Before we leave this topic area there is one thing that we have not discussed until now, but something that merits analysis, determining why such shameless narrations have come about in the first instance. It would be inappropriate to apportion exclusive blame to the descendants of Muawiyah, real blame should be apportioned to that individual that propagated such a shameless lie relating to the first revelation. When we examine the tradition we are analysing and indeed similar ones on this topic in Sahih Bukhari, we note that the narrator is one Aisha daughter of Abu Bakr, wife of the Prophet (s). Let us therefore pose one question for Ibn al Hashimi to explain to his readers:
How did Aisha narrate such precise details of the event when she had not yet been conceived?
The tragedy is the Nawasib happily reel of such traditions as Sahih on account of their being narrated by Aisha; they will after all insist ‘who knows a man better than his wife?’ The problem with this line of argument is simple, Aisha’s spousal relationship had not yet been secured, rather she had not even been conceived when this entire episode transpired! Remember the tradition is not one wherein Aisha is narrating that which the Prophet (s) cascaded to her; rather it begins on her authority that which she knows as an eye witness. She never came into contact with the Mother of Faithful Khadija (as), she never even saw her. We read in Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 58, Number 36:
Narrated Hisham’s father:
Khadija died three years before the Prophet departed to Medina. He stayed there for two years or so and then he married ‘Aisha when she was a girl of six years of age, and he consumed that marriage when she was nine years old.
This would have made Aisha one years of age at the time that Sayyida Khadija (as) departed from this world. A one year child has limited language and thinking skills, so how can it be entertained that she was able to attend the home of Khadija (as) and recollect this entire event in such detail, that included verbatim conversations between the Prophet (s) and Khadija (as)?
What is indeed amazing is that she makes no mention of Abu Talib (as) who was at the forefront protecting the Prophet (s) at that time, she in fact never narrated anything from him even though he died during the same year as Khadija (as). The fact is Aisha’s age when Khadija (as) died was so tender that she would have been playing with her legendary dolls whilst juxtaposition in her mother’s lap! How this baby was competent enough to recollect the entire history of the minutiae of the first revelation is something that Aisha’s supporters need to explain to us!
We are talking about the age of Aisha at the time of the death of Khadija (as) the event in question when Waraqa died dates back to ten years before her birth, when she remained in the loins of her father, so where did she get this direct evidence from? If it was hearsay evidence:
- who was the source?
- why was she passing it off as her direct knowledge?
If you were to ask the average Sunni on the street he would reject any suggestion that the Prophet (s) was unsure of his designation, and became suicidal following his epiphany. They would deem that illogical, unacceptable and indeed blasphemous. The Sunni clergy in their sermons likewise paint a beautiful picture of the commencement of the Prophetic Mission, and gloss over the shameless narrations of Hazrat Aisha. In fact a tradition that Sunni scholars know and indeed quote in their traditions is this one:
“I was a prophet while Adam was between the spirit and body”
This tradition dates the Prophethood of Muhammad to before the creation of Adam, rather it places it when the Prophet (s) was in a different metaphysical state, that of Nur. How can Sunnis reconcile the said tradition with the commencement of Prophethood as narrated by Aisha? The fact of the matter is Sunni Islam’s most prolific female Hadith narrator has sought to suggest that:
If you were to inform a Sunni that this is what his principle book records about the appointment of Muhammad (s) he will insist that the Shia are lying or that such claims are a Sabaite conspiracy. This typical Sunni Muslim response is due to the fact that their belief about Prophethood is associated with the heart their love for him (s) is not prepared to accept the Mercy of Mankind would be ignorant of his designation and seek to commit suicide after it is bestowed upon him! The tragedy is this Sunni belief based on love for the Prophet (s) has no nexus with that which has been reported in their most authentic Hadith book, from the tongue of their most authentic female Hadith narrator.
We appeal to justice, does Aisha’s depiction of Prophethood exalt his (s) status? Would a non-Muslim looking into Islam be convinced that the Prophet (s) was indeed divinely appointed from the narrations of Aisha? If not then clearly the epithet of Siddiqah should be withdrawn forthwith. Along the same lines Urwa her nephew should be rejected as a narrator that places Nawasib in a quandary as the vast bulk of traditions from Aisha have reached them through her nephew Urwa. We leave it to the Nawasib to offer an answer to the matters we have raised.