Aisha bint Abu Bakr (died 678) (Arabic عائشة Transliteration: ʿāʾisha, [ʕaːʔɪʃæh] "she who lives", also transcribed as A'ishah, Ayesha, 'A'isha, Aishah, or 'Aisha) was one of Muhammad's wives. In Islamic writings, her name is thus often prefixed by the title "Mother of the Believers" (Arabic: أمّ المؤمنين umm-al-mu'minīn), per the description of Muhammad's wives in the Qur'an.[1][third-party source needed]

Aisha had an important role in early Islamic history, both during Muhammad's life and after his death. Regarded by many as his favorite wife, she was an active figure in numerous events and an important witness to many more.

During Muhammad's lifetime edit

Early life edit

Aisha was the daughter of Um Ruman and Abu Bakr of Mecca. Abu Bakr belonged to the Banu Taym sub-clan of the tribe of Quraysh. Khawlah bint Hakim suggested that Muhammad marry Aisha after the death of Muhammad's first wife (Khadijah bint Khuwaylid), after this, previous agreement regarding marriage of Aisha with Jubayr ibn Mut'im was put aside by common consent.[2] British historian William Montgomery Watt suggests that Muhammad hoped to strengthen his ties with Abu Bakr;[2][verification needed] the strengthening of ties commonly served as a basis for marriage in Arabian culture.[3]

Marriage and status as Muhammad's wife edit

According to the traditional sources, Aisha was six or seven years old when she was engaged to Muhammad and nine when the marriage took place.[2][4][5] American historian Denise Spellberg states that "these specific references to the bride's age reinforce Aisha's pre-menarcheal status and, implicitly, her virginity."[4] This issue of her virginity was of great importance to supporters of the Abbasid Caliphate. Abbasid supporters considered that as Muhammad's only virgin wife, Aisha was divinely intended for him, and therefore the most credible regarding the debate over the succession to Muhammad.[4]

Aisha stayed in her parents' home for several years until she joined Muhammad and the marriage was consummated.[2][4][5][6][7][third-party source needed][8] Most of the sources indicate that she was nine years old at the time, with the single exception of al-Tabari, who records that she was ten.[4] The sources do not offer much more information about Aisha's childhood years, but mention that after the wedding, she continued to play with her toys, and that Muhammad entered into the spirit of these games.[9]

Aisha is usually described as Muhammad's favorite wife, and it was in her company that Muhammad reportedly received the most revelations.[10][verification needed]

Relationship with other Muhammad's wives edit

Aisha was a hater of Khadija and she was not so jealous about Muhammad's affection toward any of his wife as she was of Khadija, who was the first Muslim.[11][12][13][14] She was angry of Muhammad's love and passion toward Khadija and once she shouted to him and said:[15][16]

Aisha was jealous of Maria because of Maria's beauty and that she bore a son.[17][18][19][20] This jealousy led to two prominent occasions. In the first one Aisha and Hafsa were threatened to be divorced by Quran. The second one is related to Ibrahim, son of Maria, which made Aisha envious as she didn't have any child.

Aisha's jealousy toward Malika and Asma's beauty and her conspiracy against them led to divorce of both.[21][22] She was also jealous of the beauty of Umm Salama[23][24] and Juwayriya.[25]

Title edit

After the revelation of the verse of Hijab, Talha, cousin of Aisha who for long time had the desire of marriage to her, protested against the restriction in his relationship with Aisha that verse of Hijab made for him, and he swore if Muhammad dies, he would marry to Aisha. Then, the verse 33.6 was revealed and the Prophet's wives were entitled Mothers of the Believers to prohibit them from any marriage after Muhammad's death.[26][27]

Accusation of adultery edit

In the event when Aisha was accused of adultery, Muhammad's adopted son Zayd ibn Harithah defended Aisha's reputation. Shortly after this, Muhammad announced that he had received a revelation from God confirming Aisha's innocence and directing that charges of adultery be supported by four eyewitnesses.[28][third-party source needed] These verses also rebuked Aisha's accusers,[29][third-party source needed] whom Muhammad ordered to receive forty lashes.[30][31][verification needed]

Story of the honey edit

Soon afterwards event of the honey whcih involved Aisha, Muhammad reported that he had received a revelation, in which he was told that he could eat anything permitted by God.[32][third-party source needed]

Some Sunni commentators on the Qur'an sometimes give this story as the "occasion of revelation" for Sura 66,[third-party source needed] which opens with the following verses: "Prophet, why do you prohibit that which God has made lawful for you, in seeking to please your wives? God is forgiving and merciful. God has given you absolution from such oaths."[33][verification needed]

Death of Muhammad edit

Aisha did not remarry after Muhammad's death because a passage in the Qur'an forbids any Muslim to marry a widow of Muhammad:[third-party source needed]

Nor is it right for you that ye should annoy God's Apostle, or that ye should marry his widows after him at any time. Truly such a thing is in God's sight an enormity.

— Qur'an 33:53

After Muhammad edit

During Abu Bakr's and Umar's caliphate edit

Aisha supported Abu bakr and Umar caliphate. Abu Bakr made gift some lands for Aisha from her share of inheritance while he refused to give Fatima's land from her share of inheritance.[34] Upon Muhammads death, she collected over 500 Hadiths and submitted to her father to be burnt.[35][36] Umar specified 10000 dirham pension for each of the Prophet's wife, with the exception of Aisha who was receiving 12000 dirhams.[37]

During Uthman's Caliphate edit

In the Shura, Aisha preferred election of Uthman over Ali, but soon her opinion was changed. Muhammad's wives were receiving their pension share of inheritance of Muhammad from the first two Caliphates, Abu Bakr and Umar. When Aisha asked Uthman about her share of inheritance, Uthman refrained to give her, and reminded her she was one of those who conseled her father Abu Bakr not to pay Fatimah's share of inheritance. This made Aisha angry of him and was the beginning of her agitation against Uthman. She said to the people:[38][39][40][41]

.

She was also writing letter to tribes and cities and motiving Muslims to kill Uthman. During the siege of Uthman, she was asked to stay in Medina, but she left the city without paying attention. When she was informed about Uthman's assassination, while she was ignorant about Ali's assignment as the new Caliphate, she said:[42]

When she heard that Muslims chose as Caliphate, she turned her view on Uthman, and claimed his blood revenge to remove Ali from Caliphate position which led to the battle of Bassorah.

During Ali's Caliphate edit

Battle of Basra edit

Having an implacable hatred and animosity against Ali[43][44][45][46][47][48], who was chosen as Caliphate by people upon Uthman's assassination, she formed a vain and factious rebellion army along with aristocrats companions, Talha and Zubair who had ambition of succeeding Caliphate after Uthman, and went to the city of Basra with pretext of vengeance for Uthman's blood.[49][50][51] Ali overcame the rebels, and the defeated army was treated with generosity and Aisha was sent back to Medina.

During Muawiya's Caliphate edit

Aisha had good relation with Muawiya during his Caliphate. Muawiya was sending gifts and money for her.

Reaction to her brother murder edit

During Muawiyah's ruling time, she had good relationship with him except the case of her brother, Muhammad ibn Abu bakr's gruesome killing who was a partisan of Ali. Muawiyah and 'Amr ibn al-'As killed him and put his corpse in a carcass of donkey and burnt it. When Aisha was informed about the miserable end of her brother, she cursed Muawiyah and 'Amr ibn al-'As in her prayer.[52]

Hassan's burial edit

When Hassan son of Ali and Fatimah and grandson of Muhammad died, Aisha mounted a mule and went to his funeral and prevented interment, shouting that she would not allow the grandson of khadija to be buried beside Muhammad.[53][54] Her prevention was followed by Ummayad's armed interference which caused to a shower of arrows fell on the coffin

Death edit

She was murdered by Muawiyah when he announced hereditary Caliphate an chose his son Yazid I as his successor which was followed by protest of Aisha, and as Muawiyah was afraid of her influence, he digded a pit and covered it on the way Aisha was passing. Aisha felt into the pit and died.[55][56][57]

She died in Medina at the age of 65 years in the year 678 in the month of Ramadan. She was buried in the Jannat al-Baqi.

Views edit

Shi'a view of Aisha edit

The Shi'a view of Aisha is generally a negative one. This is primarily due to what they see as her contempt for the Ahl al-Bayt (the Islamic prophet Muhammad's family) and her attempts to stir up the fitnah (civil war) of the time. Her participation in the Battle of Jamal is widely considered her most significant sign of such contempt. They also do not believe that she conducted herself in an appropriate manner in her role as Muhammad's wife although some still recognize her as the Mother of Believers (Umm al-Mu'minin).

Sunni view of Aisha edit

Sunnis hold Aisha in high esteem. Many believe that she was Muhammad's favorite wife and the best woman of her time. They consider her (amongst other wives) to be Umm al-Mu'minin and among the members of the Ahl al-Bayt, or Muhammad's family.

Scholarly view edit

She is quoted as source for many Sunni Hadith and reports and she has narrated 2210 hadiths out of which 316 hadiths are mentioned in both Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, but Shia Moslems don't recognized her narrations.[58]. Aisha has reported that she lost 2 verses of Quran, and she has narrated deletion of 127 other verses by Uthman.[59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70]

Age at marriage edit

The issue of Aisha's age at the time she was married to Muhammad has been of interest since the earliest days of Islam.[4] Early Muslims regarded Aisha's youth as demonstrating her virginity and therefore her suitability as a bride of the Prophet.[4] During modern times, however, critics of Islam have taken up the issue, regarding it as reflecting poorly on Muhammad's character.

References to Aisha's age by early historians are frequent.[4] According to Spellberg, historians who supported the Abbasid Caliphate against Shi'a claims considered Aisha's youth, and therefore her purity, to be of paramount importance. They thus specifically emphasized it, implying that as Muhammad's only virgin wife, Aisha was divinely intended for him, and therefore the most credible regarding the debate over the succession to Muhammad.[4]

Child marriages such as this were relatively common in Bedouin societies at the time, and remain common in some modern societies worldwide.[71] American scholar Colin Turner suggests that such marriages were not seen as improper in historical context, and that individuals in such societies matured at an earlier age than in the modern West.[71] In modern times, however, the issue of Muhammad marrying and having sexual relations with a girl so young has been used to criticize him, particularly in societies where child sexual abuse and related issues are considered serious crimes.[71]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ 33:6
  2. ^ a b c d Watt, "Aisha", Encyclopedia of Islam Online
  3. ^ Amira Sonbol, Rise of Islam: 6th to 9th century, Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i D. A. Spellberg, Politics, Gender, and the Islamic Past: the Legacy of A'isha bint Abi Bakr, Columbia University Press, 1994, p. 40
  5. ^ a b Karen Armstrong, Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet, Harper San Francisco, 1992, p. 157.
  6. ^ Barlas (2002), p. 125-126
  7. ^ Sahih al-Bukhari, 5:58:234, 5:58:236, 7:62:64, 7:62:65, 7:62:88, Sahih Muslim, 8:3309, 8:3310, 8:3311, 41:4915, Sunan Abu Dawood, 41:4917
  8. ^ Tabari, Volume 9, Page 131; Tabari, Volume 7, Page 7
  9. ^ Watt, Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman, Oxford University Press 1961, page 102.
  10. ^ Goodwin, Jan. Price of Honour: Muslim Women Lift the Veil of Silence on the Islamic World. UK: Little, Brown Book Group, 1994[verification needed]
  11. ^ Wilferd Madelung, The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate, p.42
  12. ^ Reşit Haylamaz, Khadija: the first Muslim and the wife of the Prophet Muhammad, p.56
  13. ^ Nicholas Awde, Women in Islam: an anthology from the Qurān and Ḥadīths, p.138
  14. ^ Modern Language Association of America. Oriental-Western Literary Relations Group, Modern Language Association of America. Conference on Oriental-Western Literary Relations, Literature east & west: Volume 26, p.135
  15. ^ Ted Byfield, Paul Stanway, The sword of Islam, p.46
  16. ^ Ram Swarup, Understanding the Hadith: the sacred traditions of Islam, p.178
  17. ^ Joseph Shafi, Unmasking Muhamad's Life, p.63
  18. ^ Fátima Mernissi, Beyond the veil: male-female dynamics in modern Muslim society, p.55
  19. ^ Shamim Aleem, Prophet Muhammad(s) and His Family: A Sociological Perspective, p.176
  20. ^ Mohammad al-Ghazoli, Christ, Muhammad and I, p.53
  21. ^ Aisha Bewley, The women of Madina, p.106
  22. ^ Members of Ahl al-Bayt by Ahlul Bayt Digital Islamic Library Project [1]
  23. ^ Kamran Pasha, Mother of the Believers: A Novel of the Birth of Islam, p.289
  24. ^ Ronald Victor Courtenay Bodley, The messenger: the life of Mohammed, p.199
  25. ^ Joseph Shafi, Unmasking Muhamad's Life, p.60
  26. ^ Oliver Leaman, The Qur'an: an encyclopedia, p.23
  27. ^ Ria Kloppenborg, Female stereotypes in religious traditions, p.93
  28. ^ Surah 24:4
  29. ^ Surah 24:11
  30. ^ Watt, M. "Aisha bint Abi Bakr". In P.J. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs (ed.). Encyclopaedia of Islam Online. Brill Academic Publishers. ISSN 1573-3912.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)[verification needed]
  31. ^ Glubb (2002), p. 264f.[verification needed]
  32. ^ 66:1
  33. ^ translation by N. J. Dawood[verification needed]
  34. ^ Wilferd Madelung,The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate, p.18
  35. ^ Shahid Ashraf, Encyclopaedia of Holy Prophet and Companions, p.192
  36. ^ Mufti M. Mukarram Ahmed, Encyclopaedia of Islam, p.152
  37. ^ Asma Afsaruddin (2002),Excellence and precedence, p.48
  38. ^ Laurence Galian,The sun at midnight, p.181
  39. ^ Adrian Brockett, The community divided, p.52
  40. ^ Muḥammad ibn ʻAlī Ibn al-Ṭiqṭaqā, systems of government and the Moslem dynasties, p.82
  41. ^ Joseph Shafi, Unmasking Muhamad's Life, p.135
  42. ^ Wilferd Madelung, The Succession to Muhammad, p.103
  43. ^ Edward Gibbon,The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: Ayesha, the widow of the Prophet, who cherished to the last hour of her life an implacable hatred against the husband and the posterity of Fatima.
  44. ^ Ted Byfield, Paul Stanway, Sword of Islam, p.189
  45. ^ Cite error: The named reference Madelung was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  46. ^ Richard W. Bulliet, Pamela Kyle Crossley, Daniel R. Headrick, Lyman L. Johnson, Steven W. Hirsch, The Earth and Its Peoples, p.268
  47. ^ Natana J. Delong-Bas, Wahhabi Islam: from revival and reform to global jihad', p.88
  48. ^ R.S. Chaurasia, History of Middle East, p.148
  49. ^ Ira Marvin Lapidus, A history of Islamic societies, Page 47
  50. ^ William Muir, THE CALIPHATE, ITS RISE, DECLINE, AND FALL, p.240-244
  51. ^ Sir John Glubb, The Great Arab Conquests, p. 320
  52. ^ Wilferd Madelung, The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate, p.268
  53. ^ Sigismund Wilhelm Koelle, Mohammed and Mohammedanism critically considered, p.520
  54. ^ Islamic culture by Islamic Culture Board, Vol. 8, p.233
  55. ^ Simon Ockley, History of the Saracens Comprising the Lives of Mohammed and His Successors By page 375
  56. ^ Sva by George Sir George Christopher Molesworth Birdwood & Frank Herbert Brown, P. L. Warner, 1915, page 156
  57. ^ Encounter with Islam by Shri Bhagawan, Vedavyasa Itihas Samshodhana Mandira (BHISHMA), 1990 [2]
  58. ^ Joseph Shafi, Unmasking Muhamad's Life, p.18
  59. ^ Yoel Natan, Monotheism, p.245 and p.497
  60. ^ The Unread Words of God, by Trafford Publishing, p.99
  61. ^ Jack T. Chick, G.J.O. Moshay, Anatomy of the Qur'an, p.40
  62. ^ Benjamin Walker, Foundations of Islam, p.146
  63. ^ Eugene Y. Lowe, Promise and dilemma: perspectives on racial diversity and higher education, p.38
  64. ^ Daniel A. Madigan, The Qur'ân's self image: writing and authority in Islam's scripture, p.38
  65. ^ Richard Crandall, Islam: The Enemy, p.36
  66. ^ James Edward Montgomery, ʻAbbasid studies, p.314
  67. ^ Joseph Shafi, Unmasking Muhamad's Life, p.268
  68. ^ The Moslem world, Vol.28, p.62
  69. ^ The Islamic review, Vol.38, p.10
  70. ^ David Stephan Powers, The making of the last prophet, p.71
  71. ^ a b c Colin Turner, Islam: The Basics, Routledge Press, pp. 34-35

Further reading edit

External links edit

{{Persondata |name= Aisha |alternative names= |short description= Wife of Muhammad |date of birth= |place of birth= |date of death= 678 |place of death= }}