Surah Al-Nûr 24:11

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ جَاءُوا بِالْإِفْكِ عُصْبَةٌ مِّنكُمْ ۚ لَا تَحْسَبُوهُ شَرًّا لَّكُم ۖ بَلْ هُوَ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ ۚ لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مِّنْهُم مَّا اكْتَسَبَ مِنَ الْإِثْمِ ۚ

24:11 Verses 11-13 illustrate the practical application of the rulings laid out in verses 1-10. The verses refer to an incident related to ‘Âishah(rz) , the wife of the Holy Prophet (pbuh). While the Holy Prophet was returning from the campaign against the tribe of Mustaliq in the year 5 A.H., his wife ‘Âisha, who accompanied him on that expedition, was inadvertently left behind. A group of the Muslim soldiers she was travelling with struck camp before dawn a short distance from Madînah. ‘Âisha went out some distance from the camp to attend to the call of nature. Because of her absence, her attendants assumed that ‘Âisha had joined another section of the group and left the camp before the break of dawn. When ‘Âisha returned, realizing the camel and the men had departed without her, she sat down in her helplessness. Safwân, son of Mu‘attal, found and recognized her, and brought her to the next halting place of the troop (Bukhârî 52:15). The hypocrites of Madînah led by Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salûl spread false rumors about alleged misconduct on the part of ‘Âishah(rz). ‘Abdullah bin ‘Ubayy bin Salûl was the known chief of the hypocrites (Bukhârî 64/36).

The sentence walladhi tawalla وَالَّذِي تَوَلَّىٰ كِبْرَهُ مِنْهُمْ also means, “He who has taken in hand to magnify it,” or “who played the major part,” referring to those who play major roles in accusing women. In this case, it was ‘Abdullah bin ‘Ubayy bin Salûl (Bukhârî 64/36). Here, as is the case with all Qur’ânic allusions to historical events, the mention of this episode is to bring out an ethical proposition valid for all times under all social circumstances.