Using Mathematics: Sayyidatina ‘Aishah bint Abu Bakr (r.a.) Married at 16 Years of Age

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

On the ahadits of Sayyidatina ‘Aishah bin Abu Bakr’s (r.a.) age when she got married, we compare them with the timeline and other ahadits.  In summary, the age of Sayyidatina ‘Aishah (r.a.) at the time of her nikah can be calculated succinctly thus.  Sayyidina Abu Bakr ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Utsman asw-Swiddiq (r.a.) married twice, and fathered four children, before the beginning of the Revelation, at least thirteen years before the Hijrah: Sayydina ‘Abdullah (r.a.), Sayydatina Asma’ (r.a.), Sayydina ‘Abd ar-Rahman (r.a.), and Sayydatina ‘Aishah (r.a.).  This is uncontested and well-known to the Muslims. 

Sayydatina ‘Aishah (r.a.) was betrothed to Sayyidina Jubayr ibn Muth’im (r.a.), before Sayyidina Abu Bakr (r.a.) accepted Islam in the first year of the Call, twelve to thirteen years before the Hijrah.  This is uncontested.  When Sayyidina Abu Bakr (r.a.) planned to go to Abyssinia during the fifth year of the Call, eight or nine years before the Hijrah, Muth’im ibn ‘Adi broke off the engagement because Sayyidina Abu Bakr (r.a.) had accepted Islam.  This is uncontested.  Sayyidatina ‘Aishah (r.a.) remembered the Revelation of a verse known to have been Revealed in the fifth year of the Call or before, eight to thirteen years before the Hijrah.  This is uncontested.  Sayyidatina ‘Aishah (r.a.) was betrothed to the Prophet (s.a.w.) two years after the death of Sayyidatina Khadijah bint Khuwaylid (r.a.), or a year before the Hijrah.  This is uncontested.  Sayyidatina ‘Aishah (r.a.) did not accompany her father and the Prophet (s.a.w.) during the Hijrah, but arrived in Madina later, and became so sick that all of her hair fell out.  This is uncontested. 

Sayyidatina ‘Aishah (r.a.) moved in with the Prophet (s.a.w.) a year or two after the Hijrah, or two to four years after her betrothal.  This is unclear from the various reports, which give different time periods, but all are agreed as to the general time frame.  Sayyidatina ‘Aishah (r.a.) was widowed in 11 AH.  This is uncontested.  She was a widow for about forty years and passed away in 50 AH.  This is uncontested.  Among the people who report these facts is one Shaykh Hisham ibn ‘Urwah (r.a.), the grandson of Sayyidatina Asma’ (r.a.) and Sayyidatina ‘Aishah’s (r.a.) grand-nephew, who lived in Madina for 71 years and then moved to Iraq.  He reported that Sayyidatina ‘Aishah (r.a.) passed in 50 AH.  This is uncontested. 

Sayyidatina ‘Aishah’s (r.a.) older sister, Sayyidatina Asma’ (r.a.) was ten years older than Sayyidatina ‘Aishah (r.a.).  Sayyidatina Asma’ (r.a.) was 27 at the time of the Hijrah, making Sayyidatina ‘Aishah (r.a.) 17.  This is uncontested.  Sayyidatina Asma’ (r.a.) passed away at the age of 100 in 73 AH.  23 years earlier, when Sayyidatina ‘Aishah (r.a.) passed away, Sayyidatina Asma’ (r.a.) was 77.  This is uncontested.  Thus, Sayyidatina ‘Aishah (r.a.) was 67 years old when she passed away in 50 AH, seventeen at the time of the Hijrah, sixteen at the time of her betrothal to the Prophet (s.a.w.), and nineteen when she moved in with him. 

All of the reports saying that Sayyidatina ‘Aishah (r.a.) was six at the time of her betrothal to the Prophet (s.a.w.) come from Iraq, as do all of the reports that she was nine when she moved in with the Prophet (s.a.w.).  There are no reports of this from Makkah or Madina.  This is uncontested.  Most of these reports from Iraq came through Shaykh Hisham ibn ‘Urwah (r.a.), Sayyidatina Asma’s (r.a.) grandson, mostly from his father.  This is indisputable.  Sayyidatina Hisham ibn ‘Urwah (r.a.) is said to have reported that Sayyidatina ‘Aishah (r.a.) was nine in the second year of the Hijrah, was widowed in the eleventh year of the Hijrah, and passed away in the fiftieth year of the Hijrah, when his grandmother, ten years older than his great aunt, Sayyidatina ‘Aishah (r.a.), was 77.  The same person who said Sayyidatina ‘Aishah (r.a.) was nine in 2 AH also said she was 67 in 50 AH.  So, the only reports that Sayyidatina ‘Aishah (r.a.) was six, or nine, come from someone who also reports that she had to be sixteen when betrothed, and nineteen when she moved in with the Prophet (s.a.w.).  And every other report showing her to be much older than six is uncontested and considered reliable, while Shaykh Hisham’s (r.a.) reports from Iraq should be considered unreliable for obvious reasons. 

Sayyidatina ‘Aishah (r.a.) stayed and passed away in Madina.  All the other ahadits came from chains that originated in Madina.  The gharib report from Shaykh Hisham (r.a.) originated in the vicinity of Kufa.  Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Malik ibn Anas (r.a.), who lived in Madina in all that time, never included this report in his al-Muwaththa’, while Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Isma’il al-Bukhari (r.a.), who came centuries later, included it in his Swahih.  Discounting all these issues with the chain, which may be disputed based on other opinions, the mathematics does not lie.  Swahih hadits or not, the numbers say otherwise.


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