Sayyida Aisha
Mother of the believers ‘A’isha
(may Allah be pleased with her)
Aisha’s (may Allah be pleased with her) family
Father: Abu Bakr Siddique (may Allah be pleased with him)
Mother: Zainab (may Allah be pleased with her) also known as Umme Rooman.
Tribe: Quraish
‘Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) was born five years after the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) announced Prophethood in 615.[i]
In the eleventh year of the Prophethood, i.e. the year Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her) died, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) considered getting married. He was fifty, so he proposed to ‘A’isha (may Allah be pleased with her) the daughter of ‘Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) his friend and the first one who believed in his Prophethood from the men. When she was six he contracted a marriage with her but did not consummate it for a period of three years until she was nine, which was after the Hijra. However, at the time in which he contracted the marriage with ‘A’isha (may Allah be pleased with her) he married Sawda (may Allah be pleased with her). In the first year of the Hijra, after the brotherhood between the Ansar[1] and Muhajirin[2] had been instituted, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) consummated his marriage with ‘A’isha (may Allah be pleased with her) and he housed her next to the house of Sawda (may Allah be pleased with her) close to the Mosque. He allowed his first companion and friend ‘Abu Bakr as-siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) to come to see him in his house at his daughter’s home.
‘A’isha (may Allah be pleased with her) was the only virgin the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) married. She stayed in the company of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) for 9 years. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was 53 and ‘A’isha (may Allah be pleased with her) was 9 years old.[ii]
She was 18 years old when the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) passed away from this world and so she lived with the Messenger of Allah for 9 years until she passed away at the age of 65. She has narrated 2,210 traditions from the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) from which 174 are in the Sahih of Imam Bukhari and Muslim. There are 54 traditions narrated in Bukhari alone and 68 in Muslim. The rest are in other books of Hadith. The other ahadith besides these have been recorded in the other books of hadith.
In his book, Al-Isabah, Ibn Hajar quotes Abu Burdah, who quoted his father as saying, “Any time we found something difficult to understand we asked ‘A’isha (may Allah be pleased with her) about it, we would find that she was knowledgeable about the matter.” Similarly, Ata ibn Abi Rabah (may Allah be pleased with him) once said, “Of all people, ‘A’isha (may Allah be pleased with her) was the one with the most extensive legal knowledge and she could offer the most informed opinions on other people’s characters.” ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) used to consult ‘A’isha (may Allah be pleased with her) in all matters pertaining to women, as well as questions relating to the Messenger of Allah’s (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) domestic affairs. ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) used to consult other women as well; for example, he consulted his daughter Hafsah (may Allah be pleased with her) concerning the maximum period of time a man should be absent from his wife in the fulfilment of military duties. In response, Hafsah (may Allah be pleased with her) voiced the view that a husband should not be away from his wife for more then four months. ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with her) in turn, adopted his daughter’s opinion and set four months as the maximum length for the missions on which men could be sent away.[iii]
Because she was married at a young age, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) could mould her in the way he wanted her, hence, she was one of seven legal jurists out of ten thousand companions of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) at the age of only eighteen.
Moreover, ‘Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) who proved to be a remarkably intelligent and wise woman, had both the nature and temperament to carry forward the work of prophetic mission. Her marriage was the schooling through which she was prepared as a spiritual guide and teacher to the whole of the female world. She became one of the major students and disciples of the Prophet and through him, like so many of the Muslims of that blessed time, her skills and talents were matured and perfected, so that she joined him in the abode of bliss both as wife and as student. Her life and her services to Islam after her marriage prove that such an exceptional person was worthy to be the wife of the Prophet. For, when the time came, she proved herself one of the greatest authorities on Hadith, an excellent commentator on the Qur’an and a most distinguished and knowledgeable expert (faqih) in Islamic law. She truly represented the inward and outward qualities and experiences (zahir and batin) of the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) through her unique understanding. This is surely why the Prophet was told in his dream that he would marry ‘Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) and thus, when she was innocent and knew nothing about men and worldly affairs, she was prepared and entered into the Prophet’s household. She would sleep very little and pray whole night.
She passed away on Tuesday the 17th of Ramadhan, in either 57 or 58 AH. Her funeral was lead by Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be please with him) as per her wish, which was also to be buried at night in the cemetery of Madinah, Jannatul-Baqi.[iv]
Lessons learnt
So we find that ‘Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) was the only virgin to be married to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). We also find that she carried the mission of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) after his demise from this world.
She was a house of knowledge who had over 200 students at a time when many could not read and write. She devoted her life to teaching to both men and women. Her status was such that she was the only wife with whom the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) would receive revelation when she was with him.
It was because of ‘Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that the verse of the Qur’an was revealed regarding dry ablution (tayyamum).
Whoever wants to marry at a young age can use the example of ‘Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) and how she lived her life with the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). A detailed account of the reasons for her at a young age can be found in the final chapter.
[1] Those who helped the Muslims settle in Madinah.
[2] Those who migrated with the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) to Madinah.
[i] Azwaj-e-Mutaharat. P.46
[ii] Bukhari. Sirat-e-Mustafa; Page: 490. Madarij-un-Nawuwah.
[iii] Ibn al-Jawzi, Tarikh ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, page: 101
[iv] Zarqani, Vol. 3, Pg. 234-5 & Ikmaal, Pg. 612