A Glimpse in to the life, merits and qualities of the mother of the believers, Aa’shah Siddeeqah رضي الله عنها
Listen to “Aa’ishah Siddeeqah رضي الله عنها” by Mawlana Junayd Makda Sahib
Who is Aa'ishah Siddeeqah رضي الله عنها ?
- Name: A’ishah رضي الله عنها
- Titles: Ummul Mu’mineen, Siddeeqah
- Born: 44 years after our beloved Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam (9 BH)
- Demise: 47 years after our beloved Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam (58 AH)
●A’ishah رضي الله عنها was the daughter of Abu Bakr As Siddeeq رضي الله عنه. Her mother’s name was Umme Rumaan. At the time of her birth, both her parents had already accepted Islam.
●She was known for her generosity, intelligence and knowledge.
●She attained two titles. Ummul Mumineen (the mother of the believers) and Siddeeqah (the truthful one)
●She was honoured with the privilege of marrying our beloved Nabi ﷺ who married her after the demise of Khadijah رضي الله عنها.
●Due to her intelligence and this opportunity of marrying our beloved Nabi ﷺ, she gained a lot of knowledge and contributed a large number of hadeeth to the ummah and she is among the mukthireen fil hadeeth i.e those who narrated the most ahadeeth and sayings of our beloved Nabi ﷺ. The total number of ahadeeth she narrated was 2,210.
●She had utmost love for our beloved Nabi ﷺ and from many incidents, we learn that our beloved Nabi ﷺ also loved her a lot.
●Her generosity was exceptional and spent whatever she could. Once 100, 000 dirham was gifted to her, despite experiencing poverty at the time, She distributed the entire amount by the evening not spending a single dirham on herself!
●During the final days of our beloved Nabi ﷺ’s life, the other wives of our beloved Nabi ﷺ granted him permission to stay in the house of A’ishah رضي الله عنها. He remained there for the final few days and passed away whilst resting his blessed head on her lap.
●After the demise of our beloved Nabi ﷺ, A’ishah رضي الله عنها remained in Madeenah. She was still young, but due to her knowledge and understanding of deen, the senior sahaba would consult with her when they would encounter any difficulty in understanding deen
● A’ishah رضي الله عنها passed away during Ramadhan whilst still in Madeenah Munawwarah. She was 67 years old at the time. Abu Hurayrah رضي الله عنه performed her janazah salaah and she was buried in Jannatul Baqi.
Did you Know?
1) Our beloved Nabi ﷺ passed away in A’ishah’s رضي الله عنها room and is buried there too?
2) Two years later when Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه (Aisha’s رضي الله عنها father) passed away, he too was buried there (besides our beloved Nabi ﷺ).
3) When Umar Ibn Al Khattab رضي الله عنه was on his death bed, he requested and asked permission from A’ishah رضي الله عنها to allow him to be buried next to our beloved Nabi ﷺ.
4) A’ishah رضي الله عنها, had reserved that space for herself, but when this request came sacrificed her own wish and granted permission.
5) To this day when someone visits the blessed grave of our beloved Nabi ﷺthey are visiting this same place.
Qualities:
1) A’ishah رضي الله عنها was very intelligent and had an amazing memory.
2) She was very soft-hearted and extremely generous.
3) She was known for her knowledge and exceptional understanding of deen due to which senior companions would consult her in Islamic matters.
4) She was very dear to our beloved Nabi ﷺ.
5) She was chosen for a unique task of preserving deeni knowledge by marrying and closely learning from our beloved Nabi ﷺ and after his blessed demise sharing these teachings for 47 years.
Many shar’ee (Islamic Juristic) rulings have been derived from her narrations.
Merits of A’ishah رضي الله عنها
- Jibraeel علیہ السلام came to the Prophet ﷺ, with her image on a green, silken cloth and he told our beloved nabi ﷺ that this was to be his wife in this world and the Hereafter. (Tirmidhi)
- Our beloved Nabi ﷺ said “The virtue of A’ishah over other women is like the virtue of Tharīd over all other foods” (Sahih Bukhari) Note: Thareed was a very popular and liked dish in the time of our beloved Nabi ﷺ.
- ‘Once when Amr ibn Al-Aas رضي الله عنه asked our beloved Nabi ﷺ regarding who was most beloved to him, He said: Ai’shah رضي الله عنها was. (Sahih Bukhari)
- A’ishah رضي الله عنها said, “The Prophet ﷺ said to her, “O A’ishah, here is the Angel Jibraeel علیہ السلام to greet you with peace.” A’ishah رضي الله عنها said, “‘Wa alaihis-salaam wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuhu. You see what I do not see.” She was addressing Allah’s Messengerﷺ[with the last sentence]. (Sahih al-Bukhari)
- Ibn Shihab Az Zuhri rahimahullah says “If the knowledge of A’ishah رضي الله عنها was collected and [compared to] the knowledge of all people, as well as the knowledge of the other wives of Nabi ﷺ, the knowledge of A’ishah رضي الله عنها, would be greater” (Mustadrak Hakim)
- Urwa Ibn Zubayr rahimahullah says “I have not seen anyone who was more knowledgeable in halal, haram, knowledge, poetry and medicine than ‘A’ishah رضي الله عنها” (Mustadrak Hakim)
Advice given to A’ishah رضي الله عنها by our beloved Nabi ﷺ :
Our beloved Nabi ﷺ said: “O Allah, keep me alive as a poor person, make me die as a poor person, and resurrect me with the poor people” A’ishah رضي الله عنها said: “O Rasoolullah ﷺ! Why are you making such a du’a?” He replied: “The poor shall enter into paradise forty years before the wealthy. (and then he further said)
O A’ishah رضي الله عنها, Do not send away a poor person without giving him something; even if all you can give is a piece of date. O A’ishah! Have love for the needy and bring them close to you, for indeed Allah Ta’aala will bring you close on the Day of Qiyamah.” (Tirmidhi)
Ibn al-Qayyim رحمة الله عليه mentions some of her unique characteristics:
- She was the dearest of all the wives to our beloved Nabi ﷺ.
- Our beloved Nabi ﷺ did not receive revelation in the bed of any of his wives apart from hers.
- When a rumour spread about A’ishah رضي الله عنها, Allah Ta’aala Himself declared her innocence and included them in the Glorious Quran.
- When the senior Sahabah were confused about matters of religion, they would consult her and would find the knowledge they were seeking with her. (Jalaa’ al-Afhaam, pg. 237-241)