Aišin věk konzumace: Difference between revisions

{{Quote|1=[http://www.understanding-islam.com/ri/mi-005.htm Moiz Amjad]|2=According to almost all the historians Asma (ra), the elder sister of Ayesha (ra) was ten years older than Ayesha (ra). It is reported in Taqreeb al-Tehzeeb as well as Al-Bidaayah wa al-Nihayah that Asma (ra) died in 73 hijrah when she was 100 years old. Now, obviously if Asma (ra) was 100 years old in 73 hijrah she should have been 27 or 28 years old at the time of hijrah. If Asma (ra) was 27 or 28 years old at the time of hijrah, Ayesha (ra) should have been 17 or 18 years old at that time. Thus, Ayesha (ra), if she got married in 1 AH (after hijrah) or 2 AH, was between 18 to 20 years old at the time of her marriage.  

The relevant references required in this argument are provided below:  

For the Difference of Ayesha's (ra) and Asma's (ra) Age:  

According to Abd al-Rahman ibn abi zannaad:

Asma (ra) was ten years older than Ayesha. (Siyar A`la'ma'l-nubala', Al-Zahabi, Vol. 2, pg. 289, Arabic, Mu'assasatu'l-risala'h, Beirut, 1992)  

According to Ibn Kathir:

She [i.e. Asma] was ten years elder to her sister [i.e. Ayesha]. (Al-Bidaayah wa al-Nihaayah, Ibn Kathir, Vol. 8, pg. 371, Arabic, Dar al-fikr al-`arabiy, Al-jizah, 1933)  

For Asma's (ra) Age at Her Death in 73 AH

According to Ibn Kathir:

She [i.e. Asma] witnessed the killing of her son during that year [i.e. 73 AH], as we have already mentioned, five days later she herself died, according to other narratives her death was not five but ten or twenty or a few days over twenty or a hundred days later. The most well known narrative is that of hundred days later. At the time of her death, she was 100 years old. (Al-Bidaayah wa al-Nihaayah, Ibn Kathir, Vol. 8, pg. 372, Arabic, Dar al-fikr al-`arabiy, Al-jizah, 1933).  

According to Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalaaniy:

She [i.e. Asma (ra)] lived a hundred years and died in 73 or 74 AH." (Taqreeb al-Tehzeeb, Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalaaniy, Pg. 654, Arabic, Bab fi al-nisaa, al-Harf al-alif, Lucknow)}}

Amjad’s objection to Sina’s analysis is similar to that of the previous argument.

{{Quote|1=[http://www.faithfreedom.org/Articles/sina/ayesha_age.htm Ali Sina]|2=When someone gets that old, people don't care too much about her exact age. It is very easy to say she was 100 years old when in fact she was only 90. The difference is not noticeable to the younger folks and 100 is a round figure. Assuming the Hadith is authentic, it could be an honest mistake. Since in those days people did not carry birth certificates, it is very much likely that the person who reported her age to be 100 did not know that she was 10 years older than Ayesha and did not sit to make the calculations and deductions. She was not an important person and it did not occur to anyone that 1300 years later it would become the subject of a controversy. This could be a genuine mistake by the narrator of the Hadith.}}

{{Quote|1={{Cite web quotebox|url= http://www.understanding-islam.com/discussions/sources-of-islam/a-refutation-of-your-analysis-of-ayesha-s-ra-age|title=  A 'Refutation' of Your Analysis of Ayesha's (ra) Age|publisher= understanding-islam.com|author= Moiz Amjad|date= |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.understanding-islam.com%2Fdiscussions%2Fsources-of-islam%2Fa-refutation-of-your-analysis-of-ayesha-s-ra-age&date=2013-11-18 |deadurl=no}}|2=Once again, the author is only pointing out towards a possibility. It should be kept in mind that the author is trying to establish that Ayesha (ra) was nine years old at the time of her marriage with the Prophet (pbuh). The author should be reminded that pointing out mere possibilities of error in the given information would not serve his purpose. Obviously, contrary to what the author contends, it is also "Possible" that the information given in the given in the cited paragraph is correct.

The author should also keep in mind that the target of my writings on the issue is not to "prove" that Ayesha (ra) was "X" years old at the time of the consummation of her marriage with the Prophet (pbuh). On the contrary, my objective was merely to show that the generally held view regarding Ayesha's (ra) age at the time of her marriage with the Prophet (pbuh) is not based upon contradiction-free information.}}

Apparently Amjad is not worried that his arguments all derive conflicting ages for Aisha, thus debunking each other.

Shaykh Haddad also challenges the accuracy of the information, thus casting doubt on Amjad’s source material.

{{Quote|1=[http://www.webcitation.org/67gTj2QC2 Gibril Haddad]|2=Well, Ibn Kathir based himself on Ibn Abi al-Zinad's assertion that she was ten years older than `A'isha, however, al-Dhahabi in Siyar A`lam al-Nubala' said there was a greater difference than 10 years between the two, up to 19, and he is more reliable here.

Ibn Hajar reports in al-Isaba from Hisham ibn `Urwa, from his father, that Asma' did live 100 years, and from Abu Nu`aym al-Asbahani that "Asma' bint Abi Bakr was born 27 years before the Hijra, and she lived until the beginning of the year 74." None of this amounts to any proof for `A'isha's age whatsoever.}}

Using inaccurate data, Amjad assumes Asma was older than Aisha by 10 years when a more reliable source says the age difference is up to 19 years. Taking this more reliable information calculates Aisha’s age at around nine years old, completely in accordance with the sahih hadiths where Aisha herself said she was nine years old.

===Eighth Argument: Tabari's Account===

{{Quote|1=[http://www.understanding-islam.com/ri/mi-005.htm Moiz Amjad]|2=Tabari in his treatise on Islamic history, while mentioning Abu Bakr (ra) reports that Abu Bakr had four children and all four were born during the Jahiliyyah - the pre-Islamic period. Obviously, if Ayesha (ra) was born in the period of jahiliyyah, she could not have been less than 14 years in 1 AH - the time she most likely got married.  

The original statement in Tabari, its translation and reference follows:

All four of his [i.e. Abu Bakr's] children were born of his two wives - the names of whom we have already mentioned - during the pre-Islamic period. (Tarikh al-umam wa al-mamloo'k, Al-Tabari, Vol. 4, Pg. 50, Arabic, Dar al-fikr, Beirut, 1979)}}

Shaykh Gibril Haddad says that the evidence Amjad provided above is false.

===Thirteenth Argument: Arab Tradition===

{{Quote|1=[http://www.understanding-islam.com/ri/mi-005.htm Moiz Amjad]|2=In my opinion, neither was it an Arab tradition to give away girls in marriage at an age as young as nine or ten years, nor did the Prophet (pbuh) marry Ayesha (ra) at such a young age. The people of Arabia did not object to this marriage, because it never happened in the manner it has been narrated.}}

Although we agree there is no evidence to support the claim (usually made by Muslims in defence of Muhammad's pedophilia) that it was an Arab tradition to give away pre-pubescent young girls in marriage to old men, no credence should be given to mere ‘opinion’ of Aisha's age of consummation when there are sahih hadiths that explicitly state that Aisha married and had sex with Muhammad when she was aged only nine.

Although an ad hominem, this neatly summarizes what an actual Muslim scholar thinks about Moiz Amjad’s scholarship.

{{Quote|1=[http://www.webcitation.org/67gTj2QC2 Gibril Haddad]|2=Those that itch to follow misguidance always resort to solipsisms because they are invariably thin on sources. In this particular case "the Learner" proves to be ignorant and dishonest. It is no surprise he moves on every single point, without exception, from incorrect premises to false conclusions.}}

==Conclusion==

Apologists have presented a series of arguments as to why the generally accepted understanding of Aisha’s age (i.e. nine-years-old) when she married and had sex with Muhammad, based on commonly known narratives, is erroneous and contradictory. However, on closer inspection, we find they have produced arguments that can be broadly categorized into these categories:  

:A. Unjustified slanders against Hisham ibn Urwah and the Iraqi narrators.

:B. The use of non-sahih information to refute otherwise sahih hadiths.

:C. The use of secondary, indirect sources in preference of direct testimonies.

:D. The use of ‘imprecise’ dating in preference to specific dates and statements of age.

:E. The use of misquoted references and erroneous information.

:F. The use of incorrect logic.

:G. Personal opinion.

When one examines their claims, one sees that their arguments contradict and debunk each other. Argument No. 5 says she was 14 to 21 years old. However, argument No. 6 says she was 15+, argument No. 7 says she was 17 or 18, argument No. 8 says Aisha was 14+, argument No. 9 says she was 12+, and argument No. 12 says she was 12. In other words, each and every one of the evidences contradicts and debunks all the others. Which of these so-called arguments is correct? They cannot all be correct. Clearly the apologists do not have a clue.  

They have used doubtful data and assumptions for their calculations. In reality, all the arguments are false. Instead of using sahih hadiths, they use non-sahih source material. Instead of using specific and clear age testimony, they use events that cannot possibly be dated with any degree of accuracy. Instead of using traditions of acknowledged authenticity, they prefer to believe unsubstantiated slander and misquotations. Hardly a solid foundation for establishing facts. No wonder they cannot provide a consistent answer to the question of Aisha’s age.  

Their argument appears to be that because they themselves, using spurious information, derive multiple conflicting ages for the one specific event in Aisha’s life, then we must throw out what we know about her age at this event. In effect, they are saying that just because they are using rubbish data, we have to throw out the sahih hadiths. However, this is not the logical outcome. A reasonable person would note that whilst their arguments debunk each other, all of the sahih hadith in regards to Aisha's age of consummation are in perfect harmony. Thus, rather than discarding the good with the bad, we will merely throw out the bad; in this case, the weak apologetic attempt to obfuscate our understanding that Aisha was aged nine when she married and had sex with Muhammad.

{{Core Pedophilia}}

==See Also==

* [[Muhammad and the Clinical Definition of Pedophilia]]

* [[Responses to Apologetics - Muhammad and Aisha|Responses to Apologetics: Muhammad and Aisha]]

==External Links==

*[http://www.sunnipath.com/about/shaykhgibrilhaddad.aspx Shaykh Gibril Haddad] ''- Biography of Shaykh Gibril Fouad Haddad at SunniPath, The online Islamic Academy''

*[http://www.faithfreedom.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10197&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15&sid=61510bd178b644d956b58527d0bbd500 Evidence Muhammad was a pedophile] ''- FFI forum thread which deals with further apologetics''

*[http://www.jihadwatch.org/2007/05/really-really-wishing-aisha-werent-nine.html Really, really wishing Aisha weren't nine] ''- Robert Spencer debates a typical non-Muslim apologist for Islam''

*[http://www.answering-islam.org/Responses/Learner/index.htm Responses to "The Learner" (Moiz Amjad) and others] - ''Collection of Answering Islam articles''  

==Acknowledgments==

This article is greatly indebted to the following:

*Dr Ali Sina, founder of Faith Freedom International and author of Understanding Muhammad, for [http://www.faithfreedom.org/Articles/sina/ayesha_age.htm Controversies about the age of Aisha]

*Dr. Shaykh Gibril Fouad Haddad, scholar and muhaddith (hadith expert), for [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.sunniforum.com/forum/showthread.php?2925-Our-Mother-Aisha-s-Age-at-the-Time-of-Her-Marriage-to-the-Prophet-saw|2=2011-05-04}} Our Mother A'isha's Age At The Time Of Her Marriage to The Prophet]

*The Muslimhope website, for [http://www.muslimhope.com/aishanine.htm A’isha: Mohammed’s Nine-Year Old Wife]

==References==

[[Category: Muhammad and Aisha]]

[[Category:Pedophilia]]

[[Category:Muhammad]]

[[Category:Islam and Women]]

{{Page_title|Aisha's Age of Consummation}}