid criticism
This is in the case when there is no smoke or fire. What of the case when Muslims actually are at fault? Does this mean our task begins and ends with criticising them? Again, we must not ignore our responsibility to the situation. If the Muslims around us are bad, it means that we must fulfil our responsibility by recognising it and then attempt to correct them. This concept is illustrated in the narration about the Companions of the Sabbath. "And ask them (O Muhammad) about the town that was by the sea, when they transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath (i.e. Saturday): when their fish came to them openly on the Sabbath day, and did not come to them on the day they had no Sabbath. Thus We made a trial of them for they used to rebel. And when a community among them said, 'Why do you preach to a people whom Allah is about to destroy or to punish with a severe torment?' The preachers said, 'In order to be free from guilt before your Lord (Allah), and perhaps they may fear Allah.' When they ignored the warning that had been given to them, We rescued those who forbade evil, but We seized those who did wrong with a severe torment because they used to rebel (disobey Allah). So when they exceeded the limits of what they were prohibited, We said to them, 'Be you monkeys, despised and rejected.' " [TMQ 7:163 - 166]
If Allah (swt) rescued those who forbade evil, then those who were silent over the wrong doings were part of those who did wrong. As Muslims we need to be sure that we are of the former category, and not the latter. This distinction is difficult to observe because other matters often confuse the motive. As an example, when our own sons and daughters are guilty of bad actions, that does not excuse us of the duty to correct them. We know that if somebody criticises our children, it is a criticism of ourselves. To what extent can we tolerate a criticism of our children knowing that it is our responsibility? Or do we defend them tooth and nail, regardless of our neglect? And if we defend, do we defend because our honour is at stake, or do we defend because we are right? Yet when those outside our own families perform bad actions, we quickly point fingers at them, their parents etc. But from Islam, that finger is pointing straight back at us. Examples are also found outside the family setting. The quarrels in the local mosques or the sins of the rulers in Islamic Lands, do not absolve us of the duty to forbid the munkar. Hence, unless we have tried to correct those around us, thereby fulfilling our responsibility, we should think very carefully before we point fingers at others.
Al-Hukm ash-Shar'i alone forms the criteria. Thus, we look at those around us and compare how their actions are consistent with the obligations from Shari'ah. If we find that they are wanting, then our responsibility is to inform and culture our fellow Muslims. In doing so, we are not doing them a favour. Rather, we are fulfilling a duty, for by having that knowledge we are responsible to culture those around us with it. In addition, criticising them alone, is a distraction from our obligation to advise them. Only when we have conveyed the message can we consider criticising without any implications on our selves.

Other Lessons from this incident

• Accusing a Muslim man or woman unjustly, especially for such a major sin as zina (adultery), is in itself a major sin if there is no truth or proof in the matter. Hence, we should be very careful when talking about these matters unless we have 4 witnesses (pen and the ink).
• There was some Good that came out of this evil event. For example, we learned all these lessons (around false accusations, thinking good of other believers) through this incident. Also, even though Aisha and her family suffered a lot from this, they will get a lot of blessings for  their patience and remaining steadfast
• It is important that Muslims should care for reputation of other Muslims. We should not slander them or lie against them, nor should we be happy if we hear bad news about other Muslims (especially those we may not like). Hence, as stated before, we should always think good of other Muslims and give them the benefit of the doubt. We should also think good of others all the time as our default position and so we should treat bad rumours as lies
• Furthermore, we should not carry rumours around with us, nor spread them. Muslims should not have time for nonsense like this and we should stay clear and not participle in hearsay
• It is also clear from the verses that Allah is jealous about maintaining a good reputation of Muslims and that we  should be free from any unwarranted accusation. Hence, falsely accusing men and women is very wrong
• Allah tells us that this type of thing should not happen again if we are Believers. This is quite a profound expectation
• We shouldn’t talk and spread tales of immorality / titillation / sensationalisation just for the sake of it or to gossip.   Muslims should not publicise these evil things lest they become a self fulfilling prophesy. If society talks constantly about these things they become normalised behaviour (as we see in Western countries) and then people will start to expect this behaviour (or even strive for it) and those that do sin will feel less shame (if any!).  Those that do not engage in the major sin may then settle for talking about these things in a lustful way, or exaggerate the problem or go to extreme lengths to talk about these things. We should not sweep things under the carpet but be aware of the issues and Forbid the Evil (munkar) in the best way.
• We also learn about the importance in protecting Muslim community and society (& family life). To make real accusations people need 4 witness to the act otherwise they are flogged and labelled a fasiq and their witness not accepted in court. Hence, this issue is such an important topic partly because the punishment is so severe and partly because of the effects of this on a family and society. Hence, false accusations are a major sin.
• Related to the previous point, the Muslim Ummah should try hard collectively to protect the reputation and honour of its people, and to avoid fabrication and false stories. We should know that nowadays, no Qur’anic ayah will defend any Muslims of today!
• As with Abu Bakr, we should try to pardon & overlook people who make mistakes. We should be kind and generous to these people (if they are sincere) and not fall to their petty levels
• We also learn about the Prophet’s* humanity. He* didn’t know unseen and over time became more concerned about the rumours – but still thought well of the people despite the fact that he, too, was suffering when hearing these rumours about his family and friends
• Some people also highlight the fact that the enemies of Islam will try to assassinate the influential Muslim person (character), or will get involved in character assassination – where they try to destroy the credibility and reputation of sincere Muslims. This happened in the time of the Prophet* and ever since then to this very day.

Finally, it should be noted that Abdullah ibn Ubai (the leader of the Hypocrites) was not punished despite his involvement in the rumours. Scholars have given a few reasons for this which include:

• punishment in this life for a sin means that the person will not be accounted on the Day of Judgement for that, hence his evil will be left for Allah’s ultimate judgement when he is due to get his full punishment;
• also it could be that, as a clever political leader he was very cunning in the way he spread the rumour and never implicated himself;
• furthermore, guilt is established though witnesses or personal admission (confession) and either no witnesses came forward and he was not the type of person to confess;

The Death of Abu Rafi’
Salam bin Abi Al-Huqaiq (Abu Rafi‘) was a terrible Jew criminal, who had mustered the troops of the Confederates and provided them with a lot of wealth and supplies, on the one hand, and used to malign the Prophet*, on the other. When the Muslims had settled their affair with Banu Quraiza; Al- Khazraj tribe, a rival of Al- Aws, asked for the Prophet’s permission to kill that criminal in order to merit a virtue equal to that of Al-Aws who had killed another criminal of the Jews, Ka‘b bin Al-Ashraf. The Prophet* gave them his permission provided that no women or children be killed.
A group of five people with ‘Abdullah bin ‘Ateeq at their head, headed for Khaibar where ‘Abu Rafi’s fort was situated in a Special Operation. When they approached the place, ‘Abdullah advised his men to stay a little behind, while he went ahead disguised himself in his cloak as if he had been relieving himself. When the people of the fort went in, the gate-keeper called him to enter thinking he was one of them. ‘Abdullah went in and lurked inside. He then began to unbolt the doors leading to Salam’s room. There it was absolutely dark but he managed to put him to the sword: He recounts the story (in Bukhari): "I called, 'O Abu Rafi!' He replied 'Who is it?' I proceeded towards the voice and hit him. He cried loudly but my blow was futile. Then I came to him, pretending to help him, saying with a different tone of my voice, 'What is wrong with you, O Abu Rafi?' He said 'Are you not surprised? Woe on your mother! A man has come to me and hit me with a sword!' So again I aimed at him and hit him, but the blow proved futile again, and on that Abu Rafi cried loudly and his wife got up. I came again and changed my voice as if I were a helper, and found Abu Rafi lying straight on his back, so I drove the sword into his belly and bent on it till I heard the sound of a bone break", and then he left in safety.
On his way back, his leg broke so he wrapped it up in a band, and hid in a secret place until morning when someone stood on the wall and announced the death of Salam bin Abi Al-Huqaiq officially. Abdullah bin ‘Ateeq said that he had never heard any word more pleasing than the death of Abu Rafi. Once they were sure of their victim’s death. On hearing the glad news he left and went to see the Prophet*, who listened to the whole story, and then asked ‘Abdullah to stretch his leg, which he wiped and the fracture healed on the spot.

Hadith: No time to discuss

Feedback:

Signs of ad-Dajjal: Sign of ad-Dajjal and how we can recognise him.

The Day of Judgement: What will happen on the Day of Judgement and how the people will be judged

News

The Death of Gaddafi
Quite a lively debate which was based on the news reports of how he died.
Points that were mentioned included:

• The Muslims of Libya wanted a change, following the Arab Spring changes in Tunisia, Egypt and other places
• Gaddafi was trained in the UK’s Sandhurst Royal Military Academy and soon after returning to Libya overthrew the Libyan King
• Over the years Gaddafi became more like a dictator
• Libyan students and visitors to the UK have often been very suspicious of talking to other people for fear of their lives and the safety of their family
• He is known to have punished Islamic preachers quite severely (by torture, imprisonment and death)
• He is reported to deny the importance of Hadith and the Sunnah (Scholars agree that people who stubbornly reject Hadith are outside of Islam)
• Gaddafi received a lot of military and other support from Western countries like the UK
• Western countries have major financial and oil interests in Libya, which may explain why they fail to intervene ‘for humanitarian’ reasons in places like Zimbabwe, or Burma
• Western countries still support most other dictators in Muslim countries
• The death of Gaddafi after his capture, and that of his son, was probably wrong (still need to know facts).
• It is completely unacceptable that his dead body be put on open display
• The dead should be buried as soon as possible after death
• The people of Libya should take charge of their future based on their best interests

16 October 2011
The Ifk Incident; Hadith on Proof


Seerah of Muhammed*
*: May the Peace, Blessings and Mercy of Allah be upon him
TMQ: Translation to the nearest meaning of the Qur’an

Prophet* marries Juwairiyah
The spoils from Banu Mustaliq were divided as usual, and one of the captives was Juwayriyah, the daughter of Harith, chief of the defeated clan. She fell to the lot of a Helper who fixed a high price for her ransom, and she came to the Prophet* to ask for his intervention on her behalf. She wanted to draw up a contract (Mukatibah) that would guarantee her freedom from slavery and wanted the Prophet’s* help in this. The Prophet* was on that day in the apartment of Aisha, who opened the door to her, and who said afterwards, recounting what had taken place: "She was a woman of great loveliness and beauty. No man looked on her but she captivated his soul, and when I saw her at the door of my room I was filled with misgivings, for I knew that the Prophet* would see in her what I saw. She entered unto him and said: 'O Messenger of God, I am Juwayriyyah, the daughter of Harith, the lord of his people. You well know the distress that has fallen upon me, and I have come to seek thy help in the matter of my ransom.' He answered: 'Wouldst thou have better than that?' 'What is better?' she asked, and he* answered: 'That I should pay thy ransom and marry thee.' "
Juwayriyyah gladly accepted his offer, but the marriage had not yet taken place when her father arrived with some camels for her ransom. They were not the full number he had originally intended to offer, for in the valley of 'Aqiq, shortly before reaching the oasis, he had taken a last look at the fine animals and had been so smitten with admiration for two of them that he had separated them from the others and hidden them in one of the passes of the valley, unable to bring himself to part with them. The remainder he took to the Prophet* and said: "O Muhammad, thou hast captured my daughter and here is her ransom." "But where," said the Prophet, "are those two camels which thou didst hide in 'Aqiq?" And he went on to describe in exact detail the pass in which they were tethered. Then Harith said: "I testify that there is no god but God, and that thou, Muhammad, art the Messenger of God"; and two of his sons entered Islam with him. He sent for the two camels and gave them with the rest to the Prophet, who restored his daughter to him. Then she herself entered Islam, and the Prophet* asked her father to give her to him in marriage, which he did;' and an apartment was built for her.
When it became known that the Bani Mustaliq were now the Prophet's kinsmen by marriage, the Emigrants and Helpers set free their captives who had not yet been ransomed. About a hundred families were released. "I know of no woman," said Aisha, referring to Juwayriyyah, "who was a greater blessing to her people than she."

The incident of the Ifk (Slander) against Aisha.
The Necklace

Aisha and Umm Salamah had accompanied the Prophet* on this expedition. One of the next camps was in a pleasant valley, with long stretches of level sand. The Prophet's two tents were pitched as usual somewhat apart from the others, and that day it was Aisha's turn to be with him. She recounted afterwards how he had suggested that they should have a race. "I girded up my robe about me," she said, "and the Prophet* did likewise. Then we raced, and he won the race. 'This is for that other race', he said, 'which thou didst win from me.' " He was referring to an incident which had taken place in Mecca, before the Hijrah. Aisha added, by way of explanation: "He had come to my father's house and I had something in my hand and he said: 'Bring it here to me', and I would not, and ran away from him, and he ran after me, but I was too quick for him."!
The clasp of Aisha's necklace was insecure, and at one of the last halts before they reached Medina it slipped from her neck again. This was when the order to march had already been given and she had withdrawn from the camp to satisfy a call of nature. On her return, she and Umm Salamah seated themselves in their respective howdahs, closed the curtains and unveiled their faces. Only then did Aisha realise her loss; and slipping out from under the curtain she went back to look for it. Meantime the men had saddled the camels, and led them to the howdahs which they strapped each upon its mount. They were accustomed to a considerable difference in weight between them -that of a thirty-year-old woman as compared with a young girl who was slight for her age -and they failed to notice that this time the lighter of the two howdahs was even lighter than usual, so they led away the camels to join the march without a second thought. "I found my necklace," said Aisha, "and returned to the camp and not a soul was there. So I went to where my howdah had been, thinking that they would miss me and come back for me, and whilst I sat there mine eyes were overcome with heaviness and I fell asleep. I was lying there when Safwan' the son of Mu'attal passed by. He had fallen behind the army for some reason and had not slept at the camp. Noticing me, he came and stood over me. He had been used to seeing me before the veil was imposed upon us, and when he recognised me he said: 'Verily we are for God, and verily unto Him we are returning. This is the wife of the Messenger of God.''' His utterance of the verse of return woke her up; and she drew her veil over her face. Safwan offered her his camel and escorted her himself on foot to the next halt.
On the army's arrival there, Aisha's howdah had been lifted from its mount and placed on the ground; and when she did not emerge from it they assumed that she was asleep. Great was the astonishment when, towards the end of the halt, after the men had rested, she rode into the camp led by Safwan. That was the beginning of a scandal which was to shake Medina, and the tongues of the hypocrites were not slow in starting it, but for the moment the Prophet* and Aisha and most of the Companions were quite unaware of the impending trouble. The hypocrites of Medina led by ‘Abdullah bin ‘Ubai bin Salul, sought to make capital out of this incident and spread a malicious scandal against Aishah and unfortunately some of the Muslims also became involved in it

Aisha falls ill

Not long after her return to Medina, Aisha fell ill. By that time the slander that the hypocrites had whispered against herself and Safwan was being repeated throughout the city. Few took it seriously, though amongst those who did was her own cousin Mistah, of the clan of Muttalib. But whether they believed it or not, everyone knew of it, except herself. She was none the less conscious of a certain reserve on the part of the Prophet, and she missed the loving attention which he had shown her in her other illnesses. He would come into the room and say to those who were nursing her "How are ye all today?", simply including her with the others. Deeply wounded, but too proud to complain, she asked his permission to go to her parents' house where her mother could nurse her. "As thou wilt," he said.
To recount what took place in Aisha's own words: "I went to my mother without any knowledge of what was being said, and recovered from my illness some twenty days later. Then one evening I went out with the mother of Mistah -her mother was the sister of my father's mother and as she was walking beside me she stumbled over her gown and exclaimed: 'May Mistab stumble!' 'God's Life,' I said, 'that was an ill thing to say of a man of the Emigrants who fought at Badr!' 'O daughter of Abu Bakr,' she said, 'can it be that the news hath not reached thee?' 'What news?' I said. Then she told me what the slanderers had said and how people were repeating it. 'Can this be so?' I said. 'By God, it is indeed!' was her answer, and I returned home in tears, and I wept and wept until I thought that my weeping would split my liver. 'God forgive thee!' I said to my mother. 'People talk their talk, and thou tellest me not one word of it!' 'My little daughter,' she said, 'take it not so heavily, for there is seldom a beautiful woman married to a man who loveth her but her fellow wives are full of gossip about her, and others repeat what they say.' So I lay awake the whole of that night, and my tears flowed without ceasing."
But in fact, whatever jealousies there may have been between one and another, the wives of the Prophet* were all women of piety, and not one of them took any part in spreading the slander. On the contrary, they defended Aisha and spoke well of her. Of those chiefly to blame, the nearest to the Prophet's household was his cousin Hamnah, Zaynab's sister, who repeated the calumny, thinking thus to further her sister's interests: for it was generally thought that but for Aisha Zaynab would  have been the Prophet's favourite wife; and Zaynab suffered much from her sister's ill conceived zeal on her behalf. Another of the slanderers, in addition to Mistah, was the poet Hassan ibn Thabit, and in the background were Ibn Ubayy and the other hypocrites who had started everything. The Prophet* dearly hoped for a Revelation, but when nothing came he questioned not only his wives but also other near ones. Usamah, who was the same age as Aisha, spoke vigorously in her defence. "This is all a lie," he said. "We know naught but good of her." His mother, Umm Ayman, was equally emphatic in praise of her. As for 'Ali:, he said: "God hath not restricted thee, and there are many women besides her. But question her maidservant and she will tell thee the truth." So the Prophet* sent for her and said: "O Burayrah, hast thou ever seen aught in Aisha that might make thee suspect her?" She answered: "By Him that sent thee with the truth, I know only good of her; and if it were otherwise God would inform His Messenger. I have no fault to find with Aisha but that she is a girl, young in years, and when I am kneeding dough and I bid her watch it she will fall asleep and her pet lamb will come and eat it. I have blamed her for that more than once."
When next the Prophet* went to the Mosque he ascended the pulpit, and having praised God he said: "O people, what say ye of men who injure me with regard to my family, reporting of them what is not true? By God, I know naught but good of my household, and naught but good of the man they speak of, who never entereth a house of mine but I am with him." No sooner had he spoken than Usayd rose to his feet and said: "O Messenger of God, if they are of Aws we will deal with them; and if they be of our brethren of Khazraj then give us thy command, for they deserve that their heads should be cut off." Before he had finished Sa"d ibn 'Ubadah was already on his feet, for Hassan was of Khazraj, and so were the men who had subtly hatched the slander in the beginning. "God's Life, thou liest!" he said. "Ye shall not slay them, nor can yeo Neither wouldst thou have spoken thus, had they been of thy people." "God's Life, liar thyself!" said Usayd. "Slay them we shall, and thou art a hypocrite, striving on behalf of hypocrites." By this time the two tribes were about to come to grips with one another, but the Prophet* motioned them to desist, and descending from the pulpit he quietened them and sent them away in peace.
If Aisha had known that the Prophet* had defended her in public from the pulpit, she would no doubt have been greatly comforted. But she knew nothing of it at the time. She was only aware of his questioning others about her, which suggested that he did not know what to think, and this greatly distressed her. She did not expect him, of himself, to look into her soul, for she knew that his knowledge of hidden things came to him from the next world. "I only know what God giveth me to know," he would say. He did not seek to read the thoughts of men; but she expected him to know that her devotion to him was such as to make the thing she was accused of impossible. In any case, it was not enough that he should himself believe Aisha and Safwan to be innocent. The situation was a grave one, and it was imperative to have evidence which would convince the whole community.
The Prophet asks Aisha...

"I was with my parents," said Aisha, "and I had wept for two nights and a day; and while they were sitting with me a woman from the Helpers asked if she could join us, and I bade her enter, and she sat and wept with me. Then the Prophet* entered and took his seat, nor had he sat with me since people began to say what they said of me. A month had passed, and no tidings had come to him about me from Heaven. After uttering the testification there is no god but God, he said: 'O Aisha, I have been told such and such a thing concerning thee, and if thou art innocent, surely God will declare thine innocence; and if thou hast done aught that is wrong, then ask forgiveness of God and repent unto Him; for verily if the slave confess his sin and then repent, God relenteth unto him.' No sooner had he spoken than my tears ceased to flow and I said to my father 'Answer the Messenger of God for me,' and he said: 'I know not what to say.' When I asked my mother she said the same, and I was no more than a girl, young in years, and there was not much of the Qur’an that I could recite. So I said: 'I know well that ye have heard what men are saying, and it hath settled in your souls and ye have believed it; and if I say unto you that I am innocent and God knoweth that I am innocent -ye will not believe me, whereas if I confessed to that which God knoweth I am guiltless of, ye would believe me.' Then I groped in my mind for the name of Jacob, but I could not remember it, so I said: 'But I will say as the father of Joseph said: Beautiful patience must be mine; and God is He of whom help is to be asked against what they say' [Al-Qur'an 12:18]. Then I turned to my couch and lay on it, hoping that God would declare me innocent. Not that I thought He would send down a Revelation on my account, for it seemed to me that I was too paltry for my case to be spoken of in the Qur’an. But I was hoping that the Prophet* would see in his sleep a vision that would exculpate me.
"He remained sitting in our company and all of us were still present when a Revelation came to him: he was seized with the pangs which seized him at such times, and as it were pearls of sweat dripped from him, although it was a wintry day. Then, when he was relieved of the pressure, he said in a voice that vibrated with gladness: 'O Aisha, praise God, for He hath declared thee innocent.' Then my mother said 'Arise and go to the Messenger of God,' and I said: 'Nay by God, I will not rise and go to him, and I will praise none but God.' “ Verses of Surah an-Nur were revealed about this incident: "Verily! Those who brought forth the slander (against Aishah) are a group among you." [Al-Qur'an 24:11]
The Revelation

The new Revelation also dwelt upon the whole question of adultery, and, while prescribing the penalty, it likewise prescribed, as the penalty for slandering honourable women, that the slanderers should be scourged. The principal elements involved in the slander affair, Mistah bin Athatha, Hassan bin Thabit and Hamnah bint Jahsh, were flogged with eighty stripes and who confessed their guilt. But the hypocrites, who had been more insidious like Abdullah bin Ubai, had none the less been only implicit, nor did they confess to having had any part in it, so the Prophet* preferred not to pursue the matter, but to leave them to God.
Abu Bakr had been in the habit of giving his kinsman Misrah an allowance of money on account of his poverty, but now he said: "Never again by God will I give unto Mistah, and never again will I show him favour, after what he hath said against Aisha, and after the woe he hath brought upon us." But there now came the Revelation: Let not the men of dignity and wealth amongst you swear that they will not give unto kinsmen and unto the needy and unto those who have migrated for the sake of God. Let them forgive and let them be indulgent. Do ye not long that God should forgive you? And God is Forgiving, Merciful. Then Abu Bakr said: "Indeed I long that God shall forgive me." And he returned to Mistah and gave him what he had been used to giving him and said: "I swear I will never withdraw it from him!" The Prophet* likewise, after a certain time had elapsed, showed great generosity to Hassan; and he married his cousin Harnnah, Mus'ab's widow, to Talhah, by whom she had two sons.
Almost a month later, the Messenger of Allah* and Umer bin Al-Khattab were engaged in the following talk: "Don’t you see Umer if I had had him (Abdullah bin Ubai) killed, a large number of dignitaries would have furiously hastened to fight for him. Now, on the contrary, if I ask them to kill him, they will do so out of their own free will." Umer replied "I swear by Allah that the Prophet’s judgement is much more sound than mine."

Hadith: Nawawi’s 40 Hadith
Hadith 33: Onus of Proof is on the Claimant; The Taking of an Oath is on the Denier
Ibn 'Abbas said that the Messenger of Allah*, said: "Were people to be given according to their claims, some would claim the wealth and blood of others. But the burden of proof is upon the claimant and the taking of an oath is upon the one who denies (the allegation)." [al-Bayhaqi, al-Bukhari and Muslim]
And this hadith is a principle from the Principles of the Shariah, and a great authority to which one resorts in case of dispute or argument, and it implies that judgement is not simply passed by the claim of an individual.
There are in every judicial dispute at least two litigating parties, the plaintiff and the defendant. The first claims what is contrary to the apparent fact; the second holds to the apparent fact and denies the claim. This hadith forms an important maxim. The text of the hadith has been expressed in the following way:
"Evidence is for the person who claims; the oath is for the person who denies."
This hadith shows the supreme importance of proof to the administration of justice. The necessity of proof is a restrainer to false, weak, and unsubstantiated claims. Therefore it becomes important to know upon who the onus of proof lies. There is no doubt that the burden is upon the plaintiff. This is explained by the fact that what is apparent is presumed to be the original state; any one who makes a claim to the contrary must prove such claim. The proof of a matter requires presentation of evidence until the matter attains the degree of certainty. Certainty is that which can be established by sight or proof. It can only be dispelled by another certainty. Since it is established that a defendant is presumed to be free from liability until the claimant proves the contrary, it is important to know who is the defendant and who is the plaintiff, who of the two must bear the onus of proof, and whose evidence takes precedence in case of conflict.
Some scholars have said that the criteria for being an acceptable witness are:
1. The witness must be sane and competent.
2. In general, the witness must be an adult.
3. The witness must be a Muslim unless it be in a case dealing with non-Muslims.
4. The witness must be of sound memory.
5. The witness must be a person of integrity and honesty.
The importance of giving one's testimony
It is an obligation that people offer their testimony truthfully when called upon to do so. Allah the Almighty says: And the witness should not refuse when they are called.   [Surah al-Baqarah: Ayah 282] It is considered a sin to conceal what one has witnessed. Allah tha Almighty says: And conceal not the testimony, for he who hides it is certainly sinful of heart.  [Surah al-Baqarah: Ayah 283]
A warning to those who make successful false claims
It is noted that Islam stresses on appealing to fearing Allah whenever there is misuse of authority, or taking chances over others in all human relations such as trading, family disputes, and making false claims against others. The Prophet*, said: "I am a human being. You come to me as litigants. Perhaps, one of you is better in presenting his argument than the other and I decide in his favour according to what I have heard. If I have decided anything for someone from the rights of his brother, he should not take it for I have portioned for him a portion of the Hell fire." In another hadith the Prophet*, warns us that taking as little as a spin of a palm of someone else's property unjustly will be horribly taken responsible for in the Day of Judgment.
Summary
That the one who claims something must prove it to be his
That the one who denies what he is accused of must take an oath of denial
A person is free of guilt or claims made against him or her until proven otherwise.

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The Last Day

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Two Muslim children who are young and finished A-Levels, and one is going to University and is only 13 years old
Linked to the topics we also talked about what is ‘intelligence’ and who are clever. Are the well known ‘clever’ people really clever if the or not Muslim?
We also talked about the difference between Proof and Evidence.