9

What was the actual age of Ayesha (AS) when married to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)?

EDIT: The too young age (6, 9 etc) is criticized most by Non-Muslims.

According to other sources Ayesha's age was:

Improve this question
9
  • Your question gives the impression of you wanting to believe she wasn't 9 because you haven't given any links to where it's believed she was 9.
    – Larry Harson
    Commented Dec 30, 2012 at 19:38
  • I just watched through the linked Zakir Naik video; he refutes the claim of 19, he doesn't confirm it.
    – goldPseudo
    Commented Dec 30, 2012 at 21:50
  • 2
    what was the actual age of Ayesha (AS) when married.., is this a primarily opinion based question?
    – Azik Abdullah
    Commented Jul 4, 2013 at 6:53
  • 1
    Maybe a little of topic but had to put this in, doesn't matter what the age was when she married. Age has nothing to do with pubity (nothing directly anyway) just because some countries in the west have decided that a women can marry at 16-18 doesnt mean that this is the really age when someone becomes a women. The real question is, when does a girl become a women, has age got anything to do with this? Ironically there are no narrations regarding any criticisms from the prophets fiercest enemies about this.
    – Abu Nooh
    Commented Jun 7, 2014 at 0:28
  • This article about aisha's age in arabic would be a good answer if translated:
    – Kilise
    Commented Jun 17, 2017 at 11:34

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
15

Aishah ( رضي لله عنھا ) was six years old when she married the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم‎) and nine years old when he consummated the marriage with her. This is what is proven from the books of hadeeth and has been agreed upon by all the scholars of Islam.

Some of the narrations are as follows:

Aishah ( رضي الله عنها ) reported that the Prophet(صلى الله عليه وسلم‎) married her when she was seven years old, and he was taken to his house as a bride when she was nine, and her dolls were with her; and when he (the Holy Prophet) died she was eighteen years old. (source)

وَحَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ بْنُ حُمَيْدٍ، أَخْبَرَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّزَّاقِ، أَخْبَرَنَا مَعْمَرٌ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، عَنْ عُرْوَةَ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ، أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم تَزَوَّجَهَا وَهْىَ بِنْتُ سَبْعِ سِنِينَ وَزُفَّتْ إِلَيْهِ وَهِيَ بِنْتُ تِسْعِ سِنِينَ وَلُعَبُهَا مَعَهَا وَمَاتَ عَنْهَا وَهِيَ بِنْتُ ثَمَانَ عَشْرَةَ ‏.‏

Some narrations state that Aishah’s ( رضي الله عنها ) age was six while others state that it was seven. Imam An-Nawawi (source) while commenting on this hadeeth in his Sharh of Saheeh Muslim stated that Ad-Dawoodee said:

"With regards to the narration in which she states that she was married at the age of seven while most narrations state that she was married at the age of six, then both narrations can be reconciled by the fact that she was six years and some months. Therefore in some narrations, she only mentioned the number of years of her age at that time while in other narrations she meant the year she was about to enter, and Allah knows best"

In another narration,

Narrated 'Urwa:

The Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam) wrote the (marriage contract) with `Aisha while she was six years old and consummated his marriage with her while she was nine years old and she remained with him for nine years (i.e. till his death). (source)

حَدَّثَنَا قَبِيصَةُ بْنُ عُقْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنْ هِشَامِ بْنِ عُرْوَةَ، عَنْ عُرْوَةَ، تَزَوَّجَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَائِشَةَ وَهْىَ ابْنَةُ سِتٍّ وَبَنَى بِهَا وَهْىَ ابْنَةُ تِسْعٍ وَمَكَثَتْ عِنْدَهُ تِسْعًا‏.‏

There are many similar authentic hadeeth in Sunan Abe Dawood, Sunan An-Nasaaee, Sunan Ibn Majah, Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Sunan Al-Baihaqi Al-Kubra, Mustadrak Al-Haakim, Al-Mujam Al-Kabeer of At-Tabaraani which proves the above.

I would recommend you to read this treatise, which clears the doubts, arguments that people pose and misconceptions regarding marriage and age of Aishah ( رضي الله عنها ).

Improve this answer
3
  • I have edited my question, her age is also said to be around 15-21 at marriage according to many sources.
    – LifeH2O
    Commented Dec 30, 2012 at 18:46
  • 1
    @LifeH2O I don't see much evidence there. Sources should be authentic hadith or from Qur'an and the video of Zakir Naik says the same as my answer and not "19". The rest of links uses the argument of the narrator " 'Urwa" and casts doubt upon the hadith and answers to those you can find in the treatise I have linked.
    – Abdullah
    Commented Dec 30, 2012 at 20:54
  • -1 This age is not agreed upon by all scholars of Islam thus you're misleading anyone who reads this answer.
    – YoMango
    Commented Jan 4, 2023 at 9:00
0

Conclusion. She accepted Islam when she was 4 in 1 Besat (بعثت) so that She was about 18 in 2 Hijri.

  • As Ebne Molghan (ابن ملقن) (with refer to Bokhari (بخاری)) says: Aisha went to the house of The Prophet(PBUH) in 2 Hijri.

  • As Belazari (بلاذري) says: Aisha married with the Prophet (PBUH) in 4 Hijri.

So that we can conclude she was between 18 and 20 on her wedding day.

Some Details.

a) Al-Beihaghi, Ibne Asaker, Az-zahabi: Aisha was 10 years younger than her sister (Isma Bent Abi Bakr).

Ref:

  1. Al-Beihaghi (البيهقي، أحمد بن الحسين بن علي بن موسي ابوبكر (متوفاي 458هـ)، سنن البيهقي الكبرى، ج 6 ، ص 204 ، ناشر: مكتبة دار الباز - مكة المكرمة، تحقيق: محمد عبد القادر عطا، 1414 - 1994.)

  2. Ibn Asaker (ابن عساكر الدمشقي الشافعي، أبي القاسم علي بن الحسن إبن هبة الله بن عبد الله،(متوفاي571هـ)، تاريخ مدينة دمشق وذكر فضلها وتسمية من حلها من الأماثل، ج 69 ، ص 8 ، تحقيق: محب الدين أبي سعيد عمر بن غرامة العمري، ناشر: دار الفكر - بيروت - 1995.)

  3. Az-zahabi (الذهبي، شمس الدين محمد بن أحمد بن عثمان، (متوفاي748هـ)، سير أعلام النبلاء، ج 2 ، ص 289 ، تحقيق: شعيب الأرناؤوط، محمد نعيم العرقسوسي، ناشر: مؤسسة الرسالة - بيروت، الطبعة: التاسعة، 1413هـ..)

and

b) Al-Tabarani, Ibne Asaker, Ibne Asir: Isma (older sister of Aisha) was born in 27 before the Hijrat.

Ref:

  1. Al-Tabarani (الطبراني، سليمان بن أحمد بن أيوب ابوالقاسم (متوفاي360هـ)، المعجم الكبير، ج 24 ، ص 77 ، تحقيق: حمدي بن عبدالمجيد السلفي، ناشر: مكتبة الزهراء - الموصل، الطبعة: الثانية، 1404هـ – 1983م.)

  2. Ibne Asaker (ابن عساكر الدمشقي الشافعي، أبي القاسم علي بن الحسن إبن هبة الله بن عبد الله،(متوفاي571هـ)، تاريخ مدينة دمشق وذكر فضلها وتسمية من حلها من الأماثل، ج 69 ، ص 9 ، تحقيق: محب الدين أبي سعيد عمر بن غرامة العمري، ناشر: دار الفكر - بيروت - 1995.)

  3. Ibne Asir (الجزري، عز الدين بن الأثير أبي الحسن علي بن محمد (متوفاي630هـ)، أسد الغابة في معرفة الصحابة، ج 7 ، ص 11 ، تحقيق عادل أحمد الرفاعي، ناشر: دار إحياء التراث العربي - بيروت / لبنان، الطبعة: الأولى، 1417 هـ - 1996 م.)

  • Conclusion 1: With respect to (a) and (b) you can calculate the year which Aisha was born in. It was 17 before the Hijrat. That is, Ayesha was 4 or 5 at the first year after Bi'that.

c) Al-Bukhari: The Prophet (PBUH) married with Aisha after 3 years when Khadija died.

Ref:

  1. Al-Bukhari (البخاري الجعفي، محمد بن إسماعيل ابوعبدالله (متوفاي256هـ)، صحيح البخاري، ج 3 ، ص 3606، ح3606 ،كتاب فضائل الصحابة، بَاب تَزْوِيجِ النبي e خَدِيجَةَ وَفَضْلِهَا رضي الله عنها ، تحقيق د. مصطفي ديب البغا، ناشر: دار ابن كثير، اليمامة - بيروت، الطبعة: الثالثة، 1407 - 1987.)

and

d) Ibne Molghen: Aisha started living in the Prophet's house in 2 Hijri.

Ref:

  1. Ibne Molghen (الأنصاري الشافعي، سراج الدين أبي حفص عمر بن علي بن أحمد المعروف بابن الملقن (متوفاي804 هـ)، غاية السول في خصائص الرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم ، ج 1 ، ص 236 ، تحقيق : عبد الله بحر الدين عبد الله ، ناشر : دار البشائر الإسلامية - بيروت - 1414هـ - 1993م.)

and

e) Az-zahabi (indirectly): Aisha started living in the Prophet's house in 4 Hijri.

Ref:

  1. Az-zahabi (الذهبي، شمس الدين محمد بن أحمد بن عثمان، (متوفاي748هـ)، تاريخ الإسلام ووفيات المشاهير والأعلام، ج 3 ، ص 288 ، تحقيق د. عمر عبد السلام تدمرى، ناشر: دار الكتاب العربي - لبنان/ بيروت، الطبعة: الأولى، 1407هـ - 1987م.)
  • Conclusion 2: With Respect to (Conclusion 1), (c), (d) and (e), by the time Aisha started living with the Prophet (PBUH), she was between 18 and 20.
Improve this answer
3
  • 5
    Thanks for the references, but my calculator shows she was 4 or 5 at the first year after Bi'that, if she was born 17 years before Hijrat. Your references are good but your writing style is somewhat strange ;). Maybe it is better if you could quote the Arabic and English translation of the context but then cite only to Arabic addresses of such contexts (name of the books, the publishers, and etc.), as if anyone is going to refer to your references he should read the books in their original language anyway. Godspeed and thanks for your time and effort.
    – owari
    Commented Dec 29, 2012 at 15:30
  • 1
    -1 This is not true, check the 2 first answers above, What makes their answer more authentic is that Aisha Narrated one of the hadiths.
    – Sohaeb
    Commented Feb 14, 2013 at 1:44
  • 1
    @Sohaeb i've heard and read scholars who discussed the authenticity even if 'Aisha herself narrated that and even if it was mentioned in both sahih's, so this doesn't make the hadith stronger or the speculation/calculation on her real ago at the time clearer ...
    – Medi1Saif ♦
    Commented Dec 8, 2015 at 8:33
0

Kindly Read Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/696084/of-aishas-age-at-marriage

First point:

There is only one hadith by Hisham which suggests the age of Hazrat Aisha as being nine when she came to live with her husband......His life is divided into two periods: in 131A.H. the Madani period ended, and the Iraqi period started, when Hisham was 71 years old. Hafiz Zehbi has spoken about Hisham’s loss of memory in his later period.........All the narrators of this hadith are Iraqis who had heard it from Hisham. Allama Kandhulvi says that the words spoken in connection with Hazrat Aisha’s age were tissa ashara, meaning 19, when Hisham only heard (or remembered), tissa, meaning nine. Maulana Usmani thinks this change was purposely and maliciously made later.

Second Point writer has:

Historian Ibn Ishaq in his Sirat Rasul Allah has given a list of the people who accepted Islam in the first year of the proclamation of Islam, in which Hazrat Aisha’s name is mentioned as Abu Bakr’s “little daughter Aisha”. If we accept Hisham’s calculations, she was not even born at that time.

Third Point:

Some time after the death of the Prophet’s first wife, Hazrat Khadija, Khawla suggested to the Prophet that he get married again, to a bikrun, referring to Hazrat Aisha (Musnad Ahmed). In Arabic bikrun is used for an unmarried girl who has crossed the age of puberty and is of marriageable age. The word cannot be used for a six-year-old girl.

Fourth One:

There is consensus that Hazrat Aisha was 10 years younger than her elder sister Asma, whose age at the time of the hijrah, or migration to Madina, was about 28. It can be concluded that Hazrat Aisha was about 18 years old at migration. On her moving to the Prophet’s house, she was a young woman at 21.

Improve this answer
0

Classical Sunni scholars argue A'isha (ra), daughter of Abu Bakr (ra), married the Prophet (saw) at the age of six, but he consummated the marriage when she reached puberty at the age of nine.This by no means suggests she was a child, rather that is determined by the social and biological facts of the time, which suggest she was a young adult capable of dealing with the responsibility of marriage. This is what Islamic sources say about her age when she married the Rasool (saw) https://www.islamiqate.com/3197/what-islamic-sources-say-about-the-age-aisha-the-time-marriage.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .