12.25.08
Wallaah!! *later* umm…how ’bout fasting 3 days?
Narrated ‘Aa’ishah radiAllaahu ‘anha, the wife of the Prophet sal Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam that she was told that ‘Abdullaah ibn Az-Zubayr (on hearing that she was selling, or giving something as a gift) said, “By Allaah, if ‘Aa’ishah does not give up this, I will declare her incompetent to dispose of her wealth.”
I said, “Did he (’Abdullaah bin Az-Zubayr) say so?”
They (people) said, “Yes.”
‘Aa’ishah said, “I vow to Allaah that I will never speak to Ibn Az-Zubayr.” When this desertion lasted long, ‘Abdullah bin Az-Zubayr sought intercession with her, but she said, “By Allaah, I will not accept the intercession of anyone for him, and will not commit a sin by breaking my vow.”
When this state of affairs was prolonged on Ibn Az-Zubayr (he felt it hard on him), he said to Al-Miswar bin Makhrama and ‘Abdur-Rahmaan bin Al-Aswad bin ‘Abd Yaghooth, who were from the tribe of Bani Zuhra, “I beseech you, by Allaah, to let me enter upon ‘Aa’ishah, for it is unlawful for her to vow to cut the relation with me.”
So Al-Miswar and ‘Abdur-Rahmaan, wrapping their sheets around themselves, asked ‘Aa’ishah’s permission saying, “Peace and Allaah’s Mercy and Blessings be upon you! Shall we come in?”
‘Aa’ishah said, “Come in.”
They said, “All of us?”
She said, “Yes, come in, all of you,” not knowing that Ibn Az-Zubayr was also with them. So when they entered, Ibn Az-Zubayr entered teh screened place and got hold of ‘Aa’ishah and started requesting her to excuse him, and wept. Al-Miswar and ‘Abdur-Rahmaan also started requesting her to speak to him and to accept his repentance.
They said (to her), “The Prophet sal Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam forbade what you know of deserting (not speaking to your Muslim brethern), for it is unlawful for any Muslim not to talk to his brother for more than three nights (days).”
So when they increased their reminding her (of the superiority of having good relations with kith and kin, and of excusing other’s sins), and brought her down to a critical situation, she started reminding them, and wept, saying, “I have made a vow, and (the question of) vow is a difficult one.” They Al-Miswar and ‘Abdur-Rahmaan) persisted in their appeal till she spoke with ‘Abdullaah bin Az-Zubayr and she manumitted forty slaves as an expiation for her vow. Later on, whenever she remembered her vow, she used to weep so much that her veil used to become wet with tears. [Saheeh Bukharee, Volume 8 of Abridged English version, Chapter 62, hadeeth numbers 6073, 6074, 6075]
Assalam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah….
SUBHANALLAAH! The chapter under which this hadeeth is placed under is entitled “Al-Hijra [(to desert or) cut one's relation with another Muslim (i.e., not to speak to him on meeting him)]. This hadeeth, as indicated by the chapter, shows that it is haraam to cut off ties from the Muslims (as we know through other ahadeeth). What struck me the most about this hadeeth, however, is how much ‘Aa’ishah’s vow meant to the beloved wife of RasoolAllaah.
When I first read it, I was comparing it to the modern day mentality. These days, so many of us easily make “wallaahi” promises, yet it doesn’t really bear much weight on us. I know that in the past I have been guilty of saying, “I will just fast those 3 days” when thinking about breaking that promise. Alhumdulillah, I personally have gotten rid of that evil habit as breaking promises is something that is spoken harshly against in Islaam (just so everyone knows that I do not encourage what I did).
But I know I was not the only one who would say “Eh, all I’ve gotta do is fast 3 days, it’s ok.” And this is not a good thing at all as making a “wallaahi proimse” is a big deal. Imagine, you are SWEARING BY ALLAAH on a matter. And when many people break the promise thinking that it’s not that big of a deal, they must not have read the above hadeeth because ‘Aa’ishah radiAllaahu anha was heartbroken over her broken promise (and that was a GOOD broken promise because it is haraam to forsake your brother for more than 3 days OR cut ties with kin - from what I have read, keeping the sort of promise that makes you do something haraam is haraam upon you)!!! She weeped every time she thought of the broken vow until her veil became wet with tears! Even AFTER she freed 40 slaves, thereby ‘paying’ the expiation for the broken vow. Do we care that much about our (BAD) broken promises? How much do we regret them?
SubhanAllaah, many Muslims have forgotten or are ignorant of the magnitude of swearing by Allaah. It’s NOT a small thing and your vow must be honored unless it goes against Islaam!
Here is a hadeeth that further shows that:
Abu Hurayrah narrated that Muhammad sal Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, Three things are the sign of the hypocrite: when he speaks he tells lies, when he promises he breaks it and when he is trusted he proves to be dishonest. [Bukharee (Eng. Trans. 1/31/no.32) and Muslim (Eng. Trans. 1/40/no.112)]
Anyhow, back to the initial hadeeth I posted. I also loved that hadeeth because of the love between ‘Abdullah ibn Zubayr and his aunt, ‘Aa’ishah radiAllaahu anha. That little grudge between them and the way they reconciled was so cute. SubhanAllaah. May Allaah allow us to be in their company and in even higher company on Youm al Qiyamah, Ameen.
