What was Ayesha (R.A)'s Age at the Time of Her Marriage?

What was Ayesha (R.A)’s Age at the Time of Her Marriage?

Written by OmEr on 03 November 2008

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It is normally believed that she was nine years old at the time of her marriage with Mohammad (sws) was consummated. I do think it was according to the traditions of the Arab culture, as otherwise people would have objected to this marriage. But unfortunately, the modern day man is not satisfied with an answer as simple as that.

REPLY

To begin with, I think it is the responsibility of all those who believe that marrying a girl as young as nine years old was an accepted norm of the Arab culture, to provide at least a few examples to substantiate their point of view. I have not yet been able to find a single dependable instance in the books of Arab history where a girl as young as nine years old was given away in marriage. Unless such examples are given, we do not have any reasonable grounds to believe that it really was an accepted norm.

In my opinion, the age of Ayesha (May Allah be Pleased with Her) has been grossly mis-reported in the ahadith. Not only that, I think that the narratives reporting this event are not only highly unreliable but also that on the basis of other historical data, the event reported, is quite an unlikely happening. Let us look at the issue from an objective stand point. My reservations in accepting the narratives, on the basis of which, Ayesha’s (May Allah be Pleased with Her) age at the time of her marriage with the Prophet (Peace be upon Him) is held to be nine years are:

Most of these narratives are reported only by Hisham ibn `urwah reporting on the authority of his father. An event as well known as the one being reported, should logically have been reported by more people than just one, two or three.

It is quite strange that no one from Medinah, where Hisham ibn `urwah lived the first seventy one years of his life has narrated the event, even though in Medinah his pupils included people as well known as Malik ibn Anas. All the narratives of this event have been reported by narrators from Iraq, where Hisham is reported to have had shifted after living in Medinah for seventy one years.

Tehzibu’l-tehzib, one of the most well known books on the life and reliability of the narrators of the traditions of the Prophet (Peace be upon Him) reports that according to Yaqub ibn Shaibah: “narratives reported by Hisham are reliable except those that are reported through the people of Iraq”. It further states that Malik ibn Anas objected on those narratives of Hisham which were reported through people of Iraq. (vol 11, pg 48 – 51)

Mizanu’l-ai`tidal, another book on the narrators of the traditions of the Prophet (Peace be upon Him) reports that when he was old, Hisham’s memory suffered quite badly. (vol 4, pg 301 – 302)

According to the generally accepted tradition, Ayesha (May Allah be Pleased with Her) was born about eight years before Hijrah. But according to another narrative in Bukhari (kitabu’l-tafseer) Ayesha (May Allah be Pleased with Her) is reported to have said that at the time Surah Al-Qamar, the 54th chapter of the Qur’an, was revealed, “I was a young girl”. The 54th surah of the Qur’an was revealed nine years before Hijrah. According to this tradition, Ayesha (May Allah be Pleased with Her) had not only been born before the revelation of the referred surah, but was actually a young girl (jariyah), not an infant (sibyah) at that time. Obviously, if this narrative is held to be true, it is in clear contradiction with the narratives reported by Hisham ibn `urwah. I see absolutely no reason that after the comments of the experts on the narratives of Hisham ibn `urwah, why we should not accept this narrative to be more accurate.

According to a number of narratives, Ayesha (May Allah be Pleased with Her) accompanied the Muslims in the battle of Badr and Uhud. Furthermore, it is also reported in books of hadith and history that no one under the age of 15 years was allowed to take part in the battle of Uhud. All the boys below 15 years of age were sent back. Ayesha’s (May Allah be Pleased with Her) participation in the battle of Badr and Uhud clearly indicate that she was not nine or ten years old at that time. After all, women used to accompany men to the battle fields to help them, not to be a burden on them.

According to almost all the historians Asma (May Allah be Pleased with Her), the elder sister of Ayesha (May Allah be Pleased with Her) was ten years older than Ayesha (May Allah be Pleased with Her). It is reported in Taqri’bu’l-tehzi’b as well as Al-bidayah wa’l-nihayah that Asma (May Allah be Pleased with Her) died in 73 hijrah when she was 100 years old. Now, obviously if Asma (May Allah be Pleased with Her) was 100 years old in 73 hijrah she should have been 27 or 28 years old at the time of hijrah. If Asma (May Allah be Pleased with Her) was 27 or 28 years old at the time of hijrah, Ayesha (May Allah be Pleased with Her) should have been 17 or 18 years old at that time. Thus, Ayesha (May Allah be Pleased with Her), 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.

Tabari in his treatise on Islamic history, while mentioning Abu Bakr (May Allah be Pleased with Her) reports that Abu Bakr had four children and all four were born during the Jahiliyyah – the pre Islamic period. Obviously, if Ayesha (May Allah be Pleased with Her) 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.

According to Ibn Hisham, the historian, Ayesha (May Allah be Pleased with Her) accepted Islam quite some time before Umar ibn Khattab (May Allah be Pleased with Her). This shows that Ayesha (May Allah be Pleased with Her) accepted Islam during the first year of Islam. While, if the narrative of Ayesha’s (May Allah be Pleased with Her) marriage at seven years of age is held to be true, Ayesha (May Allah be Pleased with Her) should not have been born during the first year of Islam.

Tabari has also reported that at the time Abu Bakr planned on migrating to Habshah (8 years before Hijrah), he went to Mut`am — with whose son Ayesha (May Allah be Pleased with Her) was engaged — and asked him to take Ayesha (May Allah be Pleased with Her) in his house as his son’s wife. Mut`am refused, because Abu Bakr had embraced Islam, and subsequently his son divorced Ayesha (May Allah be Pleased w
ith Her). Now, if Ayesha (May Allah be Pleased with Her) was only seven years old at the time of her marriage, she could not have been born at the time Abu Bakr decided on migrating to Habshah. On the basis of this report it seems only reasonable to assume that Ayesha (May Allah be Pleased with Her) had not only been born 8 years before hijrah, but was also a young lady, quite prepared for marriage.

According to a narrative reported by Ahmad ibn Hanbal, after the death of Khadijah (May Allah be Pleased with Her), when Khaulah (May Allah be Pleased with Her) came to the Prophet (Peace be upon Him) advising him to marry again, the Prophet (Peace be upon Him) asked her regarding the choices she had in her mind. Khaulah said: “You can marry a virgin (bikr) or a woman who has already been married (thayyib)”. When the Prophet (Peace be upon Him) asked about who the virgin was, Khaulah proposed Ayesha’s (May Allah be Pleased with Her) name. All those who know the Arabic language, are aware that the word “bikr” in the Arabic language is not used for an immature nine year old girl. The correct word for a young playful girl, as stated earlier is “Jariyah“. “Bikr” on the other hand, is used for an unmarried lady, and obviously a nine year old is not a “lady”.

According to Ibn Hajar, Fatimah (May Allah be Pleased with Her) was five years older than Ayesha (May Allah be Pleased with Her). Fatimah (May Allah be Pleased with Her) is reported to have been born when the Prophet (Peace be upon Him) was 35 years old. Thus, even if this information is taken to be correct, Ayesha (May Allah be Pleased with Her) could by no means be less than 14 years old at the time of hijrah, and 15 or 16 years old at the time of her marriage.

These are some of the major points that go against accepting the commonly known narrative regarding Ayesha’s (May Allah be Pleased with Her) age at the time of her marriage.

KINDLY ALSO SEE:

The Myth Exposed! Hazrat Ayesha (R.A)’s Age at the time of Nikah/Marriage

Did Ayesha(R.A) marry Prophet Muhammad (PbuH) at the Age of 6?

Hazrat Ayesha was 17 at Nikah, Not 7