By Shazim Ahmad (Facebook)
Hadhrat Ayesha (ra) was the third wife o f the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) and the daughter of Hadhrat Abu Bakr (ra) and Hadhrat Zaynab (ra) (Um Rumaan). She was young when she married the Holy Prophet, but her age was never an issue until it has recently become an issue for Islamophobic writers. It is important to note that any Hadith which does not conform to the teachings of the Qur’an should be rejected for the obvious reasons that the Qur’an is the word of God and has been precisely preserved, whereas the Ahadith are collections of sayings of the Holy Prophet (saw) recorded long after the Prophet’s death. Looking at truly authentic sources, the Holy Qur’an states:
‘And assess the orphans until they attain the age of marriage; then, if you find sound judgment in them, release their property to them.’ (Al Qur’an 4:7). Thus the Qur’an gives a clear definition of adulthood and marriageable age – when one has attained a good measure of mental maturity. As such, the property of the orphans must be handed over to them when they have mature intellect to properly manage it. So the Qur’an rejects the marriage of immature girls and boys as well as entrusting them with serious responsibilities. Hadhrat Ayesha (ra), when asked to describe the Prophet’s character; answered that his character was the Qur’an (Abu Dawud). What he did was what the Qur’an taught; what the Qur’an taught was nothing else than what he did. Thus, the Holy Prophet (saw) could not have married a little immature child as it is against the teachings of the Holy Qur’an.
Most historians agree with the following dates in the history of Islam:
• 610 AD: Islam was founded when the Prophet received his first revelation
• 615 AD: Muslims migrated to Abyssinia.
• 621 AD: Hadhrat Ayesha (ra) was engaged to the Prophet Muhammad (saw)
• 622 AD : Migration to Madina (End of 622)
• 625 AD: Hadhrat Ayesha (ra) was married to the Prophet.
The time before Islam is known as the time of ignorance. Tabari in his treatise on Islamic history, reports, “In the time of ignorance he [Abu Bakr] married Um Rumaan. … She bore him Abdul Rahman and Ayesha. All of his four children which are mentioned here were born during the time of ignorance.” i.e before 610 AD.
There is a fifteen year period from the beginning of Islam to the marriage of the Prophet with Ayesha. {Tareekh-e-Tabari Vol 1 Part-II, P-250}. If Ayesha was born before Islam, thus in the time of ignorance, then she was at least 15 years old at the time of her marriage One hadith states that Ayesha said: “This revelation: ‘Nay, but the Hour is their appointed time (for their full recompense), and the Hour will be more grievous and more bitter’ (54:47) was revealed to Muhammad (saw) at Makkah while I was a playful girl.” {Sahih Bukhari. Vol.6 , book 60, hadith 399}. The general consensus is that Chapter 54 was revealed eight years before migration to Medina, indicating that it was revealed in 615 AD. If Ayesha was a young girl of even 4 or 5 in 615 AD when this chapter was revealed, she would have been 14 or 15 at the time of marriage.
Similarly, Ibn Hajar, a famous historian, writes, “Fatima; daughter of the Holy Prophet (saw) was born at the time the Ka’bah was rebuilt, when the Prophet was 35 years old.… She was five years older than Ayesha (ra).” {Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Vol 4, Pg 377}. If this statement is factual, Ayesha (ra) was born when the Prophet was 40. Thus, Ayesha would have been 15 when she married the Prophet.
According to most historians, Asma, Ayesha’s elder sister was 10 years older than Ayesha (ra). It is narrated that Asma died at the ripe old age of 100 years, 73 years after the migration to Medina. Thus, Amsa would have been 27 at the time of the migration, and Ayesha (ra) would have been 17. Under this explanation, Ayesha (ra) would have been married at 19, two years after migration. {Ibn Kathir, Vol 8, Pg 371, Taqribu’l-tehzib}
After the death of the Prophet’s first wife, Khaula came to the Prophet advising him to marry again. The Prophet asked her regarding the choices. She said, “You can marry a bikr or a thayyib.” When the Prophet asked the identity of the bikr she mentioned Ayesha’s name. Bikr is used for a fully grown and mature virgin lady, not a child. Thayyib is used for a woman who has been divorced or widowed. This also illustrates that Hadhrat Ayesha (ra) was not a little child at the time of her marriage. Thus, according to various accounts, Ayesha’s age at the time of her marriage to the Prophet was between 15 and 19.
Collection of our articles about Hadhrat Ayesha’s age at marriage
Book Review: EXTREMIST: A Response to Geert Wilders & Terrorists Everywhere
Ayesha’s Age at the Time of Her Marriage – A Response to Innocence of Muslims
Hadhrat Ayesha: A loving wife of the Holy Prophet of Islam
Rejecting the Myth of Sanctioned Child Marriage in Islam
Categories: Asia, Family values, gender, Islam, Law and Religion, Middle East, Muslim Heritage, Saudi Arabia, Sharia, Women Rights
Extremely intresting article. Removes many doubts. Well done Mr Rafiq. Keep it up.
Hadhrat Ayesha: A loving wife of the Holy Prophet of Islam
This is an article by Dr. Khaula Rehman, published in spring 2010 volume of Muslim Sunrise.
Different cultures in the past had different norms about marriage, for example, we know about the great Chinese sage, possibly a prophet of God, Confucius that his father Shu-liang, was a very old man and his mother a mere girl in her teens when Confucius was conceived. I have never known any Westerner raise hue and cry about this age disparity.
Ayesha’s marriage at a young and impressionable age and the mutual love and harmony of her marriage helped her idealize her husband and his teachings to such a degree that she became a perfect student and an ideal teacher for generations to come. To read the whole article go to:
http://www.muslimsunrise.com/dmddocuments/2010_spring.pdf#page=38
Age of Confucius parents and the double standard in the West
Different cultures in the past had different norms about marriage, for example, we know about the great Chinese sage, possibly a prophet of God, Confucius that his father Shu-liang, was a very old man and his mother a mere girl in her teens when Confucius was conceived. I have never known any Westerner raise hue and cry about this age disparity.
All too prevalent criticism of Hadhrat Ayesha’s age at the time of marriage only reveals the old rivalries and jealousy of the Christendom against the Holy Prophet Muhammad, otherwise the West never judges other cultures of the past so harshly on the anvil of modern day standards.
The reference of the age of Confucius parents:
Prof. Mark W Muesse. Confucius, Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad. The Great Courses transcript book, 2010. Page 40.
Thomas Carlyle about Prophet Muhammad’s wives
The Prohet Muhammad, may peace be upon him, married Hadhrat Khadija when he was 25 years of age. She was 15 years his senior. The Christian apologists never worry about this age difference in marriage and that exposes their negativity when it comes to the marriage of Hadhrat Ayesha.
Until the age of 53 the prophet had only one wife and it was only after the tragic death of Hadhrat Khadija that he married again.
Thomas Carlyle, the great British historian writes about this particular situation in the Prophet’s life as follows:
“How he was placed with Kadijah, a rich Widow, as her steward, and travelled in her business, again to the Fairs of Syria; how he managed all, as one can well understand, with fidelity and adroitness; how her gratitude, her regard for him grew: the story of their marriage is altogether a graceful intelligible one, as told us by the Arab authors. He was twenty five; she forty, though still beautiful. He seems to have lived in a most affectionate, peaceable, wholesome way with this wedded benefactress; loving her truly, and her alone. It goes greatly against the impostor theory, the fact that he lived in this entirely unexceptionable, entirely quiet and commonplace way, till the heat of his years was done.”
(On heroes, hero-worship and the heroic in history.)
In the discussions on ‘the right age of marriage’ one aspect seems to be totally overlooked these days. Or rather Muslims and ‘Christians’ (or ‘Secularists’ rather) look at it totally differently and they do not know that the otherone thinks differently.
For a Muslim sexual relations (should) start with marriage and consequently the age of marriage should be the same as the age of the beginning of sexual relations. In the West also the beginning of sexual relations is low. The average age when sexual relations start is 15 1/2 in Iceland, 16 1/2 in most of the rest of Europe. Therefore of course the marriage age should be the same. (Actually it is 30+ in Europe these days).
Well, they think that is ok. We do not. Need we say more?