Whenever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ intended to travel, he would draw lots among his wives, and whichever of them had her lot drawn, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would take her with him. ‘Aisha said: He drew lots among us during one of the expeditions he undertook, and my lot was drawn, so I went out with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ after the veil (hijab) had been prescribed. I would be carried in my howdah and set down in it. We traveled until the Messenger of Allah ﷺ completed that expedition and returned, and when we were close to Medina, he announced one night that it was time to depart. I got up when they announced departure and walked until I had passed beyond the army. When I had finished my need, I returned to my mount and touched my chest, only to find that my necklace made of Zafar beads had broken. I went back to look for my necklace, and searching for it delayed me. Meanwhile, the group of men who used to carry my howdah came and lifted it, placing it on my camel, thinking I was inside it, as women at that time were light and had not become heavy, since they ate little food. So the people did not notice the lightness of the howdah when they lifted it, and I was a young girl. They set the camel in motion and departed. I found my necklace after the army had moved on, and I came to their campsite, but found no one there. I went to the place where I had been, thinking they would miss me and come back for me. While I was sitting there, sleep overcame me and I fell asleep. Then Safwan ibn al-Mu'attal, who had been behind the army, came by in the morning and saw the figure of a sleeping person. He recognized me when he saw me, as he had seen me before the veil was prescribed. I awoke when I heard him say, ‘Indeed we belong to Allah and to Him we return,’ upon recognizing me. I covered my face with my garment, and by Allah, we did not speak a single word, nor did I hear from him anything except his saying of that phrase. He made his camel kneel, stepped on its foreleg, and I mounted it, and he led the camel until we reached the army at midday while they were resting. Then those who perished perished, and the one who took the greatest part in the slander was ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy. ‘Urwah ibn al-Zubayr said: I was informed that it was being spread and spoken about in his presence, and he would confirm it, listen to it, and inquire further. ‘Urwah also said: None were named among the people of the slander except Hassan ibn Thabit, Mistah ibn Uthathah, and Hamnah bint Jahsh, along with others I do not know, but they were a group, as Allah the Exalted said, though the one who bore the greatest share was said to be ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy. ‘Urwah said: ‘Aisha used to dislike that Hassan be insulted in her presence and would say: ‘He is the one who said: “Indeed my father, his father, and my honor are a protection for the honor of Muhammad among you.” ‘Aisha said: We arrived in Medina, and I fell ill for a month after my arrival, while the people were spreading the statements of the slander, and I was unaware of any of it. What troubled me in my illness was that I did not see from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ the usual kindness I used to see when I was sick; he would only enter, greet me, say, ‘How is that one(lady)?’ and then leave. That made me uneasy, though I was unaware of the evil, until I went out after I had recovered somewhat, and I went out with the mother of Mistah toward the open area we used as a restroom, as we only went out at night before we had latrines near our homes, following the old Arab custom. As I and the mother of Mistah were returning to my house, she stumbled on her garment and said, ‘May Mistah be ruined!’ I said to her, ‘What a terrible thing you have said! Do you insult a man who witnessed Badr?’ referring to the Battle of Badr. She said, ‘O you unaware one, have you not heard what he said?’ I asked, ‘What did he say?’ and she informed me of the statements of the people of the slander. I became more ill upon hearing this. When I returned to my house, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered, greeted me, and said, ‘How is that one (lady)?’ I said, ‘Will you allow me to go to my parents?’ I wanted to confirm the news from them. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ permitted me, and I said to my mother, ‘O my mother, what are people saying?’ She said, ‘O my daughter, take it lightly, for by Allah, rarely is a beautiful woman loved by her husband and having co-wives except that they speak much against her.’ I said, ‘Glory be to Allah! Have the people really said this?’ I wept that entire night until morning, my tears did not stop and I could not sleep, and I continued weeping into the morning. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then called ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib and Usamah ibn Zayd when the revelation was delayed, seeking their advice about separating from his wife. Usamah advised the Messenger of Allah ﷺ based on what he knew of her innocence and said, ‘Your family—we know nothing but good about them.’ As for ‘Ali, he said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, Allah has not constrained you, and there are many women besides her; ask the servant girl, she will tell you the truth.’ So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ called Barirah and said, ‘O Barirah, have you seen anything that raises suspicion?’ She said, ‘By the One who sent you with the truth, I have never seen anything from her that I would criticize, except that she is a young girl who sometimes sleeps and leaves her family’s dough unattended, and the domestic animals come and eat it.’ Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood that day and addressed the people from the pulpit, seeking redress from ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy, saying, ‘O Muslims, who will excuse me regarding a man whose harm toward my family has reached me? By Allah, I know nothing but good about my family, and they have mentioned a man about whom I know nothing but good, and he never entered upon my family except with me.’ Then Sa'd ibn Mu'adh stood and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, I will excuse you regarding him. If he is from Aws, I will strike his neck, and if he is from our brothers of Khazraj, command us and we will do as you command.’ Then Sa'd ibn Ubadah stood, and the mother of Hassan was his paternal cousin from his clan, and though he had been a righteous man, tribal zeal overtook him, and he said to Sa’d, ‘You have lied; by Allah, you will not kill him, and you are not able to kill him. If he were from your people, you would not like him to be killed.’ Then Usayd ibn Hudayr, the cousin of Sa’d ibn Mu’dh, stood and said to Sa’d ibn Ubadah, ‘You have lied; by Allah, we will kill him, for you are a hypocrite arguing on behalf of hypocrites.’ The two tribes, Aws and Khazraj, nearly fought while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was on the pulpit, and he continued to calm them until they became silent. I wept that entire day and night, and my tears did not stop, nor could I sleep. My parents stayed with me, and after two nights and a day of continuous crying, I thought my liver would burst from weeping. While they were sitting with me and I was crying, a woman from the Ansar asked permission to enter, and I allowed her, and she sat and cried with me. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered, greeted us, and sat down, though he had not sat with me since what had been said began, and a month had passed without revelation concerning my case. He testified and said, ‘O ‘Aisha, such-and-such has reached me about you. If you are innocent, Allah will declare your innocence, and if you have committed a sin, then seek Allah’s forgiveness and repent, for when a servant confesses and repents, Allah accepts his repentance.’ When he finished speaking, my tears stopped completely, and I said to my father, ‘Answer the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on my behalf.’ He said, ‘By Allah, I do not know what to say.’ I said to my mother, ‘Answer him,’ and she said, ‘By Allah, I do not know what to say.’ I said, though I was a young girl who had not memorized much of the Qur’an: ‘By Allah, I know that you have heard this matter until it has settled in your hearts and you have believed it. If I tell you that I am innocent, you will not believe me, and if I admit to something—while Allah knows I am innocent—you will believe me. I find no example for myself and you except the father of Yusuf,’ referring to Prophet Ya'qub, when he said, ‘So beautiful patience! It is Allah’s help that I seek to bear your claims.” Then I turned away and lay down on my bed. By Allah, I knew I was innocent and that Allah would declare my innocence, but I did not expect that Allah would reveal Qur’an about me to be recited, as I considered myself too insignificant for that, though I hoped the Messenger of Allah ﷺ might see a dream in which Allah would clear me. By Allah, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had not left his place, nor had anyone from the household left, before revelation came to him, and he was overtaken by the intensity that used to affect him, and sweat poured from him like pearls on a cold day due to the weight of the revelation. When it was lifted from him, he was smiling, and the first words he said were, ‘O ‘Aisha, Allah has declared your innocence.’ My mother said, ‘Stand up to him,’ but I said, ‘By Allah, I will not stand up to him, and I will not praise anyone except Allah, the Mighty and Majestic.’ Then Allah revealed: “Indeed, those who came up with that ˹outrageous˺ slander are a group of you …” the ten verses. Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, who used to spend on Mistah due to his kinship and poverty, said, ‘By Allah, I will never spend on Mistah again after what he said about ‘Aisha.’ Then Allah revealed: “Do not let the people of virtue and affluence among you …” up to “And Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful” Abu Bakr said, ‘Yes, by Allah, I love that Allah should forgive me,’ so he resumed spending on Mistah and said, ‘By Allah, I will never withhold it from him again.’ ‘Aisha said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ asked Zaynab bint Jahsh about me, saying, ‘O Zaynab, what do you know or have you seen?’ She said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, I protect my hearing and sight; by Allah, I know nothing but good.’ ‘Aisha said: She was the one who used to compete with me among the wives of the Prophet ﷺ, but Allah protected her through piety. Her sister, however, Hamnah bint Jahsh, supported those who spread the slander and perished among those who perished. Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri said: This is what has reached me from the narration of those people. Then ‘Urwah said: ‘Aisha said, “By Allah, the man about whom what was said in my case was said used to say: ‘Glory be to Allah! By the One in whose hand is my soul, I have never uncovered the garment of any woman, and later he was killed in the path of Allah”.