Rumors Never Cease

Message of Peace - Justice P K Shamsuddin

Juwayriyya, daughter of Al Harith was one of the captives from Banu Al Mustaliq. She was a noble and attractive woman and her lot fell on a member of Al Aws tribe. She sought to ransom herself but her captor who knew that she was the daughter of the leader of Banu Al Mustaliq demanded a very high price which he thought her people was capable of paying. Dissatisfied by this conduct, she sought the assistance of Mohammed to free herself from the captivity. Mohammed offered that he would ransom and marry her which was acceptable to Juwayriyya. This is one version; another version is that Al Harith came to Mohammed to ransom his daughter and after talking to Mohammed he believed in him, declared his conversion to Islam and Juwayriyya also embraced Islam. Here, Mohammed offered to marry her. A third version is that her father was not agreeable to the marriage and that one of her relatives came forward to help her and the marriage took place against the will of her father. Somehow everybody agrees that Mohammed married her.


It was during that time some people whispered about the delayed return of Aisha. Many people took it seriously and started spreading this gossip. Abdulla Ibn Ubayy considered this gossip to be of great value in dividing the community; he deliberately spread the news in the market. The tribesmen of Al Aws defended Aisha; they knew well that she was an example of nobility, chastity and purity. The gossip reached the ear of Mohammed and he felt deeply hurt. He could not believe for a moment that Aisha would violate her marriage vows. Aisha had not explained to Mohammed the reasons for leaving the camp and the circumstances in which she was forced to ride on the camel of Safwan. This caused some disturbance in the mind of Mohammed.
However, nobody dared to ask Aisha anything about this gossip. She noticed the great shift from the normal tenderness of Mohammed. She fell ill and was attended by her mother. One day she asked his permission to move to the quarters of her parents so that they could take care of her. Permission was granted and she remained bedridden for twenty days. People continued their gossip which annoyed Mohammed and he was compelled to mention this in one of his speeches. He said, “Why some of you are staining the reputation of my family by raising false accusations? By God, the members of my family have always been good.” Ubbay Syed Ibn Hydayrins rose up and promised to put a quick full stop to this through his tribesmen.  (Contd)

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