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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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{{Quote|Bewley/Saad 8:61.|The Messenger of Allah married her at the end of the month of Shawwal 4 AH [on or before 6 April 626].}} | {{Quote|Bewley/Saad 8:61.|The Messenger of Allah married her at the end of the month of Shawwal 4 AH [on or before 6 April 626].}} | ||
*''Hind’s Median Age = 28 years and 6 months.'' | |||
*''Muhammad’s Age = 55 years and 0 months.'' | |||
*''Age Difference = 26 years and 5 months.'' | |||
It is very plausible that Hind was 28 when she married Muhammad, for her fourth child was then a newborn<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:63-66.</ref> while her eldest daughter was about ten years of age.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 147.</ref> | It is very plausible that Hind was 28 when she married Muhammad, for her fourth child was then a newborn<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:63-66.</ref> while her eldest daughter was about ten years of age.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 147.</ref> | ||
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===Zaynab bint Jahsh's Age=== | ===Zaynab bint Jahsh's Age=== | ||
There is dispute about | There is dispute about Muhammad's biological cousin's<ref>Maududi (1967), Tafhimul Quran, Chapter Al Ahzab</ref> exact age, but there is no doubt about her approximate age. | ||
{{Quote|Bewley/Saad 8:80.|I saw Umar ibn Al-Khattab pray over Zaynab bint Jahsh in 20 AH [641 CE] on a summer day, and I saw a cloth stretched over her grave.}} | {{Quote|Bewley/Saad 8:80.|I saw Umar ibn Al-Khattab pray over Zaynab bint Jahsh in 20 AH [641 CE] on a summer day, and I saw a cloth stretched over her grave.}} | ||
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Thirty-five years before 5 AH brings us to a birth-year of 31 BH (20 June 592 - 8 June 593), a discrepancy of three years. Probably Umar ibn Uthman was giving a round number when he said she was married at 35; to be conservative, we will assume the earlier birthdate. However, we must bear in mind that Zaynab might have been some three years younger than this. | Thirty-five years before 5 AH brings us to a birth-year of 31 BH (20 June 592 - 8 June 593), a discrepancy of three years. Probably Umar ibn Uthman was giving a round number when he said she was married at 35; to be conservative, we will assume the earlier birthdate. However, we must bear in mind that Zaynab might have been some three years younger than this. | ||
*''Zaynab’s Median Age = 37 years and 2 months.'' | |||
*''Muhammad’s Age = 55 years and 11 months.'' | |||
*''Age Difference = 18 years and 9 months.'' | |||
Therefore we have to discard modern commentaries claiming that Zaynab was “in late middle age.”<ref>[http://www.ispi-usa.org/muhammad/appendix2.html/ Akhter, J. (2001). “The Prophet's Marriages and Wives”] in ''The Seven Phases of Prophet Muhammad's Life''. Chicago: ISPI.</ref> While | Therefore we have to discard modern commentaries claiming that Zaynab was “in late middle age.”<ref>[http://www.ispi-usa.org/muhammad/appendix2.html/ Akhter, J. (2001). “The Prophet's Marriages and Wives”] in ''The Seven Phases of Prophet Muhammad's Life''. Chicago: ISPI.</ref> While her contemporary community might not have considered her “a young woman,” this is relative. She was still young enough to have been Muhammad’s daughter. | ||
===Juwayriyah's Age=== | ===Juwayriyah's Age=== | ||
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This supports a date of 5 AH, though earlier than the eleventh month of Dhu’l-Qada, for the marriage to Juwayriyah. | This supports a date of 5 AH, though earlier than the eleventh month of Dhu’l-Qada, for the marriage to Juwayriyah. | ||
However, this cannot be right. For a start, Ibn Ishaq disagrees. | |||
{{Quote|Guillaume/Ishaq 490.|[The apostle] attacked the Mustaliq branch of the Khuza’a tribe in '''Shaaban 6 AH''' [19 December 627 - 16 January 628].}} | {{Quote|Guillaume/Ishaq 490.|[The apostle] attacked the Mustaliq branch of the Khuza’a tribe in '''Shaaban 6 AH''' [19 December 627 - 16 January 628].}} | ||
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{{Quote|Guillaume/Ishaq 494.|So I wrapped myself in my smock … [Safwan ibn al-Mu’attal al-Sulami] passed me … He saw my form and came and stood over me. He used to see me before the veil was prescribed for us, so when he saw me he exclaimed in astonishment, “The apostle’s wife!” while I was wrapped in my garments.}} | {{Quote|Guillaume/Ishaq 494.|So I wrapped myself in my smock … [Safwan ibn al-Mu’attal al-Sulami] passed me … He saw my form and came and stood over me. He used to see me before the veil was prescribed for us, so when he saw me he exclaimed in astonishment, “The apostle’s wife!” while I was wrapped in my garments.}} | ||
Muhammad had ordered his wives to be veiled at the time he married Zaynab,<ref>{{Bukhari|7|62|95}}; Bewley/Saad 8:126-127.</ref> so the raid at al-Muraysi must have been after this. After Safwan brought Aisha back to Medina, they found themselves the focus of | Muhammad had ordered his wives to be veiled at the time he married Zaynab,<ref>{{Bukhari|7|62|95}}; Bewley/Saad 8:126-127.</ref> so the raid at al-Muraysi must have been after this. After Safwan brought Aisha back to Medina, they found themselves the focus of gossip. | ||
{{Quote|Guillaume/Ishaq 495.|The greatest offenders were … Hamna bint Jahsh, for the reason that her sister Zaynab bint Jahsh was one of the apostle’s wives and only she could rival me in his favour. As for Zaynab, Allah protected her by her religion and she spoke nothing but good. But Hamna spread the report far and wide, opposing me for the sake of her sister.}} | {{Quote|Guillaume/Ishaq 495.|The greatest offenders were … Hamna bint Jahsh, for the reason that her sister Zaynab bint Jahsh was one of the apostle’s wives and only she could rival me in his favour. As for Zaynab, Allah protected her by her religion and she spoke nothing but good. But Hamna spread the report far and wide, opposing me for the sake of her sister.}} | ||
This makes it very clear that Muhammad was already married to Zaynab | This makes it very clear that Muhammad was already married to Zaynab during this controversy, which arose before the warriors had even arrived home from the al-Muraysi expedition. He married Zaynab in late 5 AH, so Ibn Ishaq’s date of 6 AH for the raid must be the correct one. It does seem odd that Aisha would give the wrong sequence for two such dramatic events as the raid at al-Muraysi and the Prophet’s marriage to Zaynab. However, it is more likely that, when asked for a date, she accidentally named the wrong expedition than that, recalling what could be considered 'the crisis of her life', she could not remember whether she had been veiled or who had been spreading gossip about her. | ||
If Juwayriyah was 20 years old in 6 AH, she must have been born in 15 BH (between 29 December 607 and 17 December 608). That would make her only 64, not 65, at her death in 50 AH. This is not a serious discrepancy, but it does mean that one of these ages is only an approximation. On balance, the younger age is more likely to be correct. Young people are usually accurate about their ages (“When my husband was killed, I was definitely 20, not 19 or 21”) whereas the elderly are more likely to use round numbers (“I think this will be my final illness, for I’m already in my mid-60s”). | If Juwayriyah was 20 years old in 6 AH, she must have been born in 15 BH (between 29 December 607 and 17 December 608). That would make her only 64, not 65, at her death in 50 AH. This is not a serious discrepancy, but it does mean that one of these ages is only an approximation. On balance, the younger age is more likely to be correct. Young people are usually accurate about their ages (“When my husband was killed, I was definitely 20, not 19 or 21”) whereas the elderly are more likely to use round numbers (“I think this will be my final illness, for I’m already in my mid-60s”). | ||
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Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, we shall take a two-year range for Juwayriyah’s birthdate, between 9 January 607 and 17 December 608. The median is 28 December 607. She was married in Shabaan 6 AH, a median date of 2 January 628. | Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, we shall take a two-year range for Juwayriyah’s birthdate, between 9 January 607 and 17 December 608. The median is 28 December 607. She was married in Shabaan 6 AH, a median date of 2 January 628. | ||
*''Juwayriyah’s Median Age = 20 years and 0 months.'' | |||
*''Muhammad’s Age = 56 years and 9 months.'' | |||
*''Age Difference = 36 years and 9 months.'' | |||
So another one of Muhammad's wives, Juwayriyah, was young enough to be his granddaughter. | |||
===Safiyah's Age=== | ===Safiyah's Age=== | ||
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{{Reflist|30em}} | {{Reflist|30em}} | ||
[[Category:Muhammad]] | |||
[[Category:Islam and Women]] | |||
{{page_title|Ages of Muhammad's Wives at Marriage}} | {{page_title|Ages of Muhammad's Wives at Marriage}} | ||