In the name of Allah the Beneficent
the Merciful
Praise be to God, and peace upon the
Seal of Prophets.
Age of Al-Sayyida Aisha When
She Married the Prophet Muhammad
(peace and mercy of God be upon
him)
Contents
Abstract
Introduction
Orientation to Dates
Awareness of Age
in Pre-Modern Societies
Evidence that Aisha was Between Fifteen and Nineteen Years of Age
Chronological Imprecision in the Prophetic Biography
Conceptualisation of Numbers in Primitive Societies
Differences in the ‘six-nine’ narrations
More Evidence that the Relationship was not Inappropriate
Why did the ‘six-nine’ narrations gain such prominence?
Conclusion
Appendix: Authors
note
Abstract
Although the
widely-cited hadith states that Aisha was nine years old when her marriage to
the Prophet (upon him be peace) was consummated, this is contradicted by strong
historical evidence. Tabari, the famous historian and hadith expert, states
that Aisha was born at least fifteen years before the marriage was consummated,
and both early prophetic biographers, Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Hisham, mention that
Aisha was amongst the earliest converts to Islam, once again making her much
older than the ‘six-nine’ reports indicate, and corroborating Tabari’s opinion.
Also, reports of Aisha’s age in works by such authorities as Nawawi, `Asqallani
and Ibn Kathir all place her in her late teens at the time the marriage was
consummated. Moreover, historical reports in books such as Saheeh al-Bukari
contain descriptions of Aisha in which she appears much older than the
‘six-nine’ narrations would suggest. Pre-modern people were typically not aware of
age or birth dates as we are in modern bureaucratised society, and conceptualisation of numbers was also very different in the
past. Pre-modern people would often approximate their age when asked, and
numbers were often expressed as descriptors rather than intended to be
chronologically precise.
Introduction
This article argues that Al-Sayyida Aisha
was between fifteen and nineteen years of age when her marriage to the Prophet
(peace be upon him) was consummated and not nine as is often assumed.
The widely-cited prophetic narration (hadith),
recorded by al-Bukhari and others, in which Aisha stated that she was betrothed
when she was six and the marriage was consummated when she was nine[1],
has become the basis of personal attacks on the character of the Prophet (peace
be upon him).
This article argues that the ages mentioned
in this hadith are contradicted by historical evidence, including other hadiths
and historical reports.
The author also suggests that the actual
numbers stated in the hadith were never meant to be precise, and Arabs of the
time, like many other pre-modern people, did not have a calendar system and
chronological accuracy was simply not a feature of their culture. It is almost
certain that Aisha did not know her precise age and, in fact, it was not a
feature of her socio-cultural milieu to be accurately aware of one’s age in the
way that one is accustomed to in today’s bureaucratised society.
The authenticity of this hadith is not
questioned but, rather, the argument is that the figures mentioned are not
chronologically precise.
Several traditional Muslim scholars[2]
and western academics[3] have
also questioned that Aisha was only nine years old when the marriage was
consummated.
Orientation to Dates:
Commencement of prophecy was in year 609
CE, when the Prophet (upon him be peace) was in his fortieth year of age. The
Hijrah, or emigration to Medina, took place thirteen years later in 622 CE, and
the marriage to Aisha was consummated in 623 or 624 CE (in the second year
after the hijrah).
Awareness
of Age in Pre-Modern Societies
Perusing the extensive classical Islamic
biographical literature[4]
reveals that birth dates, which were important in the authentication of hadith
transmission, are almost always disagreed upon, even for the most famous
personalities. Almost all biographical notes mention several opinions regarding
the subject’s year of birth. This is the case even following the introduction
of the Islamic calendar during the caliphate of Sayyiduna Umar. Of course, it
would not have been known at birth that a person was destined to become a
hadith transmitter, and that his birth date would become an important item of
information. A hadith transmitter, just like any other medieval citizen, would
not be expected to know his year of birth or age except in an approximate sense.
This demonstrates that in medieval Arab civilisation, even following the
introduction of a formal calendar system, people were not aware of their precise
birth dates. Pre-modern people, in general, simply did not measure and record
time in the way we do today. This still exists, as it is not difficult to find
people in less ‘developed’ countries who have only very approximate ideas of
their age
The way pre-Islamic Arabs referred to the
chronology of events was to relate them to particularly memorable occurrences.
For example, the ‘Year of the Elephant’ referred to the year in which Abraha’s
army tried to invade Makkah. We know when the Prophet (peace be upon him) was
born because biographers mention that he was born in the ‘Year of the Elephant’.
Only relatively recently, as modern societies
became more bureaucratised, were people in general required to be aware of
their exact ages.
In ancient
Looking at
Even today, in rural communities in
developing countries, one finds ordinary people do not know their age, and will
typically approximate or ‘round’ up or down when questioned. A villager may
tell you his age when questioned, only to give you a completely different
figure when asked again some time later. It is not that he is trying to
mislead, but this is actually the culturally ‘normal’ way of expressing age.
Evidence that Aisha was Between Fifteen and Nineteen Years
of Age when the marriage was consummated.
The marriage of Sayyida Aisha was
consummated after the Hijrah. Hadith specialist, al-Nawawi, places it
definitively in the second year, after the Battle of Badr.[7]
This provides a good example of how memorable events, in this case, the Battle
of Badr, were used as reference points for other events.
Despite the ‘six-nine’ hadith mentioned in
the introduction, most eminent early Muslim historians either state explicitly or
imply that Aisha was born prior to prophecy, which commenced thirteen years
before the Hijrah.
Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalláni states in
al-Isábah, citing al-Wáqidi, on the authority of al-`Abbás (uncle of the Prophet
), that “Fatima was born while the Ka`ba was
being built… and the Prophet was thirty-five years of age… and she [Fatima]
was about five years older than Aisha.”[8]
We can assume that this statement of
al-`Abbas is reliable as he remembers the birth of his nephew’s daughter taking
place while the Ka’ba was being rebuilt. This was an event of major spiritual
significance for Quraysh, and thus firmly etched in their memories.
For example, most people can tell you what
they were doing the day President Kennedy was assassinated (if they are old
enough), the first man walked on the moon or, to take a more recent event, the
day the September 11th attacks in
This report indicates that Aisha was born
approximately when the Prophet was forty, ie at the commencement of prophecy.
Therefore, she would have been at least fifteen when the marriage was
consummated in the second year after Hijra.
Early Islam’s most
renowned historian, al-Tabari, states: “In the Age of Ignorance [pre-Islamic
period], Abu Bakr married Qutaila daughter of `Abd al-`Uzza…and she bore for
him `Abdullah and Asmaa…he also married, in the Age of Ignorance, Umm Ruman
daughter of `Amir…she bore for him `Abd al-Rahman and `Aisha. All four of these
children were born in the pre-Islamic period.”[9]
This statement of
al-Tabari, a scholar renowned for his accuracy and critical methodology[10], clearly
asserts that Aisha was born before the beginning of prophecy. However, we know that al-Tabari is aware
of the ‘six-nine’ hadith as he quotes it in the same book.[11]
This apparent contradiction can be understood when the methodology of the early
hadith scholars is taken into account. Early works, like al-Tabari’s, were
careful to differentiate between transmitted reports from earlier authorities and
the compiler’s own opinion. For example, in his famous tafsir work, Tabari’s
format is to cite the opinions of earlier scholars (with the corresponding
chain of narrators) before giving his own opinion on the quranic verse in
question. Often he will agree with one of the transmitted reports and give his
reasoning as to why he believes it is stronger than other opinions. This method
constituted the scholarly responsibility to preserve faithfully the knowledge
of preceding generations even if it contradicted one’s own opinion.
We can assume that
where Tabari states that she was born prior to prophecy, he is expressing his
own opinion based upon all the evidence in his possession, having taken into
account the ‘six-nine’ narration.
The earliest biographers of the Prophet ,
Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Hisham, both state explicitly that Aisha was amongst the
earliest people to embrace Islam.
Ibn Ishaq, as quoted by Al-Nawawi in Tahdheeb
al-Asmaa wal-Lughaat, states that Aisha “embraced Islam when she was young,
after eighteen others had become Muslim.”[12]
Ibn Hisham lists the first converts to the
new religion and includes Aisha as one of them, adding that she was young (sagheerah)
at the time.[13]
Aisha embraced Islam, according to Ibn Hisham, at the same time as the likes of
Abu Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah, Saeed ibn Zaid, Khabbab, and al-Arqam.
If the ‘six-nine’ reports were taken
literally, Aisha would not even have been born at this time. Clearly, the
opinions of Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Hisham indicate that Aisha must have already been
of an age where she was able to understand and accept the new faith; therefore
she would have been well into her late teens when the marriage was consummated.
Al-Nawawi mentions
in Tahdheeb al-Asmaa wal-Lughaat, quoting Ibn Abi Zinad, that “Asma was
ten years older than `Aisha, and...was born twenty-seven years before the
hijrah of the messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)…”[14]
According to this, Aisha’s birth would have been four years before the
commencement of prophecy, so she would have been nineteen years of age when the
marriage was consummated.
This is further
supported by Ibn Kathir who states that Asmá, the sister of Aisha, was ten years older than her and died
in 73 A.H. at the age of one hundred years: “Of the notables who were killed
with Ibn al-Zubayr in 73 [A.H]…was Asma daughter of Abu Bakr al-Siddeeq…she was
older than her sister, Aisha, by 10 years…and she reached the age of 100 years,
not having lost any of her teeth, and her mind still sharp, may God have mercy
on her.”[15] Simple
mathematics shows that this also equates to nineteen years of age for Aisha in
the second year of hajrah when the marriage was consummated.
Other clues as to
Aisha’s real age can be found in reports of historical events in which Aisha
participated, by examining the description that is given of her and seeing if
it correlates to her expected age if the ‘six-nine’ hadiths are accurate. We
can be sure that these descriptions of Aisha are accurate because they are
anchored in the witness’s memory to the event in question.
Al-Bukhari narrates
that Aisha said, “I was a playful girl (jariyah) when the verses, ‘Nay,
the Hour (of Judgment) is the time promised them…’, were revealed to Muhammad,
peace and mercy of God be upon him”.[16] According to the
tafsir of Ibn Ashur, this surah was revealed five years before the hijrah.[17]The
use of the term ‘girl’ (jariyah) in this hadith (rather than ‘child’ (saby)
for example) is significant as ‘jariyah’ in classical Arabic means a young
woman around adolescence or older.[18]
According to this, Aisha would already have been an adolescent seven years
before the marriage was consummated. This also concords with the age of approximately
nineteen at consummation of the marriage.
If we took the ‘six-nine’ hadith literally,
it would mean that she was only two years old when these verses were revealed.
However, the term ‘jariyah’ is not appropriate for a two year old according to
the authoritative lexicons, and secondly, the fact that Aisha remembers the
verses being revealed is important as this is not possible for a two-year old.
Psychological studies have shown that we are amnesic for our early childhood,
and do not retain active memories of events occurring before the age of about
four.[19]
Another hadith in Sahih
al-Bukhári states: “On the day (of the battle) of Uhud when (some) people
retreated and left the Prophet, I saw Aisha, daughter of Abu Bakr, and Umm
Sulaim, with their robes tucked up so that the bangles around their ankles were
visible, hurrying with (in another narration it is said, ‘carrying’) water
skins on their backs. They would pour water in the mouths of people, and return
to fill the water skins again, and came back again to pour water in the mouths
of people.”[20]
As Uhud took place a year after the
marriage was consummated, this would make Aisha only ten if we follow the
‘six-nine’ narration. The description however does not seem to be of a ten year
old girl, and it is extremely unlikely that a girl of ten would have been
allowed onto the scene of battle. The Prophet (peace be upon him) did not even
permit several boys to join the army, as they were too young. The description
does fit for a young woman in her late teens or early twenties.
Three years later, when the Muslim
community faced its most difficult trial yet at the .
One bitter cold night, the Prophet himself was guarding a potential breach point
along the trench. When he would become overwhelmed by the cold, he would come
to Aisha who would warm him in her embrace, and he would return to guarding the
trench. Finally, the Prophet called out for someone to relieve him and was
answered by Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas.[21] This
description certainly does not fit for a thirteen year old which would have
been her age if we accepted the age of nine at consummation.
All of the early authorities quoted above
concur that Aisha was born before the commencement of prophecy (ie at least
thirteen years before hijrah), although they knew of the ‘six-nine’ reports. It seems likely that they were aware of the
chronological imprecision inherent in such reports, and as historians, were
basing their conclusions on a survey of all the evidence available to them.
In summary, pre-modern people typically did
not have accurate knowledge of their ages, especially those who had no formal
calendar system. There is no reason to believe that Aisha was exceptional in
this regard. The reports that relate Aisha’s age to major events, such as the
building of the Ka`ba, commencement of prophecy, and the prophetic battles, are
likely to be more reliable than Aisha’s own statements regarding her age.
Chronological Imprecision in
the Prophetic Biography
Aisha was almost certainly no exception to
the rule that the medieval Arabs did not keep track of their birth dates or the
accurate passage of years. In fact, the chronology of many famous events in the
life of the Prophet himself, peace be upon him, are the subject of difference
of opinion.
Even for something as important as the
length of the Makkan period, we find that Ibn `Abbas states that “the Apostle
of Allah... remained in Makkah for thirteen years…then migrated to Medina...”[22]
However, Rabia ibn Abi Abd al-Rahmán says, “He stayed ten years in Makkah
receiving revelation, and stayed in Medina for ten years...”[23]
Both hadiths are recorded in Saheeh al-Bukhari.
This demonstrates that even a hadith in
Saheeh al-Bukhari need not be taken as precise with respect to chronological
matters, despite its authentic transmission. In fact, few major events in prophetic
biography have complete consensus as to their chronological occurrence.
Conceptualisation of Numbers in
Primitive Societies
An overlooked aspect of this issue is how
numbers were conceptualised by people in the past. Many people today grow up
learning to use and manipulate numbers from an early age. Understanding numbers
in an abstract way soon becomes second nature for us, and our minds are able to
conceptualise a huge range of numbers.
We can easily forget that our modern system
of counting which utilises place-value notation to generate an abstract number
sequence able to extend ever upwards to infinity, was only introduced to
Historians such as German scholar, Karl
Menninger, have shown that in previous civilisations, conceptualisation of
numbers varied depending on how developed the number system.[24]
In primitive cultures, numbers were closely associated with the actual things
counted. People in such cultures found difficulty in ‘abstracting’ numbers from
real objects. For such people, the first ten digits were often of special
significance as this is the number of fingers on the two hands. Numbers up to
ten were easily ‘visualised’ and tangible; above ten were often inaccessible to
the primitive mind. The Roman poet, Ovid, wrote:
“…ten…This number was of old held high in honour,
for such is the number of fingers by which we count.”[25]
The fact that numbers are still called ‘digits’ in English hearkens back to the
time when fingers were the basis of counting.
According to Menninger, “Early man wants to
see numbers, they must remain visible to him, and he must be able to
touch them if he is to grasp them with his mind. For this reason he breaks down
larger numbers into smaller ones, if he can…[for example] the answer given by
an aged Sicilian woman when asked how old she was: tre vvote vinti cincu
anni, “3 times 20-5 years” (=75).”[26]
Although the Arabs were very sophisticated
in their language (and hence thought), when it came to numbers, however, there
are indications that they were quite simplistic. Although the Quraysh were
notable traders, most of the Arabs, including the Medinans, were simple farmers
or bedouins.
The grammatical structure of Arabic
number-words gives clues to the historical development of the use of numbers by
the ancient Arabs, and offers a glimpse of a time when the first ten digits may
have been the limit of their number system. The counted object following any
number up to ten is in the plural form and genitive case, e.g. thalathatu
rijaalin ‘three (of) men’. Above ten, a clear change takes place, and the
counted object begins to appear in the singular and accusative case, e.g. thalathata
`ashara rajulan ‘three’ten (13) man’. We see that the Arabic number-word
for twenty, ‘`ishruna’, is in fact not the dual form of ten, but the plural,
literally ‘many tens’. This may be remnant from an ancient time when ten was
the limit of the Arabs’ number sequence, and anything over ten simply
considered ‘many’.[27]
The structure of number-words in Arabic is
also instructive. For example, the number 34 is spoken as ‘four and thirty’ [araba`
wa thalathun]. The single unit, four, comes first as this is most tangible,
and then, thirty, thalathun, which is probably shortened from ‘three
tens’ - early man’s attempt to break a difficult number, 34, into conceivable
parts, ‘four and three tens’. That the thousand, alf, was their highest
number shows how limited the Arabs were in dealing with higher numbers.
This object-based understanding of numbers
is beautifully illustrated by the hadith in which the Prophet (peace be upon
him) said to some Companions, “We are an unlettered people; we do not write or
calculate. The number of days in the month is thus or thus.”[28]
Upon the first ‘thus’ he displayed his ten fingers twice, and nine fingers once
(withdrawing his thumb), i.e. indicating twenty-nine days. And upon the second,
he displayed his ten fingers three times, i.e. thirty days.[29]
Numbers such as twenty-nine and thirty may have been difficult for his audience
to grasp, without a visualised ‘supplementary quantity’, in this case the
Prophet’s fingers (peace be upon him).
The translation of counted objects into
supplementary quantities indicates a primitive stage of handling numbers. A
chieftain on the
Consider also the ayah of Quran in Surah
al-Muzzammil which magnificently states: “Over it are nineteen” (referring to
Hell). The text goes on to explain: “And We have set none but angels as
Guardians of the Fire; and We have fixed their number only as a trial for
Unbelievers…”[31]
Fakhr al-Deen al-Razi, the famous exegete, explains that it was the actual
number itself (nineteen) which was the trial. The disbelievers of Quraysh were
astonished at a number as “unusual” as nineteen being mentioned in the Quran.
In fact, “they mocked the revelation, asking why the number of Guardians was
not twenty” [32],
a far more ‘acceptable’ number for the primitive mind to grasp.
In summary, pre-modern people would often
offer an age when asked, but this would be an approximation as they did not
typically keep accurate records of birth dates. Such expressions of one’s age
were not meant to be taken as chronologically precise, and it is possible that
for Aisha the first ten digits were familiar and larger numbers difficult to
conceptualise.
Differences in the ‘six-nine’ narrations
Examination of the various narrations of
the ‘six-nine’ hadith confirms that the numbers are approximations. For
example, al-Bayhaqi reports that Aisha said, “The Messenger of Allah (peace be
upon him) married me…when I was six or seven years old…”[33] Ibn
Sa`d relates from two of the leading authorities on Aisha’s hadith narrations,
al-Zuhri and Hisham ibn `Urwah, who both said that she married the Prophet
(peace be upon him) when she was nine or seven years of age.[34]
This shows that even the narrations from Aisha are not consistent, and the age
at which the betrothal took place varies between six, seven and nine years of
age.
The Arabs’ conceptualisation of numbers was primitive, and the single units, i.e. one, two, three…nine, were closer to their understanding. Aisha is unlikely to have known her age, and her intention was to emphasise that she was young at the time of her marriage, as is clear from the context of her speech.
In mathematically-naive societies, numbers were often not used in a precise numerical sense, but as adjectives. The most primitive numbers, one and two, still take the grammatical form of adjectives in Arabic to this day.
More Evidence that the
Relationship was not Inappropriate
It is noteworthy that the marriage was not
consummated immediately in Makkah. In fact it was about five years later that
Aisha was sent to the house of the Prophet (peace be upon him). There was no
reason for Aisha’s parents to send her to her husband before the appropriate
time, and all biographical reports indicate that they were loving and
responsible parents who would have no reason to do anything contrary to their
daughter’s best interests. In fact, after five years had passed and the Prophet
(peace be upon him) was showing no signs of taking Aisha into his household, it
was her father himself who came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said,
“What prevents you from consummating the marriage with your wife?” Only then
was the marriage consummated and she was taken into the prophetic household.[35]
This well-authenticated report refutes those
who imply that the Prophet (peace be upon him) was slave to his passions with
respect to this marriage. In fact, he appears to have been not particularly
concerned about taking Aisha into his house, only doing so on the insistence of
his father-in-law.
Secondly, there is no evidence to show that
the Prophet (peace be upon him) was attracted to young girls. The Prophet
(peace be upon him) was the ruler of a city, and later a nation, with followers
who were absolutely devoted to him. If he wished, he may have had any woman of
his choosing. His first wife, Khadeeja, was fifteen years his senior, and he
did not marry another while she was alive. After her demise, all of the women
he married were widows except Aisha. The marriage to Aisha was an important
political alliance between two noble families of Quraysh and a cementing of his
relationship with his closest friend and ally, Abu Bakr al-Siddeeq. Abu Bakr
later asked for the hand of the Prophet’s daughter in marriage for himself, proving
that significant age differences between spouses was not contrary to their
socio-cultural norms.
Why did the ‘six-nine’
narrations gain such prominence?
One may ask why early Muslim scholars did
not refute the ages mentioned in the “six-nine” narration in their commentaries.
It is possible that they simply took for granted that particular figures in
such reports were not necessarily regarded as chronological data, and did not
feel the need to comment further as this was self-evident for people of that
time.
American professor, Denise Spellberg,
theorises that political factors, in particular the Shi`a-Sunni split, may have
been important in the prevalent notion of Aisha’s young age at marriage. Her
young age, and therefore that she was not known to any man before the Prophet ,
was an important point for supporters of the Sunni Abbasid caliphate as it
proved her status as a divinely-appointed wife, and thus a reliable source
regarding the ‘thorny’ question of his succession[36].
It may have been that Sunni scholars favoured the reports which placed Aisha at
nine years of age as it helped raise her status as the only virgin bride of the
Prophet .
One may also add that the Shi`a cult around
the figure of Sayyiduna Ali no doubt used the fact that he had been brought up
in the prophetic household from his early childhood as a mark of his distinction
above the other Companions, particularly Aisha. The Shi`a rejected the
authority and status of Aisha, and it may have suited Sunni scholars to
highlight those reports that showed Aisha to be very young when she entered the
Prophet’s household .
Conclusion
In conclusion, although the ‘six-nine’
hadith may be authentic, it is based ultimately on the authority of Aisha. In
view of prevailing norms of her time, it is very unlikely that she knew her own
age, and other reports and historical evidence indicate that she was, in fact,
between fifteen and nineteen years of age when the marriage was consummated. As
these other reports relate Aisha’s age to actual historical events that took
place, they are likely to be a far more reliable indicator.
History shows that the conceptualisation of
numbers in medieval times was often primitive. Care must be exercised not to
read historical reports with ‘modern’ eyes and a contemporary numerical mindset.
Commonly, when pre-modern man states his age, it is often ‘rounded’ up or down,
or simply an approximation. Even though expressed as a precise figure, it is
not meant to be understood as such.
Finally, it should be remembered that the
‘six-nine’ narration is an ahad[37]
hadith and therefore not considered to provide absolute certainty according to
the Sunni epistemological system.
And God knows best.
Appendix: Author’s note
Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with
her) occupies a huge place in the Islamic tradition. Being the second most
prolific narrator of the prophetic sunnah means that approximately a quarter of
what we know about the prophet (peace be upon him) has come directly through
her. Thus, for a non-entity like myself, even thinking about writing such an
article as this filled me with great trepidation, so that many times I
considered abandoning the project altogether. For Muslims, Sayyida Aisha is not
only one of the greatest Companions, beloved consort of the Beloved of God ,
but also, as the Quran has decreed, she is our mother.
This article is not an apologetic response,
but a sincerely held opinion after investigating the issue. Ultimately this is
my opinion based on a reading of historical evidence. The job of the student of
the Islamic tradition is to investigate to the best of his or her ability, and
Allah knows best the reality of the situation.
Ridhwan ibn Muhammad Saleem
London, Friday 4 Rabi` al-Thani 1429 AH/11 April 2008 CE
West
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