Age of the Mother of the Believers ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) when the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) married her

Firstly: 

The definition of the age of ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased
with her) when the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) did
the marriage contract with her as being six years, and of the age when he
consummated the marriage with her as being nine years, is not a matter of
ijtihaad (individual opinion) on the part of the scholars, such that we
could argue whether it is right or wrong; rather this is a historical
narration which is proven by evidence that confirms its soundness and the
necessity of accepting it. That is for several reasons: 

1.

It was narrated by the individual concerned herself, namely
‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), and is not something that someone
else said about her, or the description of a historian or hadeeth scholar.
Rather it comes in the context of her speaking about herself (may Allah be
pleased with her), when she said:

The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
married me when I was six years old. We came to Madinah and stayed among
Banu’l-Haarith ibn Khazraj. I fell sick and lost my hair, (then I reovered)
and my hair grew down to my earlobes. My mother Umm Roomaan came to me when
I was on a swing and some of my friends were with me. She called me loudly
and I went to her, and I did not know what she wanted of me. She took me by
the hand and made me stand at the door of the house, as I was gasping for
breath, until I had calmed down. Then she took some water and wiped my face
and head with it, then she took me into the house. There were some women of
the Ansaar in the house, who said: With good wishes and blessings and good
luck. She handed me over to them and they adorned me, and suddenly I saw the
Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) at
mid-morning, and they handed me over to him. At that time I was nine years
old. 

Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3894; Muslim, 1422. 

2.

This report from ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) is
in the soundest of books after the Book of Allah, may He be exalted, namely
the two Saheehs of al-Bukhaari and Muslim. 

3.

It was narrated from ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with
her) via a number of isnaads (chains of narration), not by one isnaad only,
as some ignorant people claim. 

·       
The most well-known chain of
narration is that of Hishaam ibn ‘Urwah ibn az-Zubayr, from his father
‘Urwah ibn az-Zubayr, from ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her). This
is one of the soundest narrations, as ‘Urwah ibn az-Zubayr is one of the
most well acquainted of people with ‘Aa’ishah, because she was his maternal
aunt.

·       
It was also narrated via
another chain, by az-Zuhri from ‘Urwah ibn az-Zubayr, from ‘Aa’ishah.
Narrated by Muslim, 1422.

·       
It was also narrated via
another chain by al-A‘mash, from Ibraaheem, from al-Aswad, from ‘Aa’ishah,
who said: “The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
married ‘Aa’ishah when she was six years old and consummated the marriage
with her when she was nine years old, and he died when she was eighteen
years old. Narrated by Muslim, 1422.

·       
It was also narrated via
another chain, from Muhammad ibn ‘Amr, from Yahya ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn
Haatib, from ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her). Narrated by Abu
Dawood, 4937. 

Shaykh Abu Ishaaq al-Huwayni compiled the names of those who
followed ‘Urwah ibn az-Zubayr, namely: al-Aswad ibn Yazeed, al-Qaasim ibn
‘Abd ar-Rahmaan, al-Qaasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, ‘Amrah bint ‘Abd
ar-Rahmaan, and Yahya ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn Haatib. 

He also compiled the names of those who followed Hishaam ibn
‘Urwah in narrating this hadeeth. They were: Ibn Shihaab az-Zuhri and Abu
Hamzah Maymoon, the freed slave of ‘Urwah. 

Then he named those who narrated it from Hishaam ibn ‘Urwah
among the scholars of Madinah. The reader should understand that this
hadeeth is one of those that were also narrated by Hishaam in Madinah. They
were: Abu’z-Zinnaad ‘Abdullah ibn Dhakwaan and his son ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn
Abi’z-Zinnaad, and ‘Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn ‘Urwah.

Among the people of Makkah (it was narrated by) Sufyaan ibn ‘Uyaynah. 

(It was also narrated by) Jareer ibn ‘Abd al-Hameed ad-Dubbi
among the people of ar-Rayy. 

Among the people of Basra (it was narrated by): Hammaad ibn
Salamah, Hammaad ibn Zayd, Wuhayb ibn Khaalid, and others. 

See the lecture given by Shaykh Abu Ishaaq al-Huwayni (may
Allah preserve him) discussing the ignorance of the one who wrote the
article mentioned in the question, and the response to it, on the following
link (in Arabic):

http://www.islamway.com/?iw_s=Lesson&iw_a=view&lesson_id=86106

 See
also the following link (in Arabic):

http://www.islamway.com/?iw_s=Lesson&iw_a=view&lesson_id=86495

All of these lists are mentioned in order to ward off the
specious argument of some ignorant people who say that Hishaam ibn ‘Urwah
was the only one who narrated it. Even if we accept [?} that Hishaam became
confused at the end of his life, the correct view is that this accusation
was made only by Abu’l-Hasan ibn al-Qattaan in Bayaan al-Wahm wa’l-Eehaam,
and he was mistaken in doing so. 

Adh-Dhahabi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

Hishaam ibn ‘Urwah was one of the prominent and authoritative
scholars, but when he grew old his memory failed, although he did not get
confused, and there is nothing valid in the view of Abu’l-Hasan ibn
al-Qattaan, which suggests that he and Suhayl ibn Abi Saalih became confused
and changed. Yes, the man changed a little and his memory was not as sound
as it had been in his youth. He forgot some of the things he had memorized
and he made some mistakes, but so what?! He was not infallible. When he came
to Iraq at the end of his life he passed on a great deal of knowledge, among
which were a few hadeeths that he did not remember well. Something similar
happened to Maalik, Shu‘bah, Wakee‘ and other senior, trustworthy narrators.
So forget about this nonsense and mixing trustworthy scholars with weak
narrators and those who became confused. Hishaam was Shaykh al-Islam, and
may Allah help us against what Ibn al-Qattaan suggested and what  ‘Abd
ar-Rahmaan ibn Kharaash said:  Maalik did not approve of him because he got
angry with him for going and narrating hadeeth in Iraq. End quote. 

Mizaan al-I‘tidaal, 4/301-302 

4.

There are reports from people other than ‘Aa’ishah that speak
of the Prophet’s marriage to her when she was nine years old. Among those
who were her contemporaries and knew her better than others were the
following: 

Imam Ahmad narrated in al-Musnad, 6/112 from Muhammad
ibn Bishr, who said: Muhammad ibn ‘Amr told us: Abu Salamah and Yahya told
us: When Khadeejah died, Khawlah bint Hakeem, the wife of ‘Uthmaan ibn
Maz‘oon, came and said: O Messenger of Allah, why don’t you get married? He
said: To whom? She said: If you wish, a virgin, and if you wish, a
previously married woman. He said: Who is the virgin? She said: The daughter
of the dearest of Allah’s creation to you: ‘Aa’ishah bint Abi Bakr… And he
mentioned the story in detail, including the fact that she was six years old
when the marriage contract was done, and was nine years old when the
marriage was consummated. 

5.

This is what ‘Aa’ishah narrated concerning herself, and it
was conveyed by the narrators from her, and it is what is stated in all the
historical sources that give the biography of ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be
pleased with her). There is no difference among them concerning that, and
the matter was not subject to ijtihaad. When a person speaks about himself
(or herself), no one has the right to suggest anything else. 

6.

The historical sources are also agreed that ‘Aa’ishah (may
Allah be pleased with her) was born in Islam, four or five years after the
Prophet’s mission began. 

Imam al-Bayhaqi (may Allah have mercy on him) said –
commenting on the hadeeth, “I only ever remember my parents as following
Islam”–: 

‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) was born in Islam,
because her father became Muslim at the beginning of the Prophet’s mission.
It is proven from al-Aswad, from ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her)
that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
married her when she was six years old, and consummated the marriage with
her when she was nine years old, and he died when she was eighteen years
old. But Asma’ bint Abi Bakr was born during the Jaahiliyyah, and became
Muslim when her father became Muslim. … According to what Abu ‘Abdullah ibn
Mandah said, narrating from Ibn Abi’z-Zinnaad, Asma’ bint Abi Bakr was ten
years older than ‘Aa’ishah, and the mother of Asma’ became Muslim later on.
Asma’ (may Allah be pleased with her) said: My mother came to me and she was
(still) a mushrik. According to a hadeeth that she quoted, her name was
Qateelah,  from Banu Maalik ibn Hasal. She was not the mother of ‘Aa’ishah.
Asma’ became Muslim when her father did, not her mother. With regard to ‘Abd
ar-Rahmaan ibn Abi Bakr, it seems that he was an adult when his parents
became Muslim, but he did not follow them in becoming Muslim, until he
became Muslim a long time after that. He was the oldest of the children of
Abu Bakr. End quote. 

As-Sunan al-Kubra, 6/203 

Adh-Dhahabi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

‘Aa’ishah is one of those who were born in Islam; she was
eight years younger than Faatimah. She used to say: “I only ever remember my
parents as following Islam”. End quote. 

Siyar A‘laam an-Nubala’, 2/139 

Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

She – i.e., ‘Aa’ishah – was born four or five years after the
Prophet’s mission began. End quote. 

Al-Isaabah, 8/16 

Based on that, her age at the time of the Hijrah was eight or
nine years. This is in accordance with the hadeeth quoted above from
‘Aa’ishah herself. 

7.

The historical sources are also agreed that the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) died when ‘Aa’ishah was eighteen
years old, so at the time of the Hijrah she must have been nine years old. 

8.

The books of biography and history state that ‘Aa’ishah (may
Allah be pleased with her) died at the age of sixty-three years, in 57 AH.
So before the Hijrah her age was 6 years. So if you round up or down – as is
the custom of the Arabs in counting years – they round up or down the first
and last years, so her age at the time of the Hijrah was eight years, and
her age at the time when the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) married her, eight months after the Hijrah, was nine years. 

9.

The above is also in accordance with what the scholars have
narrated concerning the difference in age between Asma’ bint Abi Bakr and
‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her). Adh-Dhahabi (may Allah be pleased
with him) said: She – i.e., Asma’ – was ten or more years older than
‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her). End quote. 

Siyar A‘laam an-Nubala’, 2/188 

‘Aa’ishah was born four or five years after the Prophet’s
mission began. Abu Na‘eem said in Mu‘jam as-Sahaabah that Asma’ was
born ten years before the Prophet’s mission began. End quote. 

So the difference in age between ‘Aa’ishah and Asma’ was
fourteen or fifteen years. This is the view of adh-Dhahabi quoted above: She
– i.e., Asma’ – was ten or more years older than ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be
pleased with her). 

10.

Although we quote these numbers that are mentioned in the
books of biography and history, what we mostly rely on is what is narrated
with saheeh isnaads, not what we find in books quoted without any isnaad.
But all of the reports are in accordance with the hadeeths with undoubtedly
saheeh isnaads that we quoted at the beginning of this answer. Hence we
quoted reports from the history books that support what we quoted above. 

Secondly: 

As for the response to the author of the hostile article
quoting as evidence what is narrated in some sources about the age
difference between Asma’ and ‘Aa’ishah being ten years, we say: 

That is not proven in terms of the isnaad or chain of
narrators. If its isnaad is proven, then it may be understood in a manner
that is in accordance with the definitive evidence mentioned above. 

With regard to the isnaad or chain of narrators, it was
narrated from ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn Abi’z-Zinnaad that he said: Asma’ bint Abi
Bakr was ten years older than ‘Aa’ishah. 

This report was narrated via two isnaads from al-Asma ‘i from
‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn Abi’z-Zinnaad. 

The first isnaad was narrated by Ibn ‘Asaakir in Tareekh
Dimashq (69/10). He said: Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali ibn Ahmad al-Maaliki told us:
Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Waahid as-Sulami told us: My grandfather Abu Bakr told us:
Abu Muhammad ibn Zabr told us: Ahmad ibn Sa‘d ibn Ibraaheem az-Zuhri told
us: Muhammad ibn Abi Safwaan told us: al-Asma‘i told us, that Ibn
Abi’z-Zinnaad  said: … and he quoted the report. 

The second isnaad was narrated by Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr in
al-Isti‘aab fi Ma‘rifat al-Ashaab (2/616): Ahmad ibn Qaasim told us:
Muhammad ibn Mu‘aawiyah told us; Ibraaheem ibn Moosa ibn Jameel told us:
Ismaa ‘eel ibn Ishaaq al-Qaadi told us: Nasr ibn ‘Ali told us: al-Asma‘i
told us: Ibn Abi’z-Zinnaad told us: Asma’ bint Abi Bakr, who was ten years
or so older than ‘Aa’ishah, said:… 

If the fair-minded researcher thinks about this report it
will become clear to him that accepting its apparent meaning and rejecting
all the proven evidence to the contrary is an offence against knowledge and
scholarship, for the following reasons: 

1.

‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn Abi’z-Zinnaad (100-174 AH) is the only
one who stated that the difference in age between Asma’ and ‘Aa’ishah (may
Allah be pleased with them both) was ten years. The evidence mentioned
above, on the other hand, is abundant and was narrated from more than one of
the Taabi‘een. It is known that what is abundant takes precedence over that
which is smaller. 

2.

Most of the scholars regarded ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn
Abi’z-Zinnaad himself as da‘eef (weak). In his biography of him in
Tahdheeb at-Tahdheeb (6/172), Imam Ahmad is quoted as saying concerning
him: He is mudtarab al-hadeeth (his hadeeth is faulty). Ibn Ma‘een is quoted
as saying: He is not one of those whom the scholars of hadeeth quote as
evidence. ‘Ali ibn al-Madeeni is quoted as saying: Whatever he narrated in
Madinah is saheeh, but whatever he narrated in Baghdad was corrupted by the
Baghdadis. I saw ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan – i.e., Ibn Mahdi – draw a line through the
hadeeth of ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn Abi’z-Zinnaad. Abu Haatim said: His hadeeth
may be written down but it may not be quoted as evidence. An-Nasaa’i said:
His hadeeth cannot be quoted as evidence.  

With regard to at-Tirmidhi describing him as thiqah
(trustworthy) in his Sunan, following hadeeth no. 1755, this
contradicts the criticism of the previous commentator, and criticism (of a
narrator) takes precedence over praise, especially with regard to the
reports that were narrated only by ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn Abi’z-Zinnaad ,
especially when he says something that is contrary to what is well-known in
the books of the Sunnah and history. 

3.

According to the report of Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr, he said: “She
(Asma’) was ten years or so older than ‘Aa’ishah.” This report is more sound
than the report of Ibn ‘Asaakir, because Nasr ibn ‘Ali, who narrated it from
al-Asma‘i in the isnaad of Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr is thiqah (trustworthy), as it
says in Tahdheeb at-Tahdheeb, 10/431. With regard to Muhammad ibn Abi
Safwaan, the narrator from al-Asma‘i in the isnaad of Ibn ‘Asaakir, no one
described him as trustworthy. 

The words in the report of Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr, “or so”,
indicate that he was not certain about (the difference in age) being ten
years. This makes his report weak and it is not permissible for the
fair-minded researcher to reject the evidence quoted above for the sake of
this uncertainty. 

4.

Moreover, it is possible to reconcile this report with the
other reports by saying that Asma’ was born six years or five years before
the Prophet’s mission began, and ‘Aa’ishah was born four or five years after
his mission began. When Asma’ died in 73 AH, she was ninety-one or
ninety-two years old, as was mentioned by adh-Dhahabi in Siyar A‘laam
an-Nubala’, 3/380: Ibn Abi’z-Zinnaad said: She was ten years older than
‘Aa’ishah. I (adh-Dhahabi) say: Based on that, her age would have been
ninety-one years. Hishaam ibn ‘Urwah, on the other hand, said: She lived for
one hundred years and not one of her teeth fell out. End quote. 

5.

It may also be said that Asma’ was born approximately 14
years before the Prophet’s mission began – which is what is affirmed by the
author himself in his previous article – and that in the year of the Hijrah
she was twenty-seven years old, and her age at the time of her death in 73
AH was one hundred years, so as to be in harmony with what the historical
sources are agreed upon with regard to Asma’ bint Abi Bakr, that she died in
the same year in which her son ‘Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr was killed (73 AH),
and that she died at the age of one hundred years. Hishaam ibn ‘Urwah said,
narrating from his father: Asma’ reached the age of one hundred years and
not one of her teeth fell out and she remained alert all her life. 

There follow the names of the sources that mention that:

Hilyat al-Awliya’, 2/56

Mu‘jam as-Sahaabah by Abi Na‘eem
al-Asbahaani

Al-Isti‘aab by Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr,
4/1783

Tareekh Dimashq by Ibn ‘Asaakir,
69/8

Asad al-Ghaabah by Ibn
al-Atheer, 7/12

Al-Isaabah by Ibn Hajar, 7/487

Tahdheeb al-Kamaal, 35/125 

With regard to the idea of her having been born ten years
before the Prophet’s mission began, this was only stated by Abu Na‘eem
al-Asbahaani, in a statement in which he said:

She – i.e., Asma’ – was the sister of ‘Aa’ishah through her
father. She was older than ‘Aa’ishah; she was born twenty-seven years before
the Hijrah, and ten years before the mission of the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) began. When she was born, her father (Abu Bakr)
as-Siddeeq was twenty-one years old. Asma’ died in 73 AH in Makkah, a few
days after her son ‘Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr was killed, at the age of one
hundred years, having lost her sight. End quote. 

It is as if Abu Na‘eem meant that the Makkan period (of the
Prophet’s mission) lasted for seventeen years, which is the view of some of
the scholars of seerah; it is a da‘eef (weak) view, but it should be pointed
out when trying to understand the opinion of Abu Na‘eem. 

For the wisdom behind the marriage of the Prophet (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) to ‘Aa’ishah despite the difference in their
ages, please see the answer to question no.
44990.

And Allah knows best.