What would she not do if she could!

What would she not do if she could!' "46 'A'ishah and other wives of the Prophet Encounters and reactions 'A'ishah's jealousy, womanly envy and hot temper have been observed in various ways, some examples of which are seen in her mental reaction in breaking the dishes and throwing away the food of other ladies of the Prophet, and in her behavior towards them. We will discuss these two points separately.

At first we will describe her reaction to the dishes the other ladies prepared for the Prophet, and then deal with her violent encounters with his consorts. 1-Reactions When I saw the slave-girl carrying the food, I trembled. So that I lost my head and seizing the dish, I threw it away. 'A'ishah It sometimes happened that while the Prophet was in 'A'ishah's house, one of his other consorts prepared some food and sent it for him.

On such occasions, 'A'ishah lost self-control and showed her anger at this with a violent reaction. Here are some examples of these reactions: 'A'ishah and Umm Salamah's dish One day when the Prophet was in 'A'ishah's house, Umm Salamah sent him a dish prepared by her. 'A'ishah who had been aware of such pleasing acts of Umm Salamah, arrived at that very moment dressed in her cloak and holding a stone in her hand. She threw the stone at the dish and broke it.

The Prophet observing this act, sent a dish of 'A'ishah back to Umm Salamah to compensate for the broken dish.47 'A'ishah and Hafsah's dish 'A'ishah says: "I had prepared some food for the Prophet when I learnt that Hafsah had done the same. I ordered my slave-girl to be on the alert and if Hafsah sent him a dish prior to mine, she (the slave-girl) should take it and throw it away. She did as she was told thus breaking Hafsah's plate, and throwing the food on the leather tablecloth.

The Prophet gathered the remnants 46. Musnad of Ahmad 6/76 and 111 narrated by al-Qasim, and Musnad of at-Tayalasi, tradition 1429. Sahih Muslim, Chapter on Jealousy. and said to me: 'Send one of your plates to Hafsah for the broken dish.' "48 'A'ishah and Safiyah's dish We have already spoken of Safiyah earlier in this book, and now we hear 'A'ishah's account of breaking Safiyah's dish and throwing away the food.

She says: "One day when the Prophet was in my house, Safiyah sent him a dish she had prepared. When I noticed the slave-girl is carrying the dish, I trembled, lost my head and seizing the plate threw the food away.