Safwan ibn al-Mu'attal

The Rear-Guard of the Army

Safwan ibn al-Mu’attal, of Banu Sulaym, was appointed to follow at the rear of the army, to pick up anything dropped along the march. On the return from the campaign against Banu al-Mustaliq, Aisha stepped away to retrieve a lost necklace and was left behind when her howdah was carried on without her. Coming up from the rear, Safwan — who had known her before the verse of the veil — recognised her, said only “Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un,” made his camel kneel, and led it on foot until they rejoined the army, speaking no other word. 1 Seerat-e-Mustafa · Vol 1 · pp. 354–356 — Idris Kandhlawi — Safwan finds Aisha left behind and brings her back in silence.

The Slander Refuted

His arrival with Aisha gave the hypocrites, led by Abdullah ibn Ubayy, the pretext for the slander (al-Ifk) against her honour — a calumny Allah Himself refuted from above the seven heavens in the verses of Surah an-Nur, clearing both Aisha and Safwan. 2 History of Islam · Vol 1 · pp. 188 — Najeebabadi — Safwan the rear-guard in the account of the slander, which Allah refuted in the Qur'an. He later fell in the campaigns and died in Armenia.