24.11 – Surely those who brought the lie are a group of you

The passage starting with this verse (vv. 11–20) is a good example of a unit of text that means very little on its own but that Muslim tradition has connected to a story. The passage is full of pronouns that have no antecedent; therefore, it is impossible to know who “you” and “those” are.

The Muslim story of Islamic origins linked this passage to an episode in which ‘Ā’isha, the young wife of Muhammad, gets separated from the main group of Muslims on the way back from a military campaign. The “slander” is the accusation that while she is away from the main group, ‘Ā’isha is unfaithful with a young soldier who brings her back (Sīra, 494–97).