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Aisha still needed permission to leave Medina. Uthman eventually agreed to escort Muhammad's widows on a second ''Hajj'', and once again, “we were kept well out of sight.”<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:147.</ref> It is not recorded that Aisha left Medina again until 656. Uthman expanded the mosque at Medina to a size of about 67m x 71m by buying up most of the adjoining buildings, though not the houses of Muhammad’s widows. Aisha therefore exchanged her old neighbours for carved stone walls, stone pillars and a teakwood roof.<ref>Jarrett/Suyuti pp. 159-160.</ref> | Aisha still needed permission to leave Medina. Uthman eventually agreed to escort Muhammad's widows on a second ''Hajj'', and once again, “we were kept well out of sight.”<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:147.</ref> It is not recorded that Aisha left Medina again until 656. Uthman expanded the mosque at Medina to a size of about 67m x 71m by buying up most of the adjoining buildings, though not the houses of Muhammad’s widows. Aisha therefore exchanged her old neighbours for carved stone walls, stone pillars and a teakwood roof.<ref>Jarrett/Suyuti pp. 159-160.</ref> | ||
But Uthman was elderly,<ref>Estimates of his exact age at death in {{Tabari|15|p. 252}} range from 75 to 90 lunar years. (There is also one vote for the “magic number” of 63, but we can ignore this.) Hence he was at least 60 solar years, and perhaps 75, when he became Caliph.</ref> and his competence declined with his age. After 650 the people became disillusioned by his nepotism and his embezzling of the state treasury.<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 100}}: “We became angry at Uthman on your behalf for three things he did: giving command to youths, expropriating common property and beating with whip and stick.” See also Jarrett/Suyuti p. 161.</ref> The residents of Medina were angry when he appropriated the common pastures around the city for the Umayya clan and forbade anyone else to graze their animals there. Restatement of the History of Islam.<ref></ref> Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, a man of humble birth who had been one of the earliest converts to Islam,<ref>{{Tabari|6|pp. 85, 87}}.</ref> preached against Uthman’s opulent lifestyle: “Your gold and silver shall burn red-hot in Hellfire and brand your foreheads!”<ref>{{Tabari|15|p. 65}}.</ref> Unable to take the criticism, Uthman exiled Abu Dharr to the desert, where he died in penury.<ref> Guillaume/Ishaq 606; {{Tabari|15|pp. 100-101}}.</ref> The Caliph’s only economy was to reduce Aisha’s pension to the same sum allowed to Muhammad’s other widows.<ref></ref> Aisha went to ask Uthman to restore her “inheritance,” but he refused, reminding her that she had actively supported Abu Bakr’s decision not to pay any inheritance to Muhammad’s family as “prophets have no heirs.” After this interview, Aisha invoked the penalty for [[Islam and Apostasy|apostasy]], exclaiming, “Kill this old fool, for he is an unbeliever!” | But Uthman was elderly,<ref>Estimates of his exact age at death in {{Tabari|15|p. 252}} range from 75 to 90 lunar years. (There is also one vote for the “magic number” of 63, but we can ignore this.) Hence he was at least 60 solar years, and perhaps 75, when he became Caliph.</ref> and his competence declined with his age. After 650 the people became disillusioned by his nepotism and his embezzling of the state treasury.<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 100}}: “We became angry at Uthman on your behalf for three things he did: giving command to youths, expropriating common property and beating with whip and stick.” See also Jarrett/Suyuti p. 161.</ref> The residents of Medina were angry when he appropriated the common pastures around the city for the Umayya clan and forbade anyone else to graze their animals there. Restatement of the History of Islam.<ref></ref> Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, a man of humble birth who had been one of the earliest converts to Islam,<ref>{{Tabari|6|pp. 85, 87}}.</ref> preached against Uthman’s opulent lifestyle: “Your gold and silver shall burn red-hot in Hellfire and brand your foreheads!”<ref>{{Tabari|15|p. 65}}.</ref> Unable to take the criticism, Uthman exiled Abu Dharr to the desert, where he died in penury.<ref> Guillaume/Ishaq 606; {{Tabari|15|pp. 100-101}}.</ref> The Caliph’s only economy was to reduce Aisha’s pension to the same sum allowed to Muhammad’s other widows.<ref></ref> Aisha went to ask Uthman to restore her “inheritance,” but he refused, reminding her that she had actively supported Abu Bakr’s decision not to pay any inheritance to Muhammad’s family as “prophets have no heirs.” After this interview, Aisha invoked the penalty for [[Islam and Apostasy|apostasy]], exclaiming, “Kill this old fool, for he is an unbeliever!” Ibn Athir, ''History'' vol. 3 p. 206.<ref></ref> Abdullah ibn Masood, who had been persecuted in Mecca for proclaiming the Qur’an in the earliest days,<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 141-142.</ref> and was also of the peasant class,<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 116.</ref> criticised Uthman for his embezzlements and for exiling Abu Dharr. The Caliph broke off his Friday sermon to call Abdullah “a foul and despicable beast,” at which Aisha (whose front door was directly opposite the pulpit<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:121.</ref>) protested from behind her curtain: “Is this the way to speak of a companion of Allah’s Apostle?” Uthman ordered Abdullah out of the mosque under a life-sentence of house arrest and loss of pension, at which his henchmen ejected Abdullah so violently that his ribs were broken. Ahmad ibn Hanbal, ''Musnad'' vol. 5 p. 197.<ref></ref> | ||
Ammar ibn Yasir, an early convert to Islam<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 117.</ref> who had also been severely persecuted as a slave in Mecca<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 145. His mother, Sumayya, had been the first Muslim martyr. | Ammar ibn Yasir, an early convert to Islam<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 117.</ref> who had also been severely persecuted as a slave in Mecca<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 145. His mother, Sumayya, had been the first Muslim martyr. Unlike the majority of Muslim “martyrs,” who were killed in battles where they were the aggressors, Sumayya probably fits the Western definition of a “martyr,” for her only recorded provocation was her monotheism. However, the dramatic accounts of her murder seem to be late embellishments; Ibn Ishaq offers no details beyond “they killed her.”</ref> and had fought at Badr,<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 329.</ref> also challenged Uthman for embezzling the public treasury. Uthman ordered him to be thrown out of the mosque; the octogenarian Ammar was beaten up to unconsciousness. Baladhuri, ''Ansab al-Ashraf'' vol. 5 pp. 48, 54, 88. Ibn Saad, ''Tabaqat'' vol. 3 part 1 p. 185.<ref></ref> At the next Friday’s prayers Aisha emerged from her house carrying an old shirt and sandal of Muhammad’s and interrupted prayers to address Uthman: “How soon indeed you have forgotten the ''sunna'' of your Prophet, when his hair, shirt and sandal have not yet perished!” Abbott, N. (1942, 1998). ''Aishah: the Beloved of Muhammad''. London: Saqi Books.<ref></ref> When the Governor of Kufa (who was Uthman’s brother) turned up to prayers so drunk that he recited the liturgy wrongly,<ref>Jarrett/Suyuti p. 159</ref> Uthman overlooked it and withheld the customary punishment. A delegation from Mesopotamia arrived in Medina to ask that the drunken Governor be replaced, and the Caliph threatened to punish them for making the request. The Mesopotamians appealed to Aisha, drawing from Uthman the remark, “Can the rebels and scoundrels of Mesopotamia find no other refuge than the home of Aisha?”<ref></ref> When Aisha brought their complaint back to Uthman, he responded that she had no right to approach him since she had been “ordered to stay at home.” Abbott (1942, 1998).<ref></ref> At this suggestion that a woman should not be involved in public affairs, some people “demanded to know who indeed had better right than Aisha in such matters.” Abbott (1942, 1998).<ref></ref> Uthman belatedly sentenced his brother to 80 lashes, which Ali delivered.<ref>{{Bukhari|5|57|45}}; {{Bukhari|5|58|212}}.</ref> | ||
Matters came to a head when Uthman’s governor in Egypt committed a murder, and 700 Egyptians arrived in Medina to petition for a new incumbent. Aisha once again took a stand against Uthman: “You have refused the request of Muhammad’s companions to remove this man, yet he has killed one of their people. Therefore do them justice against your Governor.”<ref>Jarrett/Suyuti p. 162.</ref> After similar urgings from Talha and Ali, Uthman promised to appoint Aisha’s brother Muhammad as the replacement governor. But on his journey to Egypt, Muhammad intercepted a letter bearing Uthman’s seal that ordered the old governor to kill him. He returned to Medina to show the letter<ref>{{Tabari|15|p. 184}}.</ref> | Matters came to a head when Uthman’s governor in Egypt committed a murder, and 700 Egyptians arrived in Medina to petition for a new incumbent. Aisha once again took a stand against Uthman: “You have refused the request of Muhammad’s companions to remove this man, yet he has killed one of their people. Therefore do them justice against your Governor.”<ref>Jarrett/Suyuti p. 162.</ref> After similar urgings from Talha and Ali, Uthman promised to appoint Aisha’s brother Muhammad as the replacement governor. But on his journey to Egypt, Muhammad intercepted a letter bearing Uthman’s seal that ordered the old governor to kill him. He returned to Medina to show the letter,<ref>{{Tabari|15|p. 184}}.</ref> which Uthman then denied writing,<ref>{{Tabari|15|p. 185}}.</ref> “and there was not one of the people of Medina but was wroth against Othman, and it increased the wrath and anger of those who were enraged on account of Ibn Masa’ud, Abu Darr, and Ammar-b-Yasir.”<ref>Jarrett/Suyuti p. 163.</ref> Letters signed with Aisha’s name called for Uthman’s assassination, though she later claimed they had been forged: “No, by the One in whom believed the believers and disbelieved the disbelievers, I did not write to them with the black [ink] on the white [paper]!”<ref>Ibn Saad, ''Tabaqat'' vol. 3 p. 60; Baladhuri, ''Ansab al-Ashraf'' vol. 5 pp. 596-597.</ref> Even if, as her friends chose to believe,<ref>Baladhuri, ''Ansab al-Ashraf'' vol. 5 p. 597.</ref> she was telling the truth – even if she did not write the letters and her specific goal was only Uthman’s abdication – she very obviously did not care what his other enemies might do to him. She even said, “I wish I had him in my baggage so that I could throw him into the sea!”<ref>Baladhuri, ''Ansab al-Ashraf'' part 1 vol. 4 p. 75.</ref> | ||
The disaffected in Medina negotiated with those in the provinces. In April 656 rebels from Syria, Mesopotamia and Egypt converged in Medina to demand that Uthman abdicate.<ref>{{Tabari|15|pp. 184-188}} | The disaffected in Medina negotiated with those in the provinces. In April 656 rebels from Syria, Mesopotamia and Egypt converged in Medina to demand that Uthman abdicate.<ref>{{Tabari|15|pp. 184-188}}; Muir (1924), pp. 224-227.</ref> They besieged him in his house and cut off his water supply<ref>Jarrett/Suyuti pp. 162-163.</ref> while the citizens of Medina watched. Leading Muslims like Ali, Talha and Al-Zubayr made only token efforts to assist their Caliph.<ref>{{Tabari|15|pp. 180-181}}; Muir (1924), pp. 230-231.</ref> Seeing that the rebels were likely to prevail, Aisha “prepared to flee by going on the Pilgrimage” to Mecca<ref>{{Tabari|15|p. 208}}.</ref> so that she would be far from the crime-scene. She was 42, and it was the first time she had left Medina without asking anyone’s permission, a strong indication of Uthman’s loss of control. She urged her brother Muhammad to accompany her, but he declined.<ref>{{Tabari|15|pp. 208-209}}.</ref> During her absence, he was the leader of the besiegers who broke through the roof of Uthman’s house and stabbed him to death.<ref>{{Tabari|15|pp. 190-191}}; Jarrett/Suyuti pp. 165-167.</ref> | ||
===The Caliphate of Ali=== | ===The Caliphate of Ali=== | ||
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Aisha directed her troops from an armour-plated red ''howdah'' on a red camel named Al-Askar (“soldier”).<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 124, 156}}.</ref> Talha was one of the first to be killed, by an arrow to his knee.<ref>{{Tabari|16|pp. 111, 127, 150}}.</ref> However, since most of the warriors were wearing armour, arrows killed inefficiently, so both sides concentrated on sword-work and cutting off one another’s limbs. It was said that there was never a battle “in which there were more cut-off arms and legs whose owners were not known than this one.”<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 135}}.</ref> “Never did I see a day when more men hastened to fight with only a left hand because they had lost their right.”<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 171}}.</ref> Al-Zubayr lost the desire to fight and left the battle, but he was followed and killed while at his prayers.<ref>{{Tabari|16|pp. 111-112, 116, 126, 158-159}}. He said that Ali had talked him out of it on the grounds that they were cousins, but his son accused him of fearing Ali’s army. Neither motive seems very plausible, especially as Al-Zubayr made no effort to dissuade his allies from fighting; but if he had some other reason, it is not known to history.</ref> The battle was long and bloody, and 13,000 were slain.<ref>Jarrett/Suyuti p. 177. {{Tabari|16|pp. 164}} records one tradition that it was only 10,000 and another that it was 10,000 Syrians and 5,000 Mesopotamians.</ref> After losing both Talha and Al-Zubayr, Aisha’s men felt obliged to protect the Mother of the Faithful by keeping close to her camel. One by one, forty men (some say seventy<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 153}}.</ref>) took turns to hold its nose-rope,<ref>{{Tabari|16|pp. 138-139}}.</ref> chanting, “''Fear not, O Aisha our Mother! All your sons are heroes brave; none is fearful or cowardly. We will not flee until our skulls tumble, until boiling red blood pours from them! Fear not, O Aisha, wife of the Blessed!''”<ref>{{Tabari|16|pp. 138, 149}}.</ref> None of Ali’s men who failed to wound the camel made a second attack.<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 153}}.</ref> Al-Askar held steady amid the battle until Aisha could no longer hear the chanting because Ali’s forces had cut down every man.<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 136}}.</ref> By this time both camel and ''howdah'' “looked like a giant hedgehog” because they were so stuck with arrows.<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 156}}.</ref> Finally someone managed to cut off Al-Askar’s right leg, whereupon “it threw itself down on its side and growled,” and the ''howdah'' fell to the ground. Ali’s men cut it from the dying camel’s girth, and Aisha’s men fled.<ref>{{Tabari|16|pp. 149-150}}.</ref> | Aisha directed her troops from an armour-plated red ''howdah'' on a red camel named Al-Askar (“soldier”).<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 124, 156}}.</ref> Talha was one of the first to be killed, by an arrow to his knee.<ref>{{Tabari|16|pp. 111, 127, 150}}.</ref> However, since most of the warriors were wearing armour, arrows killed inefficiently, so both sides concentrated on sword-work and cutting off one another’s limbs. It was said that there was never a battle “in which there were more cut-off arms and legs whose owners were not known than this one.”<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 135}}.</ref> “Never did I see a day when more men hastened to fight with only a left hand because they had lost their right.”<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 171}}.</ref> Al-Zubayr lost the desire to fight and left the battle, but he was followed and killed while at his prayers.<ref>{{Tabari|16|pp. 111-112, 116, 126, 158-159}}. He said that Ali had talked him out of it on the grounds that they were cousins, but his son accused him of fearing Ali’s army. Neither motive seems very plausible, especially as Al-Zubayr made no effort to dissuade his allies from fighting; but if he had some other reason, it is not known to history.</ref> The battle was long and bloody, and 13,000 were slain.<ref>Jarrett/Suyuti p. 177. {{Tabari|16|pp. 164}} records one tradition that it was only 10,000 and another that it was 10,000 Syrians and 5,000 Mesopotamians.</ref> After losing both Talha and Al-Zubayr, Aisha’s men felt obliged to protect the Mother of the Faithful by keeping close to her camel. One by one, forty men (some say seventy<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 153}}.</ref>) took turns to hold its nose-rope,<ref>{{Tabari|16|pp. 138-139}}.</ref> chanting, “''Fear not, O Aisha our Mother! All your sons are heroes brave; none is fearful or cowardly. We will not flee until our skulls tumble, until boiling red blood pours from them! Fear not, O Aisha, wife of the Blessed!''”<ref>{{Tabari|16|pp. 138, 149}}.</ref> None of Ali’s men who failed to wound the camel made a second attack.<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 153}}.</ref> Al-Askar held steady amid the battle until Aisha could no longer hear the chanting because Ali’s forces had cut down every man.<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 136}}.</ref> By this time both camel and ''howdah'' “looked like a giant hedgehog” because they were so stuck with arrows.<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 156}}.</ref> Finally someone managed to cut off Al-Askar’s right leg, whereupon “it threw itself down on its side and growled,” and the ''howdah'' fell to the ground. Ali’s men cut it from the dying camel’s girth, and Aisha’s men fled.<ref>{{Tabari|16|pp. 149-150}}.</ref> | ||
Aisha, at Ali’s command, was extracted from her ''howdah'' by her own brother Muhammad and brought to Ali.<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 157}}. Muhammad was Ali’s stepson; he had been very young when Abu Bakr died and his mother, Asma bint Umays, remarried to Ali (Bewley/Saad 8:197-198).</ref> It would have been foolish to subject a Mother of the Faithful to judicial execution, so Ali staged a public show of reconciliation. He addressed Aisha as “Mother,” and they each said to the other: “May Allah forgive us and you!”<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 158}}.</ref> Then he gave her a new camel | Aisha, at Ali’s command, was extracted from her ''howdah'' by her own brother Muhammad and brought to Ali.<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 157}}. Muhammad was Ali’s stepson; he had been very young when Abu Bakr died and his mother, Asma bint Umays, remarried to Ali (Bewley/Saad 8:197-198).</ref> It would have been foolish to subject a Mother of the Faithful to judicial execution, so Ali staged a public show of reconciliation. He addressed Aisha as “Mother,” and they each said to the other: “May Allah forgive us and you!”<ref>{{Tabari|16|p. 158}}.</ref> Then he gave her food, servants and a new camel for her journey, and they took public leave of one another, assuring their audience that there was no further quarrel between them. Ali sent Aisha to Mecca, where she remained for several months until the next ''Hajj'', as if to demonstrate that she was free to go where she wished. But then she returned to Medina,<ref>{{Tabari|16|pp. 167, 170}}.</ref> where Ali kept her under house-arrest in the mosque complex for as long as he lived. She was to play no further part in public affairs.<ref>Muir (1924) p. 251.</ref> | ||
Muslims have traditionally perceived the Battle of the Camel, the first war where Muslim fought Muslim, as “proof” that “woman was not created to poke her nose into politics.”<ref>[http://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_401_450/female_leadership_in_islam.htm/ Sa’id Al-Afghani], cited in Shehabuddin, S. “Female Leadership in Islam” in ''Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc.''</ref> In fact Aisha was no more aggressive than her male counterparts, and the war was no more disastrous than the hundreds of wars, including Muslim-against-Muslim wars, that male Muslims have fought ever since. The real problem was not that Aisha was a woman but that her Islamic world-view had taught her to solve problems by authoritarianism, assassination and open war. Aisha regretted the Battle of the Camel; she more than once declared, “I wish I had been a leaf on a tree! I wish I had been a stone! I wish I had been a clod of earth! By Allah, I wish that Allah had not created me as anything at all!”<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:52.</ref> Sunni Muslims understand these expressions of regret as proof that Aisha “sincerely repented and wasn't against the household [of Ali] after that.”<ref>[http://www.yanabi.com/index.php?/topic/426447-mothers-of-the-believers-hazrath-aisha-siddiqa-ra/page__st__80/ “Mothers Of The Believers Hazrath Aisha Siddiqa (r.a)” in ''Yanabi.com - reviving the spirit of Islam''.]</ref> However, it is not completely clear whether she repented starting the war or whether her real regret was only that she had lost it. | Muslims have traditionally perceived the Battle of the Camel, the first war where Muslim fought Muslim, as “proof” that “woman was not created to poke her nose into politics.”<ref>[http://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_401_450/female_leadership_in_islam.htm/ Sa’id Al-Afghani], cited in Shehabuddin, S. “Female Leadership in Islam” in ''Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc.''</ref> In fact Aisha was no more aggressive than her male counterparts, and the war was no more disastrous than the hundreds of wars, including Muslim-against-Muslim wars, that male Muslims have fought ever since. The real problem was not that Aisha was a woman but that her Islamic world-view had taught her to solve problems by authoritarianism, assassination and open war. Aisha regretted the Battle of the Camel; she more than once declared, “I wish I had been a leaf on a tree! I wish I had been a stone! I wish I had been a clod of earth! By Allah, I wish that Allah had not created me as anything at all!”<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:52.</ref> Sunni Muslims understand these expressions of regret as proof that Aisha “sincerely repented and wasn't against the household [of Ali] after that.”<ref>[http://www.yanabi.com/index.php?/topic/426447-mothers-of-the-believers-hazrath-aisha-siddiqa-ra/page__st__80/ “Mothers Of The Believers Hazrath Aisha Siddiqa (r.a)” in ''Yanabi.com - reviving the spirit of Islam''.]</ref> However, it is not completely clear whether she repented starting the war or whether her real regret was only that she had lost it. | ||
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Muaawiya succeeded Ali as caliph in January 661.<ref>Jarrett/Suyuti pp. 178, 197.</ref> He was praised, even by his enemies, for his political acumen, justice and restraint.<ref>Jarrett/Suyuti pp. 197-198.</ref> He was criticised for his nepotism and for his toleration of silk, stringed instruments and alcohol.<ref>{{Tabari|18|p. 154}}.</ref> He was not criticised for being “the first who introduced eunuchs into his service,”<ref>Jarrett/Suyuti p. 21.</ref> i.e., who ordered the castration of his slaves. He continued the Islamic conquests, consolidating gains in Persia and modern Afghanistan and adding Sudan to the empire.<ref>Jarrett/Suyuti pp. 198-199.</ref> | Muaawiya succeeded Ali as caliph in January 661.<ref>Jarrett/Suyuti pp. 178, 197.</ref> He was praised, even by his enemies, for his political acumen, justice and restraint.<ref>Jarrett/Suyuti pp. 197-198.</ref> He was criticised for his nepotism and for his toleration of silk, stringed instruments and alcohol.<ref>{{Tabari|18|p. 154}}.</ref> He was not criticised for being “the first who introduced eunuchs into his service,”<ref>Jarrett/Suyuti p. 21.</ref> i.e., who ordered the castration of his slaves. He continued the Islamic conquests, consolidating gains in Persia and modern Afghanistan and adding Sudan to the empire.<ref>Jarrett/Suyuti pp. 198-199.</ref> | ||
Muaawiya had no reason to dislike Aisha, who had been his enemy’s enemy. He did not even need to take active steps to “keep her out of politics” by maintaining her house-arrest, for he moved the capital of the Islamic empire to Damascus,<ref>Muir (1924) p. 291.</ref> so the great affairs of state no longer occurred on Aisha’s doorstep in the mosque at Medina. Therefore | Muaawiya had no reason to dislike Aisha, who had been his enemy’s enemy. He did not even need to take active steps to “keep her out of politics” by maintaining her house-arrest, for he moved the capital of the Islamic empire to Damascus,<ref>Muir (1924) p. 291.</ref> so the great affairs of state no longer occurred on Aisha’s doorstep in the mosque at Medina. He knew Aisha was well occupied by bringing up her nephew, teaching the Qur’an and settling local legal disputes. Therefore he had nothing to lose by showing her, at least superficially, the deference due to the foremost Mother of the Faithful. He requested her, “Write a letter to advise me, and do not overburden me.” Aisha’s polite reply deliberately avoided all political controversy. | ||
{{Quote|Aisha’s letter to Caliph Muaawiya, [http://sunnah.com/tirmidhi/36/ Tirmidhi:4:36:2597].|Peace be upon you. As for what follows: Indeed I heard Allah’s Messenger saying, “Whoever seeks Allah’s pleasure by the people’s wrath, Allah will suffice him from the people. And whoever seeks the people’s pleasure by Allah’s wrath, Allah will entrust him to the people.” And peace be upon you.}} | {{Quote|Aisha’s letter to Caliph Muaawiya, [http://sunnah.com/tirmidhi/36/ Tirmidhi:4:36:2597].|Peace be upon you. As for what follows: Indeed I heard Allah’s Messenger saying, “Whoever seeks Allah’s pleasure by the people’s wrath, Allah will suffice him from the people. And whoever seeks the people’s pleasure by Allah’s wrath, Allah will entrust him to the people.” And peace be upon you.}} | ||