Slander against Ayesha and Rashad’s debacle.

 

Slander against Ayesha and Rashad’s debacle.

A brief study of Surah  Nur 24:11-20

 

Muslims scholars agree that Surah Nur 24:11-20 was revealed on the occasion of the event when wife of the Prophet, Hazrat Ayesha, was being wrongly accused of idolatry. Dr. Rashad Khalifa made a historic denial of the event regarding the slander made against Hazrat Ayesha.  Dr. Khalifa considered the event to lie concocted with a sectarian agenda. What is Dr. Khalifa’s understanding of asbab nazul(reasons for revelation) and the application of verses? We will examine Dr. Khalifa’s analysis of history and show that it lacks base. Why did Dr. Khalifa devote a whole page of his newsletter to a minor point in history?  Furthermore, we will prove that Dr. Khalifa’s “analysis”  can be explained in reference to an event that occurred in his own life.  Why did Dr. Khalifa make a big deal

 

In the June 1986 issue of Muslim Perspective, Dr. Rashad Khalifa titled the front page article, “ AN HISTORICAL CRIME UNVEILED: THE PROPHET’S WIFE, AISHA, WAS NEVER ACCUSED OF ADULTERY THE ACCUSATION ITSELF NEVER TOOK PLACE.”  The article is somewhat unique for information of this type in that it does not contain a body of paragraphs to explain the content. Instead, we read only four lines of information which is apparently supposed to prove Dr. Khalifa’s case.  What is the “historical crime” Dr. Khalifa is talking about? From the title Dr. Khalifa denies that Ayesha was accused of adultery.

 

Dr. Khalifa starts his article by mentioning the Sunni-Shia split. “As part of the campaign of hatred against Abu Bakr, Aisha’s father and first successor after the Prophet, the story was fabricated by the worshipers of Ali.” In regards to the animosity between the sunnis and Shias, Dr. Khalfia continues, “Sectarian strife, many years after the Prophet’s death, created a plethora of lies against the three Khalifas who preceeded(misspelling Khalifa’s) Ali (Abu Bakr, Omar, and Othman) [see Qur’an 6:159]..”  Dr. Khalifa however denies the “pletheora of lies” because “Abu Bakr was the servant of God, and closest friend of the Prophet, who was hated most by the early Shi’as.” In regards to Surah 24:11-20, Dr. Khalifa claims that the verses “have nothing to do with Aisha. Like the vast majority of Qur’an, these verses are always current; they apply to the believers here and now; they instruct us regarding the possible occurrence of any accusation against any one of us.”

 

I will post the relevant verses from Surah Nur here to help us embark on our journey:

 

24:11  A gang among you produced a big lie. Do not think that it was bad for you; instead, it was good for you. Meanwhile, each one of them has earned his share of the guilt. As for the one who initiated the whole incident, he has incurred a terrible retribution.

24:12  When you heard it, the believing men and the believing women should have had better thoughts about themselves, and should have said, "This is obviously a big lie."

24:13  Only if they produced four witnesses (you may believe them). If they fail to produce the witnesses, then they are, according to GOD, liars.

24:14  If it were not for GOD's grace towards you, and His mercy in this world and in the Hereafter, you would have suffered a great retribution because of this incident.

24:15  You fabricated it with your own tongues, and the rest of you repeated it with your mouths without proof. You thought it was simple, when it was, according to GOD, gross.

24:16  When you heard it, you should have said, "We will not repeat this. Glory be to You. This is a gross falsehood."

24:17  GOD admonishes you that you shall never do it again, if you are believers.

24:18  GOD thus explains the revelations for you. GOD is Omniscient, Wise.

24:19  Those who love to see immorality spread among the believers have incurred a painful retribution in this life and in the Hereafter. GOD knows, while you do not know.

24:20  GOD showers you with His grace and mercy. GOD is Most Kind towards the believers, Most Merciful.

 

Dr. Khalifa’s initial claim that lies were created by Shias against the caliphs is well known. There are a plethora of claims made by the Shia in regards to the first leaders of the Islamic nation. There are likewise lies made against the Shias as well. Early sources of Islamic history reveal praise on certain groups with dispraise placed on others. Islamic scholars and secular scholars have found traditions in history books and hadith literature that reveal partisan politics at work.  But what about Dr. Khalifa’s specific claims here?

Dr. Rashad Khalifa believes the notion that the above verses   concerning the slander against Ayesha,  that it is lie created by the Shia.  As we said above, historians have long been privy to partisan politics found in Islamic sources and they are usually easy to pick out.  But what makes Dr. Khalifa believe that the commentary associating Surah Nur with the slander against Ayesha was made up? Would historians have anyway to associated Dr. Khalifa’s clams with the “plethora” of other disinformation found to be a result of Ummayad, Abasid, Sunni , Shia propaganda?

 

Dr. Khalifa wants to deny the asbab nazul of Surah Nur 11-24 to have anything to do with Ayesha.  He thinks it suffices to tell us it is a lie by the Shia and that it is a “historic crime” to think so.  Dr. Khalifa’s assertion is wrong on multiple levels. If the slander against Ayesha was a Shia lie then why do the Sunni sources mention it? In fact there is consensus among sunni and shia scholars that the above verses of Surah Nur were revealed specifically about Ayesha. Dr. Khalifa owed it to his readers to explain why it is “lie” to believe as such when everyone, including proponents of Hazrat Ayesha, believe that the accusations are a historic fact.   Does Dr. Khalifa offer any evidence, outside of the Qur’an, that the historical sources or relevant commentaries were forged?  No.  Dr. Khalifa merely makes an accusation and expects people to believe it.

 

The fact that an accusation was made against someone does not demean the person in question.  Sunni scholars have never tried to hide the accusation made against Ayesha because there would be no moral benefit to doing so. In fact, trying to hide it would be hurtful. If slandering Ayesha about the specific event in Surah Nur was a lie then why would the Sunni scholars adopt it as a fact?  Does Dr. Khalifa have any evidence of Sunni scholars taking information from Shia that hurts their (sunni) cause?

 

The Shia-Sunni polemics have a lot to say about Ayesha and this is undeniable. But most Shias do not believe the accusation of adultery against Ayesha (even if they believe an accusation was wrongly made, just as their Sunni counter parts agree.) Both Sunni and Shia agree that accusations were made but were unwarranted. How would it benefit the Shia, to the detriment of the sunni to acknowledge the fact of a false accusation? Does Dr. Khalifa not know the difference between a true and false accusation?

The Shia polemics have a severe criticism of Ayesha mainly for her role in the battle of Jamel in 656 AD.  Ayesha led an army against the rightful Caliph Ali, for allegedly allowing the assassins of Hazrat Uthman to go free. Regardless of whatever the truth of what really happened and the intentions behind the participants, the Shia would more likely use this as an argument against the character of Ayesha. If Dr. Khalifa was so worried about defending Ayesha’s character then why did he not defend Ayesha in her role at the battle of Jamel?  Moreover what does does Abu Bakr, the father of Ayesha, have to do with any of this?

 

If the verses have nothing to do with Ayesha then what does Dr. Khalfia have to say about their relevance? “Like the vast majority of Qur’an, these verses are always current; they apply to the believers here and now;..”  Dr. Khalifa’s acknowledgement that “the vast majority” of verses have to do with “here and now” admits that a minority of verses have to do with historic events.  There are reference in the Qur’an to other events in the Prophets life such as the battle of Badr, meeting with Abu Jahl, and a host of other things. The verses from Surah Nur clearly reflect the events recorded by historians regarding the false accusations made against Hazrat Ayesha.  Dr. Khalifa is correct in implying that the Qur’an has universal relevance to (and not just a historic one.) But even verses that are historic have great lessons in them and have applicability in contemporary times.

Islamic scholars have classified reasons for the revelation of specific verses as “asbab nuzul.” History records the Prophet facing situations and Quranic ayats being revealed to him as a result. This process went on over 23 years. As believers in the Qur’an we believe that every verse still has universal applicability despite the historic circumstances behind them.  It is an interesting fact that most of the verses we are unaware of the historic reasons for revelation (asbab nuzul.) One can pick a copy of The Study Quran up and see the various opinions for each of the verses.  Dr. Yasir Qadhi admitted that scholars are not completely knowledgeable of the asbab nuzul.  But for the verses in question there was no controversy.

 

We see that Dr. Rashad Khalifa’s assertions have no bearing in reality. But why does Dr. Khalifa upset so much about the accusations made against Ayesha. He knew that Islamic scholars did not believe the accusations in the first place. But Dr. Khalifa even denied the fact that accusations were made in the first place. But why would Dr. Khalifa try so hard to fight accusations (made against Ayesha) when everyone knows they are false?

 

Dr. Rashad Khalifa had faced serious accusations in his own life and his followers became aware of it. In 1979 Dr. Khalifa was accused of molesting a young girl that volunteered for a “research project” he initiated that was supposedly under the auspices of the United Nations.   Dr. Khalifa claimed that he was trying to test the person’s aura in order to prove that humans have an energy that is given off outside of the body.  Dr. Khalifa was charged with abusing this young woman but not convicted of a crime in the end. We will refrain from asking what really happened.  But one could rightly ask why a supposed respectful person with the character of a “messenger” of God would even be alone with a woman, moreover perform an experiment that involves touching a woman? As Rashad’s infame followed him with his claims, the accusations against him must have popped up in several places.

 

The recorded history about Ayesha’s slander was a small point in history but Dr. Khalifa found it so relevant that he wrote the title in giant capitalized font. It is obvious that Dr. Khalifa wanted to use the event accusations about Ayesha as a “lesson” to keep his followers from discussing the accusations made against him.  Just as Dr. Khalifa wanted to deny not jus the charges but the very fact slanders were even made against the Mother of the Believers,  Rashad wanted to silence all discussion of accusations made in his case.  Dr. Khalifa didn’t’ want to simply deny the accusations made against himself but he did not want his followers to even talk about them.