The story of the Hajj of our Mother ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her.
A woman’s care for her husband during Hajj.
The Day of Sacrifice (Yawm al-Nahr) is the day of the Greater Hajj and the day of Eid.
It contains the majority of the Hajj rites.
After our Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, stoned the Jamrat al-‘Aqabah,
and shaved his head,
he prepared to go to Makkah to perform the Tawaf al-Ifadah.
He removed his ihram garments, put on his clothes, and applied perfume for the tawaf.
Our Mother ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, attained the honor of caring for our Prophet, peace be upon him, during Hajj
on many occasions.
Among the things she did was to apply perfume to him with her own hands before he went for the Tawaf al-Ifadah.
Our Mother ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, says:
"I applied perfume to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, with my own hands when he entered ihram,"
"and for his release from ihram before he performed the tawaf."
She extended her hands.
Our Mother ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, explicitly stated
that this was after he had stoned Jamrat al-‘Aqabah and before he performed the Tawaf al-Ifadah.
She said: "I applied perfume to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, for his state of ihram when he entered it,"
"and for his release from it after he had stoned Jamrat al-‘Aqabah, before he circumambulated the House."
This attention to the Prophet’s, peace be upon him, attire and fragrance
took place in Mina just as it had at Dhu al-Hulayfah.
Our Mother ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, says:
"I applied perfume to the Prophet, peace be upon him, with my hands for his ihram,"
"and I applied perfume to him in Mina before he went to perform the ifadah."
Our Mother ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, did not limit herself to these two times;
rather, whenever the Prophet, peace be upon him, intended to visit the House during the days of Mina,
she would apply perfume to him with her own hands, may Allah be pleased with her.
She said: "I applied perfume to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, for his ihram before he entered it,"
"and for his release when he exited it, and when he intended to visit the House."
Part of her keenness in caring for the Prophet’s, peace be upon him, fragrance
was that she, may Allah be pleased with her, would select the finest perfume for him.
Our Mother ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, says:
"I would apply the finest perfume to the Prophet, peace be upon him, at the time of his entering ihram and his release from it."
Musk was among the finest perfumes in their time,
which is why she was keen on using it.
Our Mother ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, says:
"I would apply perfume to the Prophet, peace be upon him, before he entered ihram,"
"and on the Day of Sacrifice before he circumambulated the House,"
"with a perfume containing musk."
This care from our Mother ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her,
was not because the Prophet, peace be upon him, happened to be with her on her designated day;
rather, this care stemmed from ‘Aishah’s eagerness to serve the Prophet, peace be upon him, at all times and in every instance.
This dedication stemmed from the intensity of her love for him, peace be upon him.
It is no wonder, then, when we learn that our Mother ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her,
was the most beloved of his wives to him, peace be upon him.
Evidence that this care was not linked to her designated day
is that her applying perfume to the Prophet, peace be upon him, at Dhu al-Hulayfah was on the night of Sunday,
and her applying perfume to the Prophet, peace be upon him, on the Day of Sacrifice
was on the day of Saturday.
If her day had been Saturday night/Sunday at Dhu al-Hulayfah,
her turn could not have come again until nine days later,
because the Prophet, peace be upon him, had nine wives at that time.
Consequently, her day would have been Monday night/Tuesday, the third day of Eid.
Even clearer than that
is the narration indicating that she would apply perfume to him whenever he intended to visit the House,
and this could not all have occurred on her designated day.
In this, there is a reminder for you, my sister pilgrim:
to care for your husband just as our Mother ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, did with the Prophet, peace be upon him,
during Hajj and outside of Hajj.
Take care of his attire, his fragrance, and everything related to him,
according to your capacity and ability.
Do not use travel and the exhaustion of Hajj as an excuse,
for our Mother ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, did not use that as an excuse.
A woman’s fear of menstruation before the Tawaf al-Ifadah.
The thing a woman fears most regarding menstruation during Hajj
is for it to arrive before the Tawaf al-Ifadah,
as it would delay her from the tawaf and detain her guardian with her.
Therefore, we find women keen to reach the Sacred House quickly for the Tawaf al-Ifadah.
This eagerness sometimes causes menstruation to begin before its time
due to stress or exhaustion.
Therefore, we advise women to remain calm during Hajj
and to avoid rushing, for fear of miscalculating their movements,
which increases their fatigue and causes their cycle to arrive prematurely.
Perhaps this fear of the onset of menstruation
is what drives a woman to pressure her guardian not to spend the night in Muzdalifah,
and to depart from there even before midnight,
in order to perform the Tawaf al-Ifadah.
This is one of the mistakes women make during Hajj.
Hajj is undoubtedly a hardship.
The hardship is greatest on the Day of ‘Arafah and the Day of Sacrifice.
On the Day of ‘Arafah, the pilgrim woman spends her time from the morning
in movement, dhikr, and reading the Qur’an until noon,
then she devotes herself to supplication until sunset,
and then she moves to Muzdalifah.
If she does not stop for a while in Muzdalifah to rest,
and then sets out to complete the rest of the rites,
she exhausts and tires herself,
which may cause the very thing she does not want: the onset of menstruation before its time.
We can provide women with types of service that comfort their bodies
and alleviate the hardship of their Hajj,
but we cannot remove their fear of menstruation occurring before the Tawaf al-Ifadah,
because it is an innate matter.
In fact, this fear spreads to everyone connected to the woman, from her sisters and friends who are with her,
and even to her guardian if he is someone who understands her condition.
This is what happened to the Mothers of the Believers during Hajj.
Our Mother ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, says:
"We were afraid that Safiyyah would menstruate before she performed the ifadah."
The Tawaf of the Mothers of the Believers on the Day of Sacrifice.
After our Mother ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, became pure and cleansed herself from her menstruation,
she set out to the Sacred House to perform the Tawaf al-Ifadah.
This was her first tawaf during the Farewell Pilgrimage.
Our Mother ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, says:
"We went out for his Hajj until we arrived at Mina,"
"then I became pure, so I went out from Mina and performed the ifadah around the House."
Our Mother ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, went out
with all the Mothers of the Believers for the Tawaf al-Ifadah.
Our Mother ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, says:
"We performed Hajj with the Prophet, peace be upon him,"
"and we performed the ifadah on the Day of Sacrifice."
Our Mother ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her,
was very close to the Prophet, peace be upon him,
informing him of her condition and consulting him regarding what she was going through.
Therefore, when she became pure, she informed him,
and he commanded her to circumambulate the House.
Our Mother ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, says:
"When the Day of Sacrifice arrived, I became pure,"
"so the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, commanded me,"
"and I performed the ifadah."
She did not limit herself to circumambulating the House
when she went to Makkah,
but she also performed the tawaf and the sa‘i.
As it came in the hadith of Jabir Ibn ‘Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with them both:
He said: "When she became pure,"
"she performed the tawaf around the Ka‘bah and between al-Safa and al-Marwah."
Her return from the ‘Umrah
and the Prophet’s, peace be upon him, meeting with her.
When ‘Aishah finished performing the rites of the ‘Umrah,
she returned to the place where she had arranged to meet the Prophet, peace be upon him.
‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said:
"The Prophet, peace be upon him, met me,"
"while he was ascending from Makkah,"
"and I was descending from it,"
"or I was ascending and he was descending from it."