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Surah: An-Nur (11)
The Slander Incident — Aisha's Exoneration
إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ جَآءُو بِٱلۡإِفۡكِ عُصۡبَةٌ مِّنكُمۡ
— النور الآية 11
Occasion of Revelation (Sahih — Agreed Upon — longest hadith in both Sahihayn):
During the Banu Al-Mustaliq expedition (5 or 6 AH), Aisha was left behind and Safwan ibn Al-Mu'attal brought her to rejoin the army. The hypocrites — led by Abdullah ibn Ubayy — spread terrible slander. The Prophet ﷺ spent weeks in distress, and Aisha wept in her parents' home, until the ten verses of Surah An-Nur were revealed: "Those who brought the slander..."
Key Lessons:
During the Banu Al-Mustaliq expedition (5 or 6 AH), Aisha was left behind and Safwan ibn Al-Mu'attal brought her to rejoin the army. The hypocrites — led by Abdullah ibn Ubayy — spread terrible slander. The Prophet ﷺ spent weeks in distress, and Aisha wept in her parents' home, until the ten verses of Surah An-Nur were revealed: "Those who brought the slander..."
Key Lessons:
- A direct divine exoneration of Aisha
- Those believers who believed the slander are described as heedless, not corrupt — and reprimanded
- The legal penalty for false accusation: 80 lashes + rejection of testimony
- "Why, when you heard it, did not believing men and women assume good of themselves?" — establishing the principle of positive thinking about fellow believers
Source: Sahih Al-Bukhari (4141), Sahih Muslim (2770) — Long Hadith of Aisha — Agreed Upon
Test Yourself
What legal ruling did the Quran establish following the slander incident?
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