Friday Khutbah: Āʾishah, May Allah Be Pleased with Her

This is the official Friday Khutbah (sermon) issued by the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments (Awqaf) of the UAE for September 11, 2026, delivered across mosques throughout the Emirates. This week's topic: Āʾishah, May Allah Be Pleased with Her.

The First Sermon

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the earth and the heavens. He exalted the rank of the wives of our Prophet ﷺ in His clear and decisive verses and made them Mothers of the Believers (Qurʾān 33:6). We bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, and we bear witness that our master and Prophet Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allah. May Allah bestow His blessings, peace and grace upon him, his family and Companions, and all those who follow him.

To proceed: Servants of Allah, I counsel you and myself to remain mindful of Allah. The Most Exalted says: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَكُونُوا مَعَ الصَّادِقِينَ

“O you who believe, be mindful of Allah and be with the truthful.”(Qurʾān 9:119)

Believers, Allah Almighty chose for His Beloved ﷺ virtuous wives who were مُؤْمِنَاتٍ قَانِتَاتٍ“believing and devoutly obedient” (Qurʾān 66:5). He distinguished them with an honour beyond compare and a virtue without equal, saying: يَا نِسَاءَ النَّبِيِّ لَسْتُنَّ كَأَحَدٍ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ

“O wives of the Prophet, you are not like any other women.” (Qurʾān 33:32)

Among the greatest of them in rank and the noblest in lineage was al-Ṣiddīqah, the daughter of al-Ṣiddīq: the Mother of the Believers, ʿĀʾishah bint Abī Bakr, may Allah be pleased with them both. She was a devoted and obedient worshipper, a learned scholar and jurist, generous and noble, pure and chaste, intelligent and discerning. She was raised in a household of truthfulness and faith, obedience and excellence.

Allah declared her innocence in verses of the Qurʾān that will continue to be recited throughout the ages. Concerning her, Allah Almighty revealed: وَالطَّيِّبَاتُ لِلطَّيِّبِينَ وَالطَّيِّبُونَ لِلطَّيِّبَاتِ أُولَئِكَ مُبَرَّءُونَ مِمَّا يَقُولُونَ لَهُمْ مَغْفِرَةٌ وَرِزْقٌ كَرِيمٌ

“Women of purity are for men of purity, and men of purity are for women of purity. They are innocent of what people say. For them are forgiveness and an honourable provision.” (Qurʾān 24:26)

Divine revelation descended upon our Prophet ﷺ while he was in her home, something that did not occur in the home of any of his other wives (Musnad Aḥmad, no. 26512).

Our Prophet ﷺ chose her as his wife, and after Khadījah, may Allah be pleased with her, she was a wonderful wife to him. She filled his home with affection and his life with joy. He would joke with her and she would joke with him; he would race with her and she would race with him (Sunan Abī Dāwūd, no. 2578); and each would show tenderness and affection to the other. Listen to this loving exchange between the Prophet ﷺ and his wife. He once said to her: إِنِّي لَأَعْلَمُ إِذَا كُنْتِ عَنِّي رَاضِيَةً، وَإِذَا كُنْتِ عَلَيَّ غَضْبَى... إِذَا كُنْتِ عَنِّي رَاضِيَةً، فَإِنَّكِ تَقُولِينَ: لَا وَرَبِّ مُحَمَّدٍ، وَإِذَا كُنْتِ غَضْبَى، قُلْتِ: لَا وَرَبِّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ

“I know when you are pleased with me and when you are angry with me. When you are pleased with me, you say, ‘No, by the Lord of Muḥammad,’ but when you are angry, you say, ‘No, by the Lord of Abraham.’”

She replied: وَاللَّهِ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، مَا أَهْجُرُ إِلَّا اسْمَكَ

 “By Allah, O Messenger of Allah, it is only your name that I may leave aside mentioning (but never you).”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)

May Allah be pleased with her and grant her contentment. She did everything within her ability to care for her husband ﷺ. She would comb and arrange his hair (Musnad Aḥmad, no. 24238), prepare his tooth-stick and the water for his purification (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, no. 746), and she said: كُنْتُ أُطَيِّبُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ بِأَطْيَبِ مَا أَقْدِرُ عَلَيْهِ

“I used to perfume the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with the finest perfume I could obtain.” (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, no. 1189)

We should therefore not be surprised by his answer when he was asked, “Who is the most beloved of all people to you?” He replied: “ʿĀʾishah.” (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)

Such was the Mother of the Believers within her home, and such was her example in bringing happiness to her husband.

If you should ask about her relationship with her Lord, then, by Allah, she was a devout worshipper who lived with little attachment to the world. She fasted frequently and stood in prayer during the night. On one occasion, while praying, she recited the verse: فَمَنَّ اللَّهُ عَلَيْنَا وَوَقَانَا عَذَابَ السَّمُومِ

“Then Allah was gracious to us and protected us from the torment of the scorching Fire.” (Qurʾān 52:27)

She continued repeating the verse and weeping.

ʿĀʾishah, may Allah be pleased with her, lived contentedly and with a heart satisfied by Allah. She was noble and generous, preferring others over herself. On one occasion, a large sum of money was brought to her while she was fasting. She distributed all of it among the people, leaving nothing with which to break her own fast. She possessed complete certainty in the words of her Lord: إِنَّ الْمُصَّدِّقِينَ وَالْمُصَّدِّقَاتِ وَأَقْرَضُوا اللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًا يُضَاعَفُ لَهُمْ وَلَهُمْ أَجْرٌ كَرِيمٌ

“Indeed, the charitable men and charitable women who lend Allah a good loan will have it multiplied for them, and theirs will be an honourable reward.” (Qurʾān 57:18)

As for her knowledge and understanding of religion, Allah had granted her a profound passion for knowledge and an eagerness to pursue it. Whenever “she heard something that she did not understand, she would continue asking about it until she understood it” (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 103).

The senior Companions themselves would consult her whenever a matter was unclear to them because of the breadth and depth of her knowledge. Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

مَا أَشْكَلَ عَلَيْنَا حَدِيثٌ قَطُّ فَسَأَلْنَا عَائِشَةَ؛ إِلَّا وَجَدْنَا عِنْدَهَا مِنْهُ عِلْمًا

“Whenever a ḥadīth presented difficulty to us, the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and we asked ʿĀʾishah about it, we would always find that she possessed knowledge concerning it.” (Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī, no. 3883)

May Allah be pleased with her and grant her contentment. She brought together knowledge of many different disciplines through which she benefited her family and her community. Her nephew once expressed his amazement, saying to her: “I am not surprised by your knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence, nor am I surprised by your knowledge of poetry and the history of the Arabs. What amazes me, however, is your knowledge of medicine. From where did you acquire it?” She replied:

فَقَالَتْ: إِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ كَانَ يَمْرَضُ فِي آخِرِ عُمُرِهِ، وَكَانَتْ تَقْدَمُ عَلَيْهِ وُفُودُ الْعَرَبِ، فَيَصِفُونَ لَهُ أَدْوِيَةً، فَكُنْتُ أُعِدُّهَا لَهُ، فَمِنْ ذَلِكَ تَعَلَّمْتُ

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to become ill towards the end of his life. Delegations of Arabs would come to him and describe remedies for him, and I would prepare those remedies. It was from this that I learnt.” (Al-Dhahabī, Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ, 2:182)

She was thus a unique model of a woman who continually sought to increase her knowledge, inspired by the words of Allah Almighty: وَقُلْ رَبِّ زِدْنِي عِلْمًا

“And say: ‘My Lord, increase me in knowledge.’” (Qurʾān 20:114)

Allah Almighty also says: “O you who believe, obey Allah, obey the Messenger, and those entrusted with authority among you.”
(Qurʾān 4:59)I say these words of mine, and I seek Allah’s forgiveness for myself and for you. So seek His forgiveness.

The Second Sermon

All praise is due to Allah alone, and may blessings and peace be upon the one after whom there is no prophet.

To proceed: O you who love the Mother of the Believers, ʿĀʾishah, may Allah be pleased with her, such was the love of our Prophet ﷺ for her that he supplicated:

اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِعَائِشَةَ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِهَا وَمَا تَأَخَّرَ، مَا أَسَرَّتْ وَمَا أَعْلَنَتْ

“O Allah, forgive ʿĀʾishah for her past and future sins, for what she has concealed and what she has made public.”

She was filled with immense happiness upon hearing this supplication (Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān, no. 3446).

His bond with her was especially close. When his final illness became severe, “he sought his wives’ permission to be cared for in her house, and they granted him permission” (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 198). He ﷺ passed away in her presence and was buried in her home, having already given her the glad tidings: أَنْتِ زَوْجَتِي فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ

“You are my wife in this world and in the Hereafter.” (Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān, no. 3432)

When her own death approached, Ibn ʿAbbās, may Allah be pleased with them both, entered upon her and said: أَبْشِرِي يَا أُمَّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ، كُنْتِ أَحَبَّ أَزْوَاجِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ إِلَيْهِ، وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لِيُحِبَّ إِلَّا طَيِّبًا

“Rejoice, O Mother of the Believers! You were the most beloved of the wives of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to him, and he loved only that which was good and pure.” (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 4753)

ʿĀʾishah, may Allah be pleased with her, passed away on the night of the seventeenth of Ramaḍān. So many people gathered to perform the funeral prayer over her that it was said that no night had ever been witnessed with a greater gathering of people. She was then buried in al-Baqīʿ.

These are but some of the virtues and noble achievements of our mother ʿĀʾishah, whose life we remember during Women’s Empowerment Month. Great success belongs to the one who recognises her rank and honours her accordingly; who knows her excellence and reveres her; and who follows her example in obedience and worship, in her beautiful companionship with her husband, in her noble character, in the abundance of her knowledge and in the depth of her understanding of religion.

O Allah, bestow Your blessings, peace and grace upon our master and Prophet Muḥammad, upon his pure family and his righteous Companions. O Allah, be pleased with Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān and ʿAlī, and with all the noble Companions.

O Allah, ease our affairs, expand our hearts, increase our provision, forgive our fathers and mothers, and bless our descendants. O Allah, perpetuate the honour, victory, stability, prosperity, goodness and flourishing of the United Arab Emirates.

O Allah, preserve Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, President of the UAE, beneath Your protection. Be his Helper and Supporter, and bless his life and his deeds. O Allah, grant success to him, his deputies, his brothers the Rulers of the Emirates, and his trustworthy Crown Prince, guiding them to all that You love and with which You are pleased.

O Allah, have mercy upon Sheikh Zayed, Sheikh Rashid, and the Sheikhs of the Emirates who have passed into Your mercy. By Your grace, admit them into the spacious gardens of Your Paradise, and encompass the nation’s martyrs in Your mercy and forgiveness. O Allah, have mercy upon all Muslim men and women, the living among them and the deceased.

Servants of Allah, remember Allah, the Magnificent and Majestic, and He will remember you. Give thanks to Him for His blessings, and He will increase you. Establish the prayer.