Was Hazrat Aisha Married to the Prophet in Her Childhood?
By
Dr. Mohammad Ghitreef, New Age Islam
10 June
2022
Hazrat Aisha Also Counted Among The First
Believers, As Cited By Ibn Ishaq. This Means That She Was Born Before The
Prophet Got Prophethood. It Is To Be Noted Here That After The Prophethood
Mohammad (PBUH) Stayed At Makka For 13 Years, Then How Can Aisha Be Only Six
Years Old When Her Marriage Was Solemnized One Year Before Hijra?
------
Nupur Sharma
----
Nupur
Sharma, the ex-BJP spokesperson, abusively said about the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) that he fell in love with a six-year-old girl
and married and had sex with her at the age of nine. Nupur Sharma was reacting
to a Muslim participant in the TV show referring to the alleged Shivling in the
Gyanvapi mosque’s Wazookhana (water reservoir used by Muslims for ritual
ablution) as a fountain, which is what the Masjid authorities have been
claiming. She says this enraged her and hurt her feelings. And so, she said
what she said in the heat of the moment. The controversy arose when the courts
ordered a survey of the mosque to ascertain its character, though it has been a
functioning mosque for several centuries.
Sharma’s
BJP colleague Naveen Kumar Jindal repeated her statement in a tweet after a few
days and went a step further, saying something so obnoxious that it cannot be
printed. Muslims protested and demanded stern action against them, but no
attention was paid. When the same demand came from the Gulf countries, the
ruling BJP took formal action and suspended Sharma from her status as national
spokesperson pending investigation into the matter and expelling Jindal from
the party.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Also Read: Hazrat Aisha’s Controversial Age at Marriage: Nine or Nineteen?
-----------------------------------------------------------
However,
one important aspect of this debate is that the same thing which Ms. Sharma
muttered is present in our Hadees literature too. What Jindal added after
several days of cool reflection, of course, cannot be discussed in any
civilised society. But what is the difference between what Sharma said and what
is presented in our Hadees literature? The style of narration only? Hadees
literature tells the story in a rather neutral way, and non-Muslims say the
same bluntly and pejoratively. So, if a non-Muslim says the same thing as in
Hadees in an abusive way, why does it deserve to be castigated? Why are we not ready
to re-examine and reassess our own Hadees literature and our blind following of
even Khabare Wahid (a story narrated by just one person) in Sahih Bukhari?
Hadees-e-Mutawatir (mass-transmitted, stories narrated by significant number of
people at various times) are generally considered more authentic.
To this day, books and articles are being
written to support the Khabar e Wahid Hadees narrated in this regard by
Bukhari. Moreover, to give somehow a justification, a Maulana named Zaki Ghazi
Madani has just written a very long article to prove this report correct. This
is circulating on social media. So has Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani in
Inquilab Urdu daily ((10 June). Many Muslim scholars such as Yasir Qazi, Shaikh
Sulaiman Omer, Engineer Mohammad Ali Mirza, and other reputed Mufties and
Maulvies are adamantly and stubbornly arguing for the authenticity of
the said Hadees because it is mentioned in Sahih Bukhari. The question is
whether Muslims’ belief in these stories and effort to persuade the people for
its correctness, citing a particular Arab culture, can be sustainable? I think
a brief discussion on this Hadees must be in order here.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Also Read: Aisha
bint Abu Bakr: the Fascinating Woman
-----------------------------------------------------------
It is generally believed that Hazrat Aisha (RA) was married to the Prophet in her childhood, as is reported in Sahih Bukhari. She reportedly said: I was married to Prophet when I was only six. He had sexual relations with me when I was nine. 4 (تزوجني رسول الله وأنابنت ست ودخل علي وأنابنت تسع ). One of the great contemporary scholar of Hadees Allama Shabbeer Ahmad Azhar Meeruthi accepted the wordings of the narration. However, he criticized and rejected its interpretation, saying that'' it is a common style to shorten a sentence in all languages when there is a connection to link the addressee's mind to it instantly, and if he catches the purport quickly. It was familiar with Arabs also, and more specifically, they do so when it comes to numerical statements. So, when Aisha told the prophet married me when I was six, she meant six after ten, that is 16, and that when the Prophet did consummate with her, she was nine after ten, that is 19. So, the exact wording of the Hadees should be considered as follows:
تزوجني رسول الله وأنابنت ست ( أي بعد العاشرة) ودخل علي
وأنابنت تسع (أي بعد العاشرة)
When I was married to the Prophet I was six (after ten;16), and when he had
intercourse with me I was nine (after ten:19)
To prove
his point, he cites an example from the Hadees itself. So he quoted the
narration reported by Bukhari himself on the blessed night ( ليلة
القدر ) as
the Prophet said: فالتمسوها في التاسعة والسابعة والخامسة(أي بعد العشرين)
بخاري كتاب الصيام ص 271 (Seek this night on 25, 27, 29 of the month of Ramazan).
As it is
crystal clear that he shortened the sentence to say, في
التاسعة والسابعة والخامسة,
e.g., in the ninth night after twenty and in the seventh night after twenty and
so on. ''Thus the argument is that Muhaddisun and their blind followers
of all shades do not give the Hadees the critical thought required, and they
did not ponder upon the stylish Arabic phrasing and took it in verbatim.
Moreover, this made the issue of Aisha’s age on marriage time an emotional
one''. This is also supported on another count, for some may say that because Arabia
is a scorching hot country, a woman can reach puberty at nine or so.
Nevertheless,
the fact of the matter is that Aisha’s case is a singular one of this kind. If
her marriage could be justified on the tropical ground, then there should be
some other similar cases too, which are not there because if there were any,
history would tell us. Meeruthi also refuted this narration on a historical
basis,'' for Aisha’s elder sister Asma, daughter of Abu Bakar, was older to her
by ten years, as Tabari reports it: هي أكبر من أختها
عائشة بعشر سنين وتوفيت أسماء سنة ثلاث وسبعين وقد جاوزت مئة سنة (ابن كثير، البداية
والنهاية 8ص 346
and see also Bukhari ka Mutalaa, vo 2 p.254)
The
translation says: She (Asma) was older than Aisha by ten and died in 73 AH, at
an age exceeding 100. It means that she indeed was 27 years on the eve of
Hijra, and Aisha respectively, should have been 17 years then. According To
Tabari, all the children of Abu Baqar were born before the advent of Islam, in
a time which is called in Islamic parlance as Jahiliya period. ( فكل
هولاء الأربعة من أولاده (عبد الله، أسماء، عبد الرحمن وعائشة ) من زوجتيه اللتين
سميناهما في الجاهلية (ابن جرير طبري ج4ص50) See also Bukhari ka Mutalaa. P.254. The
messenger of Allah had migrated to Madina when the 14th year of his mission was
started. Since he had married Aisha before his emigration, it is very likely
that she was 16 years old then, and after coming to Madina and settling
therein, when she was brought to her husband’s house, she was 19 years old''.
Furthermore, other indicators are telling the truth. The medical hoax propagated by Zakir Naik and his ilk of the topical countries like Arabia that girls could reach puberty at the age of nine, ten, eleven, etc. And if the case was so, then there was no problem medically with having sexual relations at that age.
Irrational and self-styled mufti and scholar Naik should respond that in this case, there should be abundant examples of child marriages in that time; why only Hazrat Aisha was singled out in hadith literature then, as mentioned above?
It is
unlikely also on the ground that before the marriage with Aisha, the Prophet
(PBUH) already had four grown-up daughters. Even two of them were engaged with
two boys from Quraish of Makka. How can then is it possible for a father to
marry a young girl, younger than his own daughters, and that in their presence?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also
Read: Hazrat Aisha's Contribution In The Spread,
Propagation And Legacy Of Islam
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hazrat
Aisha also counted among the first believers, as cited by Ibn Ishaq. This means
that she was born before the Prophet got Prophethood. It is to be noted here
that after the Prophethood Mohammad (PBUH) stayed at Makka for 13 years, then
how can Aisha be only six years old when her marriage was solemnized one year
before Hijra?
According
to her own statement, also narrated by Bukhari in Kitabut Tafsir she
said that she had memorized verses from surah Al Qamar which was revealed five
years before the Hijra according to all the commentators of the Quran
unanimously, and she was at that time a young girl (واناجارية
تلعب).
Supposedly she was 6 or 7 years then, and so at the time of her marriage, she
indeed would have been 15 or 16. Moreover, on the consummation of the marriage
(3years after the nikah), she would have been 18 or 19 years old.
Another
reason is that a single reporter reported the narration, namely Hisham bin
Urwa, so it is a Khabar e Wahid in the Hadith terminology. Furthermore, Khabar
Wahid خبرواحد is not accepted particularly
by Hanafite jurists in essential matters.
Though
Hisham bin Urwa was an excellent (ثقة) narrator, he only reported
this hadith in his old age when he was suffering from senility. He spent 70
years in Madin, then migrated to Iraq. He narrated this Hadees while refuting
some allegations of Iraqis to Hazrat Aisha because Iraqis were her political
adversaries.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The
marriage of the Holy Prophet to such a young girl was an important event.
However, the event is not narrated by Abu Bakr, Umar, Usman and Ali, and other
prominent companions. Only one companion narrates it, and that is also in Iraq.
All the
narrators of this narration are Iraqis. Why so? Doesn't this raise any
suspicion?
In short,
this incident cannot be proved by any logic. There is plenty of research-based
literature in Urdu and Arabic on this subject now. Scholars and Muftis who are
blind followers of Bukhari and are still saying that Hazrat Ayesha was married
at the age of 6 years and her marriage was consummated at the age of 9 should rethink
their flawed position. They should also take the trouble to use this research
literature. Otherwise, they will continue to talk nonsense in front of
non-Muslims and be disgraced.
--------
Dr.
Mohammad Ghitreef is a Research Associate with the Centre for Promotion of
Educational and Cultural Advancement of Muslims of India, AMU Aligarh.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-personalities/hazrat-aisha-prophet-childhood/d/127215
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism