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His wives realised that he was trying to calculate his day for
c-
Alisha. Then he asked permission from his wives to retire and spend
his last days withl'isha. Therefore, he spent his remaining days
in her home and died in her house.
These details from their life together show that Alisha must have
matured swiftly in the Islamic faith in that she retained special favour
in the Prophet's eyes. Despite the fact that C
Alishals time with the
Prphet was short, these years had a decisive role in forming her
character. She learned much at the hand sof the first teacher of
the Muslim community. Her youthfulness helped her in memorising
information concerning jurisdiction and social matters from the
Prophet. She took the initiative by asking the Prophet questions
concerning women in general for which she did not have an answer.
The Prophet in his turn, was intent on giving her every possible
chance to attain religious instruction because he appreciated her
intelligence and capacities. When she asked the Messenger of Allah
if Jihad was obligatory for the women as well as the men when the
occasion arose, the Prophet replied in the negative since their
pilgrimage to Mecca (Haj) was their type of Jihad.
1A
further
example is a question about the consent of the woman in marriage.
She said, 'Oh Apostle of Allah, out of bashfulness virgin girls
often remain quiet at that moment. " 2 The Prophet replied that their
silence was in fact an expression of their consent. Since*A'isha
utilised her familiarity with the Prophet to gain Islamic knowledge
she is considered one of a few witnesses who memorised manY of the
Prophet's sayings in all fields, especially on social or religious
matters. He is reported to have said to his companions:
1. See Ibn ea-*. d. Vol. 8, op. cit., P. 72, quoted and trans. by
Moin, P. 19
2. See Moin, op. cit., Po 20
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