"I Know Only Good"

During the slander against 'A'ishah, when hypocrites spread a lie about her honour and the household waited weeks for revelation, the Prophet ﷺ asked Zaynab what she knew of 'A'ishah. Of all the wives, Zaynab was the one closest to 'A'ishah in standing and in his affection — her natural rival. Her own sister, Hamnah, was among those who repeated the rumour.

Zaynab could have hinted, hesitated or said nothing. Instead she answered: "Messenger of Allah, I guard my hearing and my sight. By Allah, I know nothing of her but good."

'A'ishah herself narrated this, and added: "She was the one who used to compete with me, but Allah protected her through her piety" (Sahih al-Bukhari 4750).

01Why it matters

Zaynab's piety showed most clearly when she had every reason to speak against a rival and spoke only the truth in her favour.

02Reflection

When someone you compete with is spoken badly of, do you guard your tongue, or let the words do their work?

03Sources

Sahih al-Bukhari 4750 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
Sahih Muslim 2770 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
Qur'an 24:11-20

What the hadith grades mean

Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.

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