Al-Tirmidhi reported via Sammaak from ?Ikrimah from Ibn ?Abbaas that he said: ?Sawdah was afraid that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) would divorce her, so she said: ?O Messenger of Allaah, do not divorce me; give my day to ?Aa?ishah.? So he did so. Then this aayah was revealed.? ?And if a woman fears cruelty or desertion on her husband?s part there is no sin on them both if they make terms of peace between themselves; and making peace is better?? [al-Nisaa? 4:128].?
Quran 24:4: And those who accuse chaste women, and produce not four witnesses, flog them with eighty stripes, and reject their testimony forever. They indeed are the Fâsiqûn (liars, rebellious, disobedient to Allâh).
Quite conveniently, there were exactly three witnesses against Aisha.
Quran 24:11: Verily, those who brought forth the slander (against 'Âishah) are a group among you. Consider it not a bad thing for you. Nay, it is good for you. To every man among them will be paid that which he had earned of the sin, and as for him among them who had the greater share therein, his will be a great torment.
meaning Hassan b. Thabit and his companions who said what they said.
Quran 24:12: Why then did not the believers, men and women, when you heard it (the slander), think good of their own people and say: "This (charge) is an obvious lie?"
Probably because it was not all that obvious a lie. Aisha at this time was 14 years, and presumably well into puberty. Like any other teenager, the hormones would be awakening and she might be attracted by the idea of sharing her body with of her own choice, not to mention of her own age. Further, Muhammad kept adding more women to his harem, having recieved an explicit permission from Allah to do so, and took advantage of his captives as well. Aisha was, as recorded in the hadith, seriously jealous about this:
Muslim:C14B39N6759 ?Aisha, the wife of Allah?s Apostle, reported: ?Allah?s Messenger left my apartment during the night. Then he came and he saw me in an agitated state.? He said: ?Aisha, what has happened to you? Do you feel jealous?? I said: ?How can it be that a girl like me would not feel jealous in regard to a husband like you?
Jealous and immature teenagers make mistakes. The story simply sounded probable.
Quran 24:13: Why did they not produce four witnesses against him? Since they (the slanderers) have not produced witnesses! Then with Allâh, they are the liars.
One might of course ponder the matter from the side of Muhammad. Apart from the attractiveness of Aisha or the humiliation of Muhammad not being in control of his women, Aisha was the daughter of (future caliph) Abu Bakr, a staunch ally from the Meccan days, not a family to split with. But Muhammad himself gives a very different clue as to why he didn't simply divorce Aisha and content himself with the dozen or so other wives he had:
Bukhari:V5B57N119 Muhammad said: ?Um, don?t trouble me by harming Aisha, for by Allah, the Divine Inspiration [Qur?an surahs] never came to me while I was under the blanket of any woman among you except her.?
On the other hand, getting too close to the potential problems of religious scripture inspired by sex with under-age girls is probably not nice.
Quran 24:23: Those who slander chaste women, indiscreet and careless but believing, are cursed in this life and in the hereafter: for them is an awful doom. On the Day when their tongues, their hands, and their feet will bear witness against them as to what they did. On that Day Allah will pay them back their just reward.
The doom is indeed awful for the witnesses. One should think that the flogging would do, but no. Eternal damnation goes on top of the whipping.
Related:
Bukhari, 8/6814: A man from the tribe of Bani Aslam came to Allâh's Messenger and informed him that he had committed illegal sexual intercourse and he bore witness four times against himself. Allâh's Messenger ordered him to be stoned to death as he was a married person.
Fatal attraction... The notion of illegal sexual intercourse is quite alien to westeners. Unfortunately, it is the harsh reality for the vast majority of Muslim women today. They are not permitted to choose themselves who to share their homes and bodies with.
When this came down about Aisha and about those who spoke about her, Abu Bakr, who used to make an allowance to Mistah because he was of his kin and needy, said: "Never will I give anything to Mistah again, nor will I ever help him in any way after what he said about Aisha and brought evil on us." So Allah sent down concerning that:
Quran 24:22: And let not those among you who are blessed with graces and wealth swear not to give (any sort of help) to their kinsmen, Al-Masâkîn (the needy), and those who left their homes for Allâh's Cause. Let them pardon and forgive.
Abu Bakr said: "Yes, by Allah, I want Allah to forgive me," so he continued the allowance to Mistah.
One may wonder why Allah has to interfere in a detail like this, where a word from Muhammad most likely would have been sufficient for Abu Bakr, the long-term ally and future caliph.