الضغينة التي حملتها عائشة وتحذير أهل البصرة

[1] There is no denying the fact that ‘Ā’ishah’s behaviour towards Amīr al-mu’minīn was throughout inimical, and very often her heart’s turbidity expressed itself on her face, and her hatred and dislike became quite apparent, so much so that if in connection with some affair Amīr al-mu’minīn’s name came up a frown appeared on her forehead and she did not relish pronouncing it with her tongue. For example, when ‘Ubaydullāh ibn ‘Abdillāh ibn ‘Utbah mentioned to ‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Abbās the narration by Ā’ishah namely that “in his death-illness the Prophet, taking support on al-Faḍl ibn ‘Abbās and another person, came to her (‘Ā’ishah’s) house,” ‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Abbās said : “Do you know who this ‘other man’ was?” He said, ‘‘No.” Then he said, “‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, but she is averse to name him in a good context.” (Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, al-Musnad, vol. 6, pp. 34,228; Ibn Sa‘d, aṭ-Ṭabaqāt al-kabīr, vol. 2, part 2, p. 29; aṭ-Ṭabarī, at-Tārīkh, vol. l, pp. 1800-1801; al-Balādhurī, Ansāb al-ashrāf, vol. 1, pp. 544-545; al-Bayhaqī, as-Sunan al-kubrā, vol. 3, p. 396). One cause for this hatred and malice was the presence of Ḥaḍrat Fāṭimah عليه السلام whose wholesome dignity and esteem pricked her heart like a thorn. Her jealousy towards the other wives (of the Prophet) did not allow her to let the Prophet love the daughter of his other wife to such a degree that he should stand on her approach, seat her in his own place, declare her most honourable of all the women of the world and bear such love towards her children as to call them his own sons. All these things pained her much and naturally her feelings on such an occasion were that if she had borne children they would have been the Prophet’s sons and they would have been the pivot of the Prophet’s affection instead of Imām Ḥasan and Imām Ḥusayn. But she was not gifted with any issue and she gratified her own desire to be a mother by adopting the surname Umm ‘Abdillāh (mother of the slave of Allāh) after her sister’s son. In short all these things created the passion of hatred in her heart, as a result of which she off and on complained to the Prophet against Ḥaḍrat Fāṭimah but could not succeed in diverting the Prophet’s attention from her. News about this mortification and estrangement also reached the ears of Abū Bakr. That would only perturb him as he too could do nothing, except that his verbal sympathies were with his daughter. At last the Prophet left this world and the reins of Government fell into his hands. Now was the opportunity for him to avenge as best as he could and to perpetrate whatever violence he had in mind. Consequently the first step he took was that, in order to deprive Ḥaḍrat Fāṭimah of inheritance, he denied the principle of inheritance in the case of the prophets and held that neither do the prophets inherit nor are they inherited from, but the property left by them escheats to the state. Fāṭimah was so much affected that she gave up speaking to him and passed away from this world with these very feelings. ‘Ā’ishah did not even take the trouble to express any sorrow at her tragic death. Thus Ibn Abi’l-Ḥadīd has written: When Fāṭimah expired all the wives of the Prophet came to Banī Hāshim in condolence except ‘Ā’ishah. She did not come and showed hereself sick and words from her reached ‘Alī which displayed her joy. (Sharḥ Nahj al-balāghah, vol. 9, p. 198) As long as she bore so much malice against Ḥaḍrat Fāṭimah, how could Fāṭimah’s spouse be spared similar enmity and malice. Particularly when such events also occurred which worked like a fan and roused her feeling of hatred, such as the incident of “If k” when Amīr al-mu’minīn said to the Prophet: “She is no better than the buckles of your shoe, leave her and divorce her away.” On hearing this ‘Ā’ishah must have felt miserable in her bed, and must have developed the severest feeling of hatred against him. There were also moments when distinction was conferred on Amīr al-mu’minīn in preference to Abū Bakr. For instance, in connection with the dispatch of the Qur’ānic verses on Barā’ah (innocence), the Prophet removed Abū Bakr from the job, recalled him and assigned it to Amīr al-mu’minīn saying that he had been commanded by Allāh to take it himself or send it through a member of his family. Similarly the Prophet closed all the doors opening into the mosque including that of Abū Bakr but allowed the door of Amīr al-mu’minīn’s house to continue to open thereinto. ‘Ā’ishah could not relish Amīr al-mu’inīn’s distinction over her father, and whenever there was any occasion for such distinction she did her best to undo it. When in his last days the Prophet ordered the contingent under Usāmah ibn Zayd to march, and ordered Abū Bakr and ‘Umar also to go under his command, they received a message from the wives of the Prophet that his condition was serious and therefore the contingent should come back instead of proceeding further. This was because their far-reaching sight had realized that the only purpose in getting Medina vacated by the muhājirūn and the anṣār could be that after the death of the Prophet no one should stand in Amīr al-mu’minīn’s way and that he should get the caliphate without any trouble. On receipt of this message the contingent under Usāmah came back. When the Prophet learnt this he again ordered Usāmah to march with the contingent and even said, “Allāh may curse him who keeps away from the contingent,” whereupon they again set off, but they were again called back till the Prophet’s illness assumed serious proportions, but Usāmah’s contingent did not go out as it did not want to. After this Abū Bakr was sent word through Bilāl that he should deputise the Prophet in leading the prayers in order to pave the way for his Caliphateship. Accordingly keeping this in view he was first shown as the Prophet’s caliph (deputy) in prayers and eventually was accepted as his caliph for all purposes. Thereafter matters were so contrived that Amīr al-mu’minīn could not get the Caliphate. However, after the reign of the third caliph circumstances took such a turn that people were obliged to swear allegiance at Amīr al-mu’minīn’s hand. On this occasion ‘Ā’ishah was present in Mecca. When she learnt about Amīr al-mu’minīn’s caliphate her eyes began emitting flames, and rage and anger perturbed her mind, and her hatred for Amīr al-mu’minīn assumed such seriousness that she rose against him on the excuse of avenging blood of the same man (‘Uthmān) whom she had herself proclaimed fit to be killed, and openly declared war as a result of which so much bloodshed occurred that the whole land of Baṣrah was smeared with the blood of those killed, and the door of disunity was opened for good. (Sharḥ, Ibn Abi’l-Ḥadīd, vol. 9, pp. 190-200)