QUESTION:
I heard from one of our lectures, where you concluded that Aisha (may Allah’s curses be upon her) was not a virgin when she married the Messenger, you explained the verse from the Holy Quran, in Surat al-Tahreem. As for Hafsa (may Allah curse her), she was not a virgin, for this has been proven that one was not a virgin and the other was. A more important question is how did the Messenger of Allah marry her when she was six or nine as is claimed by many. Is this fact even authentic?
ANSWER:
In the Name of Allah, the All-Beneficent, the All-Merciful.
May Allah bless Muhammad and his Family and damn their enemies.
We reject what the ‘Sunnis’ narrate that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his pure family) married Aisha (may the curses of Allah be upon her) while she was between six or nine years old (as they claim). We believe that this is from the lies that Aisha herself ascribed, that she was married to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his pure family) when she was still a child.
Ibn Qutayba has narrated that she died in the year 58 A.H. and that she had reached the age of 70
Al-Ma’arif, by Ibn Qutayba, Page 59
If we factor in the date in which she died and her age, we can conclude that she was around the age of 23 because her marriage to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his pure family) was before the Hijrah. Ibn Hajr has also narrated,
from Abi Na’eem of ‘Asma, daughter of Abu Bakr the sister of Aisha – that was born 27 years before the Hijra of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his pure family).
Al-Esaba, by Ibn Hajr, Volume 8, Page 15
This would mean that Aisha was about 17 years old when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his pure family) married her (since it has been narrated that ‘Asma is about ten years older than Aisha).
From these sources, we can conclude that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his pure family) had married Aisha and she had already passed the age of puberty and maturity. Meaning that she was not a child at the age of six or nine as she claims in her narrations.Furthermore, of the other ascribed lies of Aisha is that she was a virgin before she married the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his pure family). This is not true, because before this, Jubayr son of Mut’im was married to her, and she was divorced from him and then married the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his pure family). This was narrated by Ibn Saad from Abdillah, son of Abi Malikya:
When the Messenger of Allah married Aisha, Abu Bakr said: ‘I was about to marry her to Jubyar, son of Mut’im, let me ask them for permission.’ He asked permission from them and divorced Aisha from Jubayr, son of Mut’im, and the Messenger of Allah then married her.
Al-Tabaqaat Al-Kobra, by Ibn Sa’d, Volume 7, Page 59
So, from this, we can see that Aisha was married (engaged), and then she divorced, then married again (with the Messenger of Allah). This also shows us that she did reach an age of maturity, and she had passed puberty and that she was not a child. The question now arises: did she lose her virginity during her first marriage? As for the answer to that question, the narrations are not clear about it occurring or not occurring. It is an unclear topic. But, looking at it from our perspective, in summary, we can say that she did lose her virginity (based on our narrations).Looking at the narrations, Abu Bakr said that “he gave her to Jubayr” and at the time of Jahiliyyah, men would not wait for intercourse if they were married, for it would be an act done straight away. Furthermore, if we look at Aisha’s biography, we see she had innovated and noticed that she was never patient, meaning we could expect this from Aisha that she did lose her virginity.In conclusion, we say that she married the Prophet (peace be upon him and his pure family) while she was not a virgin, and we have also shown this during our many lectures, by looking at verses of the Holy Qur’an in disproving her virginity whilst marrying the Prophet (peace be upon him and his pure family).
The Office of Sheikh al-Habib