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

Historical Fact 1. The age of Aishah in relationship to the age of her sister Asma:

One theory involves the relationship of her age to that of her half-sister Asma. There are two fats which, if established, make it impossible for Aishah to have been only six at her nikah. Firstly it is stated that Asma was ten years older than Aishah, and secondly that she died in 73 AH at the very advanced age of 100 years.

Abdur Rahman ibn Arabi al-Zinad (753 AH), for example, was an early historian noted for his knowledge of Arab lineage. He stated that Asma was older than her sister by ten years.⁶

Ibn Kathir Dimashqui (1373 CE) stated that Asma breathed her last in 73 AH when she was 100 years old, and was older than her sister Aishah by ten years.⁷

The date was easily fixed in the mind as she died just a few days after her son Abdullah ibn Zubayr was killed in battle. Ibn Abd al-Barr (1071 CE) gives the same facts, though he dates her death a few months (not days) after the death of Abdullah.⁸

If Asma truly was 10 years older than Aishah, and truly was 100 years old in 73 AH, then Aishah would have been 90 had she lived to that year, and by simple subtraction of dates, since 73 AH is the equivalent of 695 CE (622, the year of Hijrah plus 73), she must have been born in 605 CE.

Furthermore, if – as is claimed – Asma was born 27 years prior to the Hijrah, then Aishah must have been born 17 years prior to it. So, if the generally accepted tradition that Aishah entered the Prophet’s home as his fully married wife in 2 AH/624 CE, she must have been 19 and not 9.⁹

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6. ‘Siyar-u-A‘la-an-Nubala’ by Muhammad Ali Lahori, p.229)
7. Al-Bidayay wa’n-Nihayah’, published in Egypt, 8/34.
8. ‘Al-Isti ‘ab fi Ma ‘rifah al-Ashab-Asab published in Egypt, 2/5-7.
9. The date of her marriage as 2 AH was agreed by al-Nawawi, Ibn Kathir, Qastallani and Badruddin al-Ayni and many others – ‘Tahdhib al-Asma wa-al Lighat’ by Al-Nawawi, ‘Al-Bidayah wa-al-Nihayay’ by Ibn Kathir, ‘Al-Mawahib al-Ladunniyah’ by Qastallani, and ‘Umdah al-Qari’ by Badruddin al-Ayni.