As a Husband to his wife > Let me start with a most romantic dialog delivered from him to her >
To his wife he said, "O Aysha, love the poor and let them come to you and Allah will draw you near to Himself." (Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari)
If you think - the marriage was took by force and Mother Aisha was a child then let me start with a very romantic scene which will ease you to read through the rest to know the fact >
Abu Hurayra narrates: The Prophet Muhammad stood there smiling as his African companions performed a cultural dance with spears to the rythm of their leather drums in the courtyard of al-Masjid al-Nabawi. They used to do this every Eid. [Asqalânî, Fathul-bârî, 2:444] They were rhythmically chanting something with drumbeats in their language , upon which the Prophet inquired, “What are they saying?” And they responded in Arabic, “Muhummadun ‘Abdun Saalihun” [Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Musnad, 3:152, #12564]
Aisha, the wife of the Prophet was inside her chamber at that time. She reports that amidst all this, she heard Muhammad call on to her "Aisha! Come here, quick!"
In Aisha's words: "The Prophet was smiling watching the play and asked me if I would like to watch it too, and I said yes."
Muhammad then took Aisha into the crowd and placed her on his back to make her have a better view and she fondly remembers her cheek touching his cheek while she keenly watched the African spear dance and drumming with the Prophet Muhammad .Aisha says "I leaned my head on his shoulder, with my cheek touching his and looked from between his ears and his shoulder" [Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Musnad, #23709; Muslim, al-Sahih, #1483]
After some time, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم asked if I had enough and wanted to go. A'isha asked to continue watching the performance and the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم consented; after some time he noticed her interest declining and asked her again whether she was satisfied, She replied in the affirmative. Aisha says 'and I was only a girl, and so you can well imagine how a girl of tender age is fond of watching the sport.' [Tabrani Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat page 121, Volume 9 Hadith #3]
During the time of Muhammad ,in Arabia , they have a very traditional custom to get married in earlier.............
Usually Men used to get married before they step in to their Men-hood with baby girls .Men in 15 -16 years old used to start their Married life with 7-8 years old girl. This custom was not just practicing by Arabs but also by most of the parts of the world.According to Judaism Jews can marry even infants !
Prophet Muhammad (peace be on Him) in his life ,the first time got married when He was 25 years old and His wife was 40.His first wife was 15 years older than Him
Prophet Muhammad (peace be on Him) was from a very rich and famous family, It was very easy for him to get a 7-8 years old girl or 12-14 years very beautiful girl for Him.
So, as I continued.............The first time Prophet Muhammad (peace be on Him) got married when He was 25 and His wife was 40 years old and she was twice widowed.They lived happily in loved together and he did not get married second time .His wife died when He was 5o and she was 65 years old
Imagine If He was lustful or characterless, He could marry young beautiful girls as many as he want !
The second time when he got married , it was after three years His beloved wife passed away
(Just imagine even today how many of men can be seen to wait three years to marry second times after his wife passed away ! )He was then 53 and His second wife was another widow who was 42 years old !
If He was lustful why would He marry another widow who was a widow and 42 years old !
At that time people neglect and hate widows , Arab men were ( Unfortunately most of them did not changed ) lustful and pedophile .The reason Prophet Muhammad (peace be on HIM) married widows to set up their respect and place in the society .
What was the Aisha`s age when she got married with Prophet Muhammad ( peace be on Him) ?
First of all we need to know that > The Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) did not marry Mother Sayyidah Aisha (peace be on Her) out of his physical desires. One need to note that for first 54 years of his life he had only one wife. His only wife till 50th year of his life was Sayyida Khadija (peace be on Her) . He spent his entire youth with her and she was a two time widowed woman, 15 years elder to him. For next four years his only wife was Sayyidah Sa’uda (peace be on Her) .
:It was a divine inspiration:-Prophet married Aisha because GOD wanted , and GOD is all-Knowing ,all-wise .
Before explaining the reasons behind this marriage , let it be known that the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) married Sayyida Aisha (peace be on Her) not out of his own desire rather it was a Divine inspiration. Read the following Hadith;
Narrated 'Aisha Her own words (peace be on Her) :
That the Prophet said to her, "You have been shown to me twice in my dream. I saw you pictured on a piece of silk and some-one said (to me). 'This is your wife.' When I uncovered the picture, I saw that it was yours. I said, 'If this is from Allah, it will be done."
{Bukhari :: Volume 5 :: Book 58 :: Hadith 235}
Age of Marriage in Old Ages:
One must first understand that 1400 years ago was very different than now, times have changed and so have humans. 1400 years ago it was something very common to marry young girls, in fact they were not considered young girls, and rather they were considered young women back then. It is a historic fact that girls from the ages of 9 to 14 were being married in Europe, Asia, and Africa, in fact even in the United States girls at the age of 10 were also being married just more than a century ago.
Yet with these facts no historian claims that all these people were sick perverts, historians would call anyone who made such a claim to be arrogant and very stupid who has no grasp or understanding of history.Even in Indo-Pak Sub-Continent girls used to be married at 12-13 even 50-60 years ago. And those ‘girls’ infact raised much better families. There were less family problems then. A simple analyses of the divorce rate then and know would certainly make it clear that maturity level earlier used to be different i.e. people used to come of age rather quickly.
Mother Sayyida Aisha (peace be on her) never showed her displeasure:
Another striking thing to observe is that among hundreds of her narrations there is not even a single one showing her displeasure about this marriage. Hence, she had no problem with this relation. Infect it is manifest from several traditions that she loved the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) too much and even felt some sort of jealousy when she found others around him. Does this not prove that she was extremely happy about this marriage? So, when she herself had no problem at all then what’s the matter of concern for others?
•* ** To find the true age of Aisha`s age when she got married with the Prophet Muhammad ( peace be on Him) > We have to know what is Hadith and what is Al-Qur`an >
Al-Qur`an : The final revelation from the GOD Al-Mighty to the final and head of the all Prophets and Messangers . And this divine book is the complete guidance for the whole humankind .
Hadith : The sayings and stories related during the life time of Prophet Muhammad`s by himself and later what was collected and written as books are called Hadiths .Hadiths were written by many Authors and the early hadiths wrere written by those who were the eye witness and later hadiths were writen by ear to ear heard process . More over Hadiths are the collections of history and stories heard from people amongs them some saw Prophet Muhammad ( peace be on Him) and some was born after Prophet departed from the earth.
### Since hadiths were written by Men , and we do aware very well that human nature is fictitious >
According to Islamic law if any Hadith goes against Al-Qur`an then that Hadith is FALSE .
In Islam,We have Strong Hadith (which are collected from reliable sources in early age, during the living time of the Prophet) and Weak Hadith ( which were collected later even after houndreds of years after of Prophet departed from the world and from Anonymous sources)
In order for a Hadith to be practiced it has to be reviewed and assessed with the statements and verses from the Al-Qur`an and the examples of the previous prophets .
The Hadith in essence is a " book of sayings" narrating examples of the prophet Muhammad ( peace be on Him) .Because the Hadith is a text written by men it is FLAWED .While the Al-Qur`an is not for it is the words of the Almighty GOD .
The truth or strenth of a Hadith is based on the how many other reports primary and or secondary sources can attest to it`s authenticity.
# Allah says in Al-Qur`an : "And test the understanding of Orphans (Male and Female both) until they attain at "THE AGE OF MARRIAGE ". ( Chapter 4 verse 7 )Did you noticed ? Allah is telling us to Test the understanding . This is to see whether if anyone is attained at her full grown up in both physically and mentally . When no other religious scripture gives this certain major !
# Now in this following words of Allah made it clear that NO man have the right to force any woman / girl /female in to anything against their will ie marriage ( whether forcibly putting in wedlock by Father or any male from the family , or no man can marry a girl / woman without her happily consent or no one have right to consume any women`s wealth ) >"O you who believe! You are forbidden to inherit women against their will, and you should not treat them with harshness, that you may take away part of the Mahr you have given them, unless they commit open illegal sexual intercourse. And live with them honorably. If you dislike them, it may be that you dislike a thing and Allah brings through it a great deal of good." ( Al-Qur`an 4 : 19) .
•Now , Can the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on Him) forcibly marry Mother Aisha (peace be on Her) or can the parents of Mother Aisha (peace be on Her) force her to marry ? NO ! They can not go against the Allah`s law ! Specially the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on Him) is chosen by Allah to reveled Allah`s divine laws & messages . The one who sacrificed His whole life to establish Allah`s laws , He can NOT break the same law ! Otherwise he would not be chosen !
Islam is suitable for all ages and for all lands > Here When Allah says "THE AGE OF MARRIAGE ". > but didn't mention any certain age > that is because the All-Knowing CREATOR knew we will have different laws in different country for the age of getting married which will be statuary according to the people`s understanding and age. (Here age is refer to age of time).
Now let us demonstrate some early Hadiths according to the Al-Qur`an . And let me remind you all > ONLY THOSE HADITHS ARE TRUTH WHICH ARE VALIDATED BY AL-QUR`AN .
According to Hadith in Bukhari and Muslim , Aisha ( peace be on Her) is said to have joined Muhammad ( peace be on Her) on the raid that culminated in the battle of Badr in 624 AD and then in 625 AD in the battle of Uhud. As no one below tha age of fifteen was allowed to accompany raiding parties , Aisha should have been at least fifteen ,since all those below 15 years of afe were sent back as they were not allowed to participate at that young age ,than Aisha (peace be on Her0 must be was fifteen or more in 624 AD and thus at least thirteen when she was married following the Hijra in 622 AD.
*** If you expect some one to declare the Shahadah ( Islamic declaration of Oneness of the GOD Al-Mighty) , that person must be at the age of walking and talking ie 4 / 5 years old at least .
Ibn Hisham`s recension of Ibn Ishaq`s Sirat Rasul Allah , the earliest surviving biography of Muhammad ( peace be on Him) , records Aisha as having converted to Islam before Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, during the first few years of Islam around 610 AD. At that time naturally she must have to be 4/5 or at least 3 years old enough to walk and speak > which would make her at least fifteen in 622 AD the year of her consent with prophet Muhammad ( peace be on them both) .
The famous classical historian of Islam , Ibn Jarir Tabari , wrote in his History: "In the time before Islam,Abu Bakr married two women.The first was Fatila daughter of Abdul Uzza, from whom Abdullah and Asma were born.Then he married Umm Ruman,from whom Abdur Rahman and Aisha (peace be on Her) were born.These four were born before callng to ISLAM to people by the Prophet , that means before the revelation started.
The revelation has start when Prophet was at the age of 40 . Now, since Aisha was born before the revelation,we can assume that atleast she would be year 1 or 2 at the year of revelation.
The revelation has start in 610 AD and Aisha and Prophet got betrothaled / engaged in 622 AD and they start living together after three years of their engagement when marriage took place in 625, when prophet was 55 years old and Aisha must be atleast 15 or more older.
Tabari reports that Abu Bakr wished to spare Aisha from the
discomforts of a journey to Ethiopia soon after 615 AD , and tried to bring forward her marriage to Mut`im Ibn Uday`s son . But that marriage did not took place because Mut`im family remained in Idol-worshiping and Abu Bakr family embraced Islam . If Aisha was already of "MARRIAGEABLE AGE " in 615 AD ( more than seven years before got married with the Prophet) , she must have been older than nine or nine in 615 and after seven years of that incident she got married with the Prophet . Now , you calculate what age she was when she got married with Prophet .
According to almost all the historians > Asma bint Abu Bakr, the elder sister of Aisha, was ten years older than Aisha .Asma is reported to die in the 73 AH ( years counting in Islam since the first Migration of early Muslims from Mekkah to Medina to escape from the oppression from the kafirs ) , when she was 100 years old.Now, obviously if Asma was 100 years old now in the 73 AH , she should have been 27 or 28 years old at the time of Migration to Medina (1 AH) . If Asma was 27 / 28 years old at that time and Aisha (peace be on Her) was ten years younger than her > Thus Aisha - If she got married in 1 AH or 2 Ah - was between 17 to 19 years old at the time of her marriage .
>>>>>>>>>>>> Now let us analyze this under the light of the Al-Qur`an :-
Aisha is reported to have said that at the time of revelation of the Surah Al-Qamar , ( the 54th chapter of the Al-Qur`an ) " I was a YOUNG GIRL" The 54the chapter of the Al-Qur`an was revealed nine years before Hijrah ( ( years counting in Islam since the first Migration of early Muslims from Mekkah to Medina to escape from the oppression from the kafirs ) > According to this tradition , Aisha had not only been born before the revelation of the referred Surah, but was actually a young girl, not even only an infant at that time , So if this age is assumed to be 7 to 14 years then her age at the time of marriage would be 16 to 23 .
So, critic`s of our beloved Prophet Muhammad ( peace be on Him) and Islam > Read the Holy Al-Qur`an and the History of Islam . Hadith which goes against ISLAM (PEACE) are FALSE and NOT to subject to believe .
A Girl came to Mohammad (pbuh) , & she reported that her father had forced her to marry without her consent. The Messenger of "Allah" (swt), gave her the legitimate choice of either accepting the marriage or annulling it.( Ibn Hanbal No.2469). It is recorded that the girl said: "Actually I accept this Marriage but I wanted to let Women know that Parents have no right to force a Husband on them".( Ibn Majah, No.1873).
If Aisha was a child age at her marriage with the Prophet, then how comes she would able to give her consent when Prophet Himself in this Hadith giving the equal rights of the women on marriage .
The Qur'an indicates that marriage is an equal partnership involving the man & the woman.Through Marriage a couple established a loving & stable relationship & to foster mental & spiritual harmony between the sexes. (ch30v21):-"And among His signs is this, that He created mates for you from yourselves that you may find rest,peace of mind in them,and He ordained between you love & mercy.In this indeed are signs for people who reflect ". **There is no competition but compatibility & complementarity between the Husband & Wife,each taking the other partners concerns & sentiments into account & both recognizing the rights of the other.
If Aisha was a child of 9 or ten at the time of her Marriage with the Prophet > Then Clearly Prophet Muhammad is going against these commandments of the Al-Qur`an and he would not been the final and superior of the all prophets and Messengers > Indeed Allah saying >
"By the grace of Allah, you are gentle towards the people; if you had been stern and ill-tempered, they would have dispersed from round about you" (translation of Qur'an, Chapter 3: Verse 159)
Allah, the Exalted, says: " It is He (Allah) Who has sent His Apostle (Muhammad) with Guidance and the Religion of Truth that he (Muhammad) may proclaim it over all religion even though the Pagans may detest it." Q61:9. "And verily, you (Muhammad) are on an exalted (standard of) character." Q68:4.
“Say (O Muhammad!): "O mankind! I am sent unto you all as the apostle of Allah to Whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth: there is no god but He: it is He that gives both life and death. So, believe in Allah and His apostle the unlettered Prophet who believed in Allah and His words: follow him so that you may be guided."” Q7:158.
And About himself the prophet (pbuh) said
"Allah has sent me as an apostle so that I may demonstrate perfection of character, refinement of manners and loftiness of deportment." (Malik, Mawatta; Ahmed, Musnad; Mishkat).At the end let me give the main reason why Mother Aisha was chosen by Allah to be the Prophet`s wife ?Because Mother Aisha was the best person (After the Prophet) whose memory was sharp and who could understand the Qur'an and had the best knowledge in it (after the Prophet ,of-course) . Read this narrations from some eye witness about Her wisdom and knowledge >
Arwa Bin Zubair says, “I did not find anyone more proficient (than Aisha ) in the knowledge of the Holy Quran, the Commandments of Halal (lawful) and Haram (prohibited), Ilmul-Ansab and Arabic poetry. That is why, even senior companions of the Prophet used to consult Aisha in resolving intricate issues”.
(Jala-ul-Afham by Ibn Qaiyem and Ibn Sa’ad, Vol.2, p.26)
Also see this;
Abu Musa al-Ashari says: “Never had we (the companions) any difficulty for the solution of which we approached Aisha and did not get some useful information from her”. (Sirat-I-Aisha, on the authority of Trimidhi, pg. 163)
