How Old Was A'yshah When She Married The Prophet Muhammad?
How Old Was A'yshah When She Married The Prophet Muhammad?
How Old Was A'yshah When She Married The Prophet Muhammad?
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How Old Was A’yshah When She Married The Prophet Muhammad?
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Ahl al-Sunnah insist on proving that A’yshah was betrothed to the Prophet Muhammad (S)
at six years of age and that she entered his house at nine years [where the marriage was
consummated]. [Ahl al-Sunnah] consider this to be evidence for A’yshah’s superiority over
the other wives of the Messenger of Allah. Does this, however, reflect reality? In the
following article we will investigate this matter.
However, before embarking on the crux of the matter, we must shed light on the history of
the Prophet’s marriage to A’yshah so that we may afterwards draw a conclusion as to how
old she was when she married the Messenger of Allah.
There are differing views in regard to the history of the Messenger of Allah’s marriage to
A’yshah. Muhammad b. Ismaʿil al-Bukhari [d. 256 A.H/870 C.E] narrates from A’yshah
herself that the Messenger of Allah betrothed her three years after [the death] of Lady
Khadijah (Allah’s peace be upon her):
See: al-Bukhari al-Juʿfi, Muhammad b. Ismaʿil Abu ʿAbd Allah (d. 256 A.H/870 C.E), Sahih al-
Bukhari, ed. Mustafa Dib al-Bagha (Dar ibn Kathir: Beirut, 3rd print, 1407 /1987), III: 3606,
hadith # 3606. Kitab Fadha’il al-Sahabah [The Book of the Merits of the Companions], Bab
Tazwij al-Nabi Khadijah wa Fadhliha radhi Allah ʿanha [Chapter on the Marriage of The
Prophet to Khadijah and her Virtue[s] (may Allah be pleased with her)].
Given that Lady Khadija (Allah’s peace be upon her) left this world during the tenth year of
the Prophetic mission (biʿthah), the Messenger of Allah’s marriage with A’yshah therefore
took place during the thirteenth year of the Prophetic mission.
After having narrated al-Bukhari’s tradition, Ibn al-Mulqin derives the following from the
narration:
…and the Prophet (S) consummated the marriage in Madinah during [the month] of
Shawwal in the second year [of the Hijrah].
See: al-Ansari al-Shafiʿi, Siraj al-Din Abi Hafs ʿUmar b. ʿAli b. Ahmad al-Maʿruf bi Ibn al-
Mulqin (d. 804 A.H/1401 C.E), Ghayat al-Sul fi Khasa’is al-Rasul (S), ed. ʿAbd Allah Bahr al-
Din ʿAbd Allah (Dar al-Basha’ir al-Islamiyah: Beirut, 1414/1993), I: 236.
According to this narration, the Messenger of Allah betrothed A’yshah in the thirteenth year
of the Prophetic mission and officially wed her [i.e. consummated the marriage] in the
second year of the Hijrah.
From what has been related by other prominent [scholars] of Ahl al-Sunnah, we can [also]
conclude that the Prophet wed A’yshah during the fourth year of the Hijrah. When
commenting on the status (sharh al-hal) of Sawdah, the other wife of the Messenger of
Allah (S), al-Baladhuri [d. 297 A.H/892 C.E] writes in his Ansab al-Ashraf that:
After Khadijah, the Messenger of Allah (S) married Sawdah b. Zamʿah b. Qays from Bani
ʿAmir b. La’wi a few months before the Hijrah…she was the first woman that the Prophet
joined [in matrimony] in Madinah.
See: al-Baladhuri, Ahmad b. Yahyah b. Jabir (d. 279 A.H/892 C.E), Ansab al-Ashraf, I: 181
(retrieved from al-Jamiʿ al-Kabir).
Al-Dhahabi [d. 748 A.H/1347 C.E], on the other hand, claims that Sawdah b. Zamʿah was
the only wife of the Messenger of Allah for four years:
[Sawdah] died in the last year of ʿUmar’s caliphate, and for four years she was the only wife
of the Prophet (S) where neither [free] woman nor bondmaid was partnered with her [in
sharing a relationship with the Prophet (S)]…
See: al-Dhahabi, Shams al-Din Muhammad b. Ahmad b. ʿUthman (d. 748 A.H/1347 C.E),
Tarikh al-Islam wa al-Wafiyat al-Mashahir wa al-Aʿlam, ed. Dr. ʿUmar ʿAbd al-Salam Tadmuri
(Dar al-Kutub al-ʿArabi: Beirut, 1st print, 1407/1987), III: 288.
According to this conclusion, A’yshah married the Prophet in the fourth year of the Hijrah
(i.e. four years after the Prophet’s marriage to Sawdah).
Now we shall investigate A’yshah’s age at the moment of her betrothal by referring to
historical documents and records:
Abu Naʿim al-Isfahani [d. 430 A.H/1038 C.E] in his Maʿrifat al-Sahabah writes that:
See: al-Isfahani, Abu Naʿim Ahmad b. ʿAbd Allah (d. 430 A.H/1038 C.E), Maʿrifat al-Sahabah,
VI: 3253, no. 3769 (retrieved from al-Jamiʿ al-Kabir).
Asma’ b. Abi Bakr al-Siddiq died on the year 73 [of the Hijrah], after her son ʿAbd Allah b.
al-Zubayr [d. 73 A.H/692 C.E] by [only] a few nights. Asma’ was a hundred years of age
the day she died and she was born twenty-seven years before History [Hijrah].
See: al-Tabarani, Sulayman b. Ahmad b. Ayyub Abu al-Qasim (d. 360 A.H/970 C.E), al-
Muʿjam al-Kabir, ed. Hamdi b. ʿAbd al-Majid al-Salafi (Maktabat al-Zahra’: al-Mawsil, 2nd
Print, 1404/1983), XXIV: 77.
Asma’ was the sister of ʿA’yshah from her father’s [side] and she was older than ʿA’yshah
where she was born twenty-seven years before History [Hijrah].
See: Ibn Asakir al-Dimashqi al-Shafiʿi, Abi al-Qasim ʿAli b. al-Hasan b. Hibat Allah b. ʿAbd
Allah (d. 571 A.H/1175 C.E), Tarikh Madinat Dimashq wa Dhikr Fadhliha wa Tasmiyat man
Hallaha min al-Amathil, ed. Muhib al-Din Abi Saʿid ʿUmar b. Ghuramah al-ʿAmuri (Dar al-Fikr:
Beirut, 1995): IX: 69.
Abu Naʿim said: [Asma’] died before History [Hijrah] by twenty-seven years.
See: al-Jazari, ʿIzz al-Dim b. al-Athir Abi al-Hasan ʿAli b. Muhammad (d. 630 A.H/1232 C.E),
Asad al-Ghabah fi Maʿrifat al-Sahabah, ed. ʿAdil Ahmad al-Rifaʿi (Dar Ihya’ al-Turath al-
ʿArabi: Beirut, 1st Print, 1417/1996), VII: 11.
وﻋﻦ اﻟﺤﺎﻓﻆ أﺑﻲ ﻧﻌﻴﻢ ﻗﺎل وﻟﺪت أﺳﻤﺎء ﻗﺒﻞ ﻫﺠﺮة رﺳﻮل اﻟﻠﻪ
. ﺻﻠﻰ اﻟﻠﻪ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ وﺳﻠﻢ ﺑﺴﺒﻊ وﻋﺸﺮﻳﻦ ﺳﻨﺔ
[It has been narrated] from al-Hafiz Abi Naʿim [who] said: Asma’ was born twenty seven-
years before the Hijrah of the Messenger of Allah (S).
See: al-Nawawi, Abu Zakariyah Yahya b. Sharaf b. Murri (d. 676 A.H/1277 C.E), Tahdhib al-
Asma’ wa al-Lughat, ed. Maktab al-Buhuth wa al-Dirasat (Dar al-Fikr: Beirut. 1st Print,
1996), II: 597-598.
Asma’ was a hundred years of age when she died. She was born twenty-seven years before
History [Hijrah] and Asma’ was born to her father Abi Bakr when he was twenty-one years
of age.
See: al-Haythami, Abu al-Hasan ʿAli b. Abi Bakr (d. 807 A.H/1404 C.E), Majmaʿ al-Zawa’id wa
Manbaʿ al-Fawa’id (Dar al-Rabban lil Turath/Dar al-Kutub al-ʿArabi: al-Qahirah [Cairo] –
Beirut, 1407/1986), IX: 260.
See: al-ʿAyni, Badr al-Din Abu Muhammad Mahmud b. Ahmad al-Ghaytabi (d. 855 A.H/1451
C.E), ʿUmdat al-Qari Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari (Dar Ihya’ al-Turath al-ʿArabi: Beirut (n.d)), II:
93.
#8525 Asma’ b. Abi Bakr al-Siddiq married al-Zubayr b. al-ʿAwwam who was one of the
great Sahabah. She lived [up to] a hundred years of age and she died in the year 73 or 74
[of the Hijrah].
See: al-ʿAsqalani al-Shafiʿi, Ahmad b. ʿAli b. Hajar Abu al-Fadhl (d. 852 A.H/1448 C.E), Taqrib
al-Tahdhib, ed. Muhammad ʿAwwamah (Dar al-Rashid: Suriyah [Syria], 1st Print,
1406/1986), I: 743.
[and] she had [her full set of] teeth and she had not lost her intellect. Abu Naʿim al-Isbahani
said [that] she was born before the Hijrah by twenty-seven years.
See: al-ʿAsqalani al-Shafiʿi, Ahmad b. ʿAli b. Hajar Abu al-Fadhl (d. 852 A.H/1448 C.E), al-
Isabah fi Tamyiz al-Sahabah, ed. ʿAli Muhammad al-Bajawi (Dar al-Jil: Beirut, 1st Print,
1412/1992), VII: 487.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Birr al-Qurtubi [d. 463 A.H/1070 C.E] also writes:
Asma’ died in Makkah in [the month of] Jamadi al-Awwal in the year 73 [of the Hijrah] after
the death of her son ʿAbd Allah b. al-Zubayr…Ibn Ishaq said that Asma’ b. Abi Bakr
converted to Islam after seventeen people had [already] converted…and she died when she
reached a hundred years of age.
See: al-Nimri al-Qurtubi, Abu ʿUmar Yusuf b. ʿAbd Allah b. ʿAbd al-Birr (d. 463 A.H/1070 C.E),
al-Istiʿab fi Maʿrifat al-Ashab, ed. ʿAli Muhammad al-Bajawi (Dar al-Jil: Beirut, 1st Print,
1412/1992), IV: 1782-1783.
[Asma’] died a few days after ʿAbd Allah b. Zubayr in the year 73 of the Hijrah. And she
[herself], her father, her son and husband were Sahabis. It has been said that she lived a
hundred years.
See: al-Safadi, Salah al-Din Khalil b. Aybak (d. 764 A.H/1362 C.E), al-Wafi bi al-Wafiyat, ed.
Ahmad al-Arna’ut and Turki Mustafa (Dar Ihya’ al-Turath: Beirut, 1420 /2000), IX: 36.
Abu ʿAbd Allah b. Mundah narrates from Ibn Abi Zannad that Asma’ b. Abi Bakr was older
than ʿA’yshah by ten years.
See: al-Bayhaqi, Ahmad b. al-Husayn b. ʿAki b. Musa Abu Bakr (d. 458 A.H/1065 C.E), Sunan
al-Bayhaqi al-Kubra, ed. Muhammad ʿAbd al-Qadir ʿAta (Maktabah Dar al-Baz: Mecca,
1414/1994), VI: 204.
ʿAbd al-Rahman b. Abi al-Zannad said [that] Asma’ was older than ʿA’yshah by ten [years].
See: al-Dhahabi, Shams al-Din Muhammad b. Ahmad b. ʿUthman (d. 748 A.H/1347 C.E).
Siyar Aʿlam al-Nubala’, ed. Shuʿayb al-Arna’ut and Muhammad Naʿim al-ʿIrqsusi
(Mu’wassasat al-Risalah: Beirut, 9th Print, 1413/1992-1993?), II: 289.
.ﻗﺎل اﺑﻦ أﺑﻲ اﻟﺰﻧﺎد وﻛﺎﻧﺖ أﻛﺒﺮ ﻣﻦ ﻋﺎﺋﺸﺔ ﺑﻌﺸﺮ ﺳﻨﻴﻦ
Ibn Abi al-Zannad said [that Asma’] was older than ʿA’yshah by ten years.
See: Ibn Asakir al-Dimashqi al-Shafiʿi, Abi al-Qasim ʿAli b. al-Hasan b. Hibat Allah b. ʿAbd
Allah (d. 571 A.H/1175 C.E), Tarikh Madinat Dimashq wa Dhikr Fadhliha wa Tasmiyat man
Hallaha min al-Amathil, ed. Muhib al-Din Abi Saʿid ʿUmar b. Ghuramah al-ʿAmuri (Dar al-Fikr:
Beirut, 1995), IX: 69.
Ibn Kathir al-Dimashqi [d. 774 A.H/1373 C.E] in his book al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah writes:
…of those who died along with ʿAbd Allah b. al-Zubayr in the year 73 [of the Hijrah] in
Makkah [were]… Asma’ b. Abi Bakr, the mother of ʿAbd Allah b. al-Zubayr… and she was
older than her sister ʿA’yshah by ten years…her life span reached a hundred years
and none of her teeth had fallen out nor did she lose her intellect [due to old age].
See: Ibn Kathir al-Dimashqi, Ismaʿil b. ʿUmar al-Qurashi Abu al-Fida’, al-Bidayah wa al-
Nihayah (Maktabat al-Maʿarif: Beirut, n.d), VIII: 345-346.
وﻫﻲ أﻛﺒﺮ ﻣﻦ أﺧﺘﻬﺎ ﻋﺎﺋﺸﺔ ﺑﻌﺸﺮ ﺳﻨﻴﻦ وﻣﺎﺗﺖ ﺑﻌﺪ ﻗﺘﻞ اﺑﻨﻬﺎ
وﻟﻬﺎ ﻣﺎﺋﺔ ﺳﻨﺔ وﻟﻢ ﻳﻘﻊ ﻟﻬﺎ ﺳﻦ وﻟﻢ ﻳﻨﻜﺮ ﻣﻦ... ﺑﻌﺸﺮة أﻳﺎم
.&;ث وﺳﺒﻌﻴﻦ ﺑﻤﻜﺔ#xFEFC وذﻟﻚ ﺳﻨﺔ ﺛ، ﻋﻘﻠﻬﺎ ﺷﻲء
[Asma’] was older than her sister ʿA’yshah by ten years and she died ten days after the
killing of her son…she was a hundred years of age and her teeth had not fallen out and she
did not lose a thing of her intellect. [Her death took place] in the year 73 [of the Hijrah] in
Makkah.
See: Mulla ʿAli al-Qari, ʿAli b. Sultan Muhammad al-Harawi. Mirqat al-Mafatih Sharh Mishkat
al-Masabih, ed. Jamal ʿIytani (Dar al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyah: Beirut, 1st Print, 1422 /2001), I: 331.
Al-Amir al-Sanʿani [d. 852 A.H/1448 C.E] writes:
[Asma’] was ten years older than ʿA’yshah by ten years and she died in Makkah a little less
than a month after the killing of her son while she was a hundred years of age. This took
place in the year 73 [of the Hijrah].
See: al-Sanʿani al-Amir, Muhammad b. Ismaʿil (d. d. 852 A.H/1448 C.E). Subul al-Salam
Sharh Bulugh al-Maram min Adilat al-Ahkam, ed. Muhammad ʿAbd al-ʿAziz al-Khuli (Dar
Ihya’ al-ʿArabi: Beirut, 4th Print, 1379/1959), I: 39.
Asma’ was fourteen years of age during the first year of the Prophetic mission (biʿthah)
and ten years older than A’yshah. Therefore, A’yshah was four years old during the first
year of the Prophetic mission [14 – 10 = 4] and as such, she was seventeen years of age
during the thirteenth year of the Prophetic mission [4 + 13 = 17]. In the month of
Shawwal of the second year of the Hijrah (the year of her official wedding to the Prophet)
she was nineteen years of age [17 + 2 = 19].
On the other hand, Asma’ was a hundred years of age during the seventy-third year after
Hijrah. A hundred minus seventy-three equals twenty-seven (100 – 73 = 27).
Therefore, in the first year after the Hijrah she was twenty-seven years old.
Asma’ was ten years older than A’yshah. Twenty-seven minus ten equals seventeen
(27 – 10 = 17).
Therefore, A’yshah was seventeen years of age during the first year of the Hijrah. [In
addition to this], we previously established that A’yshah was officially wed the Prophet
during the month of Shawwal of the second year after Hijrah, meaning that A’yshah was
nineteen years of age [17 + 2 = 19] when she was wed to the Messenger of Allah.
See: al-Nawawi, Abu Zakariyah Yahya b. Sharaf b. Murri (d. 676 A.H/1277 C.E), Tahdhib al-
Asma’ wa al-Lughat, ed. Maktab al-Buhuth wa al-Dirasat (Dar al-Fikr: Beirut. 1st Print,
1996), II: 615.
Of those [among males] who had precedence [over others] in their conversion to Islam
were Abu ʿUbaydah b. al-Jarrah, al-Zubayr b. al-ʿAwwam and ʿUthman b. Mazʿun…and
among the women were Asma’ b. ʿUmays al-Khathʿamiyah (the wife of Jaʿfar b. Abi Talib),
Fatimah b. al-Khattab (the wife of Saʿid b. Zayd b. ʿAmru), Asma b. Abi Bakr and ʿA’yshah
who was a child [at the time]. The conversion to Islam of these [people occurred]
within the [first] three years of the Messenger of Allah having invited [people] to
Islam in secret [which was] before he entered the house of Arqam b. Abi al-Arqam.1
See: al-Maqdisi, Muttahar b. Tahir (d. d. 507 A.H/1113 C.E), al-Bada’ wa al-Tarikh (Maktabat
al-Thaqafah al-Diniyah: Bur Saʿid [Port Said], n.d), IV: 146.
Similarly, Ibn Hisham [d. 213 A.H/828 C.E] also mentions the name of A’yshah as one of the
people who converted to Islam during the first year of the Prophetic mission while she was
a child:
Asma and ʿA’yshah, the two daughters of Abi Bakr, and Khabab b. al-Aratt converted to
Islam [in the initial years of the Prophetic mission, and as for] Asma’ b. Abi Bakr and
ʿA’yshah b. Abi Bakr, [the latter] was a child at that time and Khabab b. al-Aratt was an ally
of Bani Zuhrah.
See: al-Humayri al-Maʿarifi, ʿAbd al-Malik b. Hisham b. Ayyub Abu Muhammad (d. 213
A.H/828 C.E), al-Sirah al-Nabawiyah, ed. Taha ʿAbd al-Ra’uf Saʿd (Dar al-Jil: Beirut, 1st Print,
1411/1990), II: 92.
If A’yshah was seven years of age when she converted to Islam (the first year of the
Prophetic mission), she would have been twenty-two years old in the second year after
the Hijrah (the year she was officially wed to the Messenger of Allah) [7 + 13 + 2 = 22].
If, [however], we accept al-Baladhuri’s claim that [A’yshah] was wed to the Messenger of
Allah four years after his marriage to Sawdah, that is, in the fourth year after the Hijrah,
then A’yshah would have been twenty-four years of age when she married the Prophet.
This number, [however], is subject to change when we take into consideration her age
when she converted to Islam.
In conclusion, A’yshah’s marriage to the marriage to the Messenger of Allah at six or nine
years of age is a lie which was fabricated during the time of Banu Ummayah and is not
consistent with historical realities.
1. Translator’s note: for early Muslims, the house of Arqam was a safe-haven for worship given its relatively
isolated location.
Authors(s):
● Ayatullah Muhammad Husayn Husayni al-Qazwini [3]
Translator(s):
● Abu Noora al-Tabrizi [4]
Category:
● Early Islamic History [5]
● Prophet Muhammad [6]
Person Tags:
● A’yshah [7]
Source URL:
http://www.al-islam.org/articles/how-old-was-ayshah-when-married-prophet-muhammad-mu
hammad-husayn-al-qazwini
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[5] http://www.al-islam.org/library/early-islamic-history
[6] http://www.al-islam.org/library/prophet-muhammad
[7] http://www.al-islam.org/person/ayshah