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===Widowhood=== | ===Widowhood=== | ||
Aisha spent her adult life in the mosque at Medina, keeping all the Muslim prayers and fasts, and being careful never to show her face to any man. When a blind man asked her why she bothered to veil herself from him, she replied, “Even if you cannot see me, I can see you.”<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:49.</ref> | Aisha spent her adult life in the mosque at Medina, keeping all the Muslim prayers and fasts, and being careful never to show her face to any man. When a blind man asked her why she bothered to veil herself from him, she replied, “Even if you cannot see me, I can see you.”<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:49.</ref> Her female friends observed that she was usually dressed in loose trousers, a shift, gown, ''niqab'' (full veil that exposed only the eyes) and gold rings. Her veil was sometimes black, but (unlike the typical modern wearer of a ''niqab''), Aisha often wore both a veil and a gown dyed with safflower, which is bright pink. Wolfskin furs against the cold are also mentioned, although Aisha was particular not to wear the furs of carrion.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:49-50.</ref> | ||
She had limited control over her movements, for she needed permission to leave Medina. It was not until October 644, when she was 30, that she and her seven surviving co-wives were given leave to make a ''Hajj'' pilgrimage to Mecca (i.e., to take a holiday). They travelled in ''howdahs'' covered with green shawls, preceded by the camel of Uthman ibn Affan and followed by the camel of Abdulrahman ibn Awf. Uthman and Abdulrahman “did not let anyone come near them nor see them,” and shouted, “Get away! Get away! Go left!” or “Go right!” at anyone whom they passed on the road. In the midday heat they camped in ravines, shielded by trees on every side, “and they did not let anyone come near them.” A woman who brought them some meat and milk wept at the sight of them, saying she “remembered Allah’s Messenger,” which made all of them weep with her. Some years later, they petitioned, and were granted permission, to make a second ''Hajj'', again guarded on every step of the journey.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:146-148.</ref> It is not recorded that Aisha left Medina again until 656. | |||
Her chief income was the revenues of Khaybar. After the surviving Jews were banished to Syria, Aisha chose to take control of her share of the real estate (“land and water”) rather than the annual income of dates and barley.<ref>{{Bukhari|3|39|521}}.</ref> She lived very frugally. She was asked why she bothered to mend her old trousers when “Allah has given you so much wealth,” and she replied, “Enough! A person who has nothing old and worn has nothing new.”<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:51.</ref> She expended most of her wealth in charity. Her nephew bought her house for 100,000 ''dirhams'' (about £500,000), although he allowed her a lifetime residence. The money arrived in two sacks, and Aisha spent all day dividing the money up into bowls to give away as alms. She did not keep even enough to buy her evening meal, although she said she would have done this much if she had thought of it.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:47-48.</ref> Another time he gave her a gown of rough silk, which she did keep for herself.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:49.</ref> | |||
In working life, she was much sought as a teacher.<ref>{{Bukhari|6|61|515}}.</ref> She hung a curtain in her house so that she could sit behind it while men came to hear her teaching without seeing her.<ref>E.g., see {{Bukhari|1|5|251}}; {{Bukhari|7|68|473}}.</ref> She narrated 2210 ''ahadith'' to her students.<ref>[http://www.islamawareness.net/Muhammed/ibn_kathir_wives.html/ Ibn Kathir, ''The Wives of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW)''].</ref> “Whenever we encountered any difficulty in the matter of any ''hadith'', we referred it to Aisha and found that she had definite knowledge about it.”<ref>Tirmidhi 6:46:3883. See also Al-Dhahabi, “Aisha, Mother of the Faithful” in ''Tadhkirat al-Huffaz'' p. 1/13.</ref> Many of her ''hadiths'' were the endless prescriptions for the correct rituals of prayer and hygiene (Muhammad liked to put on his right sandal first;<ref>[http://sunnah.com/tirmidhi/6/ Tirmidhi 1:6:608]</ref> he always urinated in a squatting position;<ref>[http://ahadith.co.uk/hadithbynarrator.php?n=Aisha&bid=15&let=A/ Ibn Majah 2:307].</ref> and he considered vinegar an “excellent condiment”.<ref>[http://sunnah.com/tirmidhi/25/ Tirmidhi 4:25:1839]</ref>). But many of her other teachings were stories about her friends and family, giving insight into events and relationships while leaving the morals unspoken and implicit. Of Muhammad she said, “His character was the Qur’an,”<ref>{{Muslim|4|1623}}.</ref> an assessment that few would dispute. | In working life, she was much sought as a teacher.<ref>{{Bukhari|6|61|515}}.</ref> She hung a curtain in her house so that she could sit behind it while men came to hear her teaching without seeing her.<ref>E.g., see {{Bukhari|1|5|251}}; {{Bukhari|7|68|473}}.</ref> She narrated 2210 ''ahadith'' to her students.<ref>[http://www.islamawareness.net/Muhammed/ibn_kathir_wives.html/ Ibn Kathir, ''The Wives of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW)''].</ref> “Whenever we encountered any difficulty in the matter of any ''hadith'', we referred it to Aisha and found that she had definite knowledge about it.”<ref>Tirmidhi 6:46:3883. See also Al-Dhahabi, “Aisha, Mother of the Faithful” in ''Tadhkirat al-Huffaz'' p. 1/13.</ref> Many of her ''hadiths'' were the endless prescriptions for the correct rituals of prayer and hygiene (Muhammad liked to put on his right sandal first;<ref>[http://sunnah.com/tirmidhi/6/ Tirmidhi 1:6:608]</ref> he always urinated in a squatting position;<ref>[http://ahadith.co.uk/hadithbynarrator.php?n=Aisha&bid=15&let=A/ Ibn Majah 2:307].</ref> and he considered vinegar an “excellent condiment”.<ref>[http://sunnah.com/tirmidhi/25/ Tirmidhi 4:25:1839]</ref>). But many of her other teachings were stories about her friends and family, giving insight into events and relationships while leaving the morals unspoken and implicit. Of Muhammad she said, “His character was the Qur’an,”<ref>{{Muslim|4|1623}}.</ref> an assessment that few would dispute. | ||