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The family lived near 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, 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. | The family lived near 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, 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 on a house 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> Her | 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 on a house 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> Her paternal grandparents, already in their seventies 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 smacked 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&dq=The+Concept+of+Sainthood+in+Early+Islamic+Mysticism&hl=en&sa=X&ei=qRyWUdLdHo6eiAerrIGICw&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA/ 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.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=Abu+Bakr+Quhafa+slapped+spoke+disrespectfully&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDQQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tasawwuf.org%2Fwritings%2Flove_prophet%2Flove_abubakr.pdf&ei=wviWUdTMMOnriAff84GQBQ&usg=AFQjCNHgwNQJIChmM32Q3hWidenwBVQ3vQ&bvm=bv.46751780,d.aGc&cad=rja/ “The Love of Hadrat Abu Bakr”, p. 6, in ''Tasawwuf'']. It is said that Allah sent down {{Quran|58|22}} in response.</ref> but he did not cut ties. By contrast, Aisha’s full brother, Abdulrahman, refused to convert to Islam, and Abu Bakr made him leave the family home.<ref></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> | 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> |