Translation of al-Idlibī’s essay[37]

The Age of ʿĀisha on the Day of the Marriage Contract and Consummation of the Marriage.

In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Ever Merciful.

Praise be to Allah, a praise that is abundant, pure, and blessed, as is beloved and pleasing to our Lord.

Praise be to Allah, the One by whose blessing all good is perfected. O my Lord, perfect us in virtue and bless us with a righteous ending with your favor, blessing, and generosity. O Most Honorable of all those who are honorable!

A ḥadīth has been transmitted about the Prophet, salutations of God upon him and peace,[38] that he contracted marriage with (ʿaqada)[39] honorable ʿĀisha, God’s pleasure upon her,[40] when she was six years old and he consummated the marriage with her when she was nine years old. Is this ḥadīth authentic in its transmission chain (isnād) and textual contents (matn)? We must research this.

I came across a researcher’s article on this subject which weakened this ḥadīth because of its transmission chain and textual contents. I found it possible to benefit from it by gathering some of the scholarly arguments while ignoring the points of weakness in order to arrive at a result established by numerous evidences leading to the correct understanding.

Due to the importance of presenting the correct understanding of this issue from the prophetic biography and tradition, this research will be supported by evidence for the birthdate of ʿĀisha, her age at the time of the marriage contract with the Messenger ﷺ, and her age at the time of the consummation of the marriage. There are two opinions regarding these details.

The dominant opinion is that he ﷺ contracted the marriage with her when she was six and consummated the marriage with her when she was nine. This is taken from the established statement of ʿĀisha narrated in Saḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and other books. This opinion necessitates that she was born four years after the advent of the prophetic mission.[41]

Abū Nuʿaym says in Maʿrifat aṣ-Ṣahābah, “ʿĀisha was six years old on that day [of the marriage contract].”

Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr says in al-Istīʿāba, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ performed the marriage [contract] with her in Makkah before the migration when she was six, though some say she was seven. He ﷺ consummated the marriage with her in Madīnah when she was nine and I don’t know of anyone who has disagreed with this. He ﷺ passed away when she was eighteen years old.”

Ibn Hajar says in Fatḥ al-Barī, “She was born in Islam approximately eight years before the migration and the Prophet ﷺ passed away when she was approximately eighteen years old.”

This is all based on the narration of ʿĀisha.

The second opinion is that he ﷺ contracted the marriage with her when she was fourteen years old. And he consummated the marriage with her when she was seventeen years old and almost eighteen. This necessitates that she was born four years before the advent of the prophetic mission. The statements of Ibn Isḥāq and aṭ-Ṭabarī allude to this. These statements will be mentioned in the fourth and fifth paragraphs of evidences for the second opinion.