Age of Hazrat Aishah (ra) at marriage
Submitted by Rashid Jahangiri
Recently in the Pakistani English daily Dawn an article is written by Nilofar Ahmaed on age of Hazrat Aisha RA at time of her Nikah (solemnization) and Rukhsati (consummation) with Holy Prophet Muhammad SAWS. According to this article, Hazrat Aisha (RA) age at time of Nikah was 18 years and 21 years at time of consummation of marriage.
I am glad to read this article, as it gives me hope about bright future of Muslims, when I see scholars among Muslims other than members of Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement write in public what Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad sahib started and is continued by LAM. By this I mean clarifying misunderstandings about character and teachings of Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAWS). I sent the following email to the author. Her reply follows my email.
Dear Respected sister Nilofar Ahmad,
Asalam Alaikum,
Thank you for writing on such an important topic as ‘Age of Hazrat Aisha at time of Nikah and Consummation of her marriage with Holy Prophet Muhammad SAWS’. Your effort to correct misunderstanding about this often ridiculed incident by opponents of Islam will not only help clear this for these opponents but also for ‘Aishiqan-e-Rasool’ i.e. Muslims.
I would highly recommend you to please read the following links, and see how members of ‘Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement’ starting from Maulana Muhammad Ali are sacrificing their energies, time, and finances to clear a great misunderstanding on the blessed character of our beloved Holy Prophet Muhammad SAWS.
Please check following links:
Hazrat Aishah Siddiqah’s Age at Her Marriage:
[Proves that: The Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) Married Hazrat Aishah When She was 19 Years of Age and not When She Was 9.]
by Ghulam Nabi Muslim Sahib, M.A.
Translated by: Masud Akhtar, B.A., LL.B.
The Light (Sep 24, 1981, pp. 13-17).
http://aaiil.org/text/acus/islam/aishahage.shtml
Lady ‘A’ishah’s age at the time of the consummation of her marriage to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sas) http://aaiil.org/text/books/others/ghulamnabimuslim/aishahagetimemarriageholyprophetmuhammad/aishahagetimemarriageholyprophetmuhammad.pdf
The Marriages of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh): Accusations answered
http://aaiil.org/text/acus/islam/marriagesholyprophetmuhammad.shtml
http://aaiil.org/usa/magazines/islamicsunrise/2008/islamicsunrise_200808.pdf
http://aaiil.org/text/articles/islamicreview/1941/05may/islamicreview_194105.pdf
http://aaiil.org/text/articles/hope/2010/hope201009_burnquranday.pdf
In Urdu:
Rukhsati kay Waqt Ummul Mu’mineen Sayyeda Ayesha Siddiqa kee ‘Umar:
by Ghulam Nabi Muslim
Hazrat Ayesha’s (rta) age at the time of her marriage http://aaiil.org/urdu/books/others/ghulamnabimuslim/rukhsatiwaqtayeshaumar/rukhsatiwaqtayeshaumar.shtml
I will appreciate if you kindly acknowledge my email. Thanks.
Allah Hafiz.
Yours sincerely,
Rashid Jahangiri, M.D.
Manhattan, NY.
P.S. I will post this email on LAM blog:
https://ahmadiyya.org/WordPress
Ms. Nilofar Ahmed’s reply:
Assalamu alaikum.
Thanks. In case you would like to read more than 25 of my articles,
1) Go to: www.dawn.com
2) In the search box type: By Nilofar Ahmed
Regards,
NA
LINK TO MS. NILOFAR ARTICLE IN DAWN:
Of Aisha’s age at marriage
http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/17/of-aishas-age-at-marriage.html
From Zahid Aziz:
It is not generally known that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad also questioned the validity of the report in Hadith that Hazrat Aishah was nine years old at the time of consummation. While replying to the allegations against the Holy Prophet by a Christian missionary, he wrote:
(Ruhani Khaza’in, v. 9, p. 377)
He then goes on to answer the objection under the assumption that the reported age is correct.
From ikram:
Since date of birth of Aishah (RA) is not known for sure, her age at marriage can be calculated in reverse:
Age of Aishah (RA) at her death during reign of Caliph Marwan = 67 years
Widowhood of Aishah (RA) = 40 years
Hence age of Aishah (RA) at death of Prophet (PBUH) = 67 – 40 = 27 years.
Prophet Muhammad’s lived after Hijrah = 10 years.
Consummation of marriage of Aishah (RA) with Prophet (PBUH) in 2nd year of Hijrah.
Total married life of Aishah (RA) = 10 – 2 = 8 years.
Therefore age at her marriage = 27 – 8 = 19 years.
From Tariq:
Ikram,
What is your source for her age at death?
Tariq
From ikram:
Dear Tariq: The above numbers are from my memory but I clearly remember that I read these facts a few years ago and I just cannot recall the source and have been searching for it ever since Rashid posted his letter above. Once I find my original source, I will post it.
The closest I have been able to get to Aisha (RA) age of 67 at her death is in the following reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aisha#cite_note-35
“A’isha was eighteen years of age at the time when the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) died and she remained a widow for forty-eight years till she died at the age of sixty-seven. She saw the rules of four Caliphs in her lifetime. She died on Ramadan 58 A.H. during the Caliphate of Hadrat Amir Mu‘awiya…” (Source: Sunan Nasa’i: English translation with Arabic Text, compiled by Imam Abu Abd-ur-Rahman Ahmad Nasa’i, rendered into English by Muhammad Iqbal Siddiqui [Kazi Publication, 121-Zulqarnain Chambers, Gampat Road, Lahore, Pakistan; first edition, 1994], Volume 1, p. 108)
According to above reference her year of death is 58 A.D. Aisha (RA) was married @ 18 (in 2 A.H.). Eight years later Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) passed away and she became a widow at 26 years of age. Thereafter, if she died in 58 A.H., then her total age was 74 and her her widowhood is of 48 years.
Secondly, if year of her death is 58 A.H., then it equates with year 677 A.D., which in turn is reign of Muawiya II (683–684 A.D.) and not Marwan I (684–685 A.D.), and I stand corrected. According to Wikipedia Aisha (RA) died in year 678 A.D., which overlaps with Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (685–705 A.D.) However, the Wikipedia reference to Aisha reduces her age at the time of her marriage to 9, which is plainly wrong.
The following link also makes a case of Aisha’s (RA) age 19 on her marriage. Additionally, the author also argues that Khadija (RA) was also of 25 years old, the same as prophet when both were married:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/2404356/Age-of-Aishah
From MUHAMMAD SANNI:
Thanks for information. I am almost 80 yrs old and are obliged to your
association to clarify long outstanding confusion. What a relief I feel.
From ikram:
Dear Tariq:
The source of my calculation of Lady Aisha’s age of 19 at the time of her marriage is the following article in “The Light – Lahore”
Hazrat Aishah Siddiqah’s Age at Her Marriage:
by Ghulam Nabi Muslim Sahib, M.A.
Translated by: Masud Akhtar, B.A., LL.B.
The Light (Sep 24, 1981, pp. 13-17).
Link: http://www.aaiil.org/text/articles/thelight/1981/light19810924.pdf
Read under section “Nadvi contradicts himself” on page 16.
From Tariq:
Thanks, Ikram.
From Tariq Omar:
I am a muslim convert, but not ahmadi, yet I have a great respect for your movement because of your progressive views of Islam. I have a question for you about this topic. There are enemies of islam and sadly also muslims who claim that The Quran supports the marriage of pre-pubescent girls. They present as evidence the verse 65:4 And those who no longer expect menstruation among your women – if you doubt, then their period is three months, and [also for] those who have not menstruated. And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth. And whoever fears Allah – He will make for him of his matter ease. The words in the english translation "those who have not menstruated", do they mean "prepubescent girls?
From Zahid Aziz:
Maulana Muhammad Ali, who has argued comprehensively on this issue, has dealt with it in his book The Religion of Islam. I have extracted the relevant pages and marked the relevant text by red lines in the pdf file at this link.
The entire topic of the minimum age of marriage was discussed in British India around 1929 when the Child Marriage Restraint Act was introduced for all, Hindus and Muslims, specifying ages of 18 for a male and 16 for a female.
Subsequently in Pakistan, this Act was overtaken, for Muslims only, by the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance.
Please see Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_Marriage_in_Pakistan
under the heading "The Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929". It says: "The 1929 Act is one of those few laws on the statute books that were introduced by the founder of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, while he was a member of the British India Legislative Assembly.
See also the news at this link.
This law is widely violated because the Muslim masses follow their Ulama and their own traditions and don't care about the law of the country.
From ikram:
Dear Tariq Omar – if you understand Urdu, then Ghamdi sahib in a Q&A session on the following TV Program addresses what you asked about underage marriage for the girls. He also covers other related issues about women, marriage, polygamy, divorce, formulation of laws in modern democracies and even clarifies doubts about alcohol consumption.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H01iTMst_p4&feature=player_embedded
It is always a pleasure to hear him and many a times listening to him is essentially listening to Lahori Jamaat literature in plain language. No wonder he had to flee Pakistan for his safety. May Allah preserve him.