Madam Aishah, a Study of her age at the time of her marriage with Prophet Muhammad

Historical Fact 11. Aishah’s dolls:

In the Sahih of al-Bukhari, a statement of Aishah herself is quoted in which she commented that a certain verse of the Qur’an (Surat al-Qamar:46) was revealed to the Prophet in Makkah when she was playing with her dolls.¹⁹

Surat al-Qamar was one of the early chapters of the Qur’an. Aishah, despite the reference to her dolls, knew that a revelation had been granted. It must be accepted, then, that she could not possibly have been born in the fourth year of the Prophethood. She would hardly have realized the significance of the happening when she was a toddler of around one to two years old! It makes far more sense to assume that she was around 9-10 years old – i.e. born in 605 CE.

Furthermore, the habit of a girl to play with dolls should not be used as an indication that she is less than six years old. The age that young girls play most with dolls is as they approach and enter puberty, especially in mock parenting games in which they are the ‘mothers’ and the dolls are their ‘babies’.

Surat al-Qamar has not been dated precisely, but if it was revealed some five years before the Hijrah (617 CE), then if Aishah was born in 614 she was only three years old. However, if she was born in 605 she was 12, and far more likely to have dolls.

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19. Sahih al-Bukhari, Bab al-Tafsir. This playing with dolls is used to indicate her extreme youth.