A Tradition Invented 43 enter, even though the Qur’an condemns his behavior in the “Affair of the Slander” ( hadith al-ifk), during which ‘A’isha was falsely accused of adultery and then divinely vindicated in verses that harshly censure those who spread rumors about innocent women. Hassan b. Thabit was reportedly among those who had propagated the false reports about her. ‘A’isha defends him saying that blindness is his punishment and that Hassan used to defend the Prophet by reciting poetry on his behalf. In this report, the fact that he is not mahram is not even an issue, and neither Masruq nor ‘A’isha refer to Hassan’s blindness as an exception allowing face-to-face contact. ‘A’isha’s interaction with Hassan, however, contradicts the precedent derived from a different incident related by Umm Salama about Ibn Umm Maktum’s visit. According to Umm Salama, this blind Companion visited her and Maymuna after the revelation of the bijab verse. Muhammad ordered his wives to observe seclusion, even though Ibn Umm Maktum could not see them. The Prophet explained that they (the wives) could see him and so should observe the bijab. Abu Dawud in his Sunan comments that this ruling must have been specific to Muhammad’s wives, as he had ruled in another case that Fatima bint Qays, a divorced woman, could observe her waiting period in the home of Ibn Umm Maktum. In the latter case, Muhammad had specified that it would be better for Fatima to spend her days with him because he was blind and would not see her dressing and undressing. With Muhammad’s wives, the bijab was not only intended to preserve them from the male gaze but also to prevent them from seeing non -mahram men. The range of behavior with respect to seclusion by the wives is fascinating not because it reveals the submission of some of them to the rulings as opposed to the rebellion of others. On the contrary, this diversity of approaches highlights the right of interpretation that the wives exercised even when confronted with what appears to us as a highly restrictive ruling. Some wives, such as Sawda, opted for the least lenient interpretation and as such refused to go out even to perform the Hajj. At the other end of the spectrum, ‘A’isha did not view the bijab rulings as unilaterally confining her to her home. When she chose to follow her understanding, she was criticized on the basis of her discernment and her understanding of Muhammad’s precedent but was not branded as someone who had rebelled against it. 86 Qur’an, 24:11-17. 87 Abu Dawud, Sunan, 4:63-64.