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Author: Ayatollah Sayed Ja’far Murtadha
The text of the misconception:
It is said: “He (pbuh) contracted with Aisha, who was six or seven years old, then she moved to his house after his migration to Medina, and she was nine years of age. And this is what is narrated about her (refer to what we’ve written in Tabaqat Ibn Saad, Vol. 8, p. 39, Al-‘Isabah, Vol. 4, p. 359, History of Tabari, Vol. 2, p. 413, and Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, Vol. 12, Asad al-Ghaba, Vol. 5, and others, and refer to: Sharh al-Nahj for al-Mu’tazili, Vol. 9, p. 190, but it contradicts itself on p. 191, saying: She died in the year 57 AH, and her age was 64, which means she was only seven years old at the time of migration.)
Our response:
And we say: That is not correct, and her age was much more than that, and we rely on the following:
First: Ibn Ishaq counted Aisha among those who embraced Islam at the beginning of the mission. He said: “She was young at that time, and she embraced Islam after eighteen people only.” If we assume her age at the time of the mission was 7, for example, then her age at the time of the contract would be 17, and at the time of migration would be 20. What supports this is that those who migrated to Abyssinia were more than 80, and a group remained and did not migrate. The migration to Abyssinia was five years after the mission. Thus, Aisha became Muslim shortly after the prophetic mission and was the 19th person to embrace Islam.
Additionally, they claim that Asma bint Abi Bakr said: “When my father embraced Islam, he came to his house, and he was not gratified until he made us all Muslims. Aisha embraced Islam while she was young.” They also say: “Asma embraced Islam after 17 people.”
Some say she died at the age of 73 and others say she lived to be over 100, even though some try to argue otherwise. Some state that Asma was born 27 years before the prophetic mission or 17 years before it and was 10 years older than her sister Aisha. When she was born, her father, Abu Bakr, was 21 years old. Therefore, Aisha’s age at the time of the mission would be about 4 years, according to their claim, meaning she was born 17 years before the migration.
However, we say:
She was even older than that, as narrations indicate that Asma embraced Islam on the day her father embraced Islam, after 18 people, and Aisha embraced Islam immediately after that because her Islam was after 18 people, as we mentioned before. If they claim that Abu Bakr was the first to embrace Islam, the result would be that Aisha embraced Islam on the first or second day of the mission. This means that her birth was years before the mission, and she grew up, became distinctive and intelligent, and embraced Islam, entering the list of the first Muslims, obtaining the historical position they want for her.
Second: In the context of resolving the contradiction between Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) saying to Fatima that she is” the lady of the women of the worlds” and what is attributed to him that the only complete women were Mary, the daughter of Imran, and Asiya, the wife of Pharaoh, and that Aisha’s virtue over women is like the virtue of Tharid over other foods. Al-Tahawi says, “It is possible that what is in this hadith is before Fatima reached maturity and deserved the rank mentioned by the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) and that “if any virtues were mentioned about other than Fatima, it is very possible that Fatima held them as well, even while she was young, and then grew up, etc.” Al-Tahawi said this after he had confidently stated a little earlier that Fatima (a), was 25 years old when she died. This means that she was born two years before the prophetic mission, and this assumption dictates that Fatima was young girl when Aisha was deemed a ‘woman’.
Third: Ibn Qutayba mentions that Aisha died in the year 58 – and according to others, in the year 57 AH – and she was almost 70 years old. In addition to this, others say that Lady Khadija died 3, 4, or 5 years before migration and Aisha herself says, in the famous narration, “the Messenger of Allah married me when I was 9”. And this narration is perhaps closer to what we have presented. This number is also doubtful given what we have mentioned and because women usually tend to underestimate their age.
The statements of Ibn Qutayba and those who followed him indicate that she was born either in the year of the mission or before it. The latter is more likely.
Therefore, Aisha’s age at the time of the Prophet’s marriage to her in the tenth year of the mission was much more than six years, ranging from 13 to 17 years.
And among the oddities of fabricated narrations:
Among the strange fabrications in this field is what was reported from Abu Huraira that the Prophet (pbuh) entered Medina and settled there seeking marriage. He said to them, ” Marry me!”. So, Gabriel came to him with a piece of Paradise containing an image that no one had seen anything like. He informed him of Allah’s command to him: to marry according to that image. The Prophet (pbuh) said to him, “Where can I find an image like this, O Gabriel?” He said to him, “Allah tells you to marry the daughter of Abu Bakr al-Siddeeq.” So, the Messenger of Allah went to the house of Abu Bakr, knocked on the door, and said, “O Abu Bakr, Allah has commanded me to marry your daughter.” He offered him his three daughters, and he said, “Allah has commanded me to marry this girl, Aisha.” So, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) married her.
In conclusion, aside from the chain of this narration, we say:
First: We do not understand how the Prophet (pbuh) would behave in a manner not befitting wise individuals who respect themselves, by saying to people “marry me!”, unless he was a small child with no shame or intellect!
What is strange is that no one took the initiative to respond to this request, but they treated him with disdain, neglected to fulfill his request until Gabriel (pbuh) came and took care of his problem.
Second: Is it true that Aisha was so attractive that observers had not seen anything better than her image? Perhaps what will come later will be convincing and sufficient for those seeking guidance and truth.
Third: The Prophet (pbuh) married Aisha in Mecca 3 years before the migration, not in Medina, and there is consensus among historians on this.
Fourth: We do not know the three daughters whom Abu Bakr offered to the Prophet (pbuh), as Asma was married to Zubair and had left Medina while pregnant with her son Abdullah, and Aisha had married the Prophet (pbuh) in Mecca, and Um Kulthum was born after the death of Abu Bakr.
And lastly, the title “Al-Siddeeq” was given to Abu Bakr after the death of the Prophet (pbuh), among the lovers of the first caliph, as we may mention when discussing the issue of the cave, God willing.
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