Aisha bint Abi Bakr
The Age of Aishah
The issue of `A'ishah bint Abi Bakr has arisen purely
around the fact that she married Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon
him) when she was young and as you said, “Do we know what her true age was?”
The problem is that we are dependent on reports of information. Even with
accurate reporting, it is difficult to sustain that level of accuracy 100% of
the time, all the time.
The true records that are referred to by Muslims for
guidance are the Qur’an and the Hadiths (traditions) of Prophet Muhammad, the
essence of both of which is the religion of Islam. They are not sociology
textbooks although Islam covers all aspects of life. One of the foremost
records depended upon is the collection of hadiths of Prophet Muhammad in the Sahih
of Al-Bukhari. From the translation of Dr. Amin Al-Masri of Cambridge
University, England and Head of Shari`ah at the College of Shari`ah and Islamic
Studies in Makkah, we are informed:
`A'ishah reported that the Prophet wrote the marriage
contract with her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage
when she was nine years old. Hisham said: “I have been informed that `A'ishah
remained with the Prophet for nine years (i.e., till his death).” (Al-Bukhari
7: 65)
The Prophet wrote the (marriage contract) with `A'ishah
while she was six years old and consummated his marriage with her while she was
nine years old and she remained with him for nine years (i.e., till his death).
(Al-Bukhari 7: 88)
Islamic scholar Maulana Muhammad Ali was one of the first
to challenge `A’ishah’s age. In his books Muhammad, the Prophet and Living
Thoughts of the Prophet Muhammad, he states:
A great misconception prevails as to the age at which `A'ishah
was taken in marriage by the Prophet. Ibn Sa`d has stated in the Tabaqat
that when Abu Bakr (father of `A’ishah) was approached on behalf of the
Prophet, he replied that the girl had already been betrothed to Jubair and that
he would have to settle the matter first with him. This shows that `A'ishah
must have been approaching maturity at the time.
Again, the Isaba, speaking of the Prophet’s
daughter Fatimah, says that she was born five years before the Call and was
about five years older than `A’ishah. This shows that `A'ishah must have been
about ten years at the time of her betrothal to the Prophet, and not six years
as she is generally supposed to be.
This is further borne out by the fact that `A'ishah
herself is reported to have
stated that when the fifty-fourth chapter [i.e., surah] of
the Qur’an entitled “The Moon” [Al-Qamar] was revealed, she was a girl playing
about and remembered certain verses then revealed. Now the fifty-fourth chapter
was undoubtedly revealed before the sixth year of the Call. All these
considerations point to but one conclusion, viz., that `A'ishah could not have
been less than ten years of age at the time of her nikah, which was
virtually only a betrothal.
And there is one report in the Tabaqat that
`A'ishah was nine years of age at the time of nikah. Again it is a fact
admitted on all hands that the nikah of `A'ishah took place in the tenth
year of the Call in the month of Shawwal. This is while there is also
preponderance of evidence as to the consummation of her marriage taking place
in the second year of Hijrah in the same month, which shows that full five
years had elapsed between the nikah and the consummation. Hence, there
is not the least doubt that `A’isha was at least nine or ten years of age at the
time of betrothal, and fourteen or fifteen years at the time of marriage.
If we dig deeper, we find that the great Islamic historian
Ibn Jarir At-Tabari in his History iterated:
In the time before Islam, Abu Bakr married two women. The
first was Fatila daughter of `Abdul `Uzza, from whom `Abdullah and `Asmaa’ were
born. Then he married Umm Ruman, from whom `Abdur-Rahman and `A'ishah were
born. These four were born before Islam.
Looking at `A'ishah's impressions of her early life, we
can indeed see that she was born before the Call:
Since I reached the age when I could remember things, I
have seen my parents worshiping according to the right faith of Islam. Not a
single day passed but Allah’s Messenger visited us both in the morning and in
the evening. When the Muslims were persecuted, Abu Bakr set out for Ethiopia as
an emigrant. When he reached a place called Bark Al-Ghimad, he met Ibn
Ad-Daghna, the chief of the Qara tribe, who asked Abu Bakr, “Where are you
going?” Abu Bakr said, “My people have turned me out of the country and I would
like to tour the world and worship my Lord.” Ibn Ad-Daghna said, “A man like
you will not go out, nor will he be turned out, as you help the poor earn their
living, keep good relations with your kith and kin, help the disabled (or the
dependents), provide guests with food and shelter, and help people during their
troubles. I am your protector. So, go back and worship your Lord at your home.”
Ibn Ad-Daghna went along with Abu Bakr and took him to the
chiefs of Quraysh saying to them, “A man like Abu Bakr will not go out, nor
will he be turned out. Do you turn out a man who helps the poor earn their
living, keeps good relations with kith and kin, helps the disabled, provides
guests with food and shelter and helps the people during their troubles?”
(Al-Bukhari 3: 37 #494)
570 CE: Prophet Muhammad born
595 CE: Married Khadijah, his first wife
610 CE: Received the revelation that led to his Call to
Islam
613 CE: Started preaching publicly
615 CE: His daughter Fatimah born
622 CE: Left Makkah for Madinah
623 CE: `A'ishah entered the household of Prophet Muhammad
625 CE: Battle of Uhud
The famous classical commentator on the Qur’an, Ibn
Kathir, wrote in Al-Bidayya wan-Nihaya: “Asmaa’ died in 73 AH at the age
of one hundred years. She was ten years older than her sister `A'ishah.”
It might be worth noting that pubescence is characterized
by the proliferation of sex cells which begins with the menarche, or first
menstruation, in girls. Research has noted that the average age at which the
menarche begins has been decreasing among Western European girls and apparently
among girls of the United States and Canada, as well, since as far back as
1976. What this means is that we should try to avoid generalizations about when
menstruation begins; this differs from culture to culture as well as epoch to
epoch. If you want to take this further: puberty comes from the Latin word pubertas,
which means “adult”. The Qur’an states what means:
*{And when the children among you have attained to
puberty, let them seek permission as those before them sought permission; thus
does Allah make clear to you His communications, and Allah is Knowing, Wise}*
(An-Nur 24:59)
It all depends on what one wishes to recognize, the laws
of nature or the social laws constructed by man. `A'ishah married willingly
under circumstances that supported that marriage, whichever argument one
chooses to follow.
