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 Khadija died three years before the Prophet (ﷺ) 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.<br>{{Bukhari|5|58|236}}</ref><ref>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).<br>{{Bukhari|7|62|64}}</ref><ref>'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.<br>{{Muslim|8|3310}}</ref><ref>Aisha said, "The Apostle of Allah married me when I was seven years old." (The narrator Sulaiman said: "Or six years.")<br>{{Abudawud||2116|hasan}}</ref><ref>Almost all sources suggest age at consummation as nine, though a few late versions say that it may have been age 10; See: Denise Spellberg (1996), ''Politics, Gender, and the Islamic Past: The Legacy of 'A'isha Bint Abi Bakr'', Columbia University Press, <nowiki>ISBN 978-0231079990</nowiki>, pp. 39–40;</ref> Due to concerns about [[:Category:Child Marriage|child marriage]] this topic is of heavy interest in the [[Apologists|apologetic]] literature and public discourse.
-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 Bakr 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 neighbouring empires at that time, Byzantine law forbade marriage to girls below the age of puberty, which they fixed at thirteen years of age<ref>Sean Anthony, "Muhammad and the Empires of Faith: The making of the Prophet of Islam", Oakland CA: University of California, 2020, p. 115</ref>, while Sasanian law provided that a girl might marry at the age of nine years so long as consummation of the union was delayed until she reached the age of twelve years.<ref>CHILDREN iii. Legal Rights of Children in the Sasanian Period - [https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/children-iii Encyclopedia Iranica online]</ref>
+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 Bakr 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> There are many such reports [[Child_Marriage_in_Islamic_Law#Child_Marriage_and_Muhammad.27s_Companions|regarding Muhammad's companions]]. In the neighbouring empires at that time, Byzantine law forbade marriage to girls below the age of puberty, which they fixed at thirteen years of age<ref>Sean Anthony, "Muhammad and the Empires of Faith: The making of the Prophet of Islam", Oakland CA: University of California, 2020, p. 115</ref>, while Sasanian law provided that a girl might marry at the age of nine years so long as consummation of the union was delayed until she reached the age of twelve years.<ref>CHILDREN iii. Legal Rights of Children in the Sasanian Period - [https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/children-iii Encyclopedia Iranica online]</ref>
 ==Authenticity==
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 {{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)}}
-Aisha's nephew, 'Urwa b. al-Zubayr (d. 94 AH), reportedly wrote a number of histographic letters to the late Umayyad court, which modern historians such as Professor Sean Anthony regard as an important source on early Islamic history. In one of these 'Urwa discusses the marriage of his aunt:
+Aisha's nephew, 'Urwa b. al-Zubayr (d. 94 AH), reportedly wrote a number of histographic letters to the late Umayyad court, which modern historians such as Professor Sean Anthony regard as an important source on early Islamic history. In one of these 'Urwa discusses the marriage of his aunt. This letter was transmitted by his son Hisham, and the contents thereof are apparently corroborated by 'Urwa's student, al-Zuhri (see the discussion in the section on modern academic views below). The letter reads as follows:
 {{Quote|Letter from 'Urwa recorded in volume 9 of al-Tabari's History, quoted in ''Muhammad and the Empires of Faith'' by Sean Anthony<ref>Sean Anthony, Muhammad and the Empires of Faith: The making of the Prophet of Islam, Oakland CA: University of California, 2020, pp. 114-15</ref>|§1. ʿAlī ibn Naṣr related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn ʿAbd al-Wārith related to us, and ʿAbd al-Wārith ibn ʿabd al-Ṣamad also related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: Abān al-ʿAṭṭār related to us, saying: Hishām ibn ʿUrwah related to us from ʿUrwah that he wrote to ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān:<BR />
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 Aside from Hisham b. 'Urwa (d. 146 AH), who was Aisha's great nephew and whose simple narration is the most widely transmitted, Muhammad b. 'Amr (d. 144 AH) is the other reconstructable Medinan common link, though like Hisham, he moved to Iraq and merely seems to append one of Hisham's versions of the hadith to another narration. The other early common links are three Kufans (in Iraq) who died 146-160 AH. Though it is possible that one or more other narrations go back to Aisha herself, this cannot be demonstrated on an ICMA basis.<ref>pp. 397-99 of Dr Little's thesis</ref>
-Little then analyzes in greater depth his reconstructed matns for these common links. Based on shared words, phrases and sequencing, he concludes that they all derive from a single, simple formulation, and are not independently transmitted memories of a common event. This original formulation seems to be the widely transmitted one of Hisham, who also transmitted a few versions with additional details. Hisham attributed all of these to his father 'Urwa b. al-Zubayr (falsely, argues Little, though it is worth mentioning that in his thesis he does not notice that the content of 'Urwa's letter about Aisha reported by Hisham is also narrated by a Syrian partial common link who ascribed it via his uncle to 'Urwa's student, al-Zuhri, who moved from Medina to Syria.<ref>'Urwa wrote a number of letters on early Islamic history to the late Umayyad court. These letters were transmitted by his son Hisham and the traditions therein were often also transmitted by 'Urwa's Medinan student al-Zuhri. 'Urwa's letters are translated in full in Sean Anthony, ''Muhammad and the Empires of Faith: The making of the Prophet of Islam'', Oakland CA: University of California, 2020, Chapter 4. In 2012, the creators of the ICMA method, Andreas Görke, Harald Motzki and Gregor Schoeler, strongly argued that the traditions in the letters attributed to 'Urwa probably do in some way originate with him, especially when they are supported by parallel traditions going back to 'Urwa (Goerke, A, Motzki, H & Schoeler, G (2012) [https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/12692843/First_Century_Sources_for_the_Life_of_Muhammad_a_debate.pdf First-Century Sources for the Life of Muhammad?] A Debate, Der Islam, vol. 89, no. 2, pp. 2-59. https://doi.org/10.1515/islam-2012-0002).<BR />
+Little then analyzes in greater depth his reconstructed matns for these common links. Based on shared words, phrases and sequencing, he concludes that they all derive from a single, simple formulation, and are not independently transmitted memories of a common event. This original formulation seems to be the widely transmitted one of Hisham, who also transmitted a few versions with additional details. Hisham attributed all of these to his father 'Urwa b. al-Zubayr. He did so falsely, argues Little; however, in his thesis he does not notice that the distinctive content of 'Urwa's letter about Aisha reported by Hisham is also narrated by a Syrian partial common link who ascribed it via his own uncle to 'Urwa's student, al-Zuhri, who moved from Medina to Syria. This apparent corroboration is potentially significant, since al-Zuhri's knowledge would most likely have come from 'Urwa, in which case Little's thesis would essentially be wrong<ref>'Urwa wrote a number of letters on early Islamic history to the late Umayyad court. These letters were transmitted by his son Hisham and the traditions therein were often also transmitted by 'Urwa's Medinan student al-Zuhri. 'Urwa's letters are translated in full in Sean Anthony, ''Muhammad and the Empires of Faith: The making of the Prophet of Islam'', Oakland CA: University of California, 2020, Chapter 4. In 2012, the creators of the ICMA method, Andreas Görke, Harald Motzki and Gregor Schoeler, strongly argued that the traditions in the letters attributed to 'Urwa probably do in some way originate with him, especially when they are supported by parallel traditions going back to 'Urwa (Goerke, A, Motzki, H & Schoeler, G (2012) [https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/12692843/First_Century_Sources_for_the_Life_of_Muhammad_a_debate.pdf First-Century Sources for the Life of Muhammad?] A Debate, Der Islam, vol. 89, no. 2, pp. 2-59. https://doi.org/10.1515/islam-2012-0002).<BR />
 One of 'Urwa's letters is a short one about Aisha's marriage. It was reported in a couple of chains through Hisham and is quoted in the Relevant Quotations section above. Little contests a couple of arguments for the general authenticity of 'Urwa's letters but without wider engagement with Goerke et al. He also questions how we can in any case identify which words or elements thereof Hisham accurately transmitted (p. 314).<BR />
-However, Dr Little did not notice that another hadith he discusses which is ascribed to 'Urwa's Medinan student al-Zuhri contains the same core tradition as this letter, especially the distinctive sequence of elements but also much of the same or similar wording, albeit not in the form of a letter. Compare the Arabic provided in the isnad diagrams on his blog, or the transliteration of 'Urwa's reconstructed letter on pp. 310-11 of the thesis with al-Hajjaj b. Abi Mani's reconstructed transmission of the same elemental sequence (pp. 204-5, 370-72; see also 482). Al-Hajjaj who lived in Aleppo, Syria, ascribed it via his uncle to al-Zuhri, who does not himself count as a common link but did move from Medina to Damascus and later Resafa, Syria, where he tutored the Caliph's sons. Part of the letter content and wording also comprise ʾAbū ʾUsāmah Ḥammād's narration from Hisham (pp. 223-4).</ref>). There is some evidence that Hisham did not originally extend the isnad of most of his versions back to Aisha herself, but rather only to his father 'Urwa, Aisha's nephew, and that they were narrated in the 3rd person, not in her own voice.<ref>Ibid. p. 305 including footnote 996</ref> It is even clearer that such isnad "raising" occured for transmissions by others back to Aisha by other routes.
+However, Dr Little did not notice that another hadith he discusses which is ascribed to 'Urwa's Medinan student al-Zuhri contains the same core tradition as this letter, especially the otherwise unique sequence of elements, albeit not in the form of a letter. It is easy to imagine al-Zuhri learning it from 'Urwa directly or from the letter (though the isnad does not go that far back). Indeed, for much of this distinctive sequence they even share the same words and exact phrases, much of which would otherwise be unique to the letter. The content of the dream element is also highly distinctive to them, being very different in other narrations. The close relationship is obvious, as someone illustrated in [[Media:UrwaLetter-alZuhriComparison.png|this image]] which uses Dr Little's own isnad diagrams. See Dr Little's blog for the full diagrams, from which the distinctiveness is readily apparent. Little's transliteration of 'Urwa's reconstructed letter on pp. 310-11 of his thesis can also be compared with his reconstructed transmission from al-Zuhri of the same elemental sequence (through al-Hajjaj b. Abi Mani; pp. 204-5; see also 370-72 and 482).<BR />
+Al-Hajjaj, who lived in Aleppo, Syria, serves as a partial common link for the transmission and ascribed it via his uncle to al-Zuhri, who does not himself count as a common link but did move from Medina to Damascus and later Resafa, Syria, where he tutored the Caliph's sons.<BR />Given the very short chain, compatible geography of the transmitters, and closely matched and often uniquely shared wording and elemental sequence, this evidence cannot be lightly dismissed. The closest examples of similar content to the letter are cobbled together, clearly late, long single chained false ascriptions to Qatada and Ibn Abbas with far less similarity of elemental sequence and wording (these can be seen in the "Other Traditions" isnad diagram on his blog or see pp. 375 and 393 of his thesis).</ref>.
+There is some evidence that Hisham did not originally extend the isnad of most of his versions back to Aisha herself, but rather only to his father 'Urwa, Aisha's nephew, and that they were narrated in the 3rd person, not in her own voice.<ref>Ibid. p. 305 including footnote 996</ref> It is even clearer that such isnad "raising" occured for transmissions by others back to Aisha by other routes.
 Aside from the most widely transmitted version which simply states that Aisha was married to Muhammad at the age of six and their marriage was consummated when she was nine, Little's ICMA confirms that Hisham also narrated an extended simple version adding that he was informed Muhammad and Aisha were together for nine years<ref>Ibid. p. 272</ref> (possibly also another simple version adding that she played with dolls<ref>Ibid. p. 322</ref>). He also narrated a short letter about the marriage from his father 'Urwa - see the discussion about this letter in a previous footnote above.<ref>Ibid. pp. 309 ff.</ref> Finally, he also narrated Aisha's account of the women collecting her while she was playing so she could be prepared for her marital consummation.<ref>See the section of Hisham, pp. 295 ff., especially the reconstructions of Hisham's four versions of the hadith on pp. 302-317</ref> Examples of each of these can be seen in the Relevant Quotations section above.
-Hisham seems to have transmitted the hadith after he moved to Kufah in Iraq. There are a few transmissions ascribed to his Medinan students, though these are each dubious for various reasons (though one is difficult to explain away<ref>Little struggles somewhat to discount Ibn ʾabī al-Zinād's transmission from Hishām as having occurred in Medina (see pp. 426-433). The Medinan, Ibn ʾabī al-Zinād, is a confirmed partial common link from Hishām, and the (generally unreliable) Medinan historian al-Wāqidī is one of those who report it from him. In order to place the transmission as having occured in Iraq, where (if biographical sources are to be trusted) Ibn ʾabī al-Zinād moved from Medina, though to a different Iraqi city than Hishām and did so only after Hishām's death, or at most shortly beforehand, and where al-Wāqidī also moved from Medina but only after Ibn ʾabī al-Zinād's death, Little requires both that al-Waqidi did not transmit directly from Ibn ʾabī al-Zinād and that the latter did not transmit directly from Hishām. Incidentally, al-Wāqidī separately reports a distinct but isolated Medinan narration about Aisha's marriage (pp. 215-6).</ref>). The hadith was most likely unknown in Medina, as it is not mentioned in the biographical works of Ibn Ishaq nor (it seems) Musa b. 'Uqbah, nor does it feature in Maliki legal texts, where Little believes it would be expected to feature had it been circulating in Medina. Some early Kufans are ascribed as transmitting the story to the Kufan common links before Hisham arrived in Iraq, but these isnads are doubtful according to Little because the marital age hadith does not occur in early Kufan legal hadith compilations, nor in early versions of Kufan hadiths narrating the virtues of Aisha. Rather, these Kufan references to Aisha's marriage too seem to have originated with Hisham's formulations.
+Hisham seems to have transmitted the hadith after he moved to Kufah in Iraq. There are a few transmissions ascribed to his Medinan students, though these are each dubious for various reasons (though one is difficult to explain away<ref>Little struggles somewhat to discount Ibn ʾabī al-Zinād's transmission from Hishām as having occurred in Medina (see pp. 426-433). The Medinan, Ibn ʾabī al-Zinād, is a confirmed partial common link from Hishām, and the (generally unreliable) Medinan historian al-Wāqidī is one of those who report it from him. In order to place the transmission as having occured in Iraq, where (if biographical sources are to be trusted) Ibn ʾabī al-Zinād moved from Medina, though to a different Iraqi city than Hishām and did so only after Hishām's death, or at most shortly beforehand, and where al-Wāqidī also moved from Medina but only after Ibn ʾabī al-Zinād's death, Little requires both that al-Waqidi did not transmit directly from Ibn ʾabī al-Zinād and that the latter did not transmit directly from Hishām. Incidentally, al-Wāqidī separately reports a distinct but isolated Medinan narration about Aisha's marriage (pp. 215-6).</ref>). Little argues that the hadith was unknown in Medina, as it is not mentioned in the biographical works of Ibn Ishaq nor (it seems) Musa b. 'Uqbah, nor does it feature in Maliki legal texts, where Little believes it would be expected to feature had it been circulating in Medina. Some early Kufans are ascribed as transmitting the story to the Kufan common links before Hisham arrived in Iraq, but these isnads are doubtful according to Little because the marital age hadith does not occur in early Kufan legal hadith compilations, nor in early versions of Kufan hadiths narrating the virtues of Aisha. Rather, these Kufan references to Aisha's marriage too seem to have originated with Hisham's formulations.
-After concluding that Hisham is responsible for the formulation of the story into the hadith from which all others ultimately derive, Little goes on to argue that Hisham concocted the story entirely, including the extended versions and 'Urwa's letter. Hisham was accused of being an unreliable transmitter after his move to Iraq, and the hadith about his great aunt would have been useful there. Aisha's virginity at the time of her marriage and her status as Muhammad's favourite wife was a basic feature of proto-Sunni polemics against the proto-Shi'i, especially in Kufah where the latter were dominant, and Hisham's hadith must have been very welcome there as it was immediately incorporated into this Kufan proto-Sunni material about the virtues of Aisha.
+After concluding that Hisham is responsible for the formulation of the story into the hadith from which all others ultimately derive, Little goes on to argue that Hisham concocted the story entirely, including the extended versions and 'Urwa's letter. Hisham was accused of being an unreliable transmitter after his move to Iraq, and the story about his great aunt would have been useful there. Aisha's virginity at the time of her marriage and her status as Muhammad's favourite wife was a basic feature of proto-Sunni polemics against the proto-Shi'i, especially in Kufah where the latter were dominant, and Hisham's hadith must have been very welcome there as it was immediately incorporated into this Kufan proto-Sunni material about the virtues of Aisha.
 ===Other considerations===
 A different explanation for the Medinan legal silence on Aisha's age, as well as the hadith's non-use by many later scholars was alluded to by Carolyn Baugh in her 2017 book, ''Minor Marriage in Early Islamic Law''. Maliki law was based largely on Medinan community custom, though sometimes anecdotes about companions were used for making specific points. Contrary to Little, Baugh doubts how useful the Aisha hadith would actually have been for legal purposes.<ref>Baugh writes: "Although it is not impossible that Malik would have accepted the content of the report given early practice, Malik is one of many jurists who did not rely on the text, which does not in fact occur in any of the early books of jurisprudence except for that of al-Shafi'i and, shortly after him, 'Abd al Razzaq's Musannaf. Even later jurists such as Ibn Taymiya and Ibn al-Qayyim shy away from it, although it is used by Ibn Qudama before them. Presuming its authenticity (it occurs in Bukhari and Muslim), questions occur such as, was 'A'isha in fact compelled against her will? Can we assume that Abu Bakr did not consult her? Had she, at age nine, entered her majority or was she still prepubescent?"<BR />Carolyn Baugh, ''Minor Marriage in Early Islamic Law'', Leiden: Brill, 2017, p. 43 footnote 101<BR />Similarly, on p. 62 she elaborates why the legal implications of the hadith are obscure.</ref> Maliki jurists in Medina and Hanafi jurists in Kufah did not seek to prove that a father could contract his virgin minor daughter in marriage, which was taken for granted.<ref>In Chapter 4 she details the proof-texts used by Maliki jurists; see p. 79 regarding Hanafi jurists.</ref> Rather, they discussed a father's right to ''compell'' her without consultation, and whether he still had this right when she was no longer a virgin or minor, whether she had a right to rescind later and so on. Indeed, unlike various reports about companions used by Maliki scholars and highlighted by Baugh, the Aisha hadith does not seem to be of any use for the areas of juristic disagreement or the points which they felt a need to prove (see [[Child Marriage in Islamic Law]]). Shafi'i is the first legal scholar to make use of the Aisha marital age hadith (and more generally pioneered the Quran and sound hadith corpus as the decisive sources of law). He used the Aisha hadith for purposes of proving a father's right to marry off his daughter regardless of her wishes, though he had to read in his own assumptions to do so (see [[Forced Marriage]])<ref>See also the quotes in Dr Little's thesis, pp. 454-5, where Shafi'i can be seen using the hadith in an attempt to prove the right of paternal compulsion.</ref>. Subsequent scholars followed Shafi'i in this usage. However, the Aisha hadith merely states that her marriage was contracted when she was six (or seven), and it does not specify whether she was consulted or forced by her father, nor even whether she had reached puberty at nine.
-Dr Little's case is nevertheless strong that Hisham formulated the Aisha marital age hadith(s) in Iraq and that others derived their versions therefrom. He also provides a plausible motivation for Hisham to have fabricated the story entirely. Nevertheless, others may point to a couple of traditions which do not depend on that hadith and which may support the possibility of a historical kernal. The hadith shown in the Relevant Quotations section above about the incident of the slander (al-Ifk) do not involve Hisham and emphasise that Aisha was then "a girl of young age", though the historicity of this too might be doubted given the polemical considerations around the event.
+Dr Little's case is nevertheless mostly strong that Hisham formulated the wording of the Aisha marital age hadith(s) in Iraq and that others derived their versions therefrom (though a huge question remains due to the corroborating transmission by al-Zuhri of the content of 'Urwa's letter about the marriage, which Little ignored as noted above). He also provides a plausible motivation for Hisham to have fabricated the story entirely. Others may then point to a couple of traditions which do not depend on Hisham and may support the possibility of a historical kernal. The hadith tradition shown in the Relevant Quotations section above about the incident of the slander (al-Ifk) does not involve Hisham and emphasises that Aisha was then "a girl of young age", though the historicity of this too might be doubted given the polemical considerations around the event.
 More significant may be an independent tradition which Little says can provisionally be traced back to the Medinan historian Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri (d. 124 AH). Al-Zuhri's hadith, which must have been transmitted while he was in Medina, states that the Messenger of God married Aisha bint Abu Bakr in Shawwal in the tenth year after the prophethood, three years before the migration, and he arranged the marriage feast in Medina (i.e. for consummation) in Shawwal, at the beginning of eight months after his emigration to Medina. Little speculates that Hisham picked a consummation age of nine and used this report of a three year gap between Aisha's marriage and consummation to derive six or seven as the age of her marriage.<ref>See 1 hour 38 minutes in Dr. Joshua Little's lecture entitled [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zr6mBlEPxW8&t=2s The Hadith of ʿAʾishah's Marital Age: A Study in the Evolution of Early Islamic Historical Memory] - youtube.com, 26 February 2023<BR />For detailed discussion see pp. 373-74, 378-82, 460-61 of Dr Little's thesis.</ref> Others may notice another significance to this apparently earlier al-Zuhri tradition. The three year gap between marriage and consummation mentioned therein, without any obvious polemical function (no age is mentioned), probably and independently implies that Aisha was a child at the time.
 ===Wider implications===
 While Little's ICMA "reveals a vast amount of accretion, error, contamination, interpolation, borrowing, and false ascription", the "overwhelming majority of the putative [partial common links] and [common links] within the marital-age hadith turned out to be genuine sources whose distinctive redactions were identifiable and (to some degree) reconstructable. Such positive results only held as far back as the middle of the 8th Century CE, however: from thereon backwards, the evidence was either insufficient or outright inconsistent with genuine, early transmission."<ref>pp. 400-401 of Dr Little's thesis</ref>
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 {{Quote|<ref name="Haddad" />|Al-Zuhri also reports it from `Urwa, from `A'isha; so does `Abd Allah ibn Dhakwan, both major Madanis. So is the Tabi`i Yahya al-Lakhmi who reports it from her in the Musnad and in Ibn Sa`d's Tabaqat. So is Abu Ishaq Sa`d ibn Ibrahim who reports it from Imam al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, one of the Seven Imams of Madina, from `A'isha. All the narratives of this event have been reported. In addition to the above four Madinese Tabi`in narrators, Sufyan ibn `Uyayna from Khurasan and `Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya from Tabarayya in Palestine both report it.}}
-However, as discussed above, in the case of this objection revisionists have strong backing from modern academic scholarship, which indicates that the early Medinan transmissions of the hadiths specifying Aisha's marital age have fabricated isnads and that they were in fact first circulated by Hisham after he moved to Iraq, from where it spread to other regions. On the other hand, one of the letters that Hisham reports his father ('Urwa b. al-Zubayr, Aisha's nephew) sent to the late Umayyad court, in which he mentioned Aisha's age at marriage and consummation, may also have been known to 'Urwa's student al-Zuhri. In addition, a tradition about a three year gap between Aisha's marriage and consummation seems to have been narrated by al-Zuhri when he was still in Medina. For details see the section discussing academic views above.
+However, as discussed above, in the case of this objection revisionists have backing from modern academic scholarship, which indicates that the early Medinan transmissions of the hadiths specifying Aisha's marital age have fabricated isnads and that they were in fact first circulated by Hisham after he moved to Iraq, from where it spread to other regions. On the other hand, one of the letters that Hisham reports was sent to the late Umayyad court by his father ('Urwa b. al-Zubayr, Aisha's nephew), in which he mentioned Aisha's age at marriage and consummation, seems to have also been known to 'Urwa's student al-Zuhri. In addition, a tradition about a three year gap between Aisha's marriage and consummation seems to have been narrated by al-Zuhri when he was still in Medina. For details see the section discussing academic views above.
 ===Revelation time of surah al-Qamar===
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 ===Shorter life expectancy===
-Some argue that life expectancy a millenium ago was considerably lower than today, so there was an imperative to start a family at a young age. Critics note that such claims are often exaggerated for these purposes by including infant mortality in the calculation of average lifespans. A study of skeletal remains from the Mexican city of Cholula showed that between 900 to 1500 CE, most people who made it to adulthood went on to live beyond the age of fifty. Another study showed that in medieval England those who reached the age of 25 had an average life expectancy of another 25 years.<ref> Sharon DeWitte [https://www.sc.edu/uofsc/posts/2022/08/conversation-old-age-is-not-a-modern-phenomenon.php Old age isn’t a modern phenomenon – many people lived long enough to grow old in the olden days, too] - University of South Carolina website, 10 August 2022</ref> Both Muhammad and Aisha died in their sixties. Furthermore, critics point out that the risk of maternal and infant mortality was relatively high among girls enduring pregnancy in early adolesence (traditionally, Muhammad commenced intercourse with Aisha when she was nine), while in other cases permanent reproductive damage can be done. Aisha did not bear Muhammad any children.
+Some argue that life expectancy a millenium ago was considerably lower than today, so there was an imperative to start a family at a young age. Critics note that such claims are often exaggerated for these purposes by including infant mortality in the calculation of average lifespans. A study of skeletal remains from the Mexican city of Cholula showed that between 900 to 1500 CE, most people who made it to adulthood went on to live beyond the age of fifty. Another study showed that in medieval England those who reached the age of 25 had an average life expectancy of another 25 years.<ref> Sharon DeWitte [https://www.sc.edu/uofsc/posts/2022/08/conversation-old-age-is-not-a-modern-phenomenon.php Old age isn’t a modern phenomenon – many people lived long enough to grow old in the olden days, too] - University of South Carolina website, 10 August 2022</ref> Both Muhammad and Aisha died in their sixties. Furthermore, critics point out that the risk of maternal and infant mortality was relatively high among girls enduring pregnancy in early adolesence (traditionally, Muhammad commenced intercourse with Aisha when she was nine), which itself would reduce life expectancy, while in other cases permanent reproductive damage can be done. On that point, it may be noted that Aisha did not bear Muhammad any children.
 ===Earlier puberty and menarchy in the past===