Question:
Assalamalaikum. Is the following incident found in Lesley Hazelton’s book “After the Prophet” authentic or a forgery? It is as follows, “as when Muhammad arranged to seal an alliance with a major Christian tribe newly converted to Islam by marrying its leader’s daughter, a girl renowned for her beauty. When the bride-to-be arrived in Medina, Aisha volunteered to help prepare her for the wedding and, under the guise of sisterly advice, advised her that Muhammad would think all the more highly of her if on the wedding night, she resisted him by saying, “I take refuge with God from thee.” The new bride had no idea that this was the Islamic phrase used to annul a marriage. All she knew was that the moment she said it, Muhammad left, and the next day she was bundled unceremoniously back to her own people.”
Thank you.
Answer:
Alaykum Salam,
It is narrated by al-Bukhari except that the phrase does not annul a marriage at all. Rather, it was an expression of distaste and rejection with which the Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) dealt by annulling the marriage. Nor is true that she was “bundled unceremoniously” at all, rather she was given a generous parting gift and treated with the utmost respect even though she had disrespected the Best of Creation. The moral of the story is that your source is unreliable and makes up facts, and this is the case in a lot of what she publishes.
Hajj Gibril Haddad