Aslam

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly:

The

mufassireen differed concerning the meaning of the verse (interpretation of

the meaning):

“Bad

statements are for bad people (or bad women for bad men) and bad people for

bad statements (or bad men for bad women)”

[al-Noor

24:26]

Some of them

said that it refers to bad and good words, so the meaning of the verse is:

Evil words are for evil men, and evil people are for evil words, and good

words are for good people, and good people are for good words.

Others said

that it refers to evil and good actions. So the meaning of the verse is:

Evil actions are for evil men, and evil people are for evil actions, and

good actions are for good people, and good people are for good actions.

The third

opinion concerning this verse is that evil and good refer to people with

regard to marriage. So the meaning of the verse is: evil women are for evil

men, and evil men are for evil women, and good women are for good men, and

good men are for good women.

There is no

reason why the verse cannot be understood in all these senses, although the

most obvious meaning is the first one mentioned, and this is the opinion of

the majority of mufassireen. The second view comes next.

Shaykh ‘Abd

al-Rahmaan al-Sa’di (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

“Bad

statements are for bad people (or bad women for bad men) and bad people for

bad statements (or bad men for bad women)”

means all evil men, women, words and actions that are fit for evil and in

accordance with it or accompanied by it and in harmony with it, and all good

men, women, words and actions that are fit for good and in accordance with

it or accompanied by it and in harmony with it. This explanation is general

in meaning and nothing is excluded from that. One of the greatest

application of this is that with regard to the Prophets – especially the

Messengers of strong will, and especially their leader, Muhammad (peace

and blessings of Allaah be upon him), who is the best among all the good of

creation – only the best of women are suitable for them. So the one who

slanders ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) in this manner is

slandering the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him),

which was the aim of the slander (al-ifk) fabricated by the

hypocrites. The mere fact that she was the wife of the Messenger (peace

and blessings of Allaah be upon him) confirms that she was nothing but good

and pure and innocent of these reprehensible matters.

So how about

when she is the siddeeqah of women, the best, most knowledgeable and purest

of them, the beloved of the Messenger of the Lord of the Worlds? Revelation

did not come down to him when he was under the same cover as any of his

wives except her. Then the verse states clearly, so that there will be no

opportunity for any propagator of falsehood to say anything and no room for

any doubt whatsoever:

“such (good

people) are innocent of (every) bad

statement which they say”

[al-Noor

24:26]

The reference

is primarily to ‘Aa’ishah, and then to the believing chaste women.

“for

them is forgiveness” [al-Noor 24:26]

meaning,

forgiveness for all of their sins.

“and

Rizqun Kareem (generous provision, i.e. Paradise)”

i.e., in Paradise, coming from the Generous Lord.

Tafseer

al-Sa’di

(p. 563).

Secondly:

What you have

quoted about the killing of a man who slandered ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be

pleased with her) is true. This is what the Muslim rulers should do, which

is to execute everyone who slanders ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with

her), because impugning the honour of ‘Aa’ishah is disbelief in the Qur’aan,

and impugning the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

Either of these actions implies kufr which puts a person beyond the pale of

Islam, and the one who does it deserves to be executed for apostasy.

In

al-Mawsoo’ah al-Fiqhiyyah (22/185) it says:

The fuqaha’

are unanimously agreed that the one who slanders ‘Aa'ishah (may Allaah be

pleased with her) has disbelieved the clear, unambiguous statement of the

Qur’aan that was revealed concerning her, and hence he is a kaafir. Allaah

says – in the hadeeth of the slander (al-ifk), after Allaah declared that

she was innocent – “Allaah forbids you from it and warns you not to

repeat the like of it forever, if you are believers” [al-Noor 24:18]. So

the one who goes back to that is not a believer.

Are all the

other wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)

regarded as being like her?

The Hanafis

and the Hanbalis, according to the correct opinion, which was favoured by

Ibn Taymiyah, say that they are all like her. They quoted as evidence the

verse in which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Bad

statements are for bad people (or bad women for bad men) and bad people for

bad statements (or bad men for bad women). Good statements are for good

people (or good women for good men) and good people for good statements (or

good men for good women): such (good people) are innocent of (every) bad

statement which they say; for them is forgiveness, and Rizqun Kareem

(generous provision, i.e. Paradise)”

[ al-Noor

24:26]

Slandering

them implies slander of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be

upon him) and impugning his honour, which is forbidden.

The other

view, which is that of the Shaafa’is and the other view of the Hanbalis, is

that they – apart from ‘Aa’ishah – are like the rest of the Sahaabah; the

one who reviles them is to be flogged, because he is a slanderer. End

quote.

Shaykh

Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

Slandering

‘Aa’ishah with regard to that of which Allaah has declared her innocent is

kufr, because it is disbelieving the Qur’aan. With regard to slandering

other wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)

there are two scholarly opinions, the sounder of which is that it is kufr,

because it is a slander against the Prophet (peace and blessings of

Allaah be upon him), because “Bad statements are for bad people (or bad

women for bad men).”

Majmoo’

Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen

(5/p.86)

See also the

answer to question no. 954.

Thirdly:

It was

narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Women may be married

for four things: their wealth, their lineage, their beauty and their

religious commitment. Choose the one who is religiously-committed, may your

hands be rubbed with dust (i.e., may you prosper).” Narrated by al-Bukhaari,

5090; Muslim, 1466.

It is not

impossible for a man to find a righteous wife who will help him to obey

Allaah, serve him, raise his children, and look after his wealth and house.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) advised men to

marry the woman who is religiously committed. If it were not possible or

within a man’s capability to find that religiously committed woman, the

Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) would not have

advised him to marry her. He is the one who said in the same hadeeth that

some men marry women for their beauty, and some marry them for their lineage

or their wealth. Men choose women according to their own desires and

traditions and customs, but his advice to all men is to look for the woman

who is religiously committed and marry them, because in marrying such a

woman there is a great deal of good which the man will see in himself, his

house and his children.

You should not

give up hope of finding a woman who is religiously committed and of good

character. The Muslim ummah is still doing well and there are still Muslim

families which are raising women who are of good character and committed to

Islam, and are brought up in this manner.

The failure of

one experience of marriage does not mean that the same will happen to all

subsequent marriages. What happened to you may have been a punishment to you

because of your shortcomings in asking and finding out about the woman whom

you married.

People know

one another and mix with one another, so the state of a family and its

members will not be hidden from their relatives and neighbours. The members

of the family mix with people in the mosque and school and when visiting

people, so a righteous woman will be known and distinguished from the

opposite, and the religiously committed man will be known and distinguished

from his opposite, by their adhering to regular prayer, and adherence to

outward shar’i laws, and their attitude in dealing with others. What one of

them hides inwardly is something that no one can know, and the one who is

deceived by outward righteousness when a person is inwardly corrupt is not

to be blamed, because our Lord does not require us to look at what is hidden

inside people.

Moreover, what

is applicable to the women among whom you are looking for a life partner is

also applicable to you. How do people know who you really are, or what you

are like inwardly? Guardians have been advised to give their female

relatives in marriage to men who are religiously committed and of good

character, based on what they can see, as well as asking and finding out

from the relatives of the suitor. Whatever wrong impressions and deceit may

happen on the part of the woman may also happen – and more so – on the part

of the man. So you should not be anxious or worry because of your first

marriage. All you have to do now is look carefully, and ask good people

about good families who raise their daughters to obey Allaah and with good

morals and attitudes. Then you can focus your questions about the one whom

you want to marry from those families, by asking her friends and classmates

about her commitment and righteousness, and about her attitude and

interactions with others. Thus you will have followed the advice of the

Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and we hope that

you will not be disappointed by her and that they will not be disappointed

by you.

We ask Allaah

to help you to make a good choice and to bless you with a righteous wife who

will keep you chaste and you will keep her chaste, and you will treat her

well and she will treat you well, and to bless you with good and righteous

children.

For more

information on the qualities to be sought in the wife, please see the

answers to questions no. 26744 and

10376.

And Allaah is

the Source of strength.