Event of Ifk: Difference between revisions

The Event of Ifk refers to an event in the history of early Islam which some verses of surah al-Nur (verses 11-26) refer to. This event took place in 5 AH, when a group of people accused a Muslim, who was ‘Ayisha, the Prophet’s (a) wife as famously reported, of indecency. In the mentioned verses, God criticizes people for slandering and spreading rumors. According to another report which is mentioned in Shi’a sources, the person who was the subject of slander was Mariya Qibtiyya, another wife of the Prophet (a), mother of Ibrahim, son of the Prophet (a). The historical authenticity of both contexts of revelation or their relations with the mentioned verses is under question and doubt of some researchers.

“Ifk” refers to something which goes out of its original and natural form. Accusation and lying for their deviation from the truth are called “Ifk”.

From verse 11 of surah al-Nur, the glorious Qur’an mentions the story of accusation of a Muslim and criticizes the accusers. What can be understood from the verses regardless of commentaries and contexts of revelation mentioned for them is that the subject of accusation was a famous member of the Prophet’s (a) family and the accusers were a group of people.

== First Story: Accusing ‘Ayisha ==

According to most exegetes and historians, the mentioned verses refer to events taken place in 5 AH, when a group of the Prophet’s (a) companions whom, according to Islamic sources, were hypocrite accused ‘Ayisha, the Prophet’s (a) wife of indecency until the glorious Qur’an, in the mentioned verses, considered accusing decent women a great sin. Sunnis consider revelation of these verses about ‘Ayisha a great merit for her.

The story is famously narrated from ‘Ayisha and in most sources of Islamic history is mentioned in a similar way as the following: upon returning from the battle of Bani Mustaliq, when the caravan was resting in a place, ‘Ayisha went away from the resting place for her need of toilet, but she lost her necklace and began searching for it. Meanwhile, the army who were not aware of her absence, moved on and took her kajawah with them. When ‘Ayisha returned, found the place empty and stayed there until a person called Safwan b. Mu’attal arrived and let her got on his camel and took her to the army. According to this report, after the caravan arrived in Medina, ‘Ayisha became sick and when she was in her bed noticed the prophet’s (a) change of manner toward herself and found that some rumors had spread about her and Safwan. After a while, the verses of the Qur’an criticizing the accusers were revealed and the Prophet (a) recited them for people.

As it can be learned from the verses, the accusers were a group of people, the names of some of whom have been mentioned in historical sources; including ‘Abd Allah b. Ubayy who was known as the chief of hypocrites in Medina and the sources have referred to his important role in this story. Hassan b. Thabit, Himna bt. Juhsh and Mastah b. Athatha are some others whose names have been mentioned among accusers in the sources and were punished by the order of the Prophet (a).

Some sources have mentioned ‘Abd Allah b. Ubayy among the punished ones, but some other sources have not mentioned his name.

About this famous report which has been mentioned in many historical and exegetical sources, some criticisms are mentioned by Shi’a sources. These sources, with emphasis on clearance of the Prophet’s (a) wives of indecency, have doubted about the actual happening of this story and have considered the verses of Ifk related with another story. They have mentioned problems regarding the narration and chain of transmission of the reports about this story, including disagreements on details, ending all chains of transmission in ‘Ayisha herself and also weakness of the chains of transmission of reports. So, they have considered it forged to make up merits for ‘Ayisha. For example, in one of the reports supporting the story, it is said that the Prophet (a) consulted with Ali b. Abi Talib (a) and Usama b. Zayd, and Usama defended ‘Ayisha and Imam Ali (a) spoke against her, while Usama was a child at the time of the event.  

According to another report mentioned in Shi’a sources, verses of Ifk were revealed when ‘Ayisha accused Mariya Qibtiyya of having illegitimate relationship with a person called Jurayh Qibti. According to this report, ‘Ayisha told the Prophet (a) who was sad because of losing his son Ibrahim, “why are you sad for the death of Ibrahim while he was not your son and was son of Jurayh?” So, the Prophet (a) sent Imam Ali (a) to kill Jurayh, but when Imam (a) found that he did not have the male organ, withdraw from killing him and thus the accusation of Mariya Qibtiyya for having illegitimate relationship was refuted.

This report is mentioned in Tafsir Ali b. Ibrahim Qummi for the first time and relies on a hadith from Imam al-Baqir (a). However, many Shi’a exegetes have not mentioned this report and have considered the verses of Ifk about ‘Ayisha the same as Sunni sources.  

Contemporary Shi’a researchers and writers have disagreements about the context of revelation for these verses. Some contemporary researchers have considered the verses about accusation of Mariya. ‘Allama Ja’far Murtada ‘Amili was among these researchers who mentioned some evidences for this opinion including the support of some historical hadiths for this supposed context of revelation.

However, some contemporary Shi’a researchers have rejected the relation of verses of Ifk with the story of accusation of Mariya. They consider the most important problem for this interpretation, its disagreement with the content of verses which consider the accusers one group while according to this story, ‘Ayisha was the only accuser. On the other hand, according to this report, the Prophet (a), only based on the testimony of ‘Ayisha and without making further researches, ordered the killing of an innocent person which is unacceptable about the Prophet (a).