REFUTING THE CLAIM AISHA MARRIED THE PROPHET WHEN SHE WAS OLDER THAN 9 YEARS OF AGE

Assalamualikum. Unfortunately, some Muslims who cannot digest the fact that it was and is completely normal , accepted by the society and science to have a 9 or 10 year old girl who has become capable of bearing children married at this early age, have tried to put forward some really lame arguments trying to proof that our mother ayesha (r.a) was not 6 or 9 but actualy either 18, 19 or 20 when she got married to the Messenger (s.a.w). I will b refuting this in sha allah 


Before i begin with the refute, please visit the below link to proof that it is not only Islam or the Arab society where girls as young as 9 or 10 were married but also a part of the custom and religious rulings of Christianity and etc. 

http://the-finalrevelation.blogspot.in/2012/09/defending-muhammads-marriage-with-aisha.html

This is a refute to the claims made by the Author : T.O.Shanavar 

WHERE DID THE AUTHOR TAKE HIS ARGUMENTS FROM?

1. The author has mainly relied and taken quotes from many works of different History books such as Al Tabari and etc. without even waiting to verify if those quotes or narrations are saheeh , complying with the rules of narrations or if they are weak/fabricated. Imam Al Tabari says in the opening of his Book - Tareekh Al Tabari:

"I hereby testify that news and stories that readers may find strange or false, 

unbelievable or awkward or inaccurate were in fact what I heard from others which I 

stated in my book as they were without direct or indirect interference. Thus, I declare 

no responsibility upon them [Tareekh Al Tabari - 1/8]

2. 

Historians tend to mention all the news whether it is weird, fabricated or strange in their books without verification of the authenticity of such news. This has always been the methodology of historians as their job is limited to narrate what they hear and in some cases they clarify or leave the examination to other scholars who come after them.

3. Most of the time these types of narrations mentioned in history books do not have chains of narrators

Hence a narration which does not match the criteria of being a saheeh narration or even an acceptable one cannot by any means be used as an Hujjah (argument) 


CLAIM # 1: 

{{ Most of the narratives printed in the books of hadith which say that A'isha (r.a) was married when she was 6 and her marriage was consummated when she was 9, are reported only by Hisham ibn `Urwah, who was reporting on the authority of his father. First of all, more people than just one, two or three should logically have reported this important event but no one does. }}

REFUTE TO CLAIM # 1:

This is one of the silliest claim i have ever heard and In sha Allah you will agree to me after seeing the below. 

This incident of Ai'sha (r.a) being married when she was 6 years old or 6 years and some months ( 7 years old) and her marriage being consummated when she was 9 years old and the prophet (s.a.w) died when she was 18 years old, has been reported in numerous reports via different chains and i will enlist some of them below. Please note that in order to make it short and avoid repeating the same hadith again, i have skipped the content of the hadith and have mentioned the chain and reference for the hadith. 


(I) SAHIH MUSLIM: 


1. Aishah → 'Urwah → Az-Zuhree → Mamar → Abdur Razaaq → Abd ibn Humaid → Muslim

Aishah (r.a) reported that the Prophet (s.a.w) married her when she was seven years old , and she was taken to his house as a bride when she was nine, and her dolls were with her; and when he died she was eighteen years old [Sahih Muslim -English Translation - 3311]

Note: Some narrations state that Aishah’s (r.a) age was six while others state that it was seven. Imam An-Nawawi while commenting on this hadeeth in his Sharh of Saheeh Muslim stated that Ad-Dawoodee said: "With regards to the narration in which she states that she was married at the age of seven while most narrations state that she was married at the age of six, then both narrations can be reconciled by the fact that she was six years and some months. Therefore in some narrations, she only mentioned the number of years of her age at that time while in other narrations she meant the year she was about to enter, and Allah knows best"

2. Aishah → Al-Aswad → Ibraheem → Al-A’amash→ Abu Mua’awiyah → Yahya ibn Yahya, Ishaaq ibn Ibraheem, Abu Bakr ibn Abee Shaibah and Abu Kuraib → Muslim  

Aishah (r.a) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) married her when she was six years old and lived with her when she was nine years old and he died when she was eighteen years old [Sahih Muslim, 1422]

(II) SUNAN ABU DAWOOD: 

1. Aishah → Yahya (ibn Abdur Rahmaan ibn Haatib) → Muhammad (ibn Amr) → the father of U’baidullah ibn Muadh → Ubaidullah ibn Muadh → Abu Dawood  [Sunan Abi Dawood, Hadith no. 4937 : Albani graded it as Saheeh]

(III) SUNAN AL NASAEE:

1. Aishah → Abu Salamah ibn Abdur Rahman → Muhammad ibn Ibraheem → I’mara  ibn Ghazya → Yahya ibn Ayub → the paternal uncle of Ahmad ibn Sa’d ibn Al-Hakam ibn Abee Maryam → Ahmad ibn Sa’d ibn Al-Hakam ibn Abee Maryam →  

An-Nasaaee [

Sunan Al Nasaee, Hadith no. 3379]
2. Aishah → Abu U’baidah → Abu Ishaaq → Mutarrif → A'bthar → Qutaibah → An-Nasaaee [Sunan Al Nasaee, Hadith no. 3257]

3. Aishah → Al-Aswad → Ibraheem → Al-A’amash → Abu Mua’awiyah →
Muhammad ibn Al-A'laa’ and Ahmad ibn Harb → An-Nasaaee [Sunan Al Nasaee, Hadith no. 3258]

(IV) SUNAN IBN MAJAH:

Abdullah → Abu Ubaidah → Abu Ishaaq → Israeel → Abu Ahmad→ Ahmad ibn 

Sinan → Ibn Majah [Sunan Ibn Majah, Eng trans. Hadith no. 1877 - Saheeh]

(V) MUSNAD AHMAD IBN HANBAL:

1. Aishah → Al-Aswad → Ibraheem → Al-A’amash → Abu Mua’awiyah→ the father of Abdullah → Abdullah → Ahmad ibn Hanbal [Musnad Ahmad 24152 - Shaikh Shua'ib Al Aranut said sanad is saheeh on the conditions of shaikhain]


2. In addition to the above, one of the narrations in Musnad Ahmad via Hisham contains narrators that are not from Iraq:


Aishah → 'Urwah → Hisham ibn ’Urwah → Abdur Rahman → Sulaiman ibn Dawood → the father of Abdullah → Abdullah → Ahmad ibn Hanbal 

[Musnad Ahmad : 24867 - This narration was declared to be authentic (sahih) by Shuaib Al-Arnaut and please keep in mind that Abdur Rahman Rahman (ibn Abee Al-Zinaad) is hasan al-hadith and Ibn Mu'een said that he was the best memorizer and preserver of the narrations of Hisham Ibn 'Urwah. So, even if we were to assume that AbdurRahman heard this narration in Iraq then knowing that the scholars have said that he was the best when it comes to his narrations from Hisham is enough to give credibility to his narrations]

(VI) SUNAN BAYHAQI AL KUBRA


Aishah → Al-Aswad → Ibraheem → Al-A’amash → Abu Mua’awiyah → Yahya ibn Yahya → Abu Ja’far Muhammad ibn Al-Hajjaaj Al-Waraaq → Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Ya’qoub → Abu Abdullah Al-Haafidh → Al-Baihaqi [Sunan Al Bayhaqi, 13437]

(VII) MUSTADRAK AL HAAKIM

Jaabir → Yazeed ibn Jaabir → Abdullah ibn Abdur Rahman ibn Yazeed ibn Jaabir → Abu Mushar Abdul A’laa ibn Mushar → Ibraheem ibn Al-Hussain ibn Daizeel → Ahmad ibn U’baid ibn Ibraheem Al-Asdee, the Haafidh of Hamdan → Al-Haakim [Mustadrak Al Hakim, Hadith no. 6714]

(VIII) MUJAM AL KABEER AL TABRAANI:

1. Abdullah → Abu U’baidah → Abu Ishaaq→ Shareek → Yahya ibn Adam → Abdur Rahman ibn Saalih Al-Azdee → Muhammad ibn Moosaa ibn Hammaad Al-Barbaree 

→ At-Tabaraani [Mujam Al Kabeer : 10279]

2. Qataadah → Sa’eed ibn Abee U’roba → Zuhair ibn Ala’la Al-Qaisee → Ahmad ibn Al-Miqdaam → Muhammad ibn Ja’far ibn Ai’n Al-Baghdaadee → At-Tabaraani [ Mujam al Kabeer :40]

3. Aishah → Al-Qaasim ibn Muhammad → Sa’d ibn Ibraheem → Sufyaan →Muhammad ibn Al-Hassan Al-Asdee → Al-Hassan ibn Sahal Al-Hannat →
Muhammad ibn Abdullah Al-Hadramee → At-Tabaraani [Mujam al Kabeer :52]

4. Aishah → Abu U’baidah → Abu Ishaaq → Mutarrif → A’bthar ibn Al-Wasim → Sa’eed ibn Amr Al-Sha’athi → Muhammad ibn Abdullah Al-Hadramee → At- Tabaraani [Mujam Al Kabeer : 53]

5. Abu Maleekah → Abu Usaama → Al-Ajla’e Abdullah ibn U’mar ibn Abbaan → Muhammad ibn Abdullah Al-Hadramee → At-Tabaraani [Mujam al Kabeer : 62]


Thus, we can conclude that this hadeeth has been narrated through many other routes which do not contain Hisham ibn 'Urwah. The author seems to criticize the narrations made by Hisham Ibn U’rwah in Iraq. The bias of the author is clear as one can see that he has resorted to ambiguous and misleading statements in an attempt to strengthen his case. This again shows that the author has no knowledge whatsoever of the sciences of
hadeeth.

CLAIM # 2:

{{HISHAM IBN 'URWAH WAS CRITICIZED BY SOME SCHOLARS OF HAVING A POOR MEMORY AFTER HE MOVED TO IRAQ 

[See : Tehzi’bu’l-tehzi’b, Ibn Hajar Al-`asqala’ni, Dar Ihya al-turath al-Islami, 15th century. Vol 11, p. 50 and Mizanu’l-ai`tidal, Al-Zahbi, Al-Maktabatu’l-athriyyah, Sheikhupura, Pakistan, Vol. 4, p. 301}}

REFUTE TO CLAIM #2: WHAT THE SCHOLARS HAVE SAID REGARDING HISHAM IBN 'URWAH

In Tahdheeb at-Tahdheeb under Hisham ibn U’rwah

Al-I’jli said: “He is thiqah (trustworthy).”

Muhammad ibn Sa’d said: "He is a thiqah (narrator) who has narrated many hadeeths and he is hujjah.

Abu Hatim said:“He is thiqah and is an imam (i.e. a leader) in hadeeth.”

Ya’qub ibn Shaibah said: “He is firm in what he memorizes and is thiqah. No one rejected any of his hadeeths until he went to Iraq where he started to narrate hadeeths from his father, while in fact he heard these hadeeths from others who heard from his father.”

Abdur Rahman ibn Khirasj said: Maalik was not pleased with him. However, Hisham is honest and his narrations are considered to be amongst the authentic hadeeths. I was advised that Maalik did not like him because of his hadeeths to the people of Iraq. He went to Kufa three times. Once he said “My father told me that he heard Aishah…,” the next time he narrated the same hadeeth saying, “My father told me that Aishah…” and the third time he said, “My father narrated that Aishah…”

Ibn Hibban mentioned him in his book Al-thiqaat under Hisham ibn 
'Urwah saying the following: Hisham ibn ‘Urwah ibn Az-Zubair ibn Al-A'wwam Al-Asdee, who was known as Abu Al-Mundhir. He saw Jaabir ibn Abdullah and Ibn ‘Umar and he narrated from Wahab ibn Keesaan and a group of Tabi'een. He passed away after the
Battle of Al-Hazeemah in the year 145 or 146 AH and he was born in 60 or 61
AH. It was said that he passed away in the year 144 AH. He was a hafidh,
excellent (in hadeeth), pious and noble

Conclusion:


(i) The scholars of hadeeth endorsed Hisham Ibn U’rwah while recognizing his
tadlees in some of the hadeeths he narrated in Iraq. However, this did not lead the scholars to reject all the hadeeths that he narrated in Iraq.


(ii) The criticism of some of the scholars was only limited to some of the hadeeths that he narrated in Iraq. This was due to the fact that he used different phrases to state how he heard the hadeeth (the chain, not the text). Thus, the scholars only excluded these hadeeths from consideration and accepted the rest without hesitation, as it was obvious that they had no defects.


As a result, we can see that the early scholars used to conduct an in-depth analysis of every hadeeth. Their analysis did not lead them to reject the hadeeths pertaining to the age of Aishah (r.a) as they were all authentic. Moreover, none of the scholars rejected all of the hadeeths of Hisham ibn U’rwah.

CLAIM # 3

{{THE ARGUMENT THAT AISHAH (r.a) WAS A YOUNG GIRL WHEN SURAH AL-QAMAR (ONE OF THE EARLY SURAHS) WAS REVEALED....}}

"According to the generally accepted tradition, Aishah (رضي لله عنھا) was born about eight years before the Hijrah. But according to another narrative in Bukhari (kitabu'l-tafseer) Ayesha ( رضي لله عنھا ) is reported to have said that at the time Surah Al-Qamar, the fifty-fourth chapter of the Qur'an, was revealed, "I was a young girl". The fifty-fourth surah of the Qur'an was revealed nine years before Hijrah. According to this tradition, Ayesha ( رضي لله عنھا ) had not only been born before the revelation of the referred surah, but was actually a young girl (jaariyah), not an infant (sibyah) at that time."

REFUTE TO CLAIM # 3:


The hadeeth has been incorrectly translated. Therefore, the hadeeth and its correct translation are provided below so that the readers may judge for themselves:




Narrated Yusuf bin Mahik: I was in the house of Aishah, the Mother of the Believers. She said, "This revelation: "Nay, but the Hour is their appointed time (for their full recompense); and the Hour will be more previous and most bitter." (54.46) was revealed to Muhammad (s.a.w) at Makkah while I was a playful little girl (Jaariyah). [Sahih Al Bukhari, Vol. 6, no. 399]


As it is obvious from the hadeeth, Aishah ( رضي لله عنھا ) only said that she witnessed the revelation of one of the ayaat from the surah while she was a young girl in Makkah! Where did the author get the notion that she witnessed the revelation of the whole surah? Let the reader judge from the correct translation whether the author followed his misguided desires and has been deceived by the shaytaan in making such a claim!



THE LACK OF AUTHENTIC NARRATIONS STATING THAT THIS AYAH WAS
REVEALED NINE YEARS BEFORE THE HIJRAH

Where does it state that this ayah was revealed nine years before Hijrah? It simply states

that Aishah ( رضي لله عنھا ) was a young girl at the time.

It is important to remind you of the fact that the ayaat of each Surah are typically 

revealed in stages. That is why, with regards to this Surah, Muqatil ibn Sulaiman (a great Mufassir who took his knowledge about this from Mujahid) said 

that it was all revealed in Makkah except for three ayaat (Fath Ul Qadeer) although the majority opinion recognizes that all the ayaat of this Surah were revealed in Makkah.

Which authentic narration does the author rely upon to say that this surah was revealed wholly nine years before Hijrah?

The following points need to be kept in mind:

a. Most of the surahs were revealed over a period of time.

b. An existing opinion declares that some ayaat of this surah were revealed in Madinah.

c. The date of the revelation of this Surah has not been specified in any narration.

PROOFS THAT A'ISHA (R.A) WAS BORN APPROX NINE YEARS BEFORE HIJRAH 

1. Al-Mizzi said: “She was married to the Prophet Muhammad () two years before Hijra as Abu U'baida stated and other said it happened three years before Hijra while others said it took a place one and a half year before Hijra or so when she was at age of six years. She got married in Madinah after the battle of Badr in Shawwal in the second year after Hijra when she was at age of nine. Others said it took a place in Shawwal after eighteen months of Hijra [Tahdheeb al Kamaal, 35/227]

2. Ibn Hajar said: “Az-Zubair ibn Bakkar and others said: She passed away in the 58th year after Hijrah while Ibn 'Uainah narrated from Hisham that she passed away in the 57th year after Hijrah [Tahdheeb at-Tahdheeb, 12/436 and U’oon Al-Athar, 2/395]

3. Al Zarakli said: “She was born nine years before Hijrah and died in 58 AH [Al-A’laam, 3/240 (Print Number 7; 1986 by daarul I'lm lilmalayeen)]


CLAIM # 4 :


"According to a number of narratives, Aishah (r.a) accompanied the Muslims in the battle of Badr and Uhud. Furthermore, it is also reported in books of hadeeth 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. Aishah’s ( رضي لله عنھا ) 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." 

REFUTE TO CLAIM # 4:

FIFTEEN IS THE AGE OF PUBERTY FOR MEN NOT W.O.M.E.N 

The authentic hadeeth, which is referred to by the author, states the following : 

It has been narrated on the authority of Ibn 'Umar ( رضي الله عنهما ) who said: The Messenger 

of Allah (s.a.w) inspected me on the battlefield on the day of Uhud, and I was fourteen years 

old. He did not allow me (to take part in the fight). He inspected me on the Day of 

Khandaq and I was fifteen years old, and he permitted me (to fight). Nafi' said: I came to 

'Umar bin 'Abd al-'Aziz who was then Caliph, and narrated this tradition to him. He said: 

Surely, this is the demarcation between a minor and a major. So he wrote to his 

governors that they should pay subsistence allowance to one who was fifteen years old, 

but should treat those of lesser age among children [Sahih Muslim, Hadith 4605 and a similar hadith is recored in Sahih Bukhari, Vol.3 Hadith 832]

Imam Al Nawawi has put the above Muslim hadith under the chapter " The age of puberty" and has said:

It is the age at which boys become fighters and take the same ruling as men . 

Regarding this hadeeth, Imam Ash-Shafi’e, Al-Awza’ie, Ibn Wahb and Imam Ahmad and others commented that fifteen is the age of puberty (for males). [Sharh Sahih Muslim 12/13]

YOUNG BOYS (PRE-PUBESCENT) ALSO PARTICIPATED IN BATTLES

PROOF # 1 :

Anas (r.a) narrated: Haritha was martyred on the day (of the battle) of Badr, and he was a young boy (ghulam) then. His mother came to the Prophet (s.a.w) and said, "O Messenger of Allah! You know how dear  Haritha is to me. If he is in Paradise, I shall remain patient, and hope for reward from Allah, but if it is not so, then you shall see what I do." He said, "May Allah be merciful to you! Have you lost your senses? Do you think there is only one Paradise? There are many Paradises and your son is in the (most superior) Paradise of Al-Firdaus. [Sahih Bukhari (Arabic-English), vol. 5, no. 318. Also narrated in Musnad Ahmad, no. 13831 and
Musnad Abi Ya’la, no. 3500]

PROOF # 2 :

'Abdur Rahman bin 'Auf (r.a) narrated: While I was fighting in the front file on the day (of the battle) of Badr, suddenly I looked behind and saw on my right and left two young boys and did not feel safe by standing between them. Then one of them asked me secretly so that his companion may not hear, "O Uncle! Show me Abu Jahl." I said, "O nephew! What will you do to him?" He said, "I have promised Allah that if I see him (i.e. Abu Jahl), I will either kill him or be killed before I kill him." Then the other said the same to me secretly so that his companion should not hear. I would not have been pleased to be in between two other men instead of them. Then I pointed him (i.e. Abu Jahl) out to them. Both of them attacked him like two hawks till they knocked him down. Those two boys were the sons of 'Afra' (i.e. an Ansari woman) [Sahih Bukhari (Arabic-English), vol. 5, no. 324]

Conclusion & Challenge to the Author:

The conditions for participating in the battle differed depending on their role. the author fails to differentiate between those who were participating in battles as fighters and those who stayed in the back lines nursing soldiers. The criteria needed for each type was completely different and therefore comparing both types to each other is invalid.

the author fails to differentiate between those who were participating in battles as fighters and those who stayed in the back lines nursing soldiers. The criteria needed for each type was completely different and therefore comparing both types to each other is invalid.



Bring me a single hadeeth that clearly says that fifteen was the minimum age for females to participate in battles
CLAIM # 5:


THE ARGUMENT THAT ASMAA ( رضي لله عنھا ), WHO WAS TEN YEARS OLDER THAN AISHAH ( رضي لله عنھا ), DIED AT AGE HUNDRED IN 73 AH 


According to almost all the historians Asmaa ( رضي لله عنھا ), the elder sister of Aishah رضي لله عنھا) ) was ten years older than Aishah ( رضي لله عنھا ). It is reported in Taqri'bu'l-tehzi'b as well as Al-bidayah wa'l-nihayah that Asmaa ( رضي لله عنھا ) died in 73 Hijrah when she was 100 years old. Now, obviously if Asmaa ( رضي لله عنھا ) was 100 years old in 73 Hijrah she should have been 27 or 28 years old at the time of Hijrah. If Asmaa ( رضي لله عنھا ) was 27 or 28 years old at the time of Hijrah, Aishah رضي لله عنھا) ) should have been 17 or 18 years old at that time. Thus, Aishah ( رضي لله عنھا ), 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.




REFUTE TO CLAIM # 5:

This argument is based on two points: 

1) The age difference between Asma (r.a) and Ayesha (r.a)
2) The narration which mentions the age of Asma (r.a)

THE AGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ASMA (R.A) AND AISHA (R.A)


The age difference between Asmaa ( رضي لله عنھا ) and Aishah ( رضي لله عنھا ) was narrated

by historians, only from the words of Ibn Abee Az-Zinaad who did not live at the time of 

Asmaa ( رضي لله عنھا ) since he is from the Al baa’ at-Tabi’een . 

He was credited by some and discredited by many. Furthermore, most of scholars whom he narrated from did not see Asmaa ( رضي لله عنھا ) either. Thus, the narration cannot be accepted as its chain is munqati' (discontinuous).


On another note, if we are to accept this very weak narration then we must also acknowledge the statement which was made after mentioning the words of Ibn Abee Az- Zinaad by the historian who narrated it. Imam Adh-Dhahabi said:

“Ibn Abee Az-Zinaad said: She – Asmaa ibn Abee Bakr – is older than Aishah by ten years. I say: If this is true, then the age of Asmaa when she passed away should be ninety-one. On the other hand, Hisham ibn 'Urwah said: She lived a hundred years without a tooth falling.” [Tareekh Al-Islam, 5/354]

THE NARRATION STATING THE AGE OF ASMA (R.A)

(i) The narration mentioning the age of Asma (r.a) is only narrated from Hisham Bin 'Urwah whose narrations in the Iraq the author earlier rejected [See Claim # 1 & 2 above]. The chain of narrators in the narration in which the
age of Asmaa (r.a) is mentioned has narrators from Iraq, yet we see here the
author accepting this narration as it suits his purposes.

(ii) The author's argument does not prove anything about the age of Aishah (r.a) because this argument is based on the narration of Ibn Abi Al-Zinaad, which we refuted previously due to its obvious weakness.

Note: 

The author keeps saying " the historians agree with this.. and that and this...,so on and so forth" However, can the author or anyone supporting his idealogy provide an accurate source of "historians" agreeing to his perspective?

Secondly The books from which the author quotes his evidences contain many other narrations that refute and oppose his notion. So I ask him how can he accept only certain ones that befit his motives and reject the rest, albeit what he rejects are agreed upon and proven by authentic hadeeths

CLAIM # 6:


THE ARGUMENT THAT ABU BAKR’S (r.a) FOUR 

CHILDREN FROM HIS FIRST TWO MARRIAGES 

WERE ALL BORN IN JAAHILIYYAH 

The author states: "Tabari in his treatise on Islamic history, while mentioning Abu Bakr (r.a) reports that Abu Bakr (r.a) had four children and all four were born during the jaahiliyyah -- the pre-Islamic period. Obviously, if Aishah (رضي لله عنھا)  was born in the period of jaahiliyyah, she could not have been less than 14 years in 1 AH -- the time she most likely got married [


REFUTE TO CLAIM # 6 :

Here is the full quotation from the book of history by Imam At-Tabari:

At-Tabari says in his treatise on Islamic history:


“Ali ibn Muhammad narrated that someone told him in addition to his teachers, that Abu Bakr got married during the pre-Islamic period to Qateelah – which is what Al-Waqedi Al-Kalbi agreed on as well – they said: She is Qateelah bint Abdul Uzza ibn Abd ibn As'ad ibn Jaabir ibn Maalik ibn Hasal ibn A'mir ibn Luai who gave birth to Abdullah and Asmaa. He got married, during the pre-Islamic period as well, to Umm Rooman bint A'mir ibn Umair ibn Dhahl ibn Dahmaan ibn Al-Haarith ibn Ghanam ibn Maalik ibn Kinaanah and others said she is Umm Rooman bint A'mir ibn Uwaimir ibn Abdush Shams ibn Utaab ibn Udhinah ibn Subai' ibn Dahmaan ibn Al-Haarith ibn Ghanam ibn Maalik ibn Kinaanah who gave birth to Aishah and Abdur Rahman. So all four children were begotten by those two wives whom we mentioned that he married during the pre- Islamic period

Conclusion: 


1) At-Tabari never said that those four children were born during the period of
jaahiliyyah at all. He said that the two wives, whom he named, were married to Abu Bakr (r.a) at the time of Jaahilliiyah

2) At-Tabari never mentioned the year of birth of any of the children or the year in which Abu Bakr (r.a) got married to these two wives.

3) This story does not have a complete chain of narrators.

CLAIM # 7 :


THE ARGUMENT THAT AISHAH’S (r.a) ACCEPTANCE OF ISLAM PRECEDED THAT OF UMAR IBN AL-KHATTAB’S (r.a) BY QUITE SOME TIME 


The author states: "According to Ibn Hisham, the historian, Aishah ( (رضي لله عنھاaccepted Islam quite some time before U’mar ibn al-Khattab (). This shows that Aishah ( رضي لله عنھا ) accepted Islam during the first year of Islam. While, if the narrative of Aishah’s ( رضي لله عنھا ) marriage at seven years of age is held to be true, Aishah ( رضي لله عنھا ) should not have been born during the first year of Islam. According to Ibn Hisham, Aishah ( رضي لله عنھا ) was the 20th or the 21st person to enter into the folds of Islam (Al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah, Ibn Hisham, Vol 1, Pg 227 - 234, Arabic, Maktabah al-Riyadh al-hadeethah, Al-Riyadh) while `Umar ibn al- Khattab was preceded by forty individuals (Al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah, Ibn Hisham, Vol 1, Pg 295, Arabic, Maktabah al-Riyadh al-hadeethah, Al-Riyadh)

REFUTE TO CLAIM # 7:


This argument is based only on one point: the year in which Umar ibn Al-Khattab (r.a) embraced Islam. This argument is not only fragile as the ones before but also misleading as will be shown.




THE YEAR IN WHICH UMAR IBN AL-KHATTAB (r.a) EMBRACED ISLAM :


Umar ibn Al-Khattab (r.a) embraced Islam nine years after the beginning of the revelation to Prophet Muhammad (r.a). Here is the evidence taken from several sources, including the same source that the author used to support his claim:


Ibn Sa'd said:


Muhammad ibn Umar told us that Usamah ibn Zaid ibn Aslam told him that his father told him that his grandfather told him: "I heard Umar ibn Al-Khattab say: I was born four years before the great Fujjar incident . He entered Islam in the sixth year after the message while he was twenty-six years old. His grandfather said as well: Abdullah ibn Umar used to say: my father (Umar) entered Islam when I was six years old [Al-Tabaqat Al-Kubra, 3/250]

Note: Ibn Umar (r.a) was 6 years old when Umar (r.a) declared his Islam. 

Ibn Ishaaq said:

“Umar ibn Al-Khattab entered Islam after the Muslims immigrated to Abyssinia" [Seerah An-Nabawiyyah by Ibn Katheer, 2/32 and Seerah Ibn Hisham, 2/193]

Note: This simple fact refutes the opinion that Umar (r.a) was the fortieth person to enter Islam as the Muslims who immigrated to Abyssinia were more than eighty in number [Seerah Ibn Hisham, 2/193]

Abdullah Ibn Umar (r.a) said i was a ghulam ( under nine years old) when my father Umar ibn Khattab (r.a) embraced Islam in public. [Seerah Ibn Hisham, 2/193 and Seerah An-Nabawiyyah by Ibn Katheer, 239]

NOTE: 

1) Umar (r.a) was not the 40th person to accept Islam, rather he was much later in number.

2) Abdullah Ibn Umar (r.a) was 6 years old when Umar (r.a) declared his Islam.

3) According to one narration, Umar (r.a) embraced Islam six years after the start of revelation (i.e the prophet stayed in Makkah for 13 years after the start of revelation, Therefore out of these 13 years, Umar (r.a) embraced Islam in the 6th year after the start of revelation) 

4) Thus the date of Umar (r.a)'s conversion to Islam depends on the age of Abdullah Ibn Umar (r.a). And as mentioned above ( see Claim # 4 ) Abdullah Ibn Umar (r.a) was 14 years old during the battle of Uhud and the Battle of Uhud took place in the 3rd or 4th year after the Hijrah and Also, the prophet (s.a.w) stayed for 13 years in Makkah after the revelation began,

Therefore here is the analysis : 

Ibn Umar at the battle of Uhud : 14 years old
Date of Battle of Uhud : 4 Hijri

Therefore, Ibn Umar (r.a) was : 

13 years old at : 3 Hijri
12 years old at : 2 Hijri
11 years old at : 1 Hijri
10 Years old at : 13th year after reveleation
9 years old at : 12th year after revelation
8...
7..
6 years old at : 9th year after the revelation 

THEREFORE UMAR IBN KHATTAB (R.A) EMBRACED ISLAM WHEN HIS SON ABDULLAH IBN UMAR (R.A) WAS SIX YEARS OLD AND THIS WAS IN THE 9TH YEAR AFTER REVELATION. THUS THE CLAIM THAT AISHA (R.A) ACCEPTED ISLAM MUCH MUCH BEFORE UMAR (R.A) IS NOT A HUJJAH ANYMORE BECAUSE UMAR (R.A) EMBRACED ISLAM 4 YEARS AFTER AISHA (R.A) WAS BORN 


See Fig 1 Below :

CLAIM # 8: 


THE ARGUMENT THAT THE WORD “BIKR” IS NOT USED TO DISCUSS A YOUNG GIRL 


The author says: "According to a narrative reported by Ahmad ibn Hanbal, after the death of Khadijah ( رضي لله عنھا ), when Khaulah ( رضي لله عنھا ) came to the Prophet (s.a.w) advising him to marry again, the Prophet () 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 () asked about who the virgin was, Khaulah proposed Aishah's ( رضي لله عنھا ) 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 'jaariyah.' 'Bikr', on the other hand, is used for an unmarried lady, and obviously a nine year old is not a 'lady'."


REFUTE TO CLAIM # 8: 

THE DEFINITIONS OF BIKR AND JAARIYAH


Bikr in general means the first-born child but if it used with females it gives an additional meaning; that is, one who never had copulation [Al-Muheet Fi Al-Lugha (language), 2/49]


A bikr is a jaariyah who is virgin and bikr of women is the one who never had copulation with a man [Lisan Al-A’rab, 4/76]



It is known that every young girl is called jaariyah so the word jaariyah is related to age. However, the word bikr is a descriptive word to females who are virgins whether they are old or young. In addition, what Khaulah (r.a) meant in her question to the Prophet (s.a.w) was whether the Prophet (s.a.w) wished to marry someone who had never been married before or someone who had been married previously.




CLAIM # 9 :


THE ARGUMENT THAT FATIMAH ( (رضي لله عنھا WAS FIVE YEARS OLDER THAN AISHAH ( رضي لله عنھا ) AND THAT SHE WAS BORN FIVE YEARS BEFORE  PROPHETHOOD

The author says: "According to Ibn Hajar, Fatimah ( رضي لله عنھا ) was five years older 

than Aishah ( رضي لله عنھا ). Fatimah ( رضي لله عنھا ) is reported to have been born when 

the Prophet (s.a.w) was 35 years old. Thus, even if this information is taken to be 

correct, Aishah ( رضي لله عنھا ) 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. Ibn Hajar's original 

statement, its translation and reference follows: i.e. Fatimah ( رضي لله عنھا ) was born

at the time the Ka`bah was rebuilt, when the Prophet (s.a.w) was 35 years old... she 

(Fatimah) was five years older that Aishah ( رضي لله عنھا ). (Al-isabah fi tamyizi'lsahabah, 

Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Vol 4, Pg 377, Arabic, Maktabatu'l-Riyadh alhadeetha, 

al-Riyadh, 1978) "

REFUTE TO CLAIM # 9 :

The reference which the author has used for this claim has been taken out of context, thereby misquoting or half quoting. This is something shameful indeed !

THE ACTUAL QUOTE OF IBN HAJR



Here are the missing parts which the author conveniently omitted, as they oppose his argument:

Ibn Hajr said just before the quotation:

“It has been a matter of difference of opinion on the year Fatimah was born.”

Then he added just after the quotation:


“Abu Umar narrated that Ubaidullah ibn Muhammad ibn Sulaiman ibn Ja’far Al-
Hashemi said: Fatimah was born when the prophet's age was 41, which was almost a year or more after the Prophet received revelation. And she is 5 years younger than Aishah. Also, Ali got married to Fatimah in the second year after Hijrah in the month of Muharram, which happens to be four months after Aishah’s marriage, and other opinions have been narrated as well [Al-Isabah fi Tamyizi'l-sahabah, 4/377]


Therefore, it can be concluded that due to the vast number of narrations in history books regarding any particular topic, no one narration can be preferred or selected as evidence unless it is qualified as such after careful examination of the narrators, context, and text of the hadeeth by the reliable scholars of Islam.

CONCLUSION:


I conclude with the saying of a Taba'in - Imam Ibn Sireen (r.h) who is famously known for his work of dream, even though he himself did not compile that book (to the soundest of opinions) :

Knowledge is religion. So be careful from whom you take your knowledge. 

Thus, Aisha (r.a) was married at the age of 6 and consummated at the age of 9 wa al humdulillah ! 

This article has been modified slightly from brother aymen's work. May allah reward him.