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It has been suggested that this article be merged into Aisha. (Discuss) Proposed since June 2007.

A'isha bint Abu Bakr, one of Muhammad's wives, is traditionally believed to have been married young. The age of Aisha at marriage is a controversial issue, and is the subject of increasing attention in recent years. Muslim conservatives and Western orientalists put the marriage at six or seven years old, and nine years old when the marriage was consummated. A minority of Muslims calculate the age of Aisha to have been over 13 and 14, perhaps between 17 and 19.

Sources

Due to the importance of Aisha in the early Shia-Sunni dispute, particularly due to her unsuccessful revolt against Ali, most of what we know about Aisha (including details of her marriage), has been susceptible to interpretive controversy and manipulation. D.A. Spelberg notes that even the earliest biographies of Aisha are interpretive reflecting male intellectual history rather than a woman's history. It is not discernible the extent to which the records of Aisha's age at mariage embodies "displaced male desires."

Evidence that Aisha was nine

The hadith collections of Bukhari (d. 870) and Muslim b. al-Hajjaj (d. 875) are in general regarded as the most authentic by Sunni Muslims. Both quote Aisha herself claiming she was six or seven at the time of her marriage and nine when the marriage was consummated, as does the collection of Abu Dawud and Tarikh al-Tabari. . In support of this view, there are traditions saying Aisha was playing with her dolls when she got married. Asma Barlas adds that the account can be very well true because the concept of childhood is a modern one; in most cultures the age of consent was quite low until recently (for example the age of consent was between 7-10 until 1889 in U.S.).

Evidence that Aisha was older than nine

Those Muslims who calculate the age of Aisha to have been over 13 and 14, perhaps between 17 and 19 base their calculation on the more details we have of Aisha's sister (Asma); on the details of Muhammad's migration from Mecca to Medina; Aisha's reported knowledge of Ancient Arabic poetry and genealogy at her marriage. The traditions also tell that Aisha, at her marriage, was knowledgable about the fundamental rules of Arabic-Islamic ethics.

See also

• Criticism of Muhammad
• Muhammad's marriages

Notes

1. ^ Barlas(2002), p.125-126
2. ^ Watt, Aisha, Encyclopedia of Islam Online
3. , Template:Bukhari-usc, Template:Bukhari-usc Template:Bukhari-usc,Template:Bukhari-usc
4. Template:Muslim, Template:Muslim-usc,Template:Muslim-usc
5. Template:Abudawud, Template:Abudawud-usc
6. Tabari, Volume 9, Page 131
7. Tabari, Volume 7, Page 7

References

• Asma Barlas, "Believing Women" in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur'an, University of Texas Press, 2002, ISBN 0292709048

• Articles to be merged from June 2007