Aisha’s Marriage and her Historic Role

did not approve of it. Rather, she said: Ula’ika qara’u wa lam yaqra’u—“They have recited, yet they have not truly recited.” (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 24609) Because she was the wife of the Messenger of God, people could trust her judgment in such delicate matters. Had someone else made similar statements, people might have found it difficult to accept them. There is a narration in which Yusuf ibn Mahak says: “I was with Aisha, the Mother of the Believers, when an Iraqi man came to her and asked: ‘Which type of shroud is best?’ Aisha replied: ‘Woe to you! What harm does it do you?’ He then said: ‘O Mother of the Believers, show me your copy of the Quran.’ She asked: ‘Why?’ He replied: ‘So that I may compile a Quran according to it, for people are reciting it in different arrangements.’ Aisha said: ‘What harm does it do you which part you read first? Read it as you have been reading it.’” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 4993) The confidence and clarity with which Aisha al-Siddiqah represented the spirit of Islam in this conversation are highly significant. She was able to speak with such certainty only because, through her close companionship with the Prophet of Islam, she had fully grasped the spirit of Islam. She knew, without the slightest doubt, what Islam required in such matters.