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From the day she joined the house of felicity, Aisha was at the center of eliminating the ignorant
pre-Islamic habits of their ancestors formed during the Age of Ignorance (Jahiliyva). Her closeness
to the Messenger of God, her knowledge of the Qur’an, and her amiable attitude toward the troubles
of women, both before and after her marriage, were an advantage to all women.

In the Age of Ignorance, women were generally treated with contempt; they were barely even
considered human. Though many were converting to Islam, the old attitudes in society were not
entirely erased overnight. Many women had neither rights or value, and remained in a state worse
than slavery.

However, women now had an influential representative at the side of God’s Messenger. Aisha was
like a consultant for women. They came to her, confessed their secret problems, and returned home
with solutions. They had been reluctant to share intimate details. One woman came to Aisha with
great sorrow and said:

“My husband neither divorces me or leaves me on my own, or has marital relations with me

The woman wept, unable to suppress the tide of emotions erupting inside her soul. Crying, she
explained the heartbreaking condition that she had lived in for many years. She was nothing more
than a toy under her husband’s control. First, he said that he was divorcing her ,but before the
waiting period finished, he returned to her claiming to have changed his mind. From that point on,
he persisted in going back and forth, playing with her emotions. His real intention seemed to be to
prevent his wife, whom he wanted to divorce, from being married to someone else.

When the Prophet came home, Aisha informed him of the situation. He felt uneasy. It seemed like a
marriage of tyranny; however, no holy verse or decision on this issue had come forth from the
Angel Gabriel. So he decided to wait.

Then Gabriel appeared and brought a verse that warned believers that marriage was a serious
matter, not to be trifled with:

“Divorce must be pronounced twice and then (a woman) must be retained in honor or released in
kindness” (al-Baqarah 2:229).
page 34

On another occasion, Thabit ibn Qays’ wife, Habiba bint Sahl, came to visit Aisha, saying that she
wanted to divorce her husband and asked for Aisha’s help. Habiba was the daughter of Abdullah ibn
Ubayy ibn Salul, the leader of hypocrites; she married Thabit ibn Qays one day after the death of
her husband, Hanzalah, in the Battle of Uhud. She was distinguished both in beauty and manners,
and was treated with great care by her family. Although Thabit was well-known for his speaking
abilities, he was short and unattractive. Most likely, Habiba felt social pressure to divorce her
husband. When the Messenger of God came, Habiba explained:

“O Messenger of God. I am not criticizing my husband for his religion or his character. Yet I am
afraid of forsaking my belief, after having accepted Islam. I want to divorce my husband.”

Habiba seemed very decisive. The Messenger of God asked:

“Are you going to give his garden back to him?”

Without any hesitation, she replied:

“Yes.”

After that, the Messenger of God called Thabit and asked him about the marriage. Thabit had no
solution either. Apparently, the unrest had grown and the wound had festered and become incurable.
The marriage could not be sustained under these circumstances. Although divorce was known to be
the permissible act that God hates the most, there was no other solution. Thabit’s opinion was the
same. The Messenger of God said:

“Take the garden and divorce her.”

Considered within the context of the time, the incident meant an important expansion of women’s
rights—a woman could exercise her will and choose to divorce her husband.

isha was very sensitive on the issue of hijab and she admonished women who did not show the
necessary concern. Meticulous and critical, she wanted everyone to show the same care on religious
issues and often underlined that there should be no sluggishness about a religious practice.
One day, the daughter of her brother, Abdurrahman, came to visit her. As soon as she saw the sheer
headscarf of Hafsah bint Abdurrahman, she took it and folded it in half. Then she brought Hafsah to
her side and warned her:

“Do you not know what God revealed in the chapter An-Nur?”

From the people nearby, Aisha asked for a thicker scarf and covered her niece’s head with it,
showing her how to cover, and thus putting an end to the matter.

Aisha explained how they used to cover in the time of the Messenger of God by relating personal
memories:

“At the time of God’s Messenger, if horsemen rode toward us while we were wearing pilgrim’s
garments, we covered our faces right away, and when they passed by, we uncovered our faces
again.”

you can defer the turn of visiting any of them (your wives) you please, and take to you whomever
you please. There is no blame on you if you give precedence to one whom you deferred before” (al-
Ahzab 33:51).
“As I see it, your God always bestows on you what your heart wants.”

Hers was a reflection of love, an expression of intimacy. She wanted to be with him all the time, but
conditions did not allow it, and again, it was she who made the sacrifice. Each wife of God’s
Messenger took her husband away from her for a day. The Messenger of God made a schedule for
his wives and divided his days equally among them. While she had enjoyed the opportunity to be
with him fairly often, now her turn came only every nine days.

The Messenger of God did not change his attitude after these verses were revealed. Even if he had a
preference that deviated from the planned schedule, he always got permission from his wives. Aisha
specifically focused on this point when she reiterated the attitude of God’s Messenger:

“The Messenger of God continued to ask for permission about our schedule even after the verse (al-
Ahzab 33:51) was revealed: you can defer the turn of visiting any of them (your wives) you please,
and take to you whomever you please.”

Aisha, on her day, wanted to spend all of her time with the Messenger of God and was sensitive to
anything that interfered with their togetherness. One night, she woke up and realized that the
Messenger of God was not with her. Since there was no light, Aisha was not able to see. She was
worried that he had left her to visit one of his other wives. She fumbled around with agitation. Then
her hand touched one of his feet; she was relieved to discover that he was prostrating. She calmed
down and took a deep breath. The Messenger of God had not left her; he was in tears praying to
God on the other side of the room. Aisha was touched, and as she listened, she heard his sincere
supplications:

Enduring Austerity

Aisha’s nights were as bright as her days; she spent her nights in Prayer and her days in fasting. Her
stance was clear: she observed every detail of asceticism and piety. Some, such as Qasim, one of her
closest pupils and a leader of the following generation of Muslims (Zabiun), said that she fasted the
whole year except Eid alFitr and Eid al-Adha*® (the feast of Ramadan and the feast of Sacrifice).
Aisha spent every day in repentance, asking forgiveness from God, thinking of the previous day
with remorse. Her example
was the Messenger of God, and she believed in her heart that it was necessary to use given
opportunities to make progress every day.

Aisha also thought that continuing every single act of worship was obligatory for herself. She was
quite determined; no one was able to deter her. When some found her enthusiasm strange, Aisha
said:

“If my father rose from his grave, and told me not to do even one supererogatory Prayer that I had
begun to perform in the time of God’s Messenger, I would still not quit.”

Aisha barely met her own needs but she still gave whatever she had to the needy. One day, Jabir
came to visit her. She wore a wornout dress, with parts covered in patches. Wanting to fulfill his
responsibility, Jabir said:

“Why don’t you wear another dress?”

However, as the mother of believers, Aisha did not think like Jabir and said:

“One day, the Messenger of God said, ‘If you seek a reunion with me, do not change your dress
until it becomes unusable, and do not think about what you need more than a month in advance.’
Tell me, do you think I should change what he ordered me to do until the time I will meet with him
again?’”*

Still not content, whenever Aisha saw the heart-wrenching state of the poor and needy, she gave
whatever she had, or sold something of some worth at the market, and sent the money to them.
While she was giving, she never thought about her own needs, but always tried to lessen the
troubles of others. One day, she literally gave everything she had to the poor, and had no more
money for that day. She still did not quit giving; she sold some of her belongings at the market, and
without hesitation, gave that money as charity. In the evening, when the time came to break her fast,
she only had a piece of barley bread to eat.

Aisha’s intentional humility represented a singular type of lifestyle for the people around her and
she continued to live the
same way after the Messenger of God passed away. Genuine freewill is that of a person who is
powerful and has limitless opportunities; it was this willpower that Aisha, until the end of her life,
chose to carry in the same humble way that she had shared with the Prophet, living with delicacy
and sensitivity until her last breath.

Aisha could have lived however she wanted. Yet, she chose the Messenger of God. This choice led
to her other choice: to live humbly, just as he had.

Surely, this was a voluntary choice. Aisha was one of the closest people to the Messenger of God,
yet their closeness was different to others. Even after his death, Aisha followed his ways, even
though she had many opportunities to do otherwise. Yet she never changed the lifestyle they had
shared. Her wealth was in her Muslim asceticism and piety.

Aisha also thought that continuing every single act of worship was obligatory for herself. She was
quite determined; no one was able to deter her. When some found her enthusiasm strange, Aisha
said:

“If my father rose from his grave, and told me not to do even one supererogatory Prayer that I had
begun to perform in the time of God’s Messenger, I would still not quit.”

Aisha barely met her own needs but she still gave whatever she had to the needy. One day, Jabir
came to visit her. She wore a wornout dress, with parts covered in patches. Wanting to fulfill his
responsibility, Jabir said:

“Why don’t you wear another dress?”

However, as the mother of believers, Aisha did not think like Jabir and said:

“One day, the Messenger of God said, ‘If you seek a reunion with me, do not change your dress
until it becomes unusable, and do not think about what you need more than a month in advance.’
Tell me, do you think I should change what he ordered me to do until the time I will meet with him
again?’”*
Aisha (RA) recognized that she couldn't compete with Khadijah (RA) in the Prophet'‫ﷺ‬s
heart emotionally. She knew that his affection for Khadijah was deep-rooted. Instead of
feeling defeated, she decided to excel in areas where she could make a difference. She
immersed herself in learning and understanding the teachings of the Prophet, aiming to
contribute to his mission. Aisha (RA) understood that Khadijah's support was crucial, and
she wanted to be capable of continuing that support even after Khadijah was gone.
Aisha (RA) wanted to be capable of preserving his message after him and transmitting
his teachings to the people.

Aisha (RA) 's boldness and sharpness were notable traits she inherited from her father,
Abu Bakr. This sharpness was evident in her interactions. When falsely accused by
slanderers, Aisha (RA) boldly declared that she would only thank Allah and not anyone
else. This sharpness led Aisha (RA), when her mother instructed her to thank the
Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬after he had exonerated her from the accusations of the slanderers, to boldly
declare, "By Allah, I will not stand up to him or thank anyone but Allah!" (Sahih al-
Bukhari).

Read Also: Part 1 - Aisha, Mother of the Faithful: The Scholarly Persona and Literary
Critique

No one could confront her in her moments of sharpness or silence her. In Sahihain, it's
narrated that the Prophet ‫'ﷺ‬s wives sent his daughter Fatimah (d. 11 AH/633 CE) and
then his wife Zaynab to request equal treatment to that of Aisha (RA. Zainab started
talking about Aisha (RA) , but when Aisha (RA) felt that the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬didn't disapprove
of her defending herself, she responded forcefully until she silenced Zainab. Aisha (RA)
said, "When I started confronting her, I didn't allow her any time, I responded
immediately," and the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬smiled and said, "She is the daughter of Abu Bakr,"
admiring her "perfect understanding and good insight," as stated by Imam Nawawi (d.
676 AH/1277 CE) in his explanation of Sahih Muslim.
So what did they do? They would save all of their gifts for the night that the Prophet salallahu
alayhi wasalam was with Aisha. So when they wanted to send the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam
food, they waited for the night that he was with Aisha radiallahu anha. When they wanted to send
any gifts, they waited for the night that he was with Aisha radiallahu anha. And they did that out of
their love for the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam except that that made the other wives of the
Messenger salallahu alayhi wasalam pretty unhappy. So we'll start from this place inshallah ta'ala.
Aisha radiallahu anha, she says that for the wives of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam, kunna
hizbeen, we were two groups. They basically formed two cliques amongst them. She said that it
was me, Hafsa, Safiya, and Sauda. Me, Hafsa, Safiya, and Sauda. Sauda and Aisha, obviously, we
talked about the dynamics of their relationship, may Allah be pleased with them. Hafsa and Aisha
have a similar, you know, connection to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam. Their fathers are the
Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam's best friends. And Safiya radiallahu anha, for whatever reason,
she joined that clique, right? Then she said the other clique was Umm Salama and Umm Habiba,
and the rest of the wives of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam. And we've talked about some of
them. And there are reasons for that. Umm Salama and Umm Habiba, older, also spent time
together in Abyssinia, right? They have personalities that drew them together. And there was a lot
of the Mecca versus Medina dynamics playing in that as well. So she says, basically, anytime we
got into an argument, we'd always resort back to these two cliques, right? So she said that the wives
of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam started to complain that the Ansar only send gifts on the
night that he's with Aisha. So they said to Umm Salama radiallahu anha, go to the Prophet salallahu
alayhi wasalam, and tell him,
09:45
Tell the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam to make a khutbah and say, Oh Ansar, bring me gifts in
every one of my households. Stop bringing me gifts only when I'm with Aisha. So Umm Salama is
entrusted to go talk to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam and say, Can you tell the Ansar to do
this? So Umm Salama radiallahu anha came, and if you remember, subhanAllah, with Umm
Salama, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam respected Umm Salama radiallahu anha a lot. When
it comes to her fiqh, her knowledge, her scholarship, her wisdom, she's unparalleled radiallahu
ta'ala anha, right? The story of Hudaybiyyah and so many other things. So Umm Salama radiallahu
anha had a certain voice with the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam that everyone recognized, right?
That the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam used to consider what she said very, very seriously. So
she came to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam, and she told the Prophet salallahu alayhi
wasalam, you know, what they said. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam stayed silent. Then
she came back and said it again, He didn't answer her, salallahu alayhi wasalam. And then she said
it a third time. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said, Oh Umm Salama, don't hurt me in
regards to Aisha. Because I swear by Allah that the revelation has not come when I was with any
other one of the spouses except for Aisha radiallahu anha. Meaning Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
sends Jibreel alayhi salam with the wahi when I'm in her home as well. And there's something there
about the idea that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam is saying that Allah has privileged her with
something as well. The fact that Allah sends the gift of revelation to her or to me when I'm with her
is a sign of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's love for her as well. So don't make this a big deal.
11:42
Don't hurt me in regards to Aisha radiallahu ta'ala anha. This is not something I can control. The
Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam is being fair with everyone. But this is not something I can
control. I can't tell the Ansar when to send gifts, when not to send gifts. And the fact that Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala has shown some love to Aisha radiallahu ta'ala anha in regards to her
righteousness. And she's one of those who saw Jibreel alayhi salam as well. Then don't bring this
up too much. Let it go. So Umm Salama radiallahu ta'ala anha says, I seek refuge in Allah or I seek
forgiveness from Allah from ever hurting you, O Messenger of Allah. Sallallahu alayhi wasalam.
So that should be the end of it, right? No. They go to Fatima radiallahu ta'ala anha. And they know,
Umm Salama radiallahu ta'ala anha is the elder states person, right? She has the wise voice. The
voice of reason that can always speak in the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam benefits. And people
love to listen to her opinion because of how wise she is. But Fatima radiallahu ta'ala anha, that's the
heart of the Prophet salallahu wasalam. Right. Everyone knows the position of Fatima radiallahu
ta'ala anha with the Prophet salallahu wasalam. Including the wise the Prophet salallahu wilayhi
wasalam. Including Aisha radiallahu ta'ala anha by the way. Saying Fatima radiallahu ta'ala anha
relationship with the Prophet salallahu wasalam is very different. So they went to Fatima radiallahu
ta'ala anha, and they said, can you go complain to the Prophet salallahu wasalam about the fact that
the Ansar or only sending gifts to him when he was with Aisha radiallahu ta'ala anha. So Fatima
radiallahu anha just out of a sense of obligation, she goes to the Prophet salallahu wasalam, and she
says, listen, you know, ya Rasulullah, you know, they're saying can you ask the Ansar to send gifts
when you're with all of them and not just with Aisha radiallahu ta'ala anha. So the Prophet salallahu
wasalam, what does he say to her? He says, ya bunayyatu, oh my daughter, alatuhibbina ma uhibb,
don't you love what I love?
See, he knows how to talk to his daughter salallahu wasalam. Fatima radiallahu anha has a copy of
the Prophet salallahu wasalam. She looks like him, she walks like him, she talks like him. The
Prophet salallahu wasalam gives her his spot, she gives him his spot. I mean, their relationship is so
beautiful. So the Prophet salallahu wasalam doesn't even need to reason with her. He just says, you
love what I love, right? So Fatima radiallahu anha says, of course, I love everything that you love.
So the Prophet salallahu wasalam pointed to Aisha radiallahu anha and said, fahibbi hadhi, love this
woman. So Fatima radiallahu anha said, I love this woman and I'm moving on. So she goes back to
the wives of the Prophet salallahu wasalam and she says, I'm not going back, the end of that. Then
they appointed Zaynab radiallahu ta'ala anha. And as you'll see, once we get to Zaynab radiallahu
anha, Zaynab bin Jahsh radiallahu anha, Zaynab radiallahu anha and Aisha radiallahu anha had a
dynamic with each other. So they used to argue the most. And so Zaynab radiallahu anha comes in
and Aisha radiallahu ta'ala anha says, that rafa'at sultaha, that she started to raise her voice and she
started to talk down Aisha and she started to say all these types of things. And the Prophet salallahu
wasalam was sitting there and Aisha radiallahu anha said, I was boiling, like my blood was boiling,
I wanted to respond. I was waiting for the Prophet salallahu wasalam to give me permission. The
Prophet salallahu wasalam let Zaynab radiallahu anha go on and on and on and on and she crossed
a few lines. Meaning she actually went a little bit too far in belittling Aisha and the Prophet
salallahu wasalam was a fair man. So the Prophet salallahu wasalam said, Aisha go ahead. So Aisha
radiallahu anha said, so I spoke and I spoke and I spoke until I silenced her. I mean she literally
says, hatta askattaha. I literally silenced her to where she couldn't say anything and the Prophet
salallahu wasalam said, innaha ibnatu Abu Bakr. That's the daughter of Abu Bakr. Don't involve
me. You asked for it. You started talking about her that way.
15:39
You asked for her to respond to you that way. So the Prophet salallahu wasalam allowed Aisha
radiallahu anha to respond in that way. Now why did the Prophet salallahu wasalam say, innaha
ibnatu Abu Bakr? Was Abu Bakr known to be aggressive or angry? No. What was he speaking
about? He was speaking about Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu's intelligence. His baladha. The fact that
he was so eloquent that he could structure his arguments radiallahu anhu in a way that you had to
love and appreciate the eloquence and the intelligence of Abu Bakr. So when the Prophet salallahu
wasalam says, ibnatu Abu Bakr, some of the scholars say that he's simply saying, look that's Aisha.
I can't help you. Once you offended her that way, she's going to respond to you in like manner and
you deserve it. Or he's saying salallahu wasalam that Aisha radiallahu anha has a certain eloquence,
which we will see subhanAllah an intelligence, that came out as well when she started to argue
back with Zaynab radiallahu anha. Now here's the thing. The Prophet salallahu wasalam feared
dhulm to an extreme. He feared oppressing people. So Rasulallah salallahu wasalam was very
thoughtful about how he engaged these types of concerns. And he would listen. And subhanAllah
one of the things that Aisha radiallahu anha narrates is that the Prophet salallahu wasalam used to
frequently make du'a. So she said that he was equitable with his family salallahu wasalam. He did
not wrong anyone. He gave everyone their equal rights. The way that the Prophet salallahu
wasalam was khuluquhul Qur'an. His character was the Qur'an. He didn't wrong anyone from his
family salallahu wasalam. But at the same time he feared, alayhi salatu wasalam, the obvious
leaning of his heart. So he used to say, Oh Allah, this is how I'm dividing my time and how I'm
taking care of things in accordance with what I have control over.
e Prophet ‫ صلى الله عليه وسلم‬paying attention to her and this shows you two things the
intelligence of Aisha ‫ رضي الله عنها‬and the emotional intelligence of the Prophet ‫صلى الله عليه‬
‫ وسلم‬she said that the Prophet ‫ صلى الله عليه وسلم‬once said to me ‫إني ألعلم إذا كنت عني راضية‬
‫ و إذا كنت علي غضبا‬I can tell when you're happy with me and I can tell when you're angry with me
and she says ‫ و كيف يا رسول الله‬how do you know O Messenger of Allah ‫قال إذا كنت عني راضية‬
‫ قلت ال و رب محمد و إذا كنت علي غضبا قلت ال و رب إبراهيم‬she said that the Prophet ‫صلى الله‬
‫ عليه وسلم‬said to me when you're happy with me you say no and by the Lord of Muhammad ‫صلى‬
‫ الله عليه وسلم‬but when you're upset you say no and by the Lord of Ibrahim ‫ عليه السالم‬so I
noticed that when you're not happy you use the name of Ibrahim instead of the name of Muhammad
‫ صلى الله عليه وسلم‬and she said ‫ والله ما أهجر إال إسمك يا رسول الله‬she said the only thing I
leave is your name O Messenger of Allah meaning when I'm upset with you the only thing I'll do is
I won't say your name in this regard right like she doesn't curse the Prophet ‫ صلى الله عليه وسلم‬or
say things to the Prophet ‫ صلى الله عليه وسلم‬that are unbefitting between a husband and a wife so
it shows

And this is one of the most powerful riwayat in this regard. Aisha radiyaAllahu anha, she used to
say to her nephew Urwa ibn Zubair, and this is by the way the route by which we have much of the
seerah. ‫َيْبَن ُأْخِتي ِإن ُكَّن َلَننُظُر ِإَلى اْلِح اَل ِل ُثَّم اْلِح اَل ِل ُثَّم اْلِح اَل ِل َثاَل َثَة َأِهَّل ِفي َش ْهَر ْيِن َوَما ُأوِقَد ِفي‬
‫َأ‬
‫ ْبَياِت َر ُس وِل الَّلِه َصَلى الَّلَه ِع َيَس َلَما الَّناِر‬Meaning what, months would pass and we never lit a fire
in the house of the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬. Meaning what, we never had food to cook. Like can you imagine,
subhanAllah, she's saying this was the household of the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬, we wouldn't have anything to
cook. Can you imagine your life, two months, three months without a hot meal? Can you imagine
that? SubhanAllah, this is the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬and Aisha radiAllahu anha. Look at the love story, it's
not based upon these material things. She said months would go by. So Urwa says, ‫َيا َخاَل َفَما َكاَن‬
‫ ُيِعيُش ُكْم‬So how did you used to live, oh my aunt? How did you used to make it? She said,
‫ اَأْلْس َوَداَن الَّتْمُر َواْلَماَء‬The two black things, tamr and water.
01:08:24
I mean water did not used to look like this. Alright, that's how we survived in the household of the
Prophet ‫ﷺ‬. And she then goes on to say, but we had some neighbors from the Ansar that were
good neighbors. Sometimes they'd send to the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬some laban or some of the milk from
their animals and they'd serve that to us. Her possessions in this house, Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr
says that Aisha radiAllahu anha only had a few dresses. She had a red shirt that she would wear at
home and she had a black overcoat, so like a abaya, that she would wear when she would go out.
This was Aisha radiAllahu anha's wardrobe, the first lady of Medina, right? That she had a red shirt
and she had a black abaya and she had one dress for the festivals that was yellow. Like a yellowish
dress that she would wear to the weddings and to the occasions of the women of the Ansar. Aisha
radiAllahu anha said, we had one bed in the house of the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬and it also served as our mat
and our couch. What does that mean? So that we had this haseer, this one thing that we would fold
up at night and sleep on. And then when the day came, we'd spread it out and we would sit on it
with our guests and we'd spend the day on that same mat. And then we'd fold it back up and we'd
sleep on it. SubhanAllah. And she says that in the hujra, in this apartment of ours, when the Prophet
‫ ﷺ‬would pray, he would pray on the haseer at night. And the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬would tap my leg when
he wanted to do sujood and I'd move my leg so he could do sujood. SallAllahu alayhi wasallam.
And you know what's beautiful? She never complained about poverty. This was a sacrifice that she
grew up with Abu Bakr and this is the sacrifice of our Messenger ‫ﷺ‬. And this was a test that
Allah gives to them. And please don't go home and throw out everything from the closet and say,
see, because you can't be the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬. But this is to appreciate the sacrifice, to appreciate the
zuhud, the asceticism that they had.

And the last thing I'll say about this is she was a woman of incredible sadaqah. She inherited that
from her parents. And Aisha was a woman who loved to give despite their difficult circumstances.
Abdullah ibn Zubair, radiyaAllahu anhuma, he says, ma raaytum raatayni ajwada min Aisha wa
Asmaa wujuduhuma mukhtalif. He says that, I've never seen two women more generous than my
mom, Asmaa, and my aunt, Aisha. But their generosity was different. He says, amma Aisha fa kana
tajmaa alshayt ila alshayt hatta iza kana ajtamaa aindaha qasamat amma Asmaa fa kana la tumsiku
shay'an lighad. He says that, as for Aisha, she used to collect whatever she could, and then once it
became something presentable, she'd give it in charity. As for my mom, Asmaa, nothing lived to
see the next day in her home.
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So my mom and my aunt were both so generous, competing in charity. And Aisha, radiyaAllahu
anhuma, when she would have a few coins to give, what would she do? She would perfume her
coins in musk, and she'd give them in charity. She said, because this goes to Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala. And the story, so many stories, the story of the mom who came to the house of Aisha
radiyaAllahu anha, and she had two daughters with her, and Aisha looked in her home, and all they
had was three dates. She gave the three dates, and she's telling the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa
sallam the story. And the mom and the two daughters, they all take a date and they start to eat. The
young girls, they swallowed their dates so quickly, and then they pointed to the date in the mom's
hand. So what did she do? She split it into two, and she gave it to her daughters. And Aisha
radiyaAllahu anhu was sharing the story with the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam when he
came home. Like she used to share the stories of sadaqah from that household, what we would
give. And the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam was so amazed by this woman. And this is the asr
of fear the fire, even with half a date. Because subhanAllah, that one action entered her into jannah