Aisha's Age: Difference between revisions

Marriage at a young age was not unheard of in Arabia at the time, and Aisha's marriage to Muhammad may have had a political connotation, as her father Abu Baker was an influential man in the community.<ref>Afsaruddin, Asma (2014). "ʿĀʾisha bt. Abī Bakr". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett. ''[http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/browse/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2 Encyclopaedia of Islam]'' (3 ed.). Brill Online. Retrieved 2015-01-11</ref> Abu Bakr, on his part, may have sought to further the bond of kinship between Muhammad and himself by joining their families together in marriage via Aisha. Egyptian-American Islamic scholar, Leila Ahmed, notes that Aisha's betrothal and marriage to Muhammad are presented as ordinary in Islamic literature, and may indicate that it was not unusual for children to be married to their elders in that era.<ref>Ahmed, Leila (1992). ''Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate''. Yale University Press. p. 51-54. <nowiki>ISBN 978-0300055832</nowiki>.</ref>

In the Quran the mention of marrying those who have not yet reached menstruation can be read in Chapter 65 "Al Talaq" verse 4.<ref>And those who no longer expect menstruation among your women - if you doubt, then their period is three months, and [also for] those who have not menstruated. And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth. And whoever fears Allah - He will make for him of his matter ease.

In the modern era, Aisha's age at marriage ha"s been a source of controversy and debate. Some Muslims have attempted to revise the previously-accepted timeline of her life.<ref name=":3">Ali, Kecia. ''Sexual Ethics and Islam: Feminist Reflections on Qur'an, Hadith and Jurisprudence''. OneWorld. p. 173-186. <nowiki>ISBN 978-1780743813</nowiki>.</ref> All biographical information on Muhammad and his companions was first recorded over a century after his death,<ref>Kadri, Sadakat (2012). ''Heaven on Earth''. Farrar, Straus, Giroux. p. 30.</ref> but the hadith and [[scripture]] provide records of early Islam through an unbroken chain of witnesses. Various hadiths stating that Aisha was either nine or ten at the time of her consummation come from collections with sahih status, meaning they are regarded as reputable by the majority of Muslims.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Some other traditional sources also mention Aisha's age. The ''sira'' of [[Ibn Ishaq]] edited by Ibn Hisham states that she was nine or ten years old at the consummation. The historian al-Tabari also states that she was nine.<ref name=":2" />

[[File:Child Marriage.jpg|thumb|Child bride with her infant daughter]]

No age limits have been fixed by Islam for marriage according to, Persian Professor at the University of Cambridge, Reuben Levy, and "quite young children may be legally married".<ref name=":5">Levy p.106</ref> The girl may not live with the husband however until she is fit for marital sexual relations.<ref name=":5" /> The [[Jurisprudence|Hanafi]] school of jurisprudence of Islamic ''fiqh'' maintains that a wife must not be taken to her husband's house until she reaches the condition of fitness for sexual relations.  

[http://askimam.org/ ''www.askimam.org''.]</ref> In comparison, ''baligh'' or ''balaghat'' concerns the reaching of sexual maturity which becomes manifest by the menses. The age related to these two concepts can, but need not necessarily, coincide. Only after a separate condition called ''rushd'', or intellectual maturity to handle one's own property, is reached can a girl receive her bridewealth.

{{Quote|1=[https://quranx.com/65.4 Quran 65:4]|2=And those who no longer expect menstruation among your women - if you doubt, then their period is three months, and [also for] those who have not menstruated. And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth. And whoever fears Allah - He will make for him of his matter ease.}}{{Quote|{{Bukhari|5|58|236}}|Narrated Hisham's father: Khadija died three years before the Prophet departed to Medina. He stayed there for two years or so and then '''he married 'Aisha when she was a girl of six years of age, and he consumed that marriage when she was nine years old.'''}}{{Quote|{{Bukhari|7|62|64}}|Narrated 'Aisha: that '''the Prophet married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old,''' and then she remained with him for nine years (i.e., till his death).}}{{Quote|{{Bukhari|8|73|151}}|Narrated 'Aisha: '''I used to play with the dolls in the presence of the Prophet, and my girl friends also used to play with me.''' When Allah's Apostle used to enter (my dwelling place) they used to hide themselves, but the Prophet would call them to join and play with me. '''(The playing with the dolls and similar images is forbidden, but it was allowed for 'Aisha at that time, as she was a little girl, not yet reached the age of puberty.)''' (Fateh-al-Bari page 143, Vol.13)}}{{Quote|{{Muslim|8|3310}}|'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported: '''Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) married me when I was six years old, and I was admitted to his house when I was nine years old.'''}}{{Quote|{{Muslim|8|3311}}|'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported that '''Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) married her when she was seven years old, and he was taken to his house as a bride when she was nine, ''and her dolls were with her;''''' and when he (the Holy Prophet) died she was eighteen years old.}}{{Quote|{{Abu Dawud||2116|hasan}}|Aisha said, '''"The Apostle of Allah married me when I was seven years old." (The narrator Sulaiman said: "Or six years."). "He had intercourse with me when I was 9 years old.'''}}{{Quote|{{Tabari|7|pp. 6-7}}|According to Abd al-Hamid b. Bayan al-Sukkari - Muhammad b. Yazid - Ismai'il (that is Ibn Abi Khalid) - Abd al-Rahman b. Abi al- Dahhak - a man from Quraysh - Abd al-Rahman b. Muhammad: "Abd Allah b. Safwan together with another person came to Aishah and Aishah said (to the latter), "O so and so, have you heard what Hafsah has been saying?" He said, "Yes, o Mother of the Faithful." Abd Allah b. Safwan asked her, "What is that?" She replied, "There are nine special features in me that have not been in any woman, except for what God bestowed on Maryam bt. Imran. By God, I do not say this to exalt myself over any of my companions." "What are these?" he asked. She replied, "The angel brought down my likeness; '''the Messenger of God married me when I was seven; my marriage was consummated when I was nine; he married me when I was a virgin,'''no other man having shared me with him; inspiration came to him when he and I were in a single blanket; I was one of the dearest people to him, a verse of the Qur’an was revealed concerning me when the community was almost destroyed; I saw Gabriel when none of his other wives saw him; and he was taken (that is, died) in his house when there was nobody with him but the angel and myself."<BR>According to Abu Ja‘far (Al-Tabari): The Messenger of God married her, so it is said, in Shawwal, and consummated his marriage to her in a later year, also in Shawwal.}}

In July 2005, Shaykh [[Dr.]] Gibril Fouad Haddad, responded to Moiz Amjad's polemics with, "Our Mother A'isha's Age At The Time Of Her Marriage to The Prophet."<ref name=":4">Shaykh Gibril F Haddad - [http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=7&ID=4604&CATE=1 <!-- Backup links: [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fqa.sunnipath.com%2Fissue_view.asp%3FHD%3D7%26ID%3D4604%26CATE%3D1&date=2011-05-05] [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.sunniforum.com/forum/showthread.php?2925-Our-Mother-Aisha-s-Age-at-the-Time-of-Her-Marriage-to-the-Prophet-saw|2=2011-05-04}} ]-->Our Mother A'isha's Age At The Time Of Her Marriage to The Prophet] - Sunni Path, Question ID:4604, July 3, 2005</ref> Including many facts that are easily verifiable for those who have access to the hadith and sira literature. For example, his analysis highlighted the fact that many of the arguments were based solely on faulty assumptions taken from hadiths completely unrelated to Aisha's age, or were misrepresenting the sources that were being cited (i.e. hadiths actually in support the idea that Aisha was 9). His reply has not yet been answered by Moiz Amjad.  

==Apologetic Arguments==

Some Muslim authors have attempted to calculate Aisha's age based on details found in some biographies, eschewing the traditionally-accepted ahadith, though Kecia Ali labels these attempts as "revisionist".<ref name=":3" /> One [[Sahih#Da'if|da'if]] (weak) hadith recorded in the works of some medieval scholars, including al-Dhahabi,<ref>al-Dhahabi. "Siyar a`lam al-nubala'". IslamWeb. Retrieved 3 September 2018. <q>قال عبد الرحمن بن أبي الزناد : كانت أسماء أكبر من عائشة بعشر" (Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi al-Zunad said: Asma was older than Aisha by ten years.)</q></ref> states that Aisha's older sister Asma was ten years older than her. This has been combined with information about Asma's age at the time of her death and used to suggest that Aisha was over thirteen at the time of her marriage.  

==See Also==

{{Template:Translation-links-english|[[Aišin věk konzumace|Czech]]}}

==External Links==

*[http://www.sunnipath.com/about/shaykhgibrilhaddad.aspx Shaykh Gibril Haddad] ''- Biography of Shaykh Gibril Fouad Haddad at SunniPath, The online Islamic Academy''

==Acknowledgments==