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→Aisha’s Background
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Aisha was born in Mecca “at the beginning of the fourth year of prophethood,”<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:55.</ref> i.e., between 25 October 613 and 19 February 614. | Aisha was born in Mecca “at the beginning of the fourth year of prophethood,”<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:55.</ref> i.e., between 25 October 613 and 19 February 614. | ||
Her father was the cloth-merchant Abu Bakr ibn Abi Quhafa from the Tamim clan of the Quraysh. A wealthy man whose generosity had made him popular in the city,<ref>{{Bukhari|3|37|494}}.</ref> he was Muhammad’s best friend and head evangelist.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 161-165; Ibn Hisham note 918.</ref> By his first wife, Qutayla bint Abduluzza of the Amir ibn Luayy clan, he had a daughter, Asma, and a son, Abdullah.<ref>{{Tabari|39|p. 193}}.</ref> He later married his business partner’s widow, Umm Ruman (Zaynab) bint Amir; she was an immigrant from the Kinana tribe whose only relative in Mecca was her young son, Tufayl ibn Al-Harith.<ref>{{Tabari|39|p. 171}}.</ref> She bore Abu Bakr another son, Abdulrahman.<ref>{{Tabari||9|pp. 129-130}}; {{Tabari|39|pp. 171-172}}; Bewley/Saad 8:193.</ref> When Abu Bakr became a Muslim in late 610, Qutayla refused to convert, and he divorced her.<ref></ref> So Umm Ruman was the only wife in the house by the time she gave birth to Aisha. Aisha grew up as a youngest child among four much older siblings; although her father eventually took two additional wives and had a child by each, this was not until long after Aisha had left Abu Bakr’s house to marry Muhammad.<ref></ref> | Her father was the cloth-merchant Abu Bakr ibn Abi Quhafa from the Tamim clan of the Quraysh. A wealthy man whose generosity had made him popular in the city,<ref>{{Bukhari|3|37|494}}.</ref> he was Muhammad’s best friend and head evangelist.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 161-165; Ibn Hisham note 918.</ref> By his first wife, Qutayla bint Abduluzza of the Amir ibn Luayy clan, he had a daughter, Asma, and a son, Abdullah.<ref>{{Tabari|39|p. 193}}.</ref> He later married his business partner’s widow, Umm Ruman (Zaynab) bint Amir; she was an immigrant from the Kinana tribe whose only relative in Mecca was her young son, Tufayl ibn Al-Harith.<ref>{{Tabari|39|p. 171}}.</ref> She bore Abu Bakr another son, Abdulrahman.<ref>{{Tabari||9|pp. 129-130}}; {{Tabari|39|pp. 171-172}}; Bewley/Saad 8:193.</ref> When Abu Bakr became a Muslim in late 610, Qutayla refused to convert, and he divorced her.<ref>REFERENCE MISSING</ref> So Umm Ruman was the only wife in the house by the time she gave birth to Aisha. Aisha grew up as a youngest child among four much older siblings; although her father eventually took two additional wives and had a child by each, this was not until long after Aisha had left Abu Bakr’s house to marry Muhammad.<ref>REFERENCE MISSING</ref> | ||
Since Aisha was born after her parents’ conversion, she never knew any lifestyle other than Islam.<ref>{{Bukhari|3|37|494}}; {{Bukhari|5|58|245}}.</ref> She recalled that the ''ayah'' {{Quran|54|46}}, concerning the occasion when the moon was miraculously split in the sky, was first recited in Mecca when she was “a little girl at play,” about three years old. She did not, however, claim to remember the miracle i\tself.<ref>{{Bukhari|6|60|387}}; {{Bukhari|6|60|388}}; {{Bukhari|6|60|399}}; {{Bukhari|6|61|515}}</ref> When the Hashimites were blockaded, Abu Bakr considered joining the exiles in Abyssinia. But he found a protector who agreed to keep the neighbours from harassing him on condition he confined his religion to the privacy of his home and did not try to convert anyone else. Abu Bakr kept to the letter of the agreement, but he later found a way to break its spirit, for he built a mosque in the courtyard of his house. There he once again read the Qur’an out loud, and women and youngsters flocked to hear his preaching. When the men challenged his duplicity, he renounced his protection.<ref>{{Bukhari|3|37|494}}.</ref> But there is no record that the Meccans ever attacked their family. | Since Aisha was born after her parents’ conversion, she never knew any lifestyle other than Islam.<ref>{{Bukhari|3|37|494}}; {{Bukhari|5|58|245}}.</ref> She recalled that the ''ayah'' {{Quran|54|46}}, concerning the occasion when the moon was miraculously split in the sky, was first recited in Mecca when she was “a little girl at play,” about three years old. She did not, however, claim to remember the miracle i\tself.<ref>{{Bukhari|6|60|387}}; {{Bukhari|6|60|388}}; {{Bukhari|6|60|399}}; {{Bukhari|6|61|515}}</ref> When the Hashimites were blockaded, Abu Bakr considered joining the exiles in Abyssinia. But he found a protector who agreed to keep the neighbours from harassing him on condition he confined his religion to the privacy of his home and did not try to convert anyone else. Abu Bakr kept to the letter of the agreement, but he later found a way to break its spirit, for he built a mosque in the courtyard of his house. There he once again read the Qur’an out loud, and women and youngsters flocked to hear his preaching. When the men challenged his duplicity, he renounced his protection.<ref>{{Bukhari|3|37|494}}.</ref> But there is no record that the Meccans ever attacked their family. | ||
Her brother Abdulrahman rejected Islam, and so Abu Bakr disowned him.<ref></ref> | Her brother Abdulrahman rejected Islam, and so Abu Bakr disowned him.<ref>REFERENCE MISSING</ref> | ||
When Aisha was six, the blockade against the Hashimites was cancelled, and the clan emerged from hiding in the mountain ravine. After that, Muhammad came to visit her father every day.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:55; {{Bukhari|5|58|245}}.</ref> | When Aisha was six, the blockade against the Hashimites was cancelled, and the clan emerged from hiding in the mountain ravine. After that, Muhammad came to visit her father every day.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:55; {{Bukhari|5|58|245}}.</ref> | ||