Aisha the young Lady (3)

3) Aisha's love for the prophet peace and blessings be upon him

We won't discuss the prophet's love for Aisha and his other wives, what concerns us is did Aisha love prophet Muhammed?


Was Aisha happy and proud of her marriage?

Aisha was jealous on the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) just like any woman who loves her husband and wants him for herself only

Narrated Aisha:

I did not feel jealous of any of the wives of the Prophet as much as I did of Khadija (although) she died before he married me, for I often heard him mentioning her, and Allah had told him to give her the good tidings that she would have a palace of Qasab (i.e. pipes of precious stones and pearls in Paradise), and whenever he slaughtered a sheep, he would send her women-friends a good share of it.*1

She couldn't abandon him even when she is angry

Narrated Aisha:

That Allah's Apostle said to her, "I can well discern when you are pleased with me and when you are angry with me."
I said, "Whence do you know that?"
He said, "When you are pleased with me, you say, 'No, by the Lord of Muhammad,' but when you are angry with me, then you say, 'No, by the Lord of Abraham.' " 
Thereupon I said, "Yes (you are right), but by Allah, O Allah's Apostle, I leave nothing but your name." *2

She counted days and nights waiting for him

In the long hadith..
The Prophet first entered upon Aisha. Aisha said to him, 'O Allah's Apostle! You had sworn that you would not enter upon us for one month, but now only twenty-nine days have passed, for I have been counting them one by one. The Prophet said, 'The (present) month is of twenty nine days.*3

She was Proud of her Marriage 
(As her marriage destroyed one of the deeply rooted false beliefs of Arabia that marriage in Shawwal is misfortune) 
Aisha reported:

Allah's Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) contracted marriage with me in Shawwal and took me to his house as a bride during Shawwal. And who among the wives of Allah's Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was dearer to him than I. *4

She ornamented herself for him

Aisha reported:
The Apostle of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) entered upon me and saw two silver rings in my hand. He asked What is this, Aisha? I said, "I have made them to ornament myself  for you, Apostle of Allah" *5

She wanted to protect him from the evil eye

Aisha reported:
I used to recite (this supplication) on the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) as an incantation from the evil eye, I used to put my hand on his chest and say "Lord of the people, remove the trouble for in Thine Hand is the cure; none is there to relieve him (the burden of disease) but only Thou." *6

She loved his supplication for her

Aisha reported:
I saw the prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in a good mood so I said, "O Messenger of Allah make a supplication for me", 
He said "O Allah Pardon Aisha for her past and future sins, and for what she had made secret and public (of her sins)"
Aisha then laughed till her head fell in her lap
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Are you happy with my supplication?"
She said, "And why wouldn't I be happy with your supplication!!"
He said " By Allah this is my supplication for my nation after every prayer" *7

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1) Sahih Bukhari: Vol. 5, Book 58, Hadith 164
2) Sahih Muslim: Book 31, Hadith 5979
3) Sahih Bukhari: Vol. 7, Book 62, Hadith 119
4) Sahih Muslim : Book 8, Hadith 3312
5) Sunnan Abu Dawud  Book 9, Hadith 1560
6) Musnad Ahmed 41/459
7) Sahih Ibn Hibban 16/47 #7111

Aisha the young Lady (2)

2) The story behind that blessed marriage

Inroduction

Marriage at a young age was a norm in the past centuries because people who lived at that time had different priorities, different environmental conditions and different standards

There was nothing called adolescence, there was either a child or an adult and the line between them is Puberty




1430+ years ago in Arabia people lived a hard life, there was no security, no electricity, no schools, no hospitals, no running water.
people strived to stay alive, a girl growing in such a community had no school to attend, no social activities to participate in, they had to carry responsibility early as the society needed productive individuals
So normally girls were married as soon as they become physically mature but before reaching that age they were prepared to be housewives and mothers



Marriage at the age of physical maturity was a norm at that time, but now everything is different, girls now have a luxurious life, and a nine years old now is so different from a nine years old 1500 years ago
 
In the west:

Age of Consent throughout history has usually coincided with the age of puberty although at sometimes it has been as early as seven..
The Roman tradition served as the base for Christian Europe as well as the Christian Church itself which generally, essentially based upon biological development, set it at 12 or 14 but continued to set the absolute minimum at seven *1


Before 1855 the Age of consent in the USA ranged between 10 and 12 except in Delaware it was 7!! *2


According to William of Tyre, Agnes was only 8 on her arrival at Constantinople, while Alexius was thirteen..
Child brides, whether Byzantines or foreign princesses, were the norm rather than the exception, especially from the late twelfth century. Irene Ducaena, wife of Alexius I Comnenus, was 12 at her marriage, and empress before she was 15; the Byzantine princess Theodora, Manuel's niece, was in her 13th year when she married Baldwin III of Jerusalem; and Margaret-Maria of Hungary married Isaac II Angelus at the age of 9.*3


While in Arabia:

Amr Bin Al'aas got his son Abdullah when he was 12 *4

Usama Bin Zaid was divorcing his wife at the age of 14 and was leading a military expedition at 17 *5

Conclusion: These people dealt with everything differently and judging them with today's laws is not fair

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That year was named "The year of Grief"
When Khadija the first wife of prophet Muhammed (peace and blessings be upon him) and the mother of his four children passed away
His Uncle and only Helper Abu Talib passed away 5 months later
Prophet Muhamed (peace and blessings be upon him) was indeed in grief and the companions didn't want to see him this say so one of them Khawla bint Hakim came to him and suggested the idea of marriage, and she had two brides in mind, Aisha the daughter of his best friend And Sawda a widow and one of the very first believers

The prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) contracted marriage with the two, consummated marriage with Sawda at the same time and waited Aisha -who was engaged to Jubair ibn Al Mut'im ibn Adi at that time- 3  years so she could be a grown up woman to make consent and consummate marriage with her


Before the wedding Aisha's Mother wanted her bride to be in the best form, she used to feed her fresh cucumber with dates to make her fatter

On the wedding day, Aisha was playing on the swing, her mother called her in the morning, handed her to the gathered women of the neighborhood who congratulated her and fixed her ornament
Then the wedding celebration started, men and women came to greet the couple and Aisha was happy and proud of her marriage as she says


Ahadith in support of this story:


Narrated Abu Salama and Yahya bin Abd Al Rahman bin Hateb:
When Khadija died, Khawla bint Hakeem the wife of Uthman bin Maz'oun came and said
O Messenger of God, will you not marry?"
He replied, "Whom?"
she said "A maiden or a non-maiden as you wish"
He replied, "Who is the maiden?"
She said, The daughter of the dearest creature of God to you,Aishah bint Abi Bakr.
He asked, "And who is the non-maiden?"
She said, "Sawdah bint Zam'ah, she has [long] believed in you and has followed you".
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked her to go and propose to them on his behalf.

She went to Abu Bakr’s house, Where she found Umm Ruman, mother of Aisha, and said,
"O Umm Ruman, what a good thing and a blessing has God brought to you!"
She said, "What is that?"
Khawlah replied, "The Messenger of God has sent me to ask for Aisha’s hand in marriage on his behalf".
She answered, "I ask that you wait for Abu Bakr, for he should be on his way".
When Abu Bakr came, Khawlah repeated what she had said
He replied, "She is [like] his brother’s daughter. Would she be appropriate for him?
Then Khawlah returned to the Messenger of God and told him about it, he said, "Go back to him and say that he is my brother in Islam and that I am his brother [in Islam]and his daughter is lawful for me".
She came to Abu Bakr and told him what the Messenger of God had said. Then he asked her to wait until he returned.
Umm Ruman said "Al-Mut'im bin Adi had asked Aisha’s hand for his son, and I swear to God Abu Bakr never made a promise and he hadn't fulfilled it".
Abu Bakr left and went to Mut‘im while his wife, mother of the to be groom, was with him, She said, "O son of Abu Quhafah, perhaps if we marry our son to your daughter you will bring him into the religion which you practice."
He turned to her husband Al-Mut‘im and said, "What is she saying?" He replied, "She says [what you have heard]".
Abu Bakr left, [realizing that] God had [just] removed the problem he had in his mind about his promise.
He said to Khawlah, "Call the Messenger of God" and she did
so he married/betrothed Aisha to him and she was 6 years old at that day

Then I went to Sawda bint Zam'a and said, "what a good thing and a blessing has God brought to you"
She said, "What is that?"
Khawlah replied, "The Messenger of God has sent me to ask for hand in marriage on his behalf"
She said I'd love to accept, go inside and tell that to my father
So she entered to her father and he was an old (polytheist) man who hasn't left for pilgrimage, she greeted him by the pre-Islamic greeting
He said, "who is this?"
She said, "I'm Khawla bint Hakim"
He said, "what do you want?"
She said, "Muhammed the son of Abdullah sent me to ask for Sawda's hand in marriage on his behalf"
He said, "a Efficient Noble man, what does Sawda think?"
She said, "she would love to"
He said, "call her for me", and she did
He said, "O daughter, This woman claims that Muhamed the son of Abdullah the son of Abdul Mutalib has sent her to ask your hand in marriage on his behalf and he is a noble efficient man, would you like that I marry you off to him?"
She said, "yes"
He said to khawla, "Call him to come"
So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to him and he married her to him
Then Sawda's brother came back from pilgrimage and put dust on his head (to show that he is ashamed)But after he embraced Islam (he said Commenting on his action),
"I was such a fool for putting dust on my head on the day the Messenger of Allah married Sawda"
Aisha said, "We went to Medina and stayed at the home of Bani-al-Harith bin Khazraj.
The Messenger of God came to our house and men and women of the Ansar gathered around him.
My mother came to me while I was on a swing between two branches and got me down, She separated my hair which was reaching my shoulder and wiped my face with some water and started leading me till we stopped at the door, and I was gasping till caught my breath. Then she got me inside and the Messenger of God was sitting on a seat in our house
[My mother] made me sit on his lap and said, "This is your wife. May God bless you with her and bless her with you!"
Then the men and women got up and left.
The Messenger of God consummated his marriage with me in our house,
Neither a camel nor a sheep was slaughtered on behalf of me except that Sa'd bin U'obada sent a bowl of food which he used to send to the Messenger of God when he visited his wives and I was 9 years old that day" *6


Narrated Aisha:
When we came to Medina, the women came to me when I was playing on the swing, and my hair were up to my shoulders. They brought me, prepared me(for marriage), and decorated me. Then they brought me to the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) and he took up cohabitation with me, when I was nine.*7



Narrated Aisha,
My mother intended to make me gain weight to send me to the (house of) the Apostle of Allah (). But nothing which she desired benefited me till she gave me cucumber with fresh dates to eat. Then I gained as much weight (as she desired). *8

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1) Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality,Volume 16, Issue 2-3, 2005,Age of Consent A Historical Overview pages 25-42
2) The encyclopedia of social reform, William Dwight Porter Bliss,page 9
3) http://www.roman-emperors.org/aggiefran.htm
4) Al Tareekh Al Kabir by Imam Bukhari 5/5 and Sear Aa'laam An-Nubalaa 3/80
5) At-Tabaqat Al Kubra 4/66
6) Musnad Ahmed 42/501
7) Sunnan Abu Dawud: Book 41, Hadith 4917
8) Sunnan Abu Dawud : Book 28, Hadith 3894

Aisha the young Lady (1)

In the name of Allah The Most Gracious The Most Merciful

The Muslim Ummah agrees that Aisha's age the day she was married to Prophet Muhammed (peace and blessings be upon him) was 9



Items discussed in this research

1) What they haven't told you about Aisha
2) The story behind that blessed marriage 
3) Aisha's love for the prophet peace and blessings be upon him 
4) Response to lies made about this marriage

Note:
Sayings and Narrations quoted in this research either were proven to be authentic or at least have a sound chain of narrators

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1) What they haven't told you about Aisha

Aisha was keen on gaining Knowledge, A Fast learner and A Pious woman But wherever you read about her Marriage to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) on Non-Muslim websites the only thing they tell about Aisha is her age, ignoring all her merits and virtues
Here are some of them..

1) She was a pious servant of God

Fasting a lot:

Narrated Al-Qasim: 
She used to fast Consecutive Days *1

Generous and beneficent

Narrated Aisha:
A lady along with her two daughters came to me asking (for some alms), but she found nothing with me except one date which I gave to her and she divided it between her two daughters, and did not eat anything herself, and then she got up and went away. Then the Prophet came in and I informed him about this story. He said, "Whoever is put to trial by these daughters and he treats them generously (with benevolence) then these daughters will act as a shield for him from Hell-Fire *2

Once Ibn Al-Zubair sent her one hundred thousand dirhams as gift. Aisha was observing fast that day. She immediately distributed all the money among the needy. In the evening, at the time of Breakfast, Her maid servant remarked,
O, Mother of the faithful you could have saved some money for buying some food for Breakfast
Oh, why didn’t you remind me at that time, she replied.*3

Urwah bin Az-Zubair said:
Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) – gave seventy thousand (Dirhams) in charity, while her own garment used to be patched.*4

Abdullah ibn Az-Zubair reported: I have not seen anyone more generous than Aisha and Asma, although their generosity was different. Aisha would gather things and after they had been collected, she would share them; as for Asma, should would not leave anything for tomorrow.*20


Highly Modest

Narrated Aisha: I used to enter my house where Allah's Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was buried and take off my garment, saying that only my husband and my father were there; but when Umar was buried along with them, I swear by Allah that I did not enter it without having my clothes wrapped round me owing to modesty regarding Umar. *5

Ascetic

Narrated Aisha:
Abu Bakr as-Siddiq gave me palm trees whose produce was twenty awsuq from his property at al-Ghaba. When he was dying, he said, 'By Allah, little daughter, there is no one I would prefer to be wealthy after I die than you. There is no one it is more difficult for me to see poor after I die than you. I gave you palm-trees whose produce is twenty awsuq. Had you cut them and taken possession of them, they would have been yours, but today they are the property of the heirs, and they are your two brothers and your two sisters, so divide it according to the Book of Allah.' A'isha continued, "I said, 'My father! By Allah, even if it had been more, I would have left it. There is only Asma. Who is my other sister?" Abu Bakr replied, 'What is in the womb of Kharija? I think that it is going to be a girl.' " *19



2) Eloquent thinker and a Poet

Musa bin Talha said:
I have never seen a person more eloquent than Aisha *6

Ataa bin Abu-Rabah said:
Ayesha was a great theologian, and a remarkable thinker *7

Abu Zinad said:
I've never seen anyone narrate poetry as much as Urwah bin Al Zubair so it was said to him, How good you are in narrating poetry!!
He said: what's my narration compared to the narration of Aisha! Whenever something happens to her, she narrates poetry *8

 3) Scholar and jurist

Ayesha has reported more than 2,210 Ahadith

Abu Burdah bin Abi Musa reported that his father said: Whenever we (the Companions) of Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had any difficulty on hadeeth, of which we approached Aisha and (always) found that she had the knowledge of the hadith *9
Masrooq said: I have seen many of the Companions of the Prophet , consult her about issues of inheritance *10

Urwah bin Al Zubair said:
I havent seen anyone more knowledgeable than Aisha in poetry, religious logic,and obligations *11

Imam Zohri said:
The knowledge of Aisha is better that the accumulative knowledge of all Muslims and wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) *12

Imam ibn kathir said:
there is no other woman or man except abu huraira narrated as much ahadith as her may Allah be pleased by her *13

Imam Zahabi said:
I know no one in the nation of Muhammed (peace and blessings be upon him) nor in women who is more knowledgeable than her *14

4) A pharmacologist maybe?

Urwah Ibn Al Zubair said:
I haven't seen anyone more knowledgeable than Aisha in religious logic, medicine and poetry *15

Aisha learnt pharmacology through observation and analysis..

Urwah asked Aisha
O mother (of believers) I don't wonder at your intelligence for you're the wife of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and I don't wonder at your knowledge of poetry, for you're the daughter of Abu Bakr and he was among the most knowing people, But I wonder at your knowledge of medicine, where did you get it from?
She said: O Uraiah (diminutive of Urwah) The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to get ill in his last days, and the delegations of Arabs from all around came and prescribed him medicines, and I used to prepare them for him *16

5) A Soldier of Islam

Narrated Aisha:
I requested the Prophet permit me to participate in Jihad, but he said, "Your Jihad is the performance of Hajj *17

Narrated Anas:
On the day (of the battle) of Uhad when (some) people retreated and left the Prophet, I saw `Aisha bint Abu Bakr and Um Sulaim, with their robes tucked up so that the bangles around their ankles were visible hurrying with their water skins (in another narration it is said, "carrying the water skins on their backs"). Then they would pour the water in the mouths of the people, and return to fill the water skins again and came back again to pour water in the mouths of the peopled *18


That's Aisha a smart young lady, who became a Great woman of Islam not that 9 years old child they want you to see.

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1) At-Tabaqat Al-Kubra by Ibn Sa'ad 10/73
2) Sahih Bukhari 2/110 Book of Charity, Avoid hellfire even by half a date
3) At-Tabaqat Al-Kubra by Ibn Sa'ad 10/66, Sear Aa'laam An-Nubalaa 2/186
4) At-Tabaqat Al-Kubra by Ibn Sa'ad 10/66, Sear Aa'laam An-Nubalaa 2/186
5) Musnad Ahmed 42/440 #25660
6) Sunnan At-Tirmidhi 5/705 #3884 (Book of virtues - Virtues of Aisha)
7) Sear Aa'laam An-Nubalaa 2/185
8) Al Isti'aab fe Ma'rifat Al-As-hab 2/546
9) Sunnan At-Tirmidhi 5/705 #3883 (Book of virtues - Virtues of Aisha)
10) Sunnan Ad-Darami 4/1889 #2901
11) Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaibah 8/503 #26446
12) Al Mustadrak 'ala As-sahihain 4/12 #6734
13) Al Bidaya wal Nihaya 11/338
14) Sear Aa'laam An-Nubalaa 2/140
15) Al Isti'aab fe Ma'rifat Al-As-hab 2/546
16) Musnad Ahmed 40/441 #24380
17) Sahih Bukhari 4/32 (Book of Jihad - Jihad of women)
18) Sahih Bukhari 4/33 (Book of Jihad - The Jihad of women and their fighting along with men)
19) Muatta Malik Book 36, Hadith 40
20) Al-Adab Al-Mufrad, Number 280