A lovely hadeeth in Sahih Al-Bukhari’s Book of Tayammum highlights the virtue of our mother Aisha, the beloved wife of the Prophet ﷺ. Narrated Aisha رضي الله عنها:
“We set out with Allah’s Messenger ﷺ on one of his journeys till we reached Al-Baida’ or Dhatul-Jaish; a necklace of mine was broken (and lost).
Allah’s Messenger ﷺ stayed there to search for it, and so did the people along with him.
There was no water at that place, so the people went to Abu- Bakr As-Siddiq and said,”Don’t you see what Aisha has done? She has made Allah’s Messenger and the people stay where there is no water and they have no water with them.”
Abu Bakr came while Allah’s Messenger ﷺ was sleeping with his head on my thigh, He said, to me: “You have detained Allah’s Messenger ﷺ and the people where there is no water and they have no water with them.” So he admonished me and said what Allah wished him to say and hit me on my flank with his hand.
Nothing prevented me from moving (because of pain) but the position of Allah’s Messengerﷺ on my thigh. Allah’s Messenger ﷺ got up when dawn broke and there was no water. So Allah revealed the divine verses of tayammum. So they all performed tayammum.
Usaid bin Hudair said, “O the family of Abu Bakr! This is not the first blessing of yours.”
Then the camel on which I was riding was caused to move from its place and the necklace was found beneath it.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, in Book of Tayammum)
Reading about our mother Aisha (رضي الله عنها) fills our heart with nothing but love and respect. She was a young lady whom Allah chose as a means to teach Muslims many aspects of the religion.
The people were worried about the fact that they were stuck in a place without water and that they would need water for wudhu and other needs. They complained to Abu Bakr, her father, about what she had done.
Abu Bakr As-Siddeeq (رضي الله عنه), deeply concerned for the Muslims as he was, rebuked her for the situation she got the Muslims, and Allah’s Messenger ﷺ, into.
But Allah, through this incident, brought about tremendous ease for the Muslims.
You also cannot help but smile at her innocence and her losing the necklace, as she did in the Story of Ifk (a tremendous incident through which Allah taught Muslims many lessons and laws).
After the order of Tayammum was revealed, the Sahabi Usaid bin Hudair (رضي الله عنه) said to Aisha (رضي الله عنها), “Jazaakillah khair (May Allah reward you). By Allah, whenever anything happened which you did not like, Allah brought good for you and for the Muslims in that.” (Sahih al-Bukhari)
Usaid bin Hudair (رضي الله عنه), by the way, is the great companion whose recitation of the Qur’an was witnessed by the angels.
Narrated Usaid bin Hudair: That while he was reciting Surah al-Baqarah at night, and his horse was tied beside him, the horse was suddenly startled and troubled.
When he stopped reciting, the horse became quiet, and when he started again, the horse was startled again. Then he stopped reciting and the horse became quiet too. He started reciting again and the horse was startled and troubled once again.
Then he stopped reciting and his son, Yahya was beside the horse. He was afraid that the horse might trample on him. When he took the boy away and looked towards the sky, he could not see it.
The next morning he informed the Prophet ﷺ who said, “Recite, O Ibn Hudair! Recite, O Ibn Hudair!” Ibn Hudair replied, “O Messenger of Allah, my son, Yahya was near the horse and I was afraid that it might trample on him, so I looked towards the sky, and went to him. When I looked at the sky, I saw something like a cloud containing what looked like lamps, so I went out in order not to see it.”
The Prophet ﷺ said, “Do you know what that was?” Ibn Hudair replied, “No.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Those were angels who came near to you for your voice and if you had kept on reciting till dawn, it would have remained there till morning when people would have seen it as it would not have disappeared.” (Sahih al-Bukhari)
Dr. Bilal Philips