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[[File:DanishAisha.jpg|right|thumb|Aisha’s wedding day. Anonymous. Commissioned for Bluitgen, K. (2006). ''Koranen og profeten Muhammeds Liv'' (''The Quran and the Life of the Prophet Muhammad''). Copenhagen: Hoest & Soen.|300px]]  

Aisha bint Abi Bakr claimed that she was the [[Muhammad|Prophet Muhammad's]] second wife,<ref>{{Muslim|8|3452}}.</ref> although she was stretching the truth.<ref> Aisha must have known that Muhammad married Sawdah bint Zamaa in the ninth month and herself in the tenth month of the same year ({{Tabari|39|pp. 170-171}}; Bewley/Saad 8:43, 55; {{Muslim|8|3312}}). However, the sequence of events in {{Tabari|9|pp. 128-130}} makes it clear that Muhammad did propose to Aisha before he proposed to Sawdah: “Khawlah replied, ‘The Messenger of God has sent me to ask for A’ishah’s hand in marriage on his behalf.’ … Then Khawlah left and went to Sawdah saying, ‘O Sawdah ... the Messenger of God has sent me with a marriage proposal.’” By claiming to be the second wife, i.e., the first after Khadijah, Aisha probably wanted to emphasise that she had been Muhammad’s first choice and was therefore more important than her co-wives.</ref> She is known as Aisha ''al-Siddiqa'' (“the Truthful”)<ref>[http://www.islamawareness.net/Muhammed/ibn_kathir_wives.html/ Ibn Kathir, ''The Wives of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW)''].</ref> to complement her father, who was also known as ''al-Siddiq''.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:46. “Masruq … would say, “The truthful daughter of the true, whose innocence was proclaimed, told me such-and-such.”</ref> This byname originally referred, not to Abu Bakr’s personal honesty, but to his “testimony to the truth” of Muhammad’s miraculous [[The Holy Qur'an: Al-Isra (The Night Journey)|Night Journey]].<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 183.</ref> Muslims consider Aisha another major “witness to the truth” of Muhammad’s prophetic office. The Syrian scholar Ismail ibn Umar ibn Kathir wrote:

Her father was the cloth-merchant Abu Bakr ibn Abi Quhafa from the Taym clan of the Quraysh. “He was a man whose society was desired, well liked and of easy manners … of high character and kindliness. His people used to come to him to discuss many matters with him because of his wide knowledge, his experience in commerce, and his sociable nature.”<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 116.</ref> His generosity had made him popular in the city.<ref>{{Bukhari|3|37|494}}.</ref> Abu Bakr’s first wife was Qutayla bint Abduluzza from the Amir ibn Luayy clan of the Quraysh. She bore him a daughter, Asma.<ref>{{Tabari|39|p. 193}}.</ref> He then 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 Abdullah.<ref>{{Tabari|39|p. 171}}.</ref> She was the mother of Abu Bakr’s first son, Abdulrahman.<ref>{{Tabari||9|pp. 129-130}}; {{Tabari|39|pp. 171-172}}; Bewley/Saad 8:193.</ref> Qutayla then bore him a second son, Abdullah;<ref>{{Tabari|39|p. 193}}.</ref> but soon afterwards, Abu Bakr divorced Qutayla.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:178: “Abu Bakr had divorced her in the ''Jahiliya'',” i.e., before the year 610, and therefore not, as is sometimes asserted, because of religious differences.</ref>

The family lived near [[Khadijah bint Khuwaylid|Khadijah’s]] house<ref>Muir (1861). ''The Life of Mohamet'', p. 100. London: Smith, Elder & Co.</ref> and must have known Muhammad for several years before the latter declared himself a prophet in 610. Abu Bakr “did not hold back or hesitate.”<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 116.</ref> He was the first male outside Muhammad’s family to convert to Islam.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 115. According to {{Tabari|39|p. 201}}, one woman, Lubaba bint Al-Harith, claimed that her conversion pre-dated Abu Bakr’s.</ref> “When he became a Muslim, he showed his faith openly and called others to God and his apostle… He began to call to God and to Islam all whom he trusted of those who came to him and sat with him… He brought them to the apostle when they had accepted his invitation and they accepted Islam and prayed.”<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 115, 116.</ref> The earliest Muslim historian, [[Ibn Ishaq|Muhammad ibn Ishaq]], lists 50 people who became Muslims through Abu Bakr’s preaching,<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 115-117.</ref> which was probably the majority of the earliest converts.

Aisha was born in the year when Islam was first publicly preached in Mecca<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 117.</ref> and she never knew any lifestyle other than Islam.<ref>{{Bukhari|3|37|494}}; {{Bukhari|5|58|245}}.</ref> She grew up in a household where her mother was the only wife and she had four much-older siblings. The records also mention several servants.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 116, 144, 224; </ref> Aisha was still a baby when a pagan neighbour, Al-Mutim ibn Adiy, requested her as a bride for his son Jubayr. Abu Bakr regarded this proposal favourably but he did not enter a binding marriage contract.<ref>{{Tabari|9|pp. 129-130}}.</ref> Aisha’s paternal grandparents, already in their 70s at the time of her birth, lived nearby.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 225.</ref> Her grandmother, Umm Al-Khayr bint Sakhr, was a Muslim,<ref>Ibn Hajar, ''Al-Isaba'' vol. 8.</ref> but her grandfather, Abu Quhafa ibn Amir, remained a pagan. When he spoke disparagingly of Muhammad, Abu Bakr hit his father’s chest so hard that the old man became unconscious.<ref>Qurtubi, ''Tafsir'' vol. 17 p. 307. Cited in [http://books.google.com.au/books?id=AeAG74TdAXEC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false/ Radtke, B., & O’Kane, J. (1996). ''The Concept of Sainthood in Early Islamic Mysticism'', p. 142. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press] and also in [http://www.tasawwuf.org/writings/love_prophet/love_abubakr.pdf/ “The Love of Hadrat Abu Bakr”, p. 6, in ''Tasawwuf'']. It is said that Allah sent down {{Quran|58|22}} in response.</ref>

Aisha was less than three years old when the Quraysh declared a blockade against the Hashimite clan.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 159-160.</ref> Abu Bakr considered leaving Mecca to join 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 – he no longer preached outside his home. But he later found a way to break its spirit. He built a mosque in the courtyard of his house, where he once again read the Qur’an out loud. When women and youths flocked to hear his preaching, the men challenged his duplicity, and Abu Bakr renounced his protection.<ref>{{Bukhari|3|37|494}}; Guillaume/Ishaq 171.</ref> But the worst recorded attack on Abu Bakr is that “one of the loutish fellows of Quraysh” once threw dust on his head.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 171-172.</ref> Aisha recalled that the ''ayat'' {{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,” three or four years old. She did not, however, claim to remember the miracle itself.<ref>{{Bukhari|6|60|387}}; {{Bukhari|6|60|388}}; {{Bukhari|6|60|399}}; {{Bukhari|6|61|515}}. The Lebanese scholar Dr [http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=7&ID=4604&CATE=1/ Gibril Haddad] says: “The ''hadith'' masters, ''sira'' historians and Qur’anic commentators agree that the splitting of the moon took place about five years before the Holy Prophet’s Hijra to Madina,” i.e., in 617-618.</ref>  

 

In April 620, “when Khadijah died, the Prophet was terribly grieved over her,”<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:54.</ref> and “people feared for him.”<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:44.</ref> After only a few days, Khawla bint Hakim, the sister-in-law of his friend [[Umar al Khattab (quotes)|Umar]],<ref>She was married to Uthman ibn Mazoon (Guillaume/Ishaq 590), whose sister Zaynab was married to Umar (Bewley/Saad 8:56).</ref> decided that he needed a new wife. She called on Muhammad to tell him that she knew of both a maid and a matron whom he might [[Marriage|marry]] and asked which one he would prefer. He immediately responded that he would take them both.<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 129}}.</ref>

The maid was Abu Bakr’s daughter. It is often claimed that Muhammad married her “to reinforce the friendly relations already existing with Abu Bakr.”<ref>[http://www.iol.ie/~afifi/BICNews/Sabeel/sabeel6.htm/ ''Why Did Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) Married Young Aisha Siddiqa (r.a.)?''].</ref> In one sense this is true: Abu Bakr was one of the few men in Mecca who would still have been willing to give him a daughter.<ref>For Muhammad’s unpopularity with his pagan neighbours, see Guillaume/Ishaq 191-194.</ref> But this assertion mistakes cause and effect. The marriage did not “promote” any alliance with Abu Bakr; rather, it was the existing close bond with Abu Bakr that made the marriage possible. Did Muhammad’s request to his friend even reflect Khawla’s original intention? The oral traditions about Muhammad’s life were first put in writing long after his death,<ref>Siddiqi, M. Z. (2006). ''Hadith Literature: Its Origin, Development, Special Features and Criticism'', pp. 8-9. “''Hadith'' which thus spread throughout the vast Muslim dominions had been preserved for a century partly in writing (in the form of laws and letters dictated by Muhammad himself, and in the form of various ''Sahifahs'' ascribed to many of his Companions), and partly in the memory of those who had associated with him and watched carefully his words and deeds. After the death of Muhammad, Umar I intended to collect the ''Ahadith''. He gave the matter his careful consideration for one whole month, invoking the help of God in his decision, and seeking the advice of his friends. But he had to give up the great project for fear of the Qur’an being neglected by the Muslims.” Kuala Lumpar: Islamic Book Trust.</ref> and it could be that they have been distorted by narrators who did not know about the interview with Khawla until they also had hind-knowledge of its result. It is not impossible that Khawla originally mentioned “Abu Bakr’s daughter” without giving the name, and that she had actually been referring to his elder daughter Asma. Regardless of whether or not Khawla was complicit in the eventual outcome, what happened was that Muhammad, the Apostle of Allah, completely overlooked the 16-year-old Asma<ref>[http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=7&ID=4604&CATE=1/ Haddad] cites Al-Dhahabi in ''Siyar Alam al-Nubala'' vol. 2 p. 289: “Asma was ten years older than Aisha.” Haddad points out that Al-Dhahabi elsewhere suggests Asma might have been even older than this.</ref> and asked instead to marry the six-year-old Aisha.<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 129}}; {{Bukhari|7|62|18}}.</ref>

Muhammad’s decision to marry Aisha was made less than three weeks after Khadijah’s death<ref>Khadijah died on 10 Ramadan, and Muhammad married Sawda before Ramadan had ended. Even if he married her on the ''same day'' as Khawla’s visit (the day he also decided to marry Aisha), this was a maximum of 20 days after Khadijah’s death. Common sense suggests that it would have more likely taken a day or two to organise the wedding, which did not necessarily take place as late as the final day of the month.</ref> while he was grieving. He was not necessarily making wise decisions, even from his own point of view. There is little doubt that Muhammad’s choice of Aisha over Asma was influenced by Aisha’s personal qualities. That she was very pretty was conceded by people who had no vested interest<ref>{{Bukhari|6|60|435}}; {{Bukhari|7|62|145}}.</ref> as well as by those who might have been biased.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 495; {{Bukhari|3|48|829}}; {{Bukhari|5|59|462}}.</ref> She was slim and light-framed<ref>{{Bukhari|3|48|829}}</ref> with a fair, rosy complexion and perhaps also red hair,<ref>In Al-Nasa’i 5:307 and Bewley/Saad 8:55, Muhammad addresses Aisha as ''Humayra'', which means “little red one”. This was not a commonplace nickname, so Aisha’s degree of redness must have been unusual for her ethnic group.</ref> which she wore plaited.<ref>{{Abudawud|1|241}}.</ref> Her nephew later said, “I did not see a greater scholar than Aisha in poetry, Arab history and genealogy,”<ref>Ahmad, ''Musnad'' 6:67; Al-Hakim, ''Mustadrak'' 4:11. See also Al-Dhahabi, “Aisha, Mother of the Faithful” in ''Tadhkirat al-Huffaz'' p. 1/13.</ref> and it was said that there was no one else “more intelligent in opinion if her opinion was sought.”<ref> Ibn Saad, ''Tabaqat'' vol. 2, p. 481.</ref> While we might question whether Muhammad was aware of her intelligence when she was only six years old, she had indeed “some of the qualities of Khadijah”.<ref>Khadjah is described as “determined and intelligent” in Guillaume/Ishaq 82.</ref>

When Muhammad made his formal request for Aisha’s hand, he did not mention that Allah had “commanded” him to marry Aisha.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:55.</ref> Abu Bakr hesitated at first, saying, “Would this be suitable, since she is like my brother’s daughter?” But Muhammad said that their brotherhood was purely spiritual and did not preclude such a marriage.<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 129}}; {{Bukhari|7|62|18}}.</ref> Abu Bakr had to break off Aisha’s informal engagement to Jubayr ibn Al-Mutim, but this proved easy, as the pagan family no longer wished to risk that their son might convert to Islam.<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 129-130}}.</ref> So Abu Bakr married Aisha to Muhammad in May or June 620.<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918; {{Bukhari|1|7|88}}; {{Bukhari|7|62|90}}; {{Muslim|2|3309}}; {{Muslim|2|3310}}; {{Muslim|2|3311}}; {{Muslim|4|3309}}; {{Muslim|8|3311}}; Bewley/Saad 8:55; {{Tabari|9|pp. 130-131}}; Ibn Majah 3:1876; Ibn Majah 3:1877.</ref> If he told Aisha about the contract, she did not understand what he said, for she later claimed that she had not known that she was Muhammad’s wife until the very day of the consummation.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:43. “I did not know that the Messenger of Allah had married me until my mother took me and made me sit in the room rather than being outside [on the day of the consummation]. Then it occurred to me that I was married.”</ref>

That Aisha did not know that she was married was, of course, nothing unusual. Throughout history and in nearly every culture, betrothals have been arranged over cradles, and women in particular have been married without their knowledge, understanding or consent. The fact that Aisha was a child is barely an issue here; no woman of ''any'' age should be married without her own consent, whether she is six, 16, 36 or 60. However, it is unlikely that any seventh-century Arab grasped “informed consent” in the way the modern West understands it. Muhammad’s similar failure to grasp it betrays that he was no prophet or pioneer of human rights but was simply a normal product of his own culture.

SIMON OCKLEY HERE.

After Aisha had recovered, “and my hair had grown back past my earlobes,”<ref>{{Muslim|8|3309}}; Ibn Majah 3:1876</ref> Abu Bakr approached Muhammad and asked him if he would like to consummate the marriage. Muhammad did not express any outrage or disgust at this invitation; instead of correcting his friend’s morality, he merely confessed that he had no cash to pay the dower. Abu Bakr replied that he would provide this.<ref>{{Tabari|39|p. 172-173}}.</ref> The earliest source states that it was a sum of 400 ''dirhams''<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918</ref> (about £2,000), but others say 12½ ounces,<ref>{{Tabari|39|pp. 173, 189}}; {{Muslim|38|3318}; {{Abudawud|11|2101}}; Bewley/Saad 8:118. The ounces were presumably of silver, since the same weight of gold would have had ten times this value. Perhaps the later chroniclers updated for inflation.</ref> which would have been worth 500 ''dirhams'' (£2,500). It is also said that that dower was “some household goods worth 50 ''dirhams''”<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:44</ref> (£250), so perhaps part of the value was paid in kind. Abu Bakr did not explain why he suddenly lost his scruples over child-marriage and urged that the union be finalised; but Aisha’s illness would have hinted at her mortality, while the flight to Medina must have altered the political landscape unrecognisably, so perhaps Abu Bakr felt the need to confirm his continuing importance in the Muslim hierarchy. The family landscape had also changed, for Abu Bakr had lately acquired a new wife, Habiba bint Kharija, a Medinan woman whom he visited in the suburbs at a discreet distance from the mosque.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:243. “Habiba bint Kharija ibn Zayd … married Abu Bakr ''as-Siddiq'' and bore him Umm Kulthum.” See also Guillaume/Ishaq 227, 234. Page 681 shows that Habiba never resided near the mosque even after Umm Ruman died. See also {{Tabari|11|pp. 151-152}}.</ref> Perhaps he expected this marriage to produce new financial burdens, although in fact Habiba’s only child, Umm Kulthum, was not to be born until 634.<ref>{{Tabari|11|p. 141 & f769}}; Bewley/Saad 8:243; {{Muwatta|36|33|40}}.</ref>

[[File:Mosque630.jpg|left|thumb|Artist’s impression of the mosque at Medina, c. 630. Aisha’s house is at the top left, marked with A.|300px]]

Umm Ruman tried to fatten Aisha up before sending her to Muhammad’s house. Several types of food failed to replace the flesh that she had lost during her illness “till she gave me cucumber with fresh dates to eat. Then I became fat as good.”<ref>{{Abudawud|28|3894}}.</ref> In April or May 623 Aisha, now aged nine, was playing on a swing with some friends when her mother called her over. Still breathless, Aisha was taken to the little house that had just been built into the wall of the mosque, a hut of unbaked bricks with a palm-branch roof, perhaps five metres by four in size.<ref>{{Tabari|39|pp. 172-173; Bewley/Saad 8:121; [http://www.soebratie.nl/religie/hadith/IbnSad.html#Book 65.3/ Ibn Saad, ''Tabaqat'' vol. 1:65:3].</ref> When she was brought inside, where some ''ansar'' women wished her good luck, “it occurred to me that I was married. I did not ask her, and my mother was the one who told me.”<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:43.</ref> For some reason, Umm Ruman then departed, leaving the ''ansar'' women to wash and perfume Aisha, dress her up in a red-striped gown, apply make-up and comb her hair. When her father’s friend Muhammad arrived, she was surprised (suggesting that she had still not guessed the identity of her bridegroom) but not afraid. The women left the house, and Muhammad sat her on his lap.<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918; {{Bukhari|7|62|88}}; {{Bukhari|7|62|90}}; {{Muslim|8|3309}}; {{Muslim|8|3310}}; {{Muslim|8|3311}}; {{Abudawud|41|4915}}; {{Abudawud|41|4917}}; {{Tabari|9|pp. 130-131}}; Ibn Majah 3:1876; Ibn Majah 3:1877.</ref> The consummation was not marked by any kind of wedding party or public celebration: “neither a camel nor a sheep was slaughtered for me.”<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 131}}.</ref> This possibly indicates that, while the Muslim converts did not question Muhammad’s judgment, he knew only too well what his [[Islam and the People of the Book|Jewish]] neighbours would think of his bigamy.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:143. “They envied him because of the number of his wives and they criticised him for that, saying, ‘If he had been a prophet, he would not have desired women.’ The most intense of them in that criticism was Huyayy ibn Akhtab,” the chief of the Nadir tribe. It is not stated, however, that Huyayy had a specific objection to Aisha’s extreme youth.</ref>

Aisha’s acceptance of the situation does not alter the fact that a 52-year-old man should have known better than to engage sexually with a nine-year-old. Most cultures throughout history have understood that a girl should not be touched before puberty. The Jews in Medina most certainly understood it.<ref>Ezekiel 16:7-8; [http://www.jewfaq.org/marriage.htm/ “Prohibited Marriages and Illegitimate Children”] in ''Judaism 101''.</ref> Muslim apologists have tried to plead that Aisha was an early developer for whom “it is most likely her puberty started at 8, and continued till she was 9, and once she was going through puberty and her menses, this made her a lady and not a girl anymore.”<ref>[http://muslim-responses.com/Marriage_with_Aisha/Marriage_with_Aisha_/ aatari, S. “A Detailed analysis of the Prophet's Marriage to Aisha”] in ''Muslim Responses''.</ref> But this is not correct. Aisha had still not reached menarche by the age of 14½, more than five years after the consummation of her marriage. She several times described her 14-year-old self as a ''jariya'' (“prepubescent girl”)<ref>{{Bukhari|3|48|829}} also refers to her light weight at the time of the raid on the Mustaliq tribe. {{Muslim|4|1940}} emphasises her “tender age” at the time of the Abyssinian sword-display, which must have happened after the Order of the Veil, since Muhammad had to screen her, i.e., at earliest in March 628.</ref> and in July 628 was still playing with dolls, which were forbidden to adults but permitted to prepubescents.<ref>{{Bukhari|8|73|151}}.</ref> Although this could not have been predicted on her wedding day, she actually belonged to the 10% of girls who are latest in reaching puberty.<ref>The [http://www.mum.org/menarage.htm/ mean age of menarche] was 12½ years. This is quite similar to today, when the [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2733039/ standard deviation] is about 18 months. So probably only 5% of Aisha’s contemporaries would have been menstruating before age 10, 16% by age 11, 32% by age 12, 68% by age 13, 84% by age 14, 95% by age 15 and over 99% by age 16. These statistics suggest that Aisha did menstruate within 12 months of the doll-playing incident, but the exact date is not recorded.</ref> At nine, she would have been flat-chested and only three-quarters of her future height; nobody could have mistaken her for an adult. Unlike the informed consent issue, which simply reveals that Muhammad was a product of his culture, this act of paederasty betrays that Muhammad was morally inferior to his own culture. He rejected the moral norms of his wisest contemporaries and abused a little girl for no better reason than that Abu Bakr had made it easy for him to do so. He demonstrated for once and for all that he had no timeless, universal moral insight to offer the world – in short, that he was not a prophet.

Aisha was to remain Muhammad’s favourite wife.<ref>{{Bukhari|3|47|755}}; {{Muslim|31|5984}}.</ref> He claimed that Aisha was dearer to him “than butter with dates.”<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:55.</ref> and superior to all other women in the same way that a meat stew was superior to plain bread<ref>{{Bukhari|4|55|623}}; {{Bukhari|5|57|113}}; {{Bukhari|5|57|114}}; {{Bukhari|7|65|329}}; {{Bukhari|7|65|330}}; {{Bukhari|7|65|339}}.</ref> When a companion asked him, “Whom do you love most in this world?” he replied, “Aisha!” When the young man protested that he had meant ''male'' persons, Muhammad corrected his reply to, “Her father.”<ref>{{Bukhari|5|57|14}}.</ref> He made himself a doorway in the mosque wall close to Aisha’s house-door,<ref>{{Tabari|39|p. 173}}; Bewley/Saad 8:45.</ref> presumably to visit her more conveniently. At table he would eat meat from a bone that she had bitten and drink from her cup.<ref>[http://ahadith.co.uk/chapter.php?cid=153&page=8/ Nasa’I 1:70.]</ref> As he once sat repairing his sandals, Aisha stared at him until he asked why. She replied, “Al-Huthali’s poem was written for you! He said that if you looked to the majesty of the moon, it twinkles and lights up the world for everybody to see.” Muhammad walked over to her, kissed her between the eyes, and said, “I swear to Allah, Aisha, you are like that to me and more.”<ref>Sunan al-Bayhaqi 15825.</ref> She once asked, “How is your love for me?” and he replied that it was, “Like the rope’s knot.” After that she would often ask, “How is the knot?” and he would reply, “The same as ever!”<ref>[http://www.islamawareness.net/Muhammed/ibn_kathir_wives.html/ Ibn Kathir, ''The Wives of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW)''].</ref>

At first her playmates “felt shy of Allah's Messenger”<ref>{{Muslim|31|5981}}.</ref> and “used to hide themselves” when Muhammad entered her house, “but the Prophet would call them to join and play with me.”<ref>{{Bukhari|8|73|151}}</ref> At festival time her friends sang badly and beat tambourines in her house, although Muhammad came to lie down there. Abu Bakr rebuked them: “Musical instruments of Satan near the Prophet!” But Muhammad told the girls not to stop their play for him.<ref>{{Bukhari|2|15|70}}; {{Bukhari|2|15|72}}.</ref> Later that day, some Abyssinian guests put on a display in the mosque courtyard to demonstrate their prowess with shields and spears. Women were not really allowed, but Muhammad circumvented the regulation by standing in front of Aisha at her front door, screening her with his cloak, so that she could watch the performance.<ref>{{Bukhari|2|15|70}}.</ref> She once beat him in a running race. Later, after she had put on weight, they raced again, and he won, remarking, “This pays you back for that other time!”<ref>{{Abudawud|14|2572}}.</ref> When she mounted an unbroken camel and began to drive it “round and round”, Muhammad reminded her to be kind to the animal.<ref>{{Muslim|32|6275}}; {{Muslim|32|6274}}. See also {{Abudawud|41|4790}}.</ref>