Ayesha related to him the account of the slander, and in it she said, "When Abu Ayub Ansari's wife told him about it, she said, 'Abu Ayub, have you not heard what people are saying?'He asked, "What are they saying?"So she told him what the slanderers were claiming, and he said, "It is not for us to speak of this. Glory be to You! This is a monstrous slander."Ayesha said, "So Allah revealed, 'And why, when you heard it, did you not say, It is not for us to speak of this. Glory be to You! This is a monstrous slander'" [Nur 24:16].
أن عائشة حدثته بحديث الافك، وقالت فيه: وكان أبو أيوب الأنصاري حين أخبرته امرأته، وقالت: يا أبا أيوب! ألم تسمع بما تحدث الناس؟ قال: وما يتحدثون؟ فأخبرته بقول أهل الإفك، فقال: ما يكون لنا أن نتكلم بهذا، سبحانك هذا بهتان عظيم، قالت: فأنزل الله عز وجل: {ولولا إذ سمعتموه قلتم ما يكون لنا أن نتكلم بهذا سبحنك هذا بهتن عظيم}
No references are available.
Wahidi narrated it in Asbab Nuzul (p. 335) from Abu Abdul-Rahman bin Abu Hamid Adl, who said, Abu Bakr bin Zakariya informed us, who said, Muhammad bin Abdul-Rahman Daghouli informed us, who said, Abu Bakr bin Abu Khaythama informed us, who said, Haytham bin Kharija informed us, who said, Abdullah bin Abdul-Rahman bin Yazid bin Jabir told us, I heard Ata Khurasani, from Zuhri, from Urwa, and he mentioned it.Its chain of transmission is hasan because of Ata Khurasani, for his hadith is hasan. He was criticized for his frequent use of the formula "an" without direct contact, and Ibn Main, Ibn Hibban, and others have stated that he never met any of the companions. As for his being described as practicing tadlis, as Ibn Hajar said in Taqrib, I have not found any of the earlier scholars who said this, and it may be that describing him with tadlis actually means the same thing as his transmitting without direct contact.