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Ages of Muhammads Wives at Marriage: Difference between revisions
Ages of Muhammads Wives at Marriage (view source)
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===Khadijah's Age=== | ===Khadijah's Age=== | ||
The discussion about | The discussion about [[Khadijah]]’s age does not arouse the type of anger, defensiveness and imaginative apologetics that surrounds the discussion of Aisha’s age. Nobody denies that Khadijah married Muhammad as a very willing adult. Nevertheless, the traditional view of her age is probably wrong. | ||
{{Quote|Bewley/Saad 8:11; {{Tabari|39|p. 41}}.|Hakim ibn Hizam said, “The Messenger of Allah married Khadijah when she was 40 and the Messenger of Allah was 25. Khadijah was two years older than me. She was born 15 years before the Elephant and I was born 13 years before the Elephant.”}} | {{Quote|Bewley/Saad 8:11; {{Tabari|39|p. 41}}.|Hakim ibn Hizam said, “The Messenger of Allah married Khadijah when she was 40 and the Messenger of Allah was 25. Khadijah was two years older than me. She was born 15 years before the Elephant and I was born 13 years before the Elephant.”}} | ||
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{{Quote|Bewley/Saad 8:12; {{Tabari|39|p. 161}}.|Hakim ibn Hizam said, “Khadijah bint Khuwaylid died in the month of Ramadan in the tenth year of prophethood. She was 65 then.”}} | {{Quote|Bewley/Saad 8:12; {{Tabari|39|p. 161}}.|Hakim ibn Hizam said, “Khadijah bint Khuwaylid died in the month of Ramadan in the tenth year of prophethood. She was 65 then.”}} | ||
The year “65 years before the tenth year of prophethood” ran between 27 July 556 and 15 July 557, which was 15 years before the | The year “65 years before the tenth year of prophethood” ran between 27 July 556 and 15 July 557, which was 15 years before the Year of the Elephant, so this is internally consistent. | ||
Hakim was Khadijah’s nephew.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 160</ref> Since children generally know the ages of their playmates, it is assumed that Hakim would have known the age of an aunt who was only two years older than himself. That is why his statement that she married Muhammad when she was 40 is usually accepted as true. However, there are problems with Hakim’s assertion. | Hakim was Khadijah’s nephew.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 160</ref> Since children generally know the ages of their playmates, it is assumed that Hakim would have known the age of an aunt who was only two years older than himself. That is why his statement that she married Muhammad when she was 40 is usually accepted as true. However, there are problems with Hakim’s assertion. | ||
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====Hakim ibn Hizam==== | ====Hakim ibn Hizam==== | ||
The first problem is that Hakim claimed his own age to be 120.<ref>{{Muslim|10|3662}}; {{Tabari|39|p. 106}}.</ref> This is intrinsically questionable. To bolster his story, Hakim claimed to remember the episode when Abdulmuttalib ibn Hashim vowed to sacrifice his son Abdullah to the god Hubal but was able to ransom him for 100 camels. He says this was about five years before Muhammad was born.<ref>{{Tabari|39|pp. 41, 106}}.</ref> But Hakim’s ability to | The first problem is that Hakim claimed his own age to be 120.<ref>{{Muslim|10|3662}}; {{Tabari|39|p. 106}}.</ref> This is intrinsically questionable. To bolster his story, Hakim claimed to remember the episode when Abdulmuttalib ibn Hashim vowed to sacrifice his son Abdullah to the god Hubal but was able to ransom him for 100 camels. He says this was about five years before Muhammad was born.<ref>{{Tabari|39|pp. 41, 106}}.</ref> But Hakim’s ability to recite details that were already common knowledge does not prove he was an eyewitness to the event: he might well have heard the story from his parents. | ||
Hakim’s remarks about Khadijah’s age might have served a similar function of supporting his personal boasts rather than relaying accurate history. If he had long ago mentioned that Khadijah was two years older than himself, he might have needed to stick to his story about her relative age and readjust her chronological age in order to keep it consistent with his claims about his own age. There is something suspicious about his remark here. | Hakim’s remarks about Khadijah’s age might have served a similar function of supporting his personal boasts rather than relaying accurate history. If he had long ago mentioned that Khadijah was two years older than himself, he might have needed to stick to his story about her relative age and readjust her chronological age in order to keep it consistent with his claims about his own age. There is something suspicious about his remark here. | ||
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{{Quote|Bewley/Saad 8:9|We asked Hakim ibn Hizam which of them was older, the Messenger of Allah or Khadijah? He said, “Khadijah was 15 years older than him. The prayer was unlawful for my aunt before the Messenger of Allah was born.” Hakim’s statement, “The prayer was unlawful for her,” means she menstruated, but he is speaking as the people of Islam speak.}} | {{Quote|Bewley/Saad 8:9|We asked Hakim ibn Hizam which of them was older, the Messenger of Allah or Khadijah? He said, “Khadijah was 15 years older than him. The prayer was unlawful for my aunt before the Messenger of Allah was born.” Hakim’s statement, “The prayer was unlawful for her,” means she menstruated, but he is speaking as the people of Islam speak.}} | ||
The reporter is emphasising that Hakim was only using a figure of speech to indicate Khadijah’s age and did not literally mean that she followed Islamic prayer rituals before Muhammad was even born. However, this kind of careless anachronism is exactly what we would expect from a person who is not ''remembering'' an event but ''inventing'' it from his imagination. Crudely, it is the way liars speak. | The reporter is emphasising that Hakim was only using a figure of speech to indicate Khadijah’s age and did not literally mean that she followed Islamic [[prayers|prayer]] rituals before Muhammad was even born. However, this kind of careless anachronism is exactly what we would expect from a person who is not ''remembering'' an event but ''inventing'' it from his imagination. Crudely, it is the way liars speak. | ||
It is not impossible for a human to live 120 years but it is an exception to the general rule. So it is surprising how many early Muslims claimed to have reached this great age. Yahya ibn Mandah even wrote a book entitled ''Those of the Companions who Lived 120 Years'', in which he lists fourteen 120-year-old Muslims.<ref>Yahya ibn Mandah. ''Juz f̀ihi man 'asha miattan wa-'ishrina sanatan min al-Sahabah''.</ref> Hakim ibn Hizam is one of them. Another is Huwaytib ibn Abduluzza. | It is not impossible for a human to live 120 years but it is an exception to the general rule. So it is surprising how many early Muslims claimed to have reached this great age. Yahya ibn Mandah even wrote a book entitled ''Those of the Companions who Lived 120 Years'', in which he lists fourteen 120-year-old Muslims.<ref>Yahya ibn Mandah. ''Juz f̀ihi man 'asha miattan wa-'ishrina sanatan min al-Sahabah''.</ref> Hakim ibn Hizam is one of them. Another is Huwaytib ibn Abduluzza. | ||
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{{Quote|{{Tabari|39|p. 43}}.|Huwaytib ibn Abduluzza lived 120 years, 60 of them in the ''Jahiliya'' and 60 in Islam.}} | {{Quote|{{Tabari|39|p. 43}}.|Huwaytib ibn Abduluzza lived 120 years, 60 of them in the ''Jahiliya'' and 60 in Islam.}} | ||
Huwaytib died in the year 54 AH (673-674)<ref>{{Tabari|39|p. 40}}.</ref> so he should have converted to Islam in the year 7 BH (615–616). The problem is, he openly admits that he did not convert until the conquest of Mecca in 8 AH (January 630) | Huwaytib died in the year 54 AH (673-674)<ref>{{Tabari|39|p. 40}}.</ref> so he should have converted to Islam in the year 7 BH (615–616). The problem is, he openly admits that he did not convert until the conquest of Mecca in 8 AH (January 630). He gives a long list of excuses for the delay in his conversion<ref>{{Tabari|39|pp. 43-46}}.</ref> but he never checks his arithmetic. If he became a Muslim in 8 AH, this was only 46 years before his death and not 60. This makes his age at death no more than 106. Of course, even this age assumes that he really was as old as 60 at the time of his conversion, which we now have licence to doubt. Huwaytib ibn Abduluzza lived to be elderly, but he was probably not entitled to his chapter in Yahya ibn Mandah’s book. | ||
Muhammad’s poet, Hassan ibn Thabit, also claimed to be 120 years old. He said he was 60 at the time of the ''Hijra'' and that he lived another 60 years afterwards.<ref>{{Tabari|39|p. 72}}.</ref> This means he should have been born in 60 BH (seven years before Muhammad) and should have died in 61 AH (680-681). Tabari vaguely states that he died “in the caliphate of Muawiya,”<ref>{{Tabari|39|p. 72}}</ref> which was between 40 and 60 AH (February 661 - April 680). Modern historians usually give his death-date as 54 AH, which is seven years too early.<ref>[http://archive.org/details/diwanofhassantha00hassuoft/ ''The Diwan of Hassan ibn Thabit''.]</ref> | Muhammad’s poet, Hassan ibn Thabit, also claimed to be 120 years old. He said he was 60 at the time of the ''Hijra'' and that he lived another 60 years afterwards.<ref>{{Tabari|39|p. 72}}.</ref> This means he should have been born in 60 BH (seven years before Muhammad) and should have died in 61 AH (680-681). Tabari vaguely states that he died “in the caliphate of Muawiya,”<ref>{{Tabari|39|p. 72}}</ref> which was between 40 and 60 AH (February 661 - April 680). Modern historians usually give his death-date as 54 AH, which is seven years too early.<ref>[http://archive.org/details/diwanofhassantha00hassuoft/ ''The Diwan of Hassan ibn Thabit''.]</ref> | ||
Not included in Yahya ibn Mandah’s book is the poet Abu Afak, who was said to be 120 years old in 624 when he was assassinated for criticising Muhammad.<ref>Ibn Saad, ''Tabaqat'' vol. 2 p. 31.</ref> Of course, no records have survived from pre-Islamic Medina; it was only hearsay that attributed this great age to Abu Afak. Yet even his enemies were willing to go along with the hearsay. | Not included in Yahya ibn Mandah’s book is the poet Abu Afak, who was said to be 120 years old in 624 when he was [[List of Killings Ordered or Supported by Muhammad|assassinated for criticising Muhammad]].<ref>Ibn Saad, ''Tabaqat'' vol. 2 p. 31.</ref> Of course, no records have survived from pre-Islamic Medina; it was only hearsay that attributed this great age to Abu Afak. Yet even his enemies were willing to go along with the hearsay. | ||
Is it really plausible that so many persons (all of them male) lived to be 120? Assuming it is not, is it even fair to accuse them of lying about their ages? More likely, there was some culturally understood convention attached to the number 120. People who boasted that, “I was already 60 before Event X and I have survived another 60 years since,” did not expect to be taken literally. They were simply saying, “I’m really, really old.” | Is it really plausible that so many persons (all of them male) lived to be 120? Assuming it is not, is it even fair to accuse them of lying about their ages? More likely, there was some culturally understood convention attached to the number 120. People who boasted that, “I was already 60 before Event X and I have survived another 60 years since,” did not expect to be taken literally. They were simply saying, “I’m really, really old.” | ||
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The third problem with Khadijah’s age is the common-sense consideration that she bore Muhammad six children over a period of ten years.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 83. Bewley/Saad 8:10.</ref> If she married him at 40, she was 50 by the time she gave birth to Fatima in 605.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:13.</ref> While this is not completely impossible, it is a sufficiently unusual achievement to cause us to pause and question the assertion. | The third problem with Khadijah’s age is the common-sense consideration that she bore Muhammad six children over a period of ten years.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 83. Bewley/Saad 8:10.</ref> If she married him at 40, she was 50 by the time she gave birth to Fatima in 605.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:13.</ref> While this is not completely impossible, it is a sufficiently unusual achievement to cause us to pause and question the assertion. | ||
Muhammad’s detractors in Mecca asked him why he did not perform any miracles.<ref>{{Quran|2|118}}. {{Quran|2|145}}. {{Quran|6|37}}. {{Quran|6|109}}. {{Quran|10|20}}. {{Quran|13|7}}. {{Quran|17|59}}. Guillaume/Ishaq 133ff. {{Bukhari|9|92|379}}.</ref> | Muhammad’s detractors in Mecca asked him why he did not perform any miracles.<ref>{{Quran|2|118}}. {{Quran|2|145}}. {{Quran|6|37}}. {{Quran|6|109}}. {{Quran|10|20}}. {{Quran|13|7}}. {{Quran|17|59}}. Guillaume/Ishaq 133ff. {{Bukhari|9|92|379}}.</ref> The only response available to him was, “The Qur’an is my miracle,”<ref>{{Quran|24|1}}. {{Quran-range|98|1|4}}.</ref> but it is clear that he was not happy about this response. He subsequently claimed to have [[Moon Split Miracle|split the moon]] and to have travelled to Jerusalem and back [[The Holy Qur'an: Al-Isra (The Night Journey)|in one night]]. Later tales, omitted from the earliest histories, claimed that he had multiplied food like [[Jesus]] Christ,<ref>[http://www.soebratie.nl/religie/hadith/IbnSad.html#Book 42.35/ Ibn Saad, ''Tabaqat'' 1:42:35-36]; Matthew 14:13-21.</ref> transfigured wood into iron, reminiscent of Elisha’s retrieval of the borrowed axe-head,<ref>[http://www.soebratie.nl/religie/hadith/IbnSad.html#Book 42.38/ Ibn Saad, ''Tabaqat'' 1:42:38]; II Kings 6:5-7.</ref> or cursed his enemy’s camel to sink in the sand.<ref>[http://www.soebratie.nl/religie/hadith/IbnSad.html#Book 42.40/ Ibn Saad, ''Tabaqat'' 1:42:40].</ref> Yet in the hostile atmosphere of Mecca, where a miracle was desperately desired to reinforce Muhammad’s credibility, he never pointed to his wife’s extraordinary fecundity. He never called it a blessing similar to Sarah’s gestation of Isaac<ref>Genesis 17:15-21, 21:1-7.</ref> or Elizabeth’s of John the Baptist.<ref>Luke 1:5-25, 57-80.</ref> In fact nobody expressed even mild surprise that a woman of Khadijah’s age had produced so many children. | ||
Perhaps that was because Khadijah’s fertility was a commonplace for a woman of her age. Perhaps she was still in her thirties when she bore Muhammad’s children. Perhaps, when Fatima was weaned in 607,<ref>{{Tabari|39|166}}; see {{Quran|2|233}} and Guillaume/Ishaq 71 for two years as the customary duration of nursing.</ref> Khadijah was still a few months short of forty – and that was why her childbearing ceased. | Perhaps that was because Khadijah’s fertility was a commonplace for a woman of her age. Perhaps she was still in her thirties when she bore Muhammad’s children. Perhaps, when Fatima was weaned in 607,<ref>{{Tabari|39|166}}; see {{Quran|2|233}} and Guillaume/Ishaq 71 for two years as the customary duration of nursing.</ref> Khadijah was still a few months short of forty – and that was why her childbearing ceased. | ||
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====Conclusion==== | ====Conclusion==== | ||
If Khadijah was only two to three years older than Muhammad, this makes sense of a great deal. It explains how she was able to use her sex appeal was well as her money to attract him | If Khadijah was only two to three years older than Muhammad, this makes sense of a great deal. It explains how she was able to use her sex appeal was well as her money to attract him. It explains how she was able to produce six children in ten years and why she then stopped childbearing. It explains why Muhammad remained attracted to Khadijah for so long when, in later life, he was to reject older women.<ref>See Bewley/Saad 8:40, 111, 113; {{Tabari|9|pp. 139, 140}}.</ref> It explains why, after twenty years of marriage, he began thinking about younger women,<ref>[http://www.answering-islam.org/Books/Muir/Life2/chap4.htm/ Muir (1861) 2:141-144]. See also [http://www.muhammadanism.org/Canon_Sell/Quran/p024.htm/ Sell, E. (1923). ''The Historical Development of the Qur'an'', 4th Ed, pp. 25-26. London: People International.]</ref> for Khadijah would have been at that time menopausal and ''first'' losing her looks. | ||
{{Quote|Mughaltay, ''Al-Zahr al-Basim fi Sirat Abi’l-Qasim'', cited in Kister, M. J. (1993). The Sons of Khadijah. ''Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam, 16'', 59-95.|The Prophet returned with Maysara from Syria on the 14th night from the end of Dhu’l-Hijja in the 25th year from the Day of the Elephant [3 May 595] … The Prophet married Khadijah two months and 15 days after his return from Syria, at the end of Safar in the 26th year.}} | {{Quote|Mughaltay, ''Al-Zahr al-Basim fi Sirat Abi’l-Qasim'', cited in Kister, M. J. (1993). The Sons of Khadijah. ''Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam, 16'', 59-95.|The Prophet returned with Maysara from Syria on the 14th night from the end of Dhu’l-Hijja in the 25th year from the Day of the Elephant [3 May 595] … The Prophet married Khadijah two months and 15 days after his return from Syria, at the end of Safar in the 26th year.}} | ||
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If Khadijah was 28 at that time, she was born in the year between March 568 and March 569, some dozen years later than Hakim ibn Hizam claimed. Her age in solar years could have been anywhere between 26 years 4 months and 27 years 4 months. All we can do is take the median and accept it as an approximation. | If Khadijah was 28 at that time, she was born in the year between March 568 and March 569, some dozen years later than Hakim ibn Hizam claimed. Her age in solar years could have been anywhere between 26 years 4 months and 27 years 4 months. All we can do is take the median and accept it as an approximation. | ||
*''Khadijah’s Median Age = 26 years and 10 months.'' | |||
*''Muhammad’s Age = 24 years and 3 months.'' | |||
*''Age Difference = (minus) 2 years and 7 months.'' | |||
Far from being a “much older” woman, it appears that Khadijah was the only one of Muhammad’s wives who might fairly be deemed the same age as himself. | Far from being a “much older” woman, it appears that Khadijah was the only one of Muhammad’s wives who might fairly be deemed the same age as himself. | ||