The Age of Aisha
Cairo, Egypt
The Critique Against Islam’s Founder
One of the criticisms leveled at Islam is Muhammad’s marriage to Aisha. It is claimed that he married a “minor” in contemporary terms. The present author was not made aware of this by Muslims, but rather by Christians, their great global/cosmic opponent. They used the incident in a derogatory manner. It begs the question: “Is there any substance to their claims?” To find that answer, a study of Muhammad’s biography is required.
The Search for Historical Evidence
Two of the most popular English translations of the Quran are by Yusuf Ali and N.J. Dawood. They contain short biographical sketches of Muhammad’s life. Aisha is never mentioned, however. A look at an Arabic Quran lacks any timeline. Yusuf Islam’s The Life of the Last Prophet audiobook never mentions the individual either. Then there is Moustapha Akkad’s epic film The Message. Aisha is never mentioned there either.
Interestingly, Wikipedia has an article on the subject which states the following:
Islamic sources of the classical era list Aisha’s age at the time of her marriage as six or seven and nine or ten at its consummation. In a hadith from Sahih al-Bukhari, Aisha recollects having been married at six years of age.[32] Ibn Sa’d’s biography holds her age at the time of marriage as between six and seven, and gives her age at consummation to be nine while Ibn Hisham’s biography of Muhammad suggests she may have been ten years old at consummation.[33] Al-Tabari notes Aisha to have stayed with her parents after the marriage and consummated the relationship at nine years of age since she was young and sexually immature at the time of marriage; however, elsewhere Tabari appears to suggest that she was born during the Jahiliyyah (before 610 CE), which would translate to an age of about twelve or more at marriage.[34][35]
The Wikipedia article claims the Sahih Al-Bukhari and the Sirah as its sources. Some academics may hold Wikipedia’s reliabiltiy into question. The search for information logically leads to more reputable sources. The following quote is found in The Messenger, Muhammad (PBUH) by Sh. Sa’id Hawwa and translated by Khalifa Ezzat A. Hassan, Head of Religious Affairs and Head Imam in the Islamic Center and London Central Mosque:
Second, God’s Messenger [pbuh] married ‘A’ishah, daughter of Abu Bakr when she was seven years old in Makkah. However, he consummated the marriage in Madinah when she was nine or ten years old. She was his only wife who was a virgin when he married her. Her father, Abu Bakr married her to the Messenger [pbuh]. The Messenger [pbuh] paid her four hundred dirhams as Mahr [dowry] (Hawwa 136).
The above is from reputable Islamic sources. They do not seem to see anything abnormal about the incident. One of the most controversial historians is Robert Spencer. His books have created so much outrage that he is banned from entering the United Kingdom. It makes one question the notion of “freedom of speech.” In his book, The Truth About Muhammad, Founder of the World’s Most Intolerant Religion, he states the following:
Yet of these facts there can be little doubt. According to a hadith reported by Bukhari, the prophet of Islam, “married Aisha when she was a girl six years of age, and he consumed [i.e. consummated] the marriage when she was nine years old. He was at that time in his early fifties. Many Islamic apologists claim-in the teeth of this evidence-that Aisha was actually older. Karen Armstrong asserts that “Tabiri says that she was so young that she stayed in her parents’ home and the marriage was consummated there later when she reached puberty.” Unfortunately, her readers are unlikely to have volumes of Tabiri on hand to check her assertion; contrary to Armstrong’s account, the Muslim historian quotes Aisha thusly: “The Messenger of God married me when I was seven; my marriage was consummated when I was nine” (Spencer 170).
Islamic Apologists
The current author has attempted to get views on Aisha from other Muslims first hand. The following was stated by his former Arabic teacher, an assistant Imam in Cairo:
“My grandmother got married when she was twelve. She told me she was afraid, but she was very strong in Islam…girls grow faster in warmer climates, places like Egypt and India,than they do in places like Switzerland.”
This seems to be the mindset in Muslim countries.
Imam Sulyman Ali Hassan, the best Muslim scholar known to the present author, had the following to say in regards to the age of Aisha:
“It is not accurate that Christian sources do not have any similar incidents. In fact all pre-modern societies without exception have had similar instances, and the Hebrew Bible has many examples of brides with similar ages. The age of Mary when she conceived Jesus was also held to possibly be as young as 12–16 years.
With respect to Aisha, although Sunni Islam has conventionally accepted that she was 9 at the time of marriage, there are historical grounds to doubt these reports. First, all of them without exception are sourced from Aisha herself — which raises the question if she might have deliberately or inadvertently lower her own age, especially since being a young bride would imply that she was more attractive or special than the other wives. Second, reports from other sources imply that she was older than that at the time of marriage.”
Conclusion
In the study of religion, some things seem strange, repulsive, or criminal to the modern reader. From a non-religious standpoint, perhaps it is best to remember that the Quran and Bible were written a long time ago.
Why would the incident have been included in the Hadith? Many would view it as embarrassing. According to Robert Spencer, it is probable that it was intended to support a cultural norm in the Arab world. As the Imam also stated, the validity of the hadith can also be called into question.
Works Cited
Hawwa, Sh. Sa’id. The Messenger, Muhammad (PBUH). Dar Al-Salam.
Spencer, Robert. The Truth About Muhammad, Founder of the World’s Most Intolerant Religion. Regency Publishing Inc., 2006.
Wikipedia. Aisha.
