In the name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful

 Praise be to God, and peace upon the Seal of Prophets. 

Age of Al-Sayyida Aisha When She Married the Prophet Muhammad (peace and mercy of God be upon him) 

Contents 

Introduction 
Important Dates 
Awareness of Age in Pre-Modern Societies
Evidence that Aisha was Between Fifteen and Nineteen Years of Age
Chronological Imprecision in the Prophetic Biography
Conceptualisation of Numbers in Primitive Societies
Why Did Aisha Mention Six and Nine?
More Evidence that the Relationship was not Inappropriate
Attitudes toward Marriageable Age and ‘Childhood’
Childhood as a Social Construct
Conclusion

Introduction 

The aim of this article is to show that Al-Sayyida Aisha was probably between fifteen and nineteen years of age when her marriage to the Prophet (peace be upon him) was consummated and not nine as is commonly supposed.

The well-known hadith, cited by al-Bukhari and others, in which Aisha stated that she was betrothed when she was six and the marriage was consummated when she was nine[1], appears to have become the basis of certain attacks on the character of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

My argument is that the figures mentioned in this hadith are contradicted by other hadiths, historical reports and reason.

Moreover, I assert that the actual numbers stated in the hadith were never meant to be precise and Arabs of the time, like many other historical people, did not have a calendar system and chronological accuracy was simply not a feature of their culture. It is almost certain that Aisha did not know her precise age, and in fact, it was not a feature of her socio-cultural milieu to be accurately aware of one’s age in the way that we are accustomed to in today’s bureaucratized society.

Please note that I do not question the authenticity of this hadith; but, rather, I argue that the figures mentioned are not, and were never meant to be, precise.

I would like to acknowledge the works of Muhammad Ali[2] and Abu Tahir Irfani[3] on this issue, which have provided a lot of the groundwork, and much of what follows is drawn from their writings. At least three other Muslim scholars have also published works demonstrating that Aisha was considerably older than the above hadith indicates: Hakim Niaz Ahmad and Habib-ur-Rahman Kandhalwi both have booklets in Urdu on the age of Aisha at marriage and Ruqaiyyah Maqsood has a booklet in English, based on work by Muhammad Farooq Khan.

Important Dates (approximate):

Commencement of prophecy: 609 CE 
Hijrah: 622 CE
Consummation of the marriage: 623/624 CE

Awareness of Age in Pre-Modern Societies 

Anyone familiar with the extensive classical Islamic biographical literature will know that birth dates, which were important in the authentication of hadith transmission, are almost always disagreed upon, even for the most famous personalities. Rarely does one find a biography of a scholar that does not mention several opinions regarding his year of birth. This is the case even following the introduction of the Islamic calendar, which happened during the caliphate of Sayyiduna Umar. Of course, it would not have been known at birth that a person was destined to become a hadith-transmitter and that his birth date would become an important item of information. Thus a hadith scholar, just like any other medieval person, would not be expected to know his year of birth or age, except approximately. This demonstrates that in medieval Arabia, even after the introduction of a formal calendar, people were not recording their birth dates. Pre-modern people, in general, simply did not measure and record time in the way we do today. Even now, it is not difficult to find people in less ‘developed’ countries who have only very approximate ideas of their age.

Significantly, the way pre-Islamic Arabs referred to the chronology of events was to relate them to particularly memorable events that occurred. Thus, for example, they had ‘the Year of the Elephant’, in which Abraha’s army tried to invade Makkah. The reason we know when the Prophet (peace be upon him) was born is because the biographers mention that he was born in the ‘Year of the Elephant’.

Only relatively recently, as modern societies became more bureaucratized, were people in general required to be aware of their exact ages.

In ancient Rome, for example, according to historian, Karen Cokayne,“… the Romans’ knowledge of age was often imperfect and many of the uneducated would have been unaware of their correct calendar age. Age-rounding, when age was rounded up to the nearest unit of 5 or 10, was also common, especially on the funerary epigraphy.”[4]

Looking at England as another typical case, historian, Pat Thane, writes: “Accurate, large-scale, systematic recording of births and deaths began in England only in 1837… Individuals were only gradually required to know their own exact ages as society became bureaucratized and official records increasingly required such information. Before the nineteenth century precise age was rarely required of people of any age… But few people at any time would have doubted at what point they were in the life cycle and most could certainly offer an age when required, sometimes quite precisely, though some would ‘round up’ their possible age to a plausible round number or add years as they reached later ages.”[5]

If this was the case in civilisations such as Rome, which had a formal calendar system, we can presume that in the case of pre-Islamic Arabs who did not have a calendar, the situation was yet more pronounced.

Even today, in rural communities in developing countries, one finds ordinary people do not know their ages, and will typically approximate or ‘round’ up or down when questioned. An illiterate peasant may tell you his age when questioned, only to give you a completely different figure when asked again some time later. It is not that he is trying to mislead, but this is actually the ‘normal’ way he expresses age.

Evidence that Aisha was Between Fifteen and Nineteen Years of Age

With this in mind, we turn now to some of the clues in the biographical literature as to the true age of Aisha when her marriage was consummated.

As usual one finds several different opinions based on various reports. I would like to focus on some of these opinions that indicate that Aisha was at least fifteen years of age at the time. We know that the marriage was consummated after the Hijrah. The renowned Hadith specialist, al-Nawawi, places it definitely in the second year, after the Battle of Badr.[6] (Note how memorable events, in this case, the Battle of Badr, are used as reference points for other events).

Despite the ‘six-nine’ hadith mentioned in the introduction, most eminent early Muslim historians state that Aisha was born before the commencement of prophecy. (Prophecy having commenced thirteen years before the Hijrah).

Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalláni states in al-Isábah, citing al-Wáqidi, on the authority of al-`Abbás (uncle of the Prophet, peace be upon him) that: “Fatima [daughter of the Prophet, upon him be peace] was born while the Ka`ba was being built… and the Prophet (peace be upon him) was thirty-five years of age; al-Madaini also holds this position… and she [Fatima] was about five years older than Aisha.”[7].

We can assume that this statement of al-`Abbas is reliable as he remembers the birth of his nephew’s daughter taking place while the Ka’ba was being rebuilt. This was an event of major spiritual significance for Quraysh, and thus firmly etched in their conscious. For example, most people can tell you what they were doing the day President Kennedy was assassinated (if they are old enough), or, to take a more recent event, the day the September 11^th attacks in New York took place.

As the commencement of prophecy was in the Prophet’s fortieth year (peace be upon him), this would indicate that Aisha was born around then as well.

According to this, she would have been at least ten when she was betrothed to him, which was after the death of Khadeeja in the 10^th year of prophecy. Therefore she would have been at least fifteen when the marriage was consummated in the 2^nd year after Hijra.

Early Islam’s greatest historian, al-Tabari, in al-Táríkh, states: “In the Age of Ignorance [pre-Islamic period], Abu Bakr married Qutaila daughter of `Abd al-`Uzza…and she bore for him `Abdullah and Asmaa…he also married, in the Age of Ignorance, Umm Ruman daughter of `Amir…she bore for him `Abd al-Rahman and `Aisha. All four of these children were born in the pre-Islamic period.”[8]

This report of al-Tabari, a scholar renowned for his accuracy and critical methodology[9], supports the position that Aisha was born before the beginning of prophecy.

Al-Nawawi concurs with this in Tahdheeb al-Asmaa wal-Lughaat: “Ibn Abi Zinad says in ‘History of Damascus’ that Asma was 10 years older than `Aisha, and Hafidh Abu Nu`aym states that Asmaa was born 27 years before the Hijrah of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)…”[10] According to this, Aisha would have been born 4 years before prophecy, and hence would have been 19 years of age when the marriage was consummated.

A particularly significant hadith in al-Bukhari states: Aisha said, “I was a playful girl (jariyah) when the verses, ‘Nay, the Hour (of Judgment) is the time promised them…’, were revealed to Muhammad (peace and mercy of God be upon him).”[11]

According to exegetes, this surah was revealed 5 years before the hijrah,[12] and thus seven years before the marriage was consummated in Medina.

The fact that she uses the term ‘girl’ (jariyah), rather than ‘child’ (saby) for example, is particularly significant, as ‘jariyah’ in Arabic means a young woman around adolescence or older.[13] This clearly indicates that Aisha was already around the age of puberty seven years before the marriage was consummated.

The age of puberty in girls (if defined as menarche) varies, but is, on average, around 12 years of age. This, then, also equates to nineteen years at consummation.

If we took the ‘six - nine’ hadith literally, it would mean that she was only two years old when the verses referred to in this hadith were revealed. Two objections may be raised to this. Firstly, the term ‘jariyah’ is not appropriate for a two year old according to the authoritative lexicons. Secondly, the fact that Aisha remembers the verses being revealed is significant as this is inconceivable for a two-year old. It is now known that humans are amnesic for their early childhood, and do not retain active memories of events occurring before the age of about four.[14]

The age of nineteen is further supported by Ibn Kathir who states that Asmá, the sister of Aisha, was ten years older than her and died in 73 A.H. at the age of one hundred years.

In his book Al-bidayya wal-nihaya he writes: “Of the notables who were killed with Ibn al-Zubayr in 73A.H…was Asma daughter of Abu Bakr al-Siddeeq…she was older than her sister, Aisha, by 10 years…and she reached the age of 100 years, not having lost any of her teeth, and her mind still sharp, may God have mercy on her.”[15]

This would make Aisha seventeen at Hijra, thus nineteen at consummation of her marriage.

Also, consider the following hadith in al-Bukhári:
“On the day (of the battle) of Uhud when (some) people retreated and left the Prophet, I saw Aisha daughter of Abu Bakr, and Umm Sulaim, with their robes tucked up so that the bangles around their ankles were visible, hurrying with (in another narration it is said, ‘carrying’) water skins on their backs. They would pour water in the mouths of people, and return to fill the water skins again, and came back again to pour water in the mouths of people.”[16]

As Uhud took place a year after the marriage was consummated, this would make Aisha ten if we follow the received opinion. Clearly, however, this hadith is not the description of a ten year old. It is extremely unlikely that a girl of ten would have been allowed onto the scene of battle. In any case, the description fits for a determined, young woman in her late teens, not for a ten year old.

In fact, as we know, the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not permit several boys to join the army, as they were too young.

Al-Nawawi and others mention that Aisha was amongst the first people to embrace Islam. Al-Nawawi states in Tahdheeb al-Asmaa wal-Lughaat: “Abu Bakr ibn Abi Khaythama mentions in his compendium of history on the authority of Ibn Ishaq that Aisha embraced Islam when she was young, after eighteen others had become Muslim.”[17]

Ibn Hisham, in his Al-Seerah al-Nabawiyya, lists the earliest converts to the new religion and includes Aisha as one of them along with her sister, Asma.[18]

Clearly this must have been in the first year or two of prophecy. If we were to take the ‘six-nine’ reports literally, Aisha would not even have been born at this time. These reports are consistent, however, with her being born prior to Islam.

It is interesting that all the major authorities quoted above agree that Aisha was born before prophecy, although they are well aware of the ‘six-nine’ reports, indeed often narrating them in their own books. We may postulate that they were well aware of the chronological imprecision inherent in such reports, and as historians, were basing their conclusions on a survey of all the evidence available to them.

We have shown that pre-modern people did not typically have accurate knowledge of their ages, especially those, such as the pre-Islamic Arabs, who did not have a formal calendar. There is no reason to believe that Aisha was exceptional in this regard. Therefore it is probable that the reports mentioned above that are attached to major historical events, such as the building of the Ka`ba, commencement of prophecy, battle of Uhud etc., are far more reliable than Aisha’s own direct statements regarding her age.

Chronological Imprecision in the Prophetic Biography

Aisha was certainly no exception to the rule that the medieval Arabs did not keep track of their birth dates or the accurate passage of years. In fact, the chronology of many famous events in the life of the Prophet himself, peace be upon him, are the subject of debate.

Even for something as important as the length of time in Makkah, we find that Ibn `Abbas narrates, “The Apostle of Allah received revelation at the age of forty. He remained in Makkah for thirteen years…then migrated to Medina , and stayed there for ten years until he died.”[19] However, Rabia ibn Abi Abd al-Rahmán says, “He stayed ten years in Makkah receiving revelation, and stayed in Medina for ten years until he was taken [by God]”[20] Both are recorded in Saheeh al-Bukhari.

This demonstrates that a hadith in Saheeh al-Bukhari need not be taken as precise with respect to chronology, and this does not negate the authenticity of the report.

In fact, one finds hardly any major event recorded in the prophetic biography on which there is complete consensus as to its chronological occurrence. Readers familiar with the hadith reference works will be well aware of this. This partly reflects the nature of people in medieval societies and their mental paradigms in relation to understanding and expressing time and numbers

Conceptualisation of Numbers in Primitive Societies 

One aspect of the issue that is often overlooked is the nature of how numbers were conceptualised by past people, and how vastly this differed from the present. Most educated people today grow up learning to use and manipulate numbers from an early age. Understanding numbers in an abstract way soon becomes second nature for us, and our minds are comfortable dealing with a huge range of numbers.

We often forget that our modern system of counting which utilises an abstract number sequence able to extend ever upwards to infinity, using place-value notation, was only introduced to Europe at the turn of the sixteenth century. India was the land where, uniquely, in ancient times, the essential component that makes such a number sequence possible, the zero, was first invented. No other civilisation is known to have taken this critical step and develop a symbol for the zero. The advanced Indian system of numerals was adopted by the medieval Islamic civilisation, and later the ‘Indian-Arabic numerals’ spread to the rest of the world.

Historians such as the German scholar, Karl Menninger, have shown that in previous civilisations, people’s conceptualisation of numbers varied depending on how developed their number systems were.[21] In primitive cultures, numbers were closely associated with the actual things counted. People in such cultures found difficulty in ‘abstracting’ numbers from real objects. For such people, the first ten digits were often of special significance as this is the number of fingers on the two hands. Numbers up to ten were easily ‘visualised’ and tangible; above ten were often inaccessible to the primitive mind. The Roman poet, Ovid, wrote:
“…ten…This number was of old held high in honour,
for such is the number of fingers by which we count.”[22]
The fact that numbers are still called ‘digits’ in English hearkens back to the time when fingers were the basis of counting.

Menninger asserts: “Early man wants to see numbers, they must remain visible to him, and he must be able to touch them if he is to grasp them with his mind. For this reason he breaks down larger numbers into smaller ones, if he can…[for example] the answer given by an aged Sicilian woman when asked how old she was: tre vvote vinti cincu anni, “3 times 20’5 years” (=75).”[23]

Although the Arabs were very sophisticated in their language, and hence depth of thought, when it came to numbers, however, indications are that the pre-Islamic Arabs were quite primitive. Although the Quraysh were notable traders, most of the Arabs, including the Ansar of Medina, were simple farmers or bedouins.

The grammatical structure of Arabic number-words indicates that at one time the first ten digits were of special significance to the Arabs. The counted object following any number up to ten is in the plural form and genitive case, e.g. thalathatu rijaalin ‘three (of) men’. Above ten, a clear change takes place, and the counted object begins to appear in the singular and accusative case, e.g. thalathata `ashara rajulan ‘three’ten (13) man’.

Also, the structure of number-words in Arabic: for example, the number 34 is spoken as ‘four and thirty’ [araba` wa thalathun]. The single unit, 4, comes first as this is most tangible, and then, 30, thalathun, which is probably shortened from ‘3 tens’; early man’s attempt to break a difficult number, 34, into conceivable parts, ‘4 and 3 tens’. That a thousand, alf, was their highest number shows how limited was their dealing with higher numbers.

The simplistic, object-orientated, understanding of numbers is beautifully illustrated by the Hadith in which the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to some Companions, “We are an unlettered people; we do not write or calculate. The number of days in the month is thus or thus.”[24] Upon the first ‘thus’ he displayed his ten fingers twice, and nine fingers once (withdrawing his thumb), i.e. indicating 29 days. And upon the second, he displayed his ten fingers three times, i.e. 30 days.[25] Numbers such as 29 and 30 were difficult for primitive minds to grasp, without a visualised ‘supplementary quantity’, in this case the Prophet’s fingers (peace be upon him).

The translation of counted objects into supplementary quantities indicates a primitive stage of handling numbers. A chieftain on the  island of Celebes was sentenced by the colonial authorities to pay a fine of 20 buffaloes. Someone expressed surprise at the severity of the punishment. Quite astonished, the chieftain asked: “Do you consider the fine that high?” and began to count out nuts from a pouch, one for each buffalo. Only when he had ‘grasped’ the number in the truest sense of the word did he become incensed at the punishment.[26]

Consider also the ayah of Quran in Surah al-Muzzammil which magnificently states: “Over it [the Hell-fire] are Nineteen.”
The text goes on to explain: “And We have set none but angels as Guardians of the Fire; and We have fixed their number only as a trial for Unbelievers…”[27] Fakhr al-Deen al-Razi, the famous exegete, explains that it was the actual number itself (nineteen) which was the trial. The disbelievers of Quraysh were astonished at a number as “unusual” as nineteen being mentioned in the Quran. In fact, “they mocked the revelation, asking why the number of Guardians was not twenty” [28], a far more ‘acceptable’ number for the primitive mind to grasp. The reaction of Quraysh may seem difficult to understand today, unless we bear in mind that numbers above 10 were difficult for early people to conceptualise. For higher numbers, they preferred ‘bundles’ of 10 to help visualise the number, hence 20, i.e. two tens, was acceptable, but not ‘19’, which was ‘strange’.

My point here is to show how different earlier people were in their conceptualisation of numbers. For the likes of Aisha, numbers such as 16 or 19 may have been almost inconceivable, whereas the single units up to 10 would have been far more familiar.   

Why Did Aisha Mention Six and Nine?

This leads us to the next point of discussion: why would Aisha assign the ages of six and nine (in the well-known narrations) if she were not certain of her age?

There are many possible explanations.

Examination of the various narrations of the ‘six - nine’ hadith confirms that Aisha was speaking in approximate terms. For example, al-Bayhaqi reports that Aisha said, “The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) married me after the demise of Khadeeja, before his departure from Makkah, when I was six or seven years old…”[29] Ibn Sa`d in al-Tabaqat al-Kubra relates from two of the leading authorities on Aisha’s hadith-narrations, al-Zuhri and Hisham ibn `Urwah, who both said that she married the Prophet (peace be upon him) when she was nine or seven years of age.[30] 

We have seen that the Arabs’ conceptualisation of numbers was primitive, and the single units, i.e. 1, 2, 3…9, were closer to their understanding. Aisha would not have known her age, and her intention was to emphasise that she was very young at the time of her marriage, as is clear from the context of her speech.

With the ancients, numbers often were not used in a precise mathematical sense, but more as adjectives. (The most primitive numbers, one and two, still grammatically take the form of adjectives in Arabic to this day).

Rounding up to 20 may have had the opposite effect. We can see that the Arabic number-word for 20, ‘`ishruna’, is in fact not the dual form of 10, but the plural, literally ‘many tens’. This may be remnant from an ancient time when 10 was the limit of the Arabs’ number sequence, and anything over 10 simply considered ‘many’. [31]

More Evidence that the Relationship was not Inappropriate

A couple of other points are worthy of consideration here. Firstly, it is noteworthy that the marriage was not consummated immediately in Makkah. In fact it was about five years later that Aisha was sent to the house of the Prophet (peace be upon him). The reason was precisely to wait until her parents felt comfortable that she was old enough for a marital relationship. There was no pressure on them to send her before the right time, and all the biographical reports indicate that they were loving and responsible parents who would have no reason to do anything contrary to their daughter’s best interests. In fact, when five years had passed after the marriage contract, and the Prophet (peace be upon him) was showing no signs of taking Aisha into his household, it was her father, Sayyiduna Abu Bakr, himself who came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said, “What prevents you from consummating the marriage with your wife?” Only then was the marriage consummated and she was taken into the prophetic household.[33]

This fact refutes the idea of those who imply that the Prophet (peace be upon him) was in some way slave to his passions in this case. In fact, the evidence shows that he was not particularly concerned about consummating the marriage, only proceeding on the insistence of the bride’s father.   

If we take the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) own daughter, al-Sayyida Fatima, as an example, she married Ali when she was about nineteen years of age, soon after the Hijra.[34] Although it is only one example, it indicates that it was not necessarily the custom of Qurayshi girls to marry young.

Secondly, there is no evidence to show that the Prophet (peace be upon him) was attracted to young girls. The Prophet (peace be upon him) was the ruler of a city, and later a nation, with followers who were absolutely devoted to him. If he wished, he may have had any woman of his choosing. His first wife, Khadeeja, was fifteen years his senior, and he did not marry another while she was alive. After her passing away, all of the women he married were widows, except Aisha. The marriage to Aisha was an important political alliance between two noble families of Quraysh and a cementing of his relationship with his closest friend and ally, Abu Bakr al-Siddeeq. Interestingly, Abu Bakr later asked for the hand of the Prophet’s daughter in marriage for himself, indicating that significant age-difference between spouses was not contrary to their socio-cultural norms.

Attitudes Toward Marriageable Age and ‘Childhood’

It may be of interest at this point to remind ourselves of how norms of sexual behaviour and attitudes vary according to historical and socio-cultural factors - what is acceptable in one society may be completely unacceptable in another. Attitudes towards polygamy are a good example.

It is true that marriage attitudes regarding age were quite different for many pre-modern civilisations, and marrying a young girl would not have been at all unusual.

This may explain why the hadith commentators and Muslim historians did not find the idea of marriage of a nine year-old unusual; or it may be that they realised the imprecise nature of the reports.

Possibly, most cultures and civilisations throughout recorded history have regarded the onset of puberty or menarche as marriageable age for a girl. This is normally between nine and fourteen years of age. A brief survey of the great world civilisations of that time gives us an idea of prevalent sexual attitudes. 

For Roman girls, “the legal minimum age at marriage was twelve; but the law provided no sanctions and was contravened. The usual age at puberty (at least for the upper classes) was probably thirteen or above. In fact menarche was not always a pre-condition of marriage; nevertheless marriages were usually consummated immediately.”[35]

In ancient China, many imperial dynasties encouraged early marriages. Emperors of the Han Dynasty are typical examples. Han Huidi married Queen Zhang when she was a bit older than 10 years old; Han Zhaodi became Emperor at the age of 8 and married Queen Zhangguan when she was 6; after Han Zhaodi died, Queen Zhangguan became a widow at the age of 14 or 15.
Other Emperors and vassals in Han Dynasty were generally married at 15 or 16. Their wives then were generally 13 of 14 years old. The rulers in Han Dynasty encouraged early marriage in order to increase population growth. As a result, ancient Chinese people got married well before they reached the age of puberty.

In ancient Persia, also, girls could be married ‘even before they came of age, though not without their consent.’[36]

In the Indian subcontinent, child marriages were common, even infant ones, as this was sanctioned by Hinduism. It is still common in areas of the subcontinent today.

In medieval Europe people married young. Girls were as young as twelve (or less) when they married.[37] The Christian church sanctioned marriage at puberty, which was set as fourteen for boys and twelve for girls.
In fact, we notice that in many great civilisations it was the practice of royal households and noble families to give their daughters in marriage at an early age, often before puberty. This was due to the nature of marriage as an arrangement between families and was often done to create important political alliances. In fact, “arranged” marriages are still the accepted norm for the majority of the earth’s population today and do not necessarily imply that the girl is non-consenting or has no choice.

Some examples of marriages of noble women in Europe in the Middle Ages:

1.      Bianca of Savoy, Duchess of Milan, was married aged 13 yrs (1350), and aged 14 yrs when she gave birth to her eldest son, Giangaleazzo (1351).

2.      Theodora Comnena was aged 13 yrs when she was married to King Baldwin III of Jerusalem (1158).

3.      Agnes of France was 12 yrs when, widowed, she was married to Andronicus Comnenus, Byzantine Emperor (1182).

4.      St Elizabeth of Portugal was aged 12 yrs when she was married to King Denis of Portugal and gave birth to three children shortly thereafter.

5.      Caterina Sforza was betrothed aged 9 yrs, married aged 14 yrs, and gave birth aged 15 yrs.

6.      Lucrezia Borgia was married to her first husband aged 13 yrs and bore a son within a few years.

Childhood as a Social Construct

In fact, modern Western attitudes to marriageable age appear to be at odds with virtually all other known civilisations. Modern western civilisation creates an artificial age-span for ‘childhood’, which is arbitrary, the result of historical socio-economic developments. Sociologists have shown that in pre-industrial  Britain, for example, the length of "childhood" was considerably shorter than is the norm in contemporary Britain .[38] ‘Childhood’, in fact, can be considered a social construction. [39] Ideological frameworks about age categories help determine what society views as ‘age-appropriate’ behaviour; thus, children in western countries are not ‘allowed’ to mature emotionally until they are well into the second decade of their life. Is this a subconscious relic of negative medieval Christian attitudes towards sexuality (which was seen as a vice, even within marriage) – an attempt to prolong the ‘uncorrupted innocence’ of the child?[40]

Conclusion

In conclusion, although the ‘six - nine’ hadith may be authentic, and recorded in the reliable reference books, it is noteworthy that it is based ultimately on the authority of Aisha.

In view of prevailing norms of her time, it is very unlikely that she knew her own age, and other reports and historical evidence, contradict the commonly-held view, and indicate that she was, in fact, between fifteen and nineteen years of age when the marriage was consummated.

As these other reports correlate Aisha’s age to actual historical events that took place, they are likely to be a far more reliable indicator.

Also, the way historical people conceptualised numbers was often quite primitive, and care must be exercised not to read historical reports with ‘modern’ eyes. Commonly, when pre-modern man states his age, it is often ‘rounded’ up or down, or simply an approximation. Even though expressed as a precise figure, it is not meant to be understood as such.

Finally, where the apparent indication of an ahad[41] hadith seems incongruent with what we know of the character of the Prophet (peace be upon him), other reports and explanations should be given more weight.

And God knows best.

Ridhwan ibn Muhammad Saleem
London, Friday 4 Rabi` al-Thani 1429 AH/11 April 2008 CE
West London School of Islamic Studies
www.WLSIS.org