The Prophet 's Love for `A'ishah

It is related from 'A'isha that the wives of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, fell into two parties. One party contained 'A'isha, Hafsa, Safiyya and Sawda, and the other party contained Umm Salama and the rest of the wives of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. The Muslims knew of the love of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, for 'A'isha, so when any of them had a gift which he wanted to give to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, he would delay it until the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, was in 'A'isha's house. Then the person with the gift would send it to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, while he was in 'A'isha's house..


The party of Umm Salama spoke about it and said to her, "Tell the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, to speak to the people and say, 'Whoever wants to give a gift to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, should give it to him in the house of whichever wife he is.'" Umm Salama spoke to him about what they had said, but he did not say anything. They asked her and she said, "He did not say anything to me." They said to her, "Speak to him." She said, "She spoke to him when he went around to her as well, but he did not say anything to her. They asked her and she said, 'He did not say anything to me.' They said to her, 'Speak to him until he speaks to you.' He went around to her and she spoke to him. He said to her, 'Do not injure me regarding 'A'isha. The revelation does not come to me when I am in the garment of any woman except 'A'isha.'" She said, "She said, 'I repent to Allah from injuring you, Messenger of Allah.' Then they called Fatima, the daughter of the Messenger of Allah, and sent her to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, to say, 'Your wives ask you by Allah for fairness regarding the daughter of Abu Bakr." She spoke to him and he said, 'O my daughter, do you not love what I love?' She said, 'Yes indeed.' She returned to them and informed them. They said, 'Go back to him,' but she refused to go back. They sent Zaynab bint Jahsh and she went to him and spoke harshly, saying. 'Your wives ask you by Allah for fairness regarding the daughter of Ibn Abi Quhafa.' She raised her voice until she turned to 'A'isha, who was sitting down, and abused her until the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, looked at 'A'isha to see if she would speak. 'A'isha spoke to answer back Zaynab until she had silenced her." She said, "The Prophet, peace be upon him, looked at 'A'isha and said, 'She is indeed the daughter of Abu Bakr.'"

Al-Bukhari said that the last words is the story of Fatima which is mentioned from Hisham ibn 'Urwa from a man from az-Zuhri from Muhammad ibn 'Abdu'r-Rahman. Abu Marwan said from Hisham from 'Urwa, "The people used to aim to send their gifts on the day of 'A'isha." By another isnad, 'A'isha said, "I was with the Prophet, peace be upon him, when Fatima asked for permission to enter."



Bukhari, Chapter 54: the Book of gifts and their excellence, 2422.