It doesn’t make any difference to me if Hazrat Ayesha (RA) age is 6 ,9  or any other age at the time of marriage. We love and respect Allah’s prophet (Sallallaho alayhay wa alehe wabarik wa sallam) more than our own selves

This essay is only to point out a historical mistake.

 The hadith from Sahih Bukhari, which is widely reported, is mainly narrated by Hisham ibn Urwah. It is important to note that Hisham ibn Urwah was not a Sahabi (companion of the Prophet ﷺ) but a Tabi‘i (successor). This narration is not a direct quote from the Prophet ﷺ, but rather a statement attributed to Ayesha (RA), reported by Hisham ibn Urwah.

Below is an evidence-based explanation, using the Quranic context, other hadith, and historical records, to support the claim that Hazrat Ayesha (RA) may have been older—most likely between 17 and 19 years old—at the time of her marriage.

1.    Quranic Indication Against Child Marriage

وَابْتَلُوا الْيَتَامَىٰ حَتَّىٰ إِذَا بَلَغُوا النِّكَاحَ 🟢

“Test the orphans until they reach marriageable age; then if you perceive sound judgment in them, release their property to them…” (Surah an-Nisa 4:6)

Key Point: Marriage is tied to sound judgment (rushd) and puberty. A 9-year-old child would generally not qualify for these Qur’anic criteria — supporting that Hazrat Ayesha (RA) was likely older and mature at marriage.

Another verse also proves this.

فَانكِحُوا مَا طَابَ لَكُم مِّنَ ٱلنِّسَآءِ 🟢
“…then marry those women who please you…(4:3)”

“Then marry those women who please you: two, three, or four…”

🟢 Arabic Word Highlighted:

• The word used is “ٱلنِّسَآءِ” (al-nisāʾ), which literally means “women” — not children (أطفال) or young girls (صغيرات).
• This implies the women being married are adults.

🟢 Linguistic Clarification:

• In Arabic, “imra’ah” (امرأة) or “nisāʾ” (نساء) refers specifically to an adult female.
• If Allah intended to permit marriage to prepubescent girls, the Qur’an would have used terms like:
• 📚 “ṣibyān” (صبيان) – children,
• 📚 “ṭifl” (طفل) – child,
• 📚 “bint ṣaghīrah” (بنت صغيرة) – little girl.

But instead, Allah uses “النساء“, which excludes children and refers to mature, marriageable women.

2.    Hadith Indicating That the Age of Puberty Is Above 14 Years

The Quran instructs not to marry before reaching “puberty,” and hadith clearly indicate that the age of puberty is above 14 years, as shown in the following narration.

يَومَ أُحُدٍ وأنا ابنُ أربَعَ عَشْرةَ، فلم يُجِزْني، ولم يَرَني بَلَغتُ، ثُمَّ عُرِضتُ عليه يَومَ الخَندَقِ وأنا ابنُ خَمسَ عَشْرةَ فأجازَني 📚 Saheeh Bokhari 2664 https://sunnah.com/bukhari:2664  and Saheeh Muslim 

“ On the day of Uhud, I was fourteen years old, so he (the Prophet ﷺ) did not allow me (to join the battle), and he did not consider me to have reached maturity. Then I was presented to him on the day of the Trench (Khandaq), and I was fifteen years old, so he allowed me.”

“ اُحد کے دن میری عمر چودہ سال تھی، تو آپ ﷺ نے مجھے (جنگ میں شریک ہونے کی) اجازت نہیں دی، اور مجھے بالغ نہیں سمجھا۔ پھر خندق کے دن میری عمر پندرہ سال تھی، تو آپ ﷺ نے مجھے اجازت دے دی۔“

.Focus carefully on the word “بَلَغتُ”, which means puberty or reaching maturity. This shows clearly that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ considered puberty to be after 14 years old.

The Quran says in Surah An-Nisa (4:6):

وَابْتَلُوا الْيَتَامَىٰ حَتَّىٰ إِذَا بَلَغُوا النِّكَاحَ
“Test the orphans until they reach marriageable age…”

This means marriage should only happen after a person reaches maturity, which is usually older than 14 years. So, both the Quran and hadith show that marriage before puberty is not allowed.

.

3.    Three famous books prove the age gap with Hazrat Asma (RA):

Three famous books prove that the age of Ayesha was 17-18 years at the age of marriage. These are the following books.

1.     🟢 Tabaqat Ibn Sa’d

2.     🟢 Al-Bidaya wal-Nihaya

3.     🟢 Mishkat al-Masabih.

Here the hadith from Mishkat al-Masabih. (also found in Tabaqat Ibn Sa’d, and Ibn Kathir’s al-Bidaya wal-Nihaya under the biography of Asma bint Abu Bakr)

ماتت أسماء بنت أبي بكر سنة ثلاث وسبعين، ولها مائة سنة، وهي أخت عائشة، وكانت أسن منها بعشر سنين
“Asma bint Abi Bakr died in the year 73 AH at the age of 100 years. She was the sister of Ayesha, and she was ten years older than her.” (Mishkat al-Masabih Kitab al-Fitan, Hadith no. 5491)

What does this narration from 3 famous references prove?

     Hazrat Asma (RA) passed away in 73 AH at the age of 100.

     This means her age at the time of Hijrah (1 AH) was:
100 – 73 = 27 years

     Hazrat Aisha (RA) was 10 years younger than Asma (RA).

     Therefore, at the time of Hijrah, Aisha (RA) was 17 years old.

     Since her marriage was consummated shortly after Hijrah (1 or 2 AH), her age at the time of consummation would have been between 17 and 18 years old.

4.    Participation in the Battle of Badr:

Ayesha (RA) participated in the Battle of Badr in 2 AH. According to the following hadith, even 14 years old male Sahaba were sent back, so how come 9 years female was allowed to go with the expedition of Badr?

يَومَ أُحُدٍ وأنا ابنُ أربَعَ عَشْرةَ، فلم يُجِزْني، ولم يَرَني بَلَغتُ، ثُمَّ عُرِضتُ عليه يَومَ الخَندَقِ وأنا ابنُ خَمسَ عَشْرةَ فأجازَني 📚 Saheeh Bokhari 2664 https://sunnah.com/bukhari:2664  and Saheeh Muslim  

“ On the day of Uhud, I was fourteen years old, so he (the Prophet ﷺ) did not allow me (to join the battle), and he did not consider me to have reached maturity. Then I was presented to him on the day of the Trench (Khandaq), and I was fifteen years old, so he allowed me.”

“ اُحد کے دن میری عمر چودہ سال تھی، تو آپ ﷺ نے مجھے (جنگ میں شریک ہونے کی) اجازت نہیں دی، اور مجھے بالغ نہیں سمجھا۔ پھر خندق کے دن میری عمر پندرہ سال تھی، تو آپ ﷺ نے مجھے اجازت دے دی۔“

5.    Already Engaged to Jubayr ibn Mut’im 2 years before:

According to various reports, Hazrat Ayesha (RA) was engaged to Jubayr ibn Mut’im two years before the Hijrah (migration).
If her age at the time of marriage was 6, then her age at the time of engagement would have been only 4 years,
which would have been highly unusual and unacceptable in Arab culture of that time.
There was no tradition of engaging children that young, which strongly suggests that Hazrat Ayesha (RA) was older at the time of her engagement and marriage..

6.    No Criticism from Quraysh or Opponents:

If marriage was controversial due to age, it would have been used by enemies as a point of attack — yet no such reports exist.

7.    No early sources of Hadith mentioned age of Ayesha at the time of marriage

Javad T. Hashmi Dr. Javad T. Hashmi, Research Director at Muslim Public Affairs Council writes :

“The story about Aisha’s age at marriage is missing from the earliest and most important Islamic sources.

·        Ibn Ishaq, the first major biographer of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, didn’t mention her age.

·        Ibn Hisham, who came later (d. 833 CE), added that detail.

·        Imam Malik, a great scholar from Medina, never included this hadith in his famous book Al-Muwatta, even though he quoted Aisha’s nephew Ibn Urwa many times.

·        This is strange because the hadith about Aisha’s age would have been important for legal reasons and should have been in such a book.

·        It’s also missing from another early Medinan book, Al-Mudawwana.

·        The first Maliki book to mention the hadith came about 300 years later, and not from Medina but from Iraq.”.[1]

8.    Not a single Sahabi Reported Ayesha’s Age

• If Ayesha (RA) was so young, then the age would be mentioned in many narrations. Also, despite the importance of the marriage of the Prophet ﷺ, no other major Sahabi (companion) like Abu Bakr (RA), Umar (RA), Ali (RA), or even Ayesha’s sister Asma (RA), is recorded to have commented on Ayesha’s age.

·        The only primary chain reporting her age as 6 (nikah) and 9 (consummation) comes through Hisham ibn Urwah, who narrated it from Ayesha herself, but decades after the events.

·        📚 The question is why he narrated this in the last 5 years of life i.e between 81 and 86 years?

·        This narration does not appear from other companions or multiple chains — which is unusual for an event of such significance.

9.    The Hadith Was word of Hasham ibn Urwah 

The narration in Sahih Bukhari is not a direct quote from the Prophet ﷺ but a statement attributed to Ayesha (RA), reported by Hisham ibn Urwah.

Hisham ibn Urwah (هشام بن عروة بن الزبير) was not a Sahabi but a  Tabi‘i (Successor) and a major narrator of hadith. He was born in 61 AH (680 CE) and died in 146 AH (763 CE), making him about 85 years old at the time of his death.

🔹 When Did He Move to Kufa?

While the exact year of his move to Kufa is not clearly recorded, classical scholars mention that:

• He lived in Madinah for most of his life.
• In his last years between 80 to 85, he moved to Iraq (especially Kufa).
• During his time in Kufa, he narrated many hadiths, including the famous hadith about Hazrat Ayesha’s age at marriage.

⚠️ Scholars Who Criticized His Narrations from Iraq (Kufa)

These scholars raised concerns about Hisham’s memory and reliability in his later years, especially during his time in Iraq (Kufa):

1. Imam Malik ibn Anas (d. 179 AH)

• Strongly criticized the narrations of Hisham after he moved to Iraq.
• Said: “I did not see anyone more truthful than Hisham in his youth — but later when he went to Iraq, he narrated strange things I did not recognize.”
• Imam Malik rejected many hadiths narrated by Hisham through his Iraqi students.

2. Abu al-Hasan al-Daraqutni (d. 385 AH)

·      A major critic in the field of hadith, he listed some of Hisham’s Iraqi narrations as problematic.

4.     Ibn Hazm (d. 456 AH)

·        Criticized the age of Ayesha hadith, partly due to concerns about its isnad (chain) through Hisham ibn Urwah from Kufa.