07/05/2020
WAS AISHA REALLY 6 YEARS OLD AT THE TIME OF MARRIAGE?
If there is one hadith in the Saheeh of Al Bukhariy people doubt it's authenticity or feel it contains a mistake, it is the popular hadeeth about the marriage of Aisha radiAllahu Anha, intact many people have tactically changed that 6yrs old to 18yrs old with their mere assumptions and invalid facts. Some non-Muslims even accuse the prophet salallahu alayhi wassalam of being a pe*****le by virtue of this hadeeth, wallahi Aisha wasn't a minor at the age of 9, she was a full grown woman. This is the hadeeth below:
ﻋَﻦْ ﻋَﺎﺋِﺸَﺔَ، ﻗَﺎﻟَﺖْ ﺗَﺰَﻭَّﺟَﻨِﻲ ﺭَﺳُﻮﻝُ ﺍﻟﻠَّﻪِ ﺻﻠﻰ
ﺍﻟﻠﻪ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻭﺳﻠﻢ ﻟِﺴَﺒْﻊِ ﺳِﻨِﻴﻦَ ﻭَﺩَﺧَﻞَ ﻋَﻠَﻰَّ ﻟِﺘِﺴْﻊِ ﺳِﻨِﻴﻦَ
Aisha radiAllahu Anha said:
I was married out to the prophet when I was 7 years (6yrs in most riwayaat) old but I moved in to live with him when I was 9 years old. (Bukhari, Muslim)
There is no error or mistake in the hadeeth, it was narrated by the woman herself who is the subject of discussion, a person cannot be forgetful of his or her own age. let's see the following historical facts about early marriages:
1) Saint Augustine, (350AD) married a 10 years old girl.
2) King Richard 11 (1400 AD) married a 7 years old girl.
3) Henry 8 (1500 AD) married a 6 years old girl.
4)Even the bible says:
“Keep for yourself every young girl that has never slept with a man.”
(Book of numbers 31 vs 17-18)
5) Catholic encyclopedia states that: ‘Mary the mother of Jesus was 12 years old when she married the 99 years old Joseph’.
6) Until 1929, the Church of England ministers used to marry 12 year olds in India.
7) In 1983, catholic cannon laws allowed priests to marry off brides at the age of 12 years.
8) As at 1880, the minimum age of marriage was 7 years in the USA and 10 years in California.
If all these historical facts were not criticized by people, why should only the marriage of Aisha be criticized? Safiyyah who was also a wife of the Prophet also married early, her first husband was salamah Ibn Abi Haqeeq who later died, then she was married again by Kinanah Ibn abi Haqeeq, so her marriage to the prophet was intact her third marriage which was at the age of 17, so imagine how old she was in her first marriage?
We need to realize that the situation of things back then isn't the same with today, technologies have changed, general life pattern and even the human biological make up, also people who live in the hotter regions usually reach puberty more faster than those who live in the cold polar regions who may not even reach puberty till almost the age of 20.
ﻗﺎﻝ ﺍﻟﺘﺮﻣﺬﻱ : ﻗﺎﻟﺖ ﻋﺎﺋﺸﺔ : ﺇﺫﺍ ﺑﻠﻐﺖ ﺍﻟﺠﺎﺭﻳﺔ ﺗﺴﻊ ﺳﻨﻴﻦ ﻓﻬﻲ ﺍﻣﺮﺃﺓ .
At-Tirmidhi said:
‘Aishah said: When a girl reaches the age of nine years, she is already a woman.
Sunan at-Tirmidhi (2/409)
ﻭﻗﺎﻝ ﺍﻹﻣﺎﻡ ﺍﻟﺸﺎﻓﻌﻲ : " ﺭﺃﻳﺖ ﺑﺎﻟﻴﻤﻦ ﺑﻨﺎﺕ ﺗﺴﻊ ﻳﺤﻀﻦ ﻛﺜﻴﺮﺍ " .
Imam ash-Shafe'e said:
In Yemen, I saw many girls aged nine who had already reached puberty.
Siyar A‘laam an-Nubala’ (10/91)
ﻭﺭﻭﻯ ﺍﻟﺒﻴﻬﻘﻲ ﻋَﻦِ ﺍﻟﺸَّﺎﻓِﻌِﻰِّ ﻗَﺎﻝَ : " ﺃَﻋْﺠَﻞُ ﻣَﻦْ ﺳَﻤِﻌْﺖُ ﺑِﻪِ ﻣِﻦَ ﺍﻟﻨِّﺴَﺎﺀِ ﻳَﺤِﻀْﻦَ ﻧِﺴَﺎﺀٌ ﺑِﺘِﻬَﺎﻣَﺔَ ﻳَﺤِﻀْﻦَ ﻟِﺘِﺴْﻊِ ﺳِﻨِﻴﻦَ " .
Al-Bayhaqi (1588) narrated that: Imam Shaafa‘i said: The earliest age at which I heard of girls reaching puberty was the women of Tihaamah who attained puberty at the age of nine.
ﻭﻗَﺎﻝَ ﺍﻟﺸَّﺎﻓِﻌِﻰُّ ﺃﻳﻀﺎ : " ﺭَﺃَﻳْﺖُ ﺑِﺼَﻨْﻌَﺎﺀَ ﺟَﺪَّﺓً ﺑِﻨْﺖَ ﺇِﺣْﺪَﻯ ﻭَﻋِﺸْﺮِﻳﻦَ ﺳَﻨَﺔً ، ﺣَﺎﺿَﺖْ ﺍﺑْﻨَﺔَ ﺗِﺴْﻊٍ ﻭَﻭَﻟَﺪَﺕْ ﺍﺑْﻨَﺔَ ﻋَﺸْﺮٍ ، ﻭَﺣَﺎﺿَﺖِ ﺍﻟْﺒِﻨْﺖُ ﺍﺑْﻨَﺔَ ﺗِﺴْﻊٍ ﻭَﻭَﻟَﺪَﺕْ ﺍﺑْﻨَﺔَ ﻋَﺸْﺮٍ " .
Shaf‘i also said:
In the city of San‘aa, I saw a grandmother who was twenty-one years old; she reached puberty at the age of nine and gave birth at the age of ten, and her daughter reached puberty at the age of nine and also gave birth at the age of ten.
As-Sunan al-Kubra by al-Bayhaqi (1/319)
In summary, all these and more are proofs that it was a norm back then to marry at such age range, and the ahadeeth to that effect are all sound and authentic. Even some girls of 11 to 12 yrs old today are already fornicating in primary school, yet people still condemn early marriage but they have no problem with early fornication, if you still think that something is wrong with this hadith, then kindly go back to your village and ask your grandmother to tell you at what age she got married to your grandfather.
