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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Al Baik" data-source="post: 30904373" data-attributes="member: 326965">A common allegation against Islam and the character of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is that he committed an evil act by marrying Aisha while she was 6 years old and consummating the marriage when she was only 9 years old. In this post I will aim to provide evidence to demonstrate why the narration of 6-9 years exists and why we cannot rely on that narration alone as evidence for the age of Aisha. I hope to get some good debate and discussion on these arguments and sources.<h3>Historical Context</h3>It is important to note that the Arabs during that time were largely illiterate and their society was heavily based on oral traditions and communication. They did not have a structured calendar system and did not celebrate birthdays. To determine their age they would rely on other people and specific events. For example, if there was a plague during certain year then that would be known as the year of the plague, and people may reference that age of others or measure time based on how long ago that plague seems. A proper calendar system began after the migration of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ from Mecca to Medina. In order to gain a better idea of the age of Aisha, we would need to look at more historical sources and other Hadiths to get a better idea.The historical sources overwhelmingly agree that the Prophet ﷺ received revelation of Islam in 610ADMigrated from Mecca to Medina during 623AD and passed away at 633AD. The Islamic Hijri calendar begins on 623AD from the migration of the Prophet ﷺ.<h3>Age according to Aisha herself</h3>Sunan an-Nasa'i 3379:A few narrations mention that the consummation happened in Medina after the migration from Mecca while other narrations mention that the marriage and consummation happened after the migration to Medina. There are even variations in age in which she approximates her age to be between 6, 7 or 9 years old during marriage then consummation 3 years later.<h3>Other examples of different Narrations of Time</h3>According to Ibn Abbas (ra) in Bukhari 3851:According to Ibn Abi Abdur-Rahman in Bukhari 3547:The same event of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ staying in Mecca has been given different amount of time in Bukhari which is the most authentic book after the Quran. This shows that narrations in Hadith need to be explored more with other sources to determine accuracy in regards to numbers, especially when dates of events are involved. The same applies for the age of Aisha (ra) that has different narrations with different ages.Remember, a narration can be authentic but that doesn't mean the substance of the narration is accurate, especially when it comes to age and dates for those days.<hr /><h3>Abu Bakrs' daughters born before 610AD</h3>According to Tabari, all four daughters of Abu Bakr, including Aisha, were born before the revelation of Islam in 610AD. The marriage of Aisha to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ took place one year after the migration around 624AD. Even if Aisha was born 1 year before the revelation of Islam in 609AD, this puts her age at around 15 during the marriage.<h3>Age in Comparison with Older Sister</h3>Furthermore, according to other historical sources such as Al-Nawawi, Ibn Kathir and Ibn Hisham, Asma who is Aisha's sister, was 10 years older than Aisha. She died at the age of 100 around in 73AH or 695AD. Asma was born in 596AD and was 14 years old when Islam began. Aisha would have been 4 when Islam began in 610AD. This means Aisha would have been born in 606AD. At the time of migration Asma would have been around 27 years old. If Aisha was 10 years younger than her, then she would have been around 17 years old during the migration and thus 18 years old during the marriage a year later. Or if other narrations are correct then she would have been 14-15 when she was married and 17-18 when the marriage was consummated a year after the migration in 623AD.<h3>Age in Comparison with Daughter of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ</h3>There is also her age compared to Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet ﷺ.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.”This again would lead us to conclude that Aisha would have been born one year before the revelation of Islam. This would mean that by the time of migration she would have been at least 14 years old and thus 15 years old at the time of marriage. Again this shows that the narrations of 6-9 are unreliable and shows different narrations and historians leading to different conclusions about her age.<h3>Aisha remembers a revelation of the Quran</h3>Sahih Bukhari 4993Chapter 54 was revealed around 4-5 years after the first revelation to the Prophet ﷺ in 610AD, so around 614-15AD. If Aisha was married to the Prophet ﷺ at the age of six at 624AD, then she would not have been even born at the time of the revelation of this verse. Yet she remembers this revelation and was of a playing age during its revelation. Hence, this contradicts the narration of her being married at 6 or 9 and shows that her estimate of her age was incorrect due to the lack of calendars.Furthermore, Ibn Sīdah and Ibn Manẓūr say in al-Muḥkam and Lisanul Arab dictionary that “The word jāriyah means a young girl (fatiyyah).” The word fatiyyah means an adolescent girl (shābbah). It seems as though they would use the word jāriyah for a girl at the beginning of her adolescence because she is still running here and there [playing]. A 4 year old is not called a jariyah unless it is to contrast a male and female in the same sentence. Hence, in this case it refers to a younger girl who is almost an adolescent. She would have been around 7-9 years old when this verse was revealed in 614-15AD. This places her age at 16-18 years old at the time of marriage one year after migration in 624AD.<h3>Aisha remembers the Migration to Ethiopia</h3>Sahih Bukhari 2297:Generally, children begin to remember and understand more complex things like the religion of their parents at around 5-6 years old. If we assume that she was born around 4-6 years after Islam then the statement of Aisha narrating her parents being Muslims at the age of her awareness and memory is useless to recount as it is well known that Abu Bakr was one of the early converts to Islam. If this were the case then she would obviously have began having memories and awareness while her parents were Muslim. However, if she was born 4 years before Islam then this statement is necessary as it shows that she was born before Islam but her awareness and memory began while her parents were Muslim as opposed to any other religion of the time.Secondly, Aisha recalls the migration to Ethiopia which happened in 615AD, 5 years after the revelation of Islam. Even if she was married at 9 years old at 624AD then she would have been a few months to 1 years old at the time of migration to Ethiopia which is not possible as she remembers it happening. Once again this is proof that she was not 6 or 9 at the time of marriage as should would have been at least 5 years or older during 615AD.[MEDIA=facebook]id=646927501777989;type=r[/MEDIA]</blockquote>

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