Aisha's Age

Aisha (‘Ā’ishah, c. 613/614 –c. 678)^[1] or عائشة, (also transliterated as A'ishah, Aisyah, Ayesha, A'isha, Aishat, or Aishah) was married to Muhammad at the age of 6 or 7, and the marriage was consummated by Muhammad, then 53, at the age of 9 or 10 according to numerous sahih hadiths.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Due to concerns about child marriage this topic is of heavy interest in the 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 Baker was an influential man in the community.^[7] 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.^[8]

Authenticity

In the Quran, a rule concerning marriage to those who have not yet reached menstruation appears in Chapter 65 "Al Talaq" verse 4.^[9] The tafsir (exegesis) of al-Jalalayn is one of the most respected commentaries on the Quran.^[10] In the Jalalayn exegesis for this verse it describes "those you have yet to menstruate" as "those who have not yet menstruated, because of their young age, their [waiting] period shall [also] be three months."^[11]

In the modern era, Aisha's age at marriage has been a source of controversy and debate. Some Muslims have attempted to revise the previously-accepted timeline of her life.^[12] All biographical information on Muhammad and his companions was first recorded over a century after his death,^[13] but the hadith and scripture provide records of early Islam through allegedly "unbroken chain of witnesses". Various hadiths stating that Aisha was either nine or ten at the time of her consummation come from collections with sahih status, meaning they are regarded as reputable by the majority of Muslims. Some other traditional sources also mention Aisha's age. The sira of Ibn Ishaq edited by Ibn Hisham states that she was nine or ten years old at the consummation. The historian al-Tabari also states that she was nine.^[14][15]

Association with Child Marriage

No age limits have been fixed by Islam for marriage according to Persian Professor at the University of Cambridge, Reuben Levy, and "quite young children may be legally married".^[16] The girl may not live with the husband however until she is fit for marital sexual relations.^[16] The Hanafi school of jurisprudence of Islamic fiqh maintains that a wife must not be taken to her husband's house until she reaches the condition of fitness for sexual relations.

In Islamic legal terminology, Baligh refers to a person who has reached maturity, puberty or adulthood and has full responsibility under Islamic law. Legal theorists assign different ages and criteria for reaching this state for both males and females.^[17] In marriage baligh is related to the Arabic legal expression, hatta tutiqa'l-rijal, which means that the wedding may not take place until the girl is physically fit to engage in sexual intercourse. Some Hanafi scholars hold the opinion that sexual intercourse may take place before puberty, as long as it's not injurious to one's health.^[18] In comparison, baligh or balaghat concerns the reaching of sexual maturity which becomes manifest by the menses. The age related to these two concepts can, but need not necessarily, coincide. Only after a separate condition called rushd, or intellectual maturity to handle one's own property, is reached can a girl receive her bridewealth.^[19]

Aisha's Age of Puberty

Scientific Evidence

Before we address the scriptural evidence, a few biological truths are worth noting. Apologetic claims which appeal to science can be summarized by the following argument.

In truth there is no significant climatic effect on the age at which girls reach nubility (i.e. between warm Arabia and cold Europe)^[20] and the average age at menarche (first menstrual cycle), after a rise during the 19^th century, has only recently began to fall. For girls in the Medieval (5^th to 15^th century) Middle East, the average age at menarche was between 12 to 13 years of age.

In an attempted tu-quoque, the apologist claims "Marriage at the early years of puberty was acceptable in 7th century Arabia as it was the social norm in all Semitic cultures". With a little fact-checking you will find that in the Middle Ages, Jewish girls were traditionally married off around the age of 12-13,^[21] which was also the average age at menarche. However, this only strengthens the case against Aisha having reached her first menses when consummating her marriage to Muhammad, and it also opposes the assertion that this consummation between a 54 year old man and a 9 year old girl would have been the accepted cultural norm. In fact, in Jewish culture, a large age gap between the spouses was opposed,^[22][23] yet the age gap between Muhammad and Aisha was a massive 45 years. As they themselves have left behind no written records, there is no evidence of pedophilic marriages being accepted among the non-Muslim Arabs of Muhammad's time. The only sources we have are Muslim sources, so to claim that such a marriage was a cultural norm among all Arabs is baseless conjecture.

To further justify Muhammad's marriage, the article ends with the following:

What they seem to ignore is that the Qur'an actually permits sex with girls who have not yet menstruated, a fact which is perfectly consistent with Muhammad having sex with a pre-pubescent Aisha. Instead, many apologists claim marriage and sex with a post-pubertal girl is acceptable behaviour which is validated by nature itself. What they fail to understand is that nature is not perfect, nor does it have to be for us humans who are capable of reasoning.

Lina Medina (born September 27, 1933, in Ticrapo, Peru), had her menarche at age 8 months,^[24] and after giving birth to her first child at the age of 5 years and 7 months (under unknown circumstances), she is the youngest mother in history. Following the logic used by many apologists, it would mean having sex with this child when she was 8 months old is acceptable behaviour. Giving birth at 5 years hardly meant this child was "mature". To view an image of Lina, 7 and a 1/2 months into pregnancy, click here.

Scriptural Evidence

We now move onto the scriptural evidence. Here are some of the relevant sahih hadith:

[in this hadith, Ayesha was 15 years old – according to Muhsin Khan]

[in this hadith, Aisha had not reached puberty – according to Muhsin Khan]

In the first hadith Sahih Bukhari 7:62:118, Dr Muhsin Khan in the official text published in Islamic University - Al-Medina Al-Munauwara, Saudi Arabia says, “Aisha was 15 years then.” Some Muslims might claim that it was only Muhsin Khan’s opinion that Aisha was 15 years old at that time. However, this is irrelevant since Muhammad would have bedded Aisha by then. This is because this incident of Aisha watching the Abyssinian/Ethiopian slaves throwing spears in the mosque took place in Medina because according to Abu Dawud, Eid festivals were instituted only in Medina.

We know from other ahadith that Muhammad married Aisha in Shawwal, 1 Hijri. However, the first Eid al-Adha would have taken place at the earliest two months later in Dhul Hijja. Hence these two “Aisha watching the Ethiopians” ahadith tell us that she was below the age of puberty more than two months after Muhammad had sex with her. Muhsin Khan stated that this was about six years later.

In the second hadith Sahih Bukhari 7:62:163, Muhsin Khan added the phrase “who has not reached the age of puberty” in parentheses. Some Muslims might claim that this phrase is in parentheses, and therefore it was only his opinion, not in the original Arabic. However, this is false since the parenthetical phrase explains the Arabic phrase, “jariyathin hadeethaathil sanna”. This phrase is also found in the following hadith when Aisha was 14 years old.

[in this hadith, Aisha was about 14 years old]

In Arabic, the phrase “jariyathil hadeethaathil sanna” literally means “pre-pubertal girl of new/recent/young age”. The word “jariya” has several meanings, but only one can fit Aisha. It means a pre-pubertal girl, a singer, slave girl/woman, concubine, or maid. The last four definitions show that it is a pejorative term, just like the word ‘boy’ was used by white people to describe black male slaves, even if adults.

‘Jariya’ is sometimes translated as ‘young playful girl’, but it is never used to describe a mature woman, particularly one who is married, unless that person is below the age of puberty. ‘Jariya’ is also sometimes translated as ‘young girl’ or ‘young woman’. However, this does not mean that the subject has passed the age of puberty because the Arabic meaning is not the same as the English understanding of the phrase ‘young woman’. In other words, the Arabic term ‘jariya’ carries the same meaning as the English understanding of the phrase ‘young woman’ to mean ‘girl’ or ‘lass’ (Roget’s Thesaurus).

This is proven by Mufti Sayed Abdul Jaleel Saheb, Sheikh - ul- Hadith - Madressah Talimuddeen who said, “In the Arabic language, the word "Jaria" is generally used for a young, immature girl (who has not reached the age of puberty as yet).”^[26]

The understanding that Aisha was below the age of puberty is emphasized by the phrase “hadeethaathil sanna”, which means ‘new’, ‘beginning’, or ‘initial age’. This phrase carries the notion of immaturity because it is the initial age, bearing in mind that the phrase does not mean ‘new’ as in a “change” (which is a possible understanding of the English word ‘new’), but refers to the initial phase or beginning. Hence, “jariyathil hadeethaathil sanna” means a young girl in the first period of her youth, which can only mean the age before puberty.

Ayesha Bewley of the Maliki School has also translated al-Bukhari, but merely translated this phrase to ‘young girl’. This is not the true meaning of the phrase as it does not specifically convey the notion that Aisha bint Abu Bakr was below the age of puberty. Hence, some Muslims might delude themselves into thinking that ‘young girl’ in this translation does not say anything about puberty. It does – in Arabic.Other ahadith also show Aisha was a jariya, or a pre-pubertal girl:

The Arabic phrase here is “jariyathan al-aban”.

The Arabic phrase here is “jariyathan al-aban”.

The Arabic phrase here is “jariyathan thulaibuha”. It shows that 'jariya' is the opposite of ‘matron’ or a mature woman.

The two hadiths above, tell us the age when Aisha got her first menses. Her marriage was consummated in the year 622, and this journey for hajj took place in 629. Therefore, Aisha was about sixteen years old at the time of her first menstruation.

In summary

In summary, Dr Muhsin Khan in the official text published in the Islamic University; Al-Medina Al-Munauwara, Saudi Arabia, says in two related ahadith that Aisha had not reached puberty when she was 15 years old, and in another two it is shown she first menstrated at the age of sixteen. The text is published by Dar Al-Fikar, with a signed prologue of many scholars, and is attested by Muhammad Amin Al-Ansari PhD, Adviser and Head of Sharia Department, in the same University.

Hence, from the original Arabic, it is clear that Aisha was below the age of puberty at the age of 14 (at the time of the raid on the Bani Mustaliq) or 15 (at the time of the Ethiopian slaves dancing incident), and begun her first menstrual period at the age of 16 (during the journey for hajj). We know that Muhammad ‘udkhilath’ (sexually penetrated) her when she was nine years old, and that the average age at menarche was between 12 to 13 years of age. Thus, putting all the evidence together, it is rather clear that Muhammad had sex with a child below the age of puberty.

Relevant Quotations

Apologetic History

The majority of scholars today agree that Aisha was 9 when her marriage to Prophet Muhammad was consummated. This has been the mainstream Muslim understanding throughout Islam's 1,400 year history.^[27] The first recorded objection raised to Aisha's age was by Maulana Muhammad Ali who lived from 1874 to 1951.^[28] However, he is not considered credible to the Sunni sect since he belonged to the Ahmadiyya sect whose beliefs drastically differ from mainstream Islam. The Ahmadiyya and their writings are also heavily focused on missionary work.^[29]

Adding to Ali's objections, there is Habib Ur Rahman Siddiqui Kandhalvi (1924-1991) who in his Urdu booklet, "Tehqiq e umar e Siddiqah e Ka'inat" (English trans. 1997), laments that he is "tired of defending this tradition" that is "laughed" at and "ridiculed" by English-educated individuals he meets in Karachi who claim it is against "sagacity and prudence" and "preferred English society to Islam over this", and he readily admits his "aim is to produce an answer to the enemies of Islam who spatter mud at the pious body of the Generous Prophet".^[30] A posthumous fatwa was issued against him in November 2004, labelling him a "Munkir-e-Hadith" (hadith rejector) and a "Kafir" (infidel) on the basis of being a rejector of hadith.^[31]

Deriving arguments from both Habib Ur Rahman and Muhammad Ali, Moiz Amjad (who refers to himself as "The Learner") is the most recent reference to online apologetic. Moiz admits to having lifted his arguments from them, summarizing and presenting them in response to a Muslim asking him how he can respond to critical Christians.^[32] With Moiz's restructured response the arguments originating from the Ahmadiyya in the 1920s and 1930s finally achieved a little popularity among a few orthodox Muslims. However, this popularity seems to be strictly limited to articles or arguments on the Internet and not between contemporary sheikhs and scholars.

In July 2005, Shaykh Dr. Gibril Haddad responded to Moiz Amjad's polemics with, "Our Mother A'isha's Age At The Time Of Her Marriage to The Prophet."^[33] Shaykh Haddad was listed amongst the inaugural "500 most influential Muslims in the world"^[34] and is considered a Muslim scholar and muhaddith (hadith expert).^[34] Haddad included many facts that are easily verifiable for those who have access to the hadith and sira literature. For example, his analysis highlighted the fact that many of the arguments were based solely on faulty assumptions taken from hadiths completely unrelated to Aisha's age, or were misrepresenting the sources that were being cited (i.e. hadiths actually in support the idea that Aisha was 9). His reply has not yet been answered by Moiz Amjad.

However, Haddad's response did not stop Amjad's arguments from being rehashed by apologists on the Internet with the same missionary and apologetic focus. Other transmitters of these arguments include, but are not limited to; T.O Shavanas,^[35] “Imam” Chaudhry (word-for-word plagiarism of Amjad's work),^[36] Zahid Aziz,^[28] Nilofar Ahmed,^[37] and David Liepert.^[38]

Apologetic Arguments

Some Muslim authors have eschewed the traditionally-accepted ahadith and attempted to calculate Aisha's age based on details found in other ahadith and some biographies, though Kecia Ali labels these attempts as "revisionist".^[12]

Not Enough Narrators

This claim objects that there is only one narrator, Hisham ibn `urwah, and that although it is a sahih (authentic hadith) he alone is not enough to consider the hadith reliable. However, many of the chains of narration for these hadiths^[39] do not involve Hisham (for example, Sahih Muslim 8:3311^[40]), and in any case, there is no requirement in Islam for multiple narrations. Even a single sahih hadith is sufficient to establish Islamic laws and practices.

Shaykh Haddad also refutes the claim that most of these narrations are reported only by Hisham: "Try more than eleven authorities among the Tabi`in that reported it directly from `A'isha, not counting the other major Companions that reported the same, nor other major Successors that reported it from other than `A'isha."^[33]

Details of some of these other chains of narration that do not include Hisham ibn 'Urwah ibn az-Zubayr can be found in the first half of an article by the IslamQA website.

Locality of Narrations

A related claim is that Hisham's hadith is not narrated by Medinans, despite him living there for most of his life. However, Shaykh Haddad responds with examples of Medinans reporting the narration:

Revelation Time of Surah al-Qamar

This arguments uses the Sahih Bukhari hadith in which Aisha explains she was a young girl when Surah (chapter) al-Qamar of the Quran was revealed.^[41] With the rough estimation that this chapter was revealed nine years before hijrah (c. 622) some conclude that this makes Aisha older than other hadiths claim.

However, the precise date of the revelation of Surah al-Qamar is unknown. Ibn Hajar, Maududi, and other traditionalists said it was revealed 5 years before Hijrah (BH).^[42] Zahid Aziz said it was revealed before 6 BH.^[43] Alternatively there is no reputable source that claims this chapter came about 9 BH.

Shaykh Haddad confirms this as he argues that the traditional estimate of the revelation of Surah al-Qamar is consistent with Aisha’s age being nine years.

Battle of Badr and Uhud

This apologetic argument aims to make the claim that Aisha was at the Battles of Badr and Uhud, and that since standard practice at the time disallowed anyone under 15 from joining the battlefield, she could not have been younger than this.

However, there are no sources that can be found mentioning Aisha's participation in the Battle of Badr. A few hadiths highlight Aisha's involvement in the Battle of Uhud, but only to the extent that she was not involved in the battlefield and merely carrying water skins to the combatants.^[44] Women and young children were allowed to perform such functions during battles.^[45]

Shaykh Haddad responds to this apologetic argument:

Age of Asma

One da'if (weak) hadith narrated from al-Zinad and recorded in the works of some medieval scholars, including al-Dhahabi,^[46] states that Aisha's older sister Asma was ten years older than her. This has been combined with information about Asma's age at the time of her death and used to suggest that Aisha was over thirteen at the time of her marriage.

Shaykh Haddad and the IslamQA website both independently criticise this approach as relying on a single narrator, who most scholars regard as weak, and note that a hadith by a more reliable chain from the same narrator gives a broader range for the age difference between the sisters.^[33][47] Both also note that al-Dhahabi too gave the vaguer opinion that Asma was "ten or more" years older than Asma.

Tabari's Account of Abu Bakr's Children and Wives

This account uses al-Tabari's exegesis to argue that Aisha was born in the pre-islamic period, and thus could not have been less than 14 tears old.^[48]

However, al-Tabari's own account reports at least five times that Aisha was around 6-7 years old during marriage and the marriage was consummated 3 years later.^{[49][50][51][52][53]}

Furthermore, Shaykh Gibril Haddad says that the initial passage mentioned is misinterpreted, stating "Al-Tabari nowhere reports that 'Abu Bakr's four children were all born in Jahiliyya' but only that Abu Bakr married both their mothers in Jahiliyya, Qutayla bint Sa`d and Umm Ruman, who bore him four children in all, two each, `A'isha being the daughter of Umm Ruman."^[33]

Time of Umar's Conversion to Islam

This argument draws on al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah (Biography of the Prophet) to claim that since Ayesha converted to Islam before Umar she could not have been born during the first year of Islam.^[54]

However, even if the claim Aisha converted to Islam before Umar were true it, does not mean this took place during the first year of Islam, since Umar converted in 617 AD, about 4 years after Aisha’s birth in 613 AD.^[1] Furthermore Aisha never accounted converting to islam as hadiths show she never remembered a time before when her family wasn't Muslim.^[55]

Besides disputing the claim that Ibn Hisham reported that Aisha accepted Islam quite some time before `umar ibn al-Khattab, Shaykh Haddad also casts doubt on the claim stating:

Tabari's Account of Abu Bakr's Migration to Habshah

This argument claims that al-Tabari states that when Abu Bakr was planning to migrate to Abyssinia (Ethiopia), he spoke to Mut`am, with whose son, Jabayr, Aisha was engaged. This migration occured eight years before hijrah, at which time Aisha had only just been born if she consumated her marriage to Muhammad at the age of 9 or 10.

Proponents of this claim admit they have no primary source, which originated in Kandhalvi's Urdu booklet.^[32] Shayk Haddad responds that "there is no mention of emigration in Tabari's account of Abu Bakr's discussion with Mut`im" and "there had been only some preliminary talk, not a formal arrangement".^[33]

The meaning of Bikr

This argument cites a hadith in Ibn Hanbal's Musnad saying that Khaulah suggested Aisha to Muhammad as a virgin (bikr) he could marry. The claim is that bikr would not be used for a young girl.^[56]

However, there are multiple sahih hadith narrations of a highly relevant conversation between Muhammad and Jabir in which bikr (virgin) is clearly compatible with jariyah (young girl).^[57] Shaykh Haddad says regarding the claim, "This is ignorant nonsense, bikr means a virgin girl, a girl who has never been married even if her age is 0 and there is no unclarity here whatsoever.".^[33]

Fatima's Age Difference

This claim is that according to ibn Hajar, Fatima was five years older than Aisha and Muhammad was 35 years old when Fatima was born. Therefore, based on this claim, Aisha must have been a teenager at the time her marriage was consummated.

However, the proponent of this claim^[32] has combined and selectively quoted conflicting sources. Shaykh Haddad responds:

Hadith Saying 'Aisha Had Reached Puberty

This argument is based off a mistranslated haidth, Sahih Bukhari 1:8:465, which reinterprets to the idea that Aisha had seen her parents follow islam since the age of puberty, and not a day passed by without Muhammad visiting them.

However, the word أَعْقِلْ means thoughts or reasoning, but the translator, Muhsin Khan, has used the word 'puberty'. The meaning rather is simply that 'Aisha was aware that her parents were following Islam. A literal translation would be "I was not aware of my parents other than that the two of them both acknowledged the religion". The exact same Arabic phrase is translated correctly in another hadith by the same translator.^[58]

See Also

• Islam and Pedophilia
• Responses to Apologetics: Muhammad and Aisha
• She's too young (Fatima)

Translations

• A version of this page is also available in the following languages: Czech. For additional languages, see the sidebar on the left.

External Links

• Shaykh Gibril Haddad - Biography of Shaykh Gibril Fouad Haddad at SunniPath, The online Islamic Academy
• Responses to "The Learner" (Moiz Amjad) and others - Collection of Answering Islam articles

Acknowledgments

References