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→How Old was Aisha?
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This question has already been adequately answered [[Refutation of Modern Muslim Apologetics Against Aisha's Age|here]] and [[Responses to Apologetics: Muhammad and Aisha|here]]. In sum, there is absolutely no reason to doubt Aisha’s own statements. | This question has already been adequately answered [[Refutation of Modern Muslim Apologetics Against Aisha's Age|here]] and [[Responses to Apologetics: Muhammad and Aisha|here]]. In sum, there is absolutely no reason to doubt Aisha’s own statements. | ||
{{Quote|Bewley/Saad 8:44.|The Messenger of Allah married me when I was six and consummated the marriage when I was nine. I was playing on a see-saw … I used to play dolls.}} | {{Quote|Bewley/Saad 8:44.|The Messenger of Allah married me when I was six and consummated the marriage when '''I was nine'''. I was playing on a see-saw … I used to play dolls.}} | ||
{{Quote|{{Muslim|8|3310}}|Allah’s Apostle married me when I was six years old, and I was admitted to his house when I was nine years old.}} | {{Quote|{{Muslim|8|3310}}|Allah’s Apostle married me when I was six years old, and I was admitted to his house when '''I was nine years old.'''}} | ||
{{Quote|{{Tabari|39|p. 171}}.|The Prophet married Aisha in Shawwal in the tenth year after the prophethood, three years before the ''Hijra''. He consummated the marriage in Shawwal, eight months after the ''Hijra''. On the day he consummated the marriage with her, she was nine years old.}} | {{Quote|{{Tabari|39|p. 171}}.|The Prophet married Aisha in Shawwal in the tenth year after the prophethood, three years before the ''Hijra''. He consummated the marriage in Shawwal, eight months after the ''Hijra''. On the day he consummated the marriage with her, '''she was nine years old.'''}} | ||
Copious documentation on hundreds of Muhammad’s companions shows that most Arabs knew their age to the nearest year. Why should Aisha, with her extraordinary memory,<ref>For a modern assessment of Aisha’s contribution to the ''hadith'' literature, see Siddiqi, M. Z. (2006). ''Hadith Literature: its origin, development, special features and criticism'', pp. 33-34. Kuala Lumpar: Islamic Book Trust.</ref> her penchant for details and her talent for arithmetic,<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:47.</ref> have been any exception? To suggest that, contrary to her clear statement, she miscalculated or fabricated her own age is utterly insulting. The information about her death only confirms her consistency. | Copious documentation on hundreds of Muhammad’s companions shows that most Arabs knew their age to the nearest year. Why should Aisha, with her extraordinary memory,<ref>For a modern assessment of Aisha’s contribution to the ''hadith'' literature, see Siddiqi, M. Z. (2006). ''Hadith Literature: its origin, development, special features and criticism'', pp. 33-34. Kuala Lumpar: Islamic Book Trust.</ref> her penchant for details and her talent for arithmetic,<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:47.</ref> have been any exception? To suggest that, contrary to her clear statement, she miscalculated or fabricated her own age is utterly insulting. The information about her death only confirms her consistency. | ||
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If they knew that she had been born at the “beginning” and not the “middle” or the “end” of the year, it is unlikely that they would have been wrong about the year itself. “The fourth year of prophethood” was indeed the ninth year before the ''Hijra''. It was the year when Muhammad first preached Islam in public;<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 117.</ref> Aisha’s parents would not have forgotten what was happening around the city at the time when their daughter was born. Abu Bakr’s accuracy is not really surprising, as he was a recognised expert on genealogy,<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 115.</ref> so a person’s month of birth was exactly the kind of detail that he would remember. | If they knew that she had been born at the “beginning” and not the “middle” or the “end” of the year, it is unlikely that they would have been wrong about the year itself. “The fourth year of prophethood” was indeed the ninth year before the ''Hijra''. It was the year when Muhammad first preached Islam in public;<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 117.</ref> Aisha’s parents would not have forgotten what was happening around the city at the time when their daughter was born. Abu Bakr’s accuracy is not really surprising, as he was a recognised expert on genealogy,<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 115.</ref> so a person’s month of birth was exactly the kind of detail that he would remember. | ||
{{Quote|Muslim|8|3311|Aisha narrated that Allah’s Apostle married her when she was seven years old, and he she was taken to his house as a bride when she was nine, and her dolls were with her; and when he died she was 18 years old.}} | {{Quote|Muslim|8|3311|Aisha narrated that Allah’s Apostle married her when she was seven years old, and he she was taken to his house as a bride '''when she was nine''', and her dolls were with her; and when he died she was 18 years old.}} | ||
{{Quote|Ibn Majah|3|1877|Abdullah narrated. The Holy Prophet married Aisha while she was a seven-year-old girl and took her to his house as a bride when she was nine years old and he parted with her when she was 18 years old.}} | {{Quote|Ibn Majah|3|1877|Abdullah narrated. The Holy Prophet married Aisha while she was a seven-year-old girl and took her to his house as a bride '''when she was nine years old''' and he parted with her when she was 18 years old.}} | ||
These two narratives offer a variant for Aisha’s age when she was legally married, but this is an uncertainty about the date of the contract (two rather than three years before the consummation) and not about the date of Aisha’s birth, since they confirm that the marriage was consummated when she was nine. The real discrepancy can be missed by a Western reader, but it is obvious to anyone familiar with the Islamic calendar. | These two narratives offer a variant for Aisha’s age when she was legally married, but this is an uncertainty about the date of the contract (two rather than three years before the consummation) and not about the date of Aisha’s birth, since they confirm that the marriage was consummated when she was nine. The real discrepancy can be missed by a Western reader, but it is obvious to anyone familiar with the Islamic calendar. | ||