Excerpts from the Hadith by A’isha
Annotation
Hadith are reports about what the Prophet Muhammad said or thought. They provide Muslims with a sense of how Muhammad applied the guidelines of the Koran to daily life. They are based on the memories and stories of those who knew the Prophet and were recorded a few generations after his death. Women in the Prophet’s family are acknowledged as legitimate authors of these religious texts, and they provide a glimpse into the roles that Muslim women played in the early Islamic period.
This source is a part of the Analyzing Religious Texts methods module.
Text
A’isha narrates, “God’s apostle said and she quotes, ‘If any of you feels drowsy while praying he should go to bed till his slumber is over because in praying while drowsy one does not know whether one is asking for forgiveness or for a bad thing for oneself.’”
A’isha narrated: “When the ailment of the Prophet became aggravated and his disease severe, he asked his wives to permit him to be nursed or treated in my house. They gave him this permission. The Prophet then came to my house with the support of two men and his legs were dragging on the ground.
“His legs were dragging on the ground between Abbas and another man. Ubaid-Ullah said, “I informed Abdullah bin Abbas of what A’isha said. Ibn Abbas said, “Do you know who was the other man?” I replied in the negative. Ibn Abbas said, “He was Ali.” A’isha further said, “When the Prophet came to my house and his sickness became aggravated he ordered us to pour seven skins full of water on him, so that he may give some advice to the people. So he was seated in a brass tub belonging to his other wife, Hafsa, when all of us started pouring water on him from the water skins until he beckoned us to stop and after that he went out to the people.”