ANSWERS: 5
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Anywhere from 6-19 take your pick because it can't be proved one way or another. And I don't know how old he was.
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Wikipedia states: The age of Aisha at marriage is a contentious issue. Several hadiths said to have been narrated by Aisha herself, such as Sahih Bukhari 5:58:234 and Sahih Muslim 8:3311, state she was six or seven years old when betrothed to Muhammad and nine years old when married or when the marriage was consummated.[2] Other traditional material (hadith, sira, etc.) suggests that Aisha may have been anywhere from twelve to nineteen years old when she married. However, the upper age is unlikely if the words of Aisha herself in the hadith are considered: Sahih Bukhari 8:73:151 Narrated 'Aisha: I used to play with the dolls in the presence of the Prophet, and my girl friends also used to play with me. When Allah's Apostle used to enter they used to hide themselves, but the Prophet would call them to join and play with me. (The playing with the dolls and similar images is forbidden, but it was allowed for 'Aisha at that time, as she was a little girl, not yet reached the age of puberty.) (Fateh-al-Bari page 143, Vol.13) We know from the Quran that representations of humans are not allowed, but that pre-pubescent girls were permitted by Mohammed to play with them. So, by the words of Aisha and by the practices of the Quran and the dicatates of Mohammed, Aisha must have been pre-pubescent.
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Bukhari in his hadith says 6 and 9 but Bukhari was writing some 300 years post Muhammad's death. Modern Scholarship has cast doubt upon the ages that Bukhari uses. Let me place before you the arguments against Ayesha's age being 6 /9. [quote]Some people believe that Ayesha (May Allah be pleased with her) was nine years old at the time of her marriage with Mohammad (peace be upon him) was consummated. The age of Ayesha (ra) has been grossly mis-reported in the ahadith. Not only that, I think that the narratives reporting this event are not only highly unreliable but also that on the basis of other historical data, the event reported, is quite an unlikely happening. Let us look at the issue from an objective standpoint. My reservations in accepting the narratives, on the basis of which, Ayeshas (ra) age at the time of her marriage with the Prophet (pbuh) is held to be nine years are: [1]: Most of these narratives are reported only by Hisham ibn `urwah reporting on the authority of his father. An event as well known as the one being reported, should logically have been reported by more people than just one, two or three. [2]:It is quite strange that no one from Medinah, where Hisham ibn `urwah lived the first seventy one years of his life has narrated the event, even though in Medinah his pupils included people as well known as Malik ibn Anas. All the narratives of this event have been reported by narrators from Iraq, where Hisham is reported to have had shifted after living in Medinah for seventy one years. [3]:Tehzibu'l-tehzib, one of the most well known books on the life and reliability of the narrators of the traditions of the Prophet (pbuh) reports that according to Yaqub ibn Shaibah: "narratives reported by Hisham are reliable except those that are reported through the people of Iraq". It further states that Malik ibn Anas objected on those narratives of Hisham which were reported through people of Iraq. (vol 11, pg 48 - 51) [4]:Mizanu'l-ai`tidal, another book on the narrators of the traditions of the Prophet (pbuh) reports that when he was old, Hisham's memory suffered quite badly. (vol 4, pg 301 - 302) [5]:According to the generally accepted tradition, Ayesha (ra) was born about eight years before Hijrah. But according to another narrative in Bukhari (kitabu'l-tafseer) Ayesha (ra) is reported to have said that at the time Surah Al-Qamar, the 54th chapter of the Qur'an, was revealed, "I was a young girl". The 54th surah of the Qur'an was revealed nine years before Hijrah. According to this tradition, Ayesha (ra) had not only been born before the revelation of the referred surah, but was actually a young girl (jariyah), not an infant (sibyah) at that time. Obviously, if this narrative is held to be true, it is in clear contradiction with the narratives reported by Hisham ibn `urwah. I see absolutely no reason that after the comments of the experts on the narratives of Hisham ibn `urwah, why we should not accept this narrative to be more accurate. [6]:According to a number of narratives, Ayesha (ra) accompanied the Muslims in the battle of Badr and Uhud. Furthermore, it is also reported in books of hadith and history that no one under the age of 15 years was allowed to take part in the battle of Uhud. All the boys below 15 years of age were sent back. Ayesha's (ra) participation in the battle of Badr and Uhud clearly indicate that she was not nine or ten years old at that time. After all, women used to accompany men to the battle fields to help them, not to be a burden on them. [7]:According to almost all the historians Asma (ra), the elder sister of Ayesha (ra) was ten years older than Ayesha (ra). It is reported in Taqri'bu'l-tehzi'b as well as Al-bidayah wa'l-nihayah that Asma (ra) died in 73 hijrah when she was 100 years old. Now, obviously if Asma (ra) was 100 years old in 73 hijrah she should have been 27 or 28 years old at the time of hijrah. If Asma (ra) was 27 or 28 years old at the time of hijrah, Ayesha (ra) should have been 17 or 18 years old at that time. Thus, Ayesha (ra), if she got married in 1 AH (after hijrah) or 2 AH, was between 18 to 20 years old at the time of her marriage. [8]:Tabari in his treatise on Islamic history, while mentioning Abu Bakr (ra) reports that Abu Bakr had four children and all four were born during the Jahiliyyah -- the pre Islamic period. Obviously, if Ayesha (ra) was born in the period of jahiliyyah, she could not have been less than 14 years in 1 AH -- the time she most likely got married. [9]:According to Ibn Hisham, the historian, Ayesha (ra) accepted Islam quite some time before Umar ibn Khattab (ra). This shows that Ayesha (ra) accepted Islam during the first year of Islam. While, if the narrative of Ayesha's (ra) marriage at seven years of age is held to be true, Ayesha (ra) should not have been born during the first year of Islam. [10]:Tabari has also reported that at the time Abu Bakr planned on migrating to Habshah (8 years before Hijrah), he went to Mut`am -- with whose son Ayesha (ra) was engaged -- and asked him to take Ayesha (ra) in his house as his son's wife. Mut`am refused, because Abu Bakr had embraced Islam, and subsequently his son divorced Ayesha (ra). Now, if Ayesha (ra) was only seven years old at the time of her marriage, she could not have been born at the time Abu Bakr decided on migrating to Habshah. On the basis of this report it seems only reasonable to assume that Ayesha (ra) had not only been born 8 years before hijrah, but was also a young lady, quite prepared for marriage. [11]:According to a narrative reported by Ahmad ibn Hanbal, after the death of Khadijah (ra), when Khaulah (ra) came to the Prophet (pbuh) advising him to marry again, the Prophet (pbuh) asked her regarding the choices she had in her mind. Khaulah said: "You can marry a virgin (bikr) or a woman who has already been married (thayyib)". When the Prophet (pbuh) asked about who the virgin was, Khaulah proposed Ayesha's (ra) name. All those who know the Arabic language, are aware that the word "bikr" in the Arabic language is not used for an immature nine year old girl. The correct word for a young playful girl, as stated earlier is "Jariyah". "Bikr" on the other hand, is used for an unmarried lady, and obviously a nine year old is not a "lady". [12]:According to Ibn Hajar, Fatimah (ra) was five years older than Ayesha (ra). Fatimah (ra) is reported to have been born when the Prophet (pbuh) was 35 years old. Thus, even if this information is taken to be correct, Ayesha (ra) could by no means be less than 14 years old at the time of hijrah, and 15 or 16 years old at the time of her marriage. These are some of the major points that go against accepting the commonly known narrative regarding Ayesha's (ra) age at the time of her marriage. Neither was it an Arab tradition to give away girls in marriage at an age as young as nine or ten years, nor did the Prophet (pbuh) marry Ayesha (ra) at such a young age. The people of Arabia did not object to this marriage, because it never happened in the manner it has been narrated.[/quote] Source: http://www.ilaam.net/Articles/AyeshasAge.html
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Here's a collection of quotes, roughly arranged in chronological order, which may shed some useful light on the subject and help us take a more learned view of it. . 1 “…This also means that Mary may very well have been pregnant with Jesus when she was 12 or 13....in the English speaking world.. The marriageable age was formalized at 12 in 1285. Up until that time THERE WAS NO LAW and lOCAL CUSTOM WAS FOLLOWED. Then in 1576 the law was changed to make it an offence to have sexual relations with A CHILD UNDER 10. Yes, 10. The marriageable age was still set at 12 but 10 WAS THE OFFICIAL AGE OF CONSENT. Having sex with a child was not considered a serious offence and so having consensual SEX WITH A CHILD UNDER 10 WAS ONLY CONSIDERED A MISDEMEANOUR. The situation remained this way until the late 1800’s. It is a pattern repeated in most English speaking countries, including the US. The law was reformed in 1875 after growing concerns about child prostitution, including the export of English girls to Europe. It was raised to 13.” Age of Consent - Open Integral-Social Holons, the NLP approach . 2 “Age of Consent throughout history has usually coincided with the age of puberty although at sometimes it has been AS EARLY AS SEVEN. Early on age of consent was A FAMILIAL OR TRIBAL MATTER and only became a legal one in the Greco-Roman period. 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.” Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality Volume: 16 Issue: 2/3 . 3 “… exploring the OFTEN BLURRED DISTINCTION between children's pastimes and adult pursuits in the medieval period. … also confronts the PROBLEM OF DISTINGUISHING ADULT FROM JUVENILE activities, emphasising the SIMPLE FACT that adults and juveniles in the medieval period SHARED COMMON INTERESTS, and that children WERE NOT always segregated from adult society.” Medieval Children Yale University Press, 2001 . 4 “there is NO OBJECTIVE MEANS of determining at what age the age of consent should be set, since children mature and develop at different rates.” The age of consent - NSW PARLIAMENTARY LIBRARY . 5 “..travel…across the Pacific to Peru and the age of consent for girls is 12” “in Texas children can marry as young as 14” “the case of a 14-year-old Rachael Lloyd, from Wales, who ran away with a 24-year-old Turkish waiter” BBC NEWS 1 October, 2004 “Spain has the lowest age of consent in Europe, set at 13, while Turkey and Malta have the highest, set at 18” Wikipedia . 6 “Ortho-McNeil CEO Blaine Monroe says the new chewable tablet form - presented in shapes of bears and other adorable wildlife animals - was simply a necessary evolution for a company that has for many years been monitoring the gradual drop in the MEDIAN AGE of sexually active youths - a number which studies show is QUICKLY APPROACHING THE SINGLE-DIGIT mark. … "Today, the American parent's demand is for a fun-to-take chewable that inhibits the ability of their precious darlings' eggs to travel through the fallopian tubes, alters their cutie pie's cervical mucus to block sperm, and partially inhibits implantation in daddy's little angel's uterine wall." New chewable birth control pill aims to combat preteen pregnancy – Recoil July 2008 End of quotes.
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aisha acording to her own words (hadith) was 6 when married and 9 when she first had sex..mind you this was a man in his 50's..(yuck!!)..many muslims today use this as a standard for marriage and in countries where sharia is strictly adhered to 6 is considered marriageable age..this is one of the reasons that I laugh when muslims say woman are given rights under islam..lol they are not even allowed to become woman before in many instances they are married off..
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