Commonly raised misconceptions about Sayyidah Aisha – Intro

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Commonly raised misconceptions about Sayyidah Aisha

 

بَلْ نَقْذِفُ بِالْحَقِّ عَلَى الْبَاطِلِ فَيَدْمَغُهُ فَإِذَا هُوَ زَاهِقٌ وَلَكُمُ الْوَيْلُ مِمَّا تَصِفُونَ

Rather, We dash the truth upon falsehood, and it destroys it, and thereupon it departs. And for you is destruction from that which you describe.[1]

 

Introduction

 

Warning against being trapped in the quagmire of misconceptions

Before getting into this discussion, it would be appropriate to define a shubhah (misconception).

Al shubhah lexically means:

الالتباس و الاختلاط

Confusion or misunderstanding

 

شبه عليه الأمر تشبيها

It was confused for him

 

The plural of it is shubah and shubuhat.[2]

 

The technical meaning is:

التباس الحق بالباطل و اختلاطه حتى لا يتبين

Confusing the truth with falsehood to the extent that the truth is not clear.[3]

 

Some have said:

هي ما يشبه الثابت و ليس بثابت

It is something that resembles thabit (established) but is not thabit.[4]

 

Ibn al Qayyim has defined it as:

الشبهة وارد يرد على القلب يحول بينه و بين انكشاف الحق

Al shubhah: An occurrence that covers the heart which becomes a barrier between it and the manifestation of the truth.[5]

 

Misconceptions are one of the two types of fitnah which affect the hearts. Two fitnahs affect the heart: the fitnah of shubhah (misconception) and the fitnah of shahwah (passion). However, the former is more dangerous for when it envelopes the heart, then very seldom anyone is saved from it. It is concerning this that Ibn al Qayyim says:

 

القلب يتوارده جيشان من الباطل جيش شهوات الغي و جيش شبهات الباطل فأيما قلب صغا إليها و ركن إليها تشربها و امتلأ بها فينضح لسانه و جوارحه بموجبها فإن أشرب شبهات الباطل تفجرت على لسانه الشكوك و الشبهات و الإيرادات فيظن الجاهل أن ذلك لسعة علمه و إنما ذلك من عدم علمه و يقينه

Two armies of falsehood attack the heart, viz. the army of corrupt passions and the army of false misconceptions. To whichever the heart inclines and leans towards, it seizes it and occupies it. Accordingly, his tongue and limbs flow according to its demands. If it is occupied by false misconceptions, then doubts, misunderstandings, and objections flow from his tongue making the ignorant person think that this is due to his vast knowledge whereas this is due to his lack of knowledge and conviction.[6]

 

He also says:

 

قال لي شيخ الإسلام و قد جعلت أورد عليه إيرادا بعد أيراد لا تجعل قلبك للإيرادات و الشبهات مثل السفنجة فيتشربها فلا ينضح إلا بها و لكن اجعله كالزجاجة المصمتة تمر الشبهات بظاهرها و لا تستقر فيها فيراها بصفائه و يدفعها بصلابته و إلا فإذا أشربت قلبك كل شبهة تمر عليها صار مقرا للشبهات أو كما قال فما أعلم أني انتفعت بوصية في دفع الشبهات كانتفاعي بذلك

Ibn Taymiyyah said to me after I began posing objection after objection to him, “Do not make your heart like a sponge for objections and misconceptions that absorbs them and only releases them. Rather, make it like a solid glass, which allows doubts to pass by its exterior, but they do not remain in its interior. So you can see it with its clarity and remove it with its firmness. Otherwise, if your heart absorbs every doubt that passes it, it will become a station for misconceptions;” or so he said. I do not know if I benefitted from any advice in removing doubts the way I benefitted from this.[7]

 

This is the dangerous degree of misconception. Accordingly, our predecessors made a concerted effort to remain far from them and from gatherings which create such doubts. It appears in the book al Sunnah of ‘Abdullah ibn Ahmed:

 

دخل رجلان من أصحاب الأهواء على محمد بن سيرين فقالا يا أبا بكر نحدثك بحديث قال لا قالا فنقرأ عليك آية من كتاب الله عز و جل قال لا لتقومان عني أو لأقومن قال فقام الرجلان فخرجا فقال بعض القوم يا أبا بكر ما كان عليك أن يقرأ آية من كتاب الله عز و جل فقال محمد بن سيرين إني خشيت أن يقرأ آية علي فيحرفانها فيقر ذلك في قلبي

Two men with deviated ideologies entered the presence of Muhammad ibn Sirin.

They said, “O Abu Bakr, may we narrate to you a hadith?”

He said, “No.”

“Then allow us to recite a verse of the book of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic,” they submitted.

“No,” he retorted, “either you leave my presence or I will definitely leave.”

The men thus stood up and left.

Someone enquired, “O Abu Bakr, what was wrong with them reciting a verse of the Book of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic.”

Muhammad ibn Sirin explained, “I feared that they will recite a verse to me and distort it, and it will be fixed in my heart like that.”[8]

 

Therefore, it is mandatory upon every Muslim to protect his din from doubts. He should not listen to them nor should he sit in gatherings where they are mentioned. We have been commanded to abstain from places of fitnah, especially the fitnah of misconceptions as it is a thief [of our belief].

The enemies exhaust themselves day and night to plan and plot against this din and its adherents. One of their sinister plots is inventing doubts in order to trap Muslims who are weak in knowledge and insight. The reason behind doubts are two: lack of knowledge or deficiency of insight. The one who is grounded in knowledge and has insight is saved from doubts.

The Rawafid are notorious for creating misconceptions and are masters in this field. They invent baseless allegations against the noble Sahabah radiya Llahu ‘anhum. Their special focus has been on the Ummahat al Mu’minin, especially Sayyidah Aisha radiya Llahu ‘anha. They have dug up many misconceptions about her and have levelled numerous allegations against her pure personality. Nonetheless, the ‘Ulama’ of the Ahlus Sunnah are on guard. They recognise their plots and reveal their schemes. There is no misconception, big or small, except that the Ahlus Sunnah have dealt with it by answering it and proving its falsehood.

 

يُرِيدُونَ أَن يُطْفِئُوا نُورَ اللَّهِ بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَيَأْبَى اللَّهُ إِلَّا أَن يُتِمَّ نُورَهُ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْكَافِرُونَ

They want to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah refuses except to perfect His light, although the disbelievers dislike it.

 

In the upcoming pages, there will be a presentation of famous misconceptions coupled with an answer to them and an explanation of their falsehood and baselessness.

 

بَلْ نَقْذِفُ بِالْحَقِّ عَلَى الْبَاطِلِ فَيَدْمَغُهُ فَإِذَا هُوَ زَاهِقٌ ۚ وَلَكُمُ الْوَيْلُ مِمَّا تَصِفُونَ

Rather, We dash the truth upon falsehood, and it destroys it, and thereupon it departs. And for you is destruction from that which you describe.[9]

 

NEXT ⇒ Misconceptions about Sayyidah Aisha linked to Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam


[1] Surah al Ambiya’: 18

[2] Tahdhib al Lughah of al Azhari vol. 6 pg. 59; Lisan al ‘Arab vol. 13 pg. 503; Taj al ‘Urus vol. 36 pg. 411

[3] Al Ta’rifat of al Jurjani pg. 124; Anis al Fuqaha’ of al Qunawi pg. 105; Mujam Lughat al Fuqaha’ of Muhammad Qal’iji and Hamid Qanibi pg. 257

[4] Bada’i’ al Sana’i’ of al Kasani vol. 7 pg. 36; Durar al Ahkam of Mulla Khusru vol. 2 pg. 64; al Durr al Mukhtar of Ibn ‘Abidin vol. 4 pg. 23; al Mawsu’ah al Fiqhiyyah al Kuwaytiyyah vol. 24 pg. 25

[5] Miftah Dar al Sa’adah of Ibn al Qayyim vol. 1 pg. 140

[6] Miftah Dar al Sa’adah vol. 1 pg. 140

[7] Ibid

[8] Al Sunnah vol. 1 pg. 133; al Qadr of al Faryabi pg. 215

[9] Surah al Ambiya’’: 18