The Rebellion of Ayesha Against Imam Ali (as) - 2

The Rebellion of Ayesha Against Imam Ali (as) - 2

Reply Four – Imam Ali (as) deemed Ayesha’s leaving her home to oppose him to be a violation of the Quranic verse

The Nawasib can provide as much advocacy as they like, but it will not succeed in refuting the fact that Ayesha did breach the conditions imposed on her in the Quranic verse under discussion. Our assertion is substantiated by the position of Imam Ali (as) who deemed her conduct to constitute a breach of this Quranic verse. We read the following account in Iqd al-Fareed, Volume 2 page 108, wherein he (as) cascaded his view to Ibn Abbas (ra) who then presented it to Ayesha:

He (Ali) said: ‘Go to that woman and tell her to return to her home wherein Allah had ordered her to remain’. He (Ibn Abbas) said: ‘I therefore went to her and asked permission to enter, but she didn’t grant it. I therefore entered the house without her permission and sat on a cushion. She (Ayesha) said: ‘O ibn Abbas, by Allah I have never witnessed anyone like you! You entered our house without permission and sat on our cushion without our permission’. I said: ‘By Allah this is not your house, your only house is the one wherein Allah ordered you to remain, but you didn’t obey. The Commander of the Faithful orders you to return to that homeland from which you had left. 

Iqd al-Fareed, Volume 2 page 108

Shaykh Sibt Jauzi al-Hanafi in Tazkirah tul Khawwas page 38, Shaykh Ibn Talha Shafiyee in Matalib al Se’ul page 112 and Ibn Sabagh Maliki in Fusul ul Muhimma page 72 record that prior to the battle of Jamal:

وكتب علبه السلام إلى عائشة : أما بعد ، فإنك خرجت من بيتك عاصية لله تعالى ولرسوله

“He Ali (as) wrote a letter to Ayesha: ‘By leaving your home you have disobeyed Allah (swt) and his Rasul (s)”

Comment

The Nawasib of Ansar.Org and Ahlelbayt.com submit as many excuses as they like, the fact of the matter is that the Imam of Truth, Ali (as) felt that Ayesha had no basis to support her stance; she was acting in opposition to Allah (swt) and his Rasul (s). Whose opinion should we rely on, these Nasibi writers or the Gate of Knowledge, Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (as)?

Reply Five – Ummul Mumineen Ume Salmah (ra) deemed Ayesha’s leaving her home to oppose Ali (as) to be a violation of the order of Allah (swt) and his Rasul (s)

Hakim records a Sahih tradition in his Al-Mustadrak, Volume 3 page 129 Hadith 4611:

قالت لما سار علي إلى البصرة دخل على أم سلمة زوج النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم يودعها فقالت سر في حفظ الله وفي كنفه فوالله إنك لعلي الحق والحق معك ولولا أني أكره أن أعصى الله ورسوله فإنه أمرنا صلى الله عليه وسلم أن نقر في بيوتنا لسرت معك ولكن والله لأرسلن معك من هو أفضل عندي وأعز علي من نفسي ابني عمر

When Ali was leaving for Basrah, he came before Ume Salamah. She said: ‘May you go under the protection of Allah. By Allah, you with Truth (Haq) and truth is with you. If I did not dislike disobedience of Allah and His Apostle, as they have directed us to stay in the house, I would have come along with you. But by Allah, I will dispatch with you someone who is the most precious to me and is more dearest to me than myself, that is my son Umar’.

Reply Six – The Sunni scholars of Tafseer have said that these verses prohibited the wives from leaving their homes

Let us now cite some Sunni commentaries to become better informed of the instructions set out in the cited verse to the wives of the Holy Prophet (s). Imam Showkani records in Fatah al-Qadeer, Volume 4 page 395:

ومعناه : الأمر لهن بالتوقر والسكون في بيوتهن وأن لا يخرجن

“It means that they were instructed to remain at home and not venture out.”

Abu Bakr al-Jazaeri records in Aysar al-Tafasir, Volume 4 page 1408:

{وقرن في بيوتكن } أي أقررن في بيوتكن ولا تخرجن منها إلا للحاجة

‘{And stay quietly in your houses} means stay at home and don’t go out unless it is for a necessary thing’.

We have already stated that no sane pious person would deem the steps taken by Ayesha to constitute legitimate grounds for her leaving her home. That is precisely why some Sunni sources narrate that Ayesha (on hindsight) realized that she was wrong and had sinned by leaving her home and leading a male movement onto a bloody battlefield leaving scores of Muslims dead. This grave sinful act affected Ayesha to such an extent that whenever she recited this verse, she lamented over the tragedy that she had inflicted on the Ummah (alas, it was too late for her). It is also relevant to point out that some Sunni scholars have recorded this very reaction of Ayesha in their commentaries of this said verse, al-Ghernati for example records in al-Tasehil le Uloom al-Tanzil, Volume 2 page 365:

وكانت عائشة إذا قرأت هذه الآية تبكي على خروجها أيام الجمل

Whenever Ayesha recited this verse she would weep on account of her march at Jamal (battle).

Imam Jalaluddin Suyuti records in Tafsir Dur al-Manthur, Volume 6 page 600 records:

Masrooq [ra] narrated that when Ayesha [ra] would recite this verse, she would cry so profusely that her cover would become soaked with tears.

Comment

The distraught reaction of Ayesha shall suffice to water down all Nawasib attempts to distort the divine injunction placed upon the wives of the Holy Prophet (s). Ayesha’s advocates would lead us to believe that their client exercised ijtihad for which she would receive one reward if she was wrong, with any sin committed wiped out. One wonders how correct such an approach is when textual evidence cites this distraught reaction of Ayesha. Her tears do not suggest that she was confident of her conduct being pardoned let alone be rewarded for her approach.