I wished to be a stone; I wished God had never brought me into the world!

I wished to be a stone; I wished God had never brought me into the world!" It is said: At the time of her death she said regretfully: "After the Prophet's decease I have caused some events.

Now that I am departing from this world, bury me alongside the other wives of the Prophet." adh-Dhahabi, the great Sunni scholar writes: What 'A'ishah meant by the word "events" was the battle of al-Jamal and her role in starting it.(273) He says also: In the night of 17th Ramadan of the 58 of the Hijrah she died after her one-unit prayer. She had willed to be buried the same night. The Emigrants and Ansar assembled and a large crowd gathered.

They lighted date palm branches to illuminate the way for the procession. The narrator of the story says: I saw the women of Medina in the al-Baqi' cemetery that night assembled like festival days. Abu Hurayrah performed her burial prayer, since he governed the city on behalf of Marwan. At her death 'A'ishah was 63 years and a few months old.

(274) *** We have studied 'A'ishah's life from the first days of her arrival at the Prophet's house until the last moments of her life in the time of Mu'awiyah (275) and have made a survey of all her personality as a social and political genius in the forthcoming pages we will discuss some of her fine qualities. Part 5 : The Qualities and Characteristics of 'A'ishah 'A'ishah's generosity One day I saw 'A'ishah giving people seventy thousand drachmas.

'Urwah ibn az-Zubayr Although generosity is an admirable quality, yet sometimes it is performed on the basis of a divine thought, meaning that a person voluntarily offers something to which he is attached or gives up a wish or property for the sake of God in the hope of winning His satisfaction or receiving a heavenly reward. Such a person is bound to be rewarded heavily and to receive divine satisfaction.

But if a person shows generosity for the sake of a worldly benefit such as gaining a good reputation, although his action is good in itself, yet he will not be rewarded in the next world since his action's motive has been related to this world. Among the Arabs it had long been customary for great men and chiefs of tribes to perform certain acts such as showing generosity in their offer of money and property.

If a person came to the house of such men and returned empty-handed and disappointed, it was considered a great disgrace for the master of the house.