Clarifying Hadith Reports

What Aisha al-Siddiqah said was based on deep religious understanding. Where did she acquire such exceptional depth of religious insight? There can be only one answer: she acquired it through her close and continuous learning from the Prophet of Islam. Some people came to Aisha al-Siddiqah and said that Abu Hurayrah narrated from the Messenger of God: “Bad omen is found in three things: a woman, a horse, and a house.” Aisha replied that this was not correct. Abu Hurayrah had heard one part of the statement and missed the other. What the Messenger of God had actually said was: “The Jews say that bad omen is found in three things: a woman, a horse, and a house.” (Musnad Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi, Hadith No. 1641; Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 25168) Aisha’s clarification is extremely important. Had she not clarified the matter, Abu Hurayrah’s narration would have left a lasting ambiguity on this issue—an ambiguity that no one else could have removed. Abdullah ibn Abbas narrated that the Prophet saw God twice: once on the occasion of the Mi‘raj, and once on the occasion mentioned in Surah al-Najm. With reference to this, Masruq, a Tabi‘i, asked Aisha al-Siddiqah: “O Mother of the Believers, did the Prophet see God?” Aisha replied: “You have said something that has made the hair on my body stand on end. Whoever tells you that Muhammad