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This article analyzes the modern Muslim apologetics that attempt to distort [[Aisha|Aisha's]] young [[Aisha | This article analyzes the modern Muslim apologetics that attempt to distort [[Aisha|Aisha's]] young age at consumation. See [[Qur%27an,_Hadith_and_Scholars:Aisha#Aisha.27s_Age_at_Consummation_and_Marriage|this article]] for the positive evidence of her young age found in dozens of sahih hadiths in multiple collections. | ||
==Introduction== | ==Introduction== | ||
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===Purpose=== | ===Purpose=== | ||
The arguments raised by some apologists have given many the false impression that Aisha's age is a long contested issue in [[Islam]], and that it is a valid argument over interpretation that could eventually lead to reforms within mainstream Islam. This is certainly not the case. There is no argument over interpretation. The text clearly say one thing and one thing only. For those who | The arguments raised by some apologists have given many the false impression that Aisha's age is a long contested issue in [[Islam]], and that it is a valid argument over interpretation that could eventually lead to reforms within mainstream Islam. This is certainly not the case. There is no argument over interpretation. The text clearly say one thing and one thing only. For those who have actually read the source material, it is disingenuous to claim otherwise. Lying about what sources say may be effective in apologetic pieces, but they are useless if the intentions behind them are to reform the religion. There is not a single serious Muslim scholar, someone who is accepted in the Muslim world and by mainstream Muslims as being representative of their beliefs, who would repeat these claims. Thus, the only purpose they serve is to deflect valid criticism from a belief that continues to result in millions of young girls being forced into [[Contemporary Pedophilic Islamic Marriages|pedophilic child marriages]] by individuals, and even entire nations, all of whom explicitly use Aisha's relationship with Muhammad as justification. | ||
===History=== | ===History=== | ||
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{{Quote|1={{Cite web quotebox|url= http://www.understanding-islam.com/q-and-a/sources-of-islam/what-was-ayesha-s-ra-age-at-the-time-of-her-marriage-to-the-prophet-pbuh-5107|title= What was Ayesha's (ra) Age at the Time of Her Marriage to the Prophet (pbuh)? |publisher= Understanding-Islam|author= Moiz Amjad|date= May 1, 1998|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.understanding-islam.com%2Fq-and-a%2Fsources-of-islam%2Fwhat-was-ayesha-s-ra-age-at-the-time-of-her-marriage-to-the-prophet-pbuh-5107&date=2013-11-18|deadurl=no}}|2=Most of these narratives are reported only by Hisham ibn `urwah reporting on the authority of his father. An event as well known as the one being reported, should logically have been reported by more people than just one, two or three.}} | {{Quote|1={{Cite web quotebox|url= http://www.understanding-islam.com/q-and-a/sources-of-islam/what-was-ayesha-s-ra-age-at-the-time-of-her-marriage-to-the-prophet-pbuh-5107|title= What was Ayesha's (ra) Age at the Time of Her Marriage to the Prophet (pbuh)? |publisher= Understanding-Islam|author= Moiz Amjad|date= May 1, 1998|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.understanding-islam.com%2Fq-and-a%2Fsources-of-islam%2Fwhat-was-ayesha-s-ra-age-at-the-time-of-her-marriage-to-the-prophet-pbuh-5107&date=2013-11-18|deadurl=no}}|2=Most of these narratives are reported only by Hisham ibn `urwah reporting on the authority of his father. An event as well known as the one being reported, should logically have been reported by more people than just one, two or three.}} | ||
This is a classic ''Straw man''. | This is a classic ''Straw man''. Many of the chains of narration for [https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Qur%27an,_Hadith_and_Scholars:Aisha#Aisha.27s_Age_at_Consummation_and_Marriage these hadiths] do not involve Hisham (for example, {{Muslim|8|3311}}, and in any case there is no requirement in Islam for multiple narrations. Even a single sahih hadith is sufficient to establish Islamic laws and practices. | ||
Shaykh Gibril Haddad also refutes the claim that most of these | Shaykh Gibril Haddad also refutes the claim that most of these narrations are reported only by Hisham ibn 'Urwah. | ||
{{Quote|{{cite web quotebox|url= http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=7&ID=4604&CATE=1|title= Our Mother A'isha's Age At The Time Of Her Marriage to The Prophet|publisher= SunniPath|author= Shaykh Gibril F Haddad|series=Question ID: 4604|date= July 3, 2005|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fqa.sunnipath.com%2Fissue_view.asp%3FHD%3D7%26ID%3D4604%26CATE%3D1&date=2013-11-19|deadurl=no}}|2=Try more than eleven authorities among the Tabi`in that reported it directly from `A'isha, not counting the other major Companions that reported the same, nor other major Successors that reported it from other than `A'isha.}} | {{Quote|{{cite web quotebox|url= http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=7&ID=4604&CATE=1|title= Our Mother A'isha's Age At The Time Of Her Marriage to The Prophet|publisher= SunniPath|author= Shaykh Gibril F Haddad|series=Question ID: 4604|date= July 3, 2005|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fqa.sunnipath.com%2Fissue_view.asp%3FHD%3D7%26ID%3D4604%26CATE%3D1&date=2013-11-19|deadurl=no}}|2=Try more than eleven authorities among the Tabi`in that reported it directly from `A'isha, not counting the other major Companions that reported the same, nor other major Successors that reported it from other than `A'isha.}} | ||
Details of some of these other chains of narration that do not include Hisham ibn 'Urwah ibn az-Zubayr can be found in the first half of an [https://islamqa.info/en/124483 article by the IslamQA] website. | |||
===Second Argument: Locality=== | ===Second Argument: Locality=== | ||
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Ibn `umar (ra) states that the Prophet (pbuh) did not permit me to participate in Uhud, as at that time, I was fourteen years old. But on the day of Khandaq, when I was fifteen years old, the Prophet (pbuh) permitted my participation."}} | Ibn `umar (ra) states that the Prophet (pbuh) did not permit me to participate in Uhud, as at that time, I was fourteen years old. But on the day of Khandaq, when I was fifteen years old, the Prophet (pbuh) permitted my participation."}} | ||
Aisha did not participate in Badr at all, despite Amjad’s assertion. It is illuminating to know that Amjad had partially quoted the Uhud hadiths to falsely convey the impression that Aisha participated at Uhud when the hadiths are clear in that she was merely carrying water skins to the combatants. The last part of the hadith was omitted, either deliberately or inadvertently, an act some people may consider disingenuous. | |||
{{Quote| | {{Quote|{{Bukhari|4|52|131}}|Narrated Anas: On the day (of the battle) of Uhad when (some) people retreated and left the Prophet, I saw 'Aisha bint Abu Bakr and Um Sulaim, with their robes tucked up so that the bangles around their ankles were visible hurrying with their water skins (in another narration it is said, "carrying the water skins on their backs"). Then they would pour the water in the mouths of the people, and return to fill the water skins again and came back again to pour water in the mouths of the people.}} | ||
Women and young children went to the battlefields to perform other functions. | Women and young children went to the battlefields to perform other functions. | ||
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{{Quote|1=[http://www.webcitation.org/67gTj2QC2 Gibril Haddad]|2=First, the prohibition applied to combatants. It applied neither to non-combatant boys nor to non-combatant girls and women. Second, `A'isha did not participate in Badr at all but bade farewell to the combatants as they were leaving Madina, as narrated by Muslim in his Sahih. On the day of Uhud (year 3), Anas, at the time only twelve or thirteen years old, reports seeing an eleven-year old `A'isha and his mother Umm Sulaym having tied up their dresses and carrying water skins back and forth to the combatants, as narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim.}} | {{Quote|1=[http://www.webcitation.org/67gTj2QC2 Gibril Haddad]|2=First, the prohibition applied to combatants. It applied neither to non-combatant boys nor to non-combatant girls and women. Second, `A'isha did not participate in Badr at all but bade farewell to the combatants as they were leaving Madina, as narrated by Muslim in his Sahih. On the day of Uhud (year 3), Anas, at the time only twelve or thirteen years old, reports seeing an eleven-year old `A'isha and his mother Umm Sulaym having tied up their dresses and carrying water skins back and forth to the combatants, as narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim.}} | ||
===Seventh Argument: Asma's Age === | ===Seventh Argument: Asma's Age === | ||
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She [i.e. Asma (ra)] lived a hundred years and died in 73 or 74 AH." (Taqreeb al-Tehzeeb, Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalaaniy, Pg. 654, Arabic, Bab fi al-nisaa, al-Harf al-alif, Lucknow)}} | She [i.e. Asma (ra)] lived a hundred years and died in 73 or 74 AH." (Taqreeb al-Tehzeeb, Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalaaniy, Pg. 654, Arabic, Bab fi al-nisaa, al-Harf al-alif, Lucknow)}} | ||
Amjad’s | Shaykh Haddad challenges the accuracy of the information, thus casting doubt on Amjad’s source material. | ||
{{Quote|1=[http://www.webcitation.org/67gTj2QC2 Gibril Haddad]|2=Well, Ibn Kathir based himself on Ibn Abi al-Zinad's assertion that she was ten years older than `A'isha, however, al-Dhahabi in Siyar A`lam al-Nubala' said there was a greater difference than 10 years between the two, up to 19, and he is more reliable here. | |||
Ibn Hajar reports in al-Isaba from Hisham ibn `Urwa, from his father, that Asma' did live 100 years, and from Abu Nu`aym al-Asbahani that "Asma' bint Abi Bakr was born 27 years before the Hijra, and she lived until the beginning of the year 74." None of this amounts to any proof for `A'isha's age whatsoever.}} | |||
It is only from al-Zinad that we have the 10 year age difference. Even from al-Zinad, who Amjad relies on, we have two isnads. In the 2nd report he gives a more ambiguous age difference of ten or so years (بعشر سنين أو نحوها). | |||
{{Quote|1= | {{Quote|1=[https://islamqa.info/en/124483 IslamQA.info]|2=This report was narrated via two isnaads from al-Asma ‘i from ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn Abi’z-Zinnaad. | ||
The | The first isnaad was narrated by Ibn ‘Asaakir in Tareekh Dimashq (69/10). He said: Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali ibn Ahmad al-Maaliki told us: Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Waahid as-Sulami told us: My grandfather Abu Bakr told us: Abu Muhammad ibn Zabr told us: Ahmad ibn Sa‘d ibn Ibraaheem az-Zuhri told us: Muhammad ibn Abi Safwaan told us: al-Asma‘i told us, that Ibn Abi’z-Zinnaad said: … and he quoted the report. | ||
The second isnaad was narrated by Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr in al-Isti‘aab fi Ma‘rifat al-Ashaab (2/616): Ahmad ibn Qaasim told us: Muhammad ibn Mu‘aawiyah told us; Ibraaheem ibn Moosa ibn Jameel told us: Ismaa ‘eel ibn Ishaaq al-Qaadi told us: Nasr ibn ‘Ali told us: al-Asma‘i told us: Ibn Abi’z-Zinnaad told us: Asma’ bint Abi Bakr, <b>who was ten years or so</b> older than ‘Aa’ishah, said:…}} | |||
IslamQA further point out the unreliability of al-Zinab, and criticise attempts to use his sole narration against the mass of evidence for the traditional age of Aisha at her marriage: | |||
{{Quote|1=[ | {{Quote|1=[https://islamqa.info/en/124483 IslamQA.info]|2=Most of the scholars regarded ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn Abi’z-Zinnaad himself as da‘eef (weak).}} | ||
In other parts of their article IslamQA cite alternative reports on when Asma was born (ten, six or five years before the prophet's mission began. | |||
Using inaccurate data, Amjad assumes Asma was older than Aisha by 10 years when a more reliable source says the age difference is up to 19 years. Taking this more reliable information calculates Aisha’s age at around nine years old, completely in accordance with the sahih hadiths where Aisha herself said she was nine years old. | Using inaccurate data and an unreliable narrator, Amjad assumes Asma was older than Aisha by 10 years when a more reliable source says the age difference is up to 19 years. Taking this more reliable information calculates Aisha’s age at around nine years old at the time of her consummation even if we grant the traditional date of Asma's own birth, completely in accordance with the sahih hadiths where Aisha herself said she was nine years old. | ||
===Eighth Argument: Tabari's Account=== | ===Eighth Argument: Tabari's Account=== | ||
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There is also no need to make oblique calculations using Tabari when Tabari explicitly states Aisha’s age several times. | There is also no need to make oblique calculations using Tabari when Tabari explicitly states Aisha’s age several times. | ||
These are Tabari’s direct accounts. He reported it at least | These are Tabari’s direct accounts. He reported it at least five times, making it clear that this was what he deemed authoritative. | ||
{{Quote|{{Tabari|7|p. 7}}|The angel brought down my likeness; the Messenger of God married me when I was seven; my marriage was consummated when I was nine; he married me when I was a virgin, no other man having shared me with him}} | |||
{{Quote|{{Tabari|9| | {{Quote|{{Tabari|9|p. 131}}|I was then brought [in] while the Messenger of God was sitting on a bed in our house. [My mother] made me sit on his lap... Then the men and women got up and left. The Messenger of God consummated his marriage with me in my house when I was nine years old. Neither a camel nor a sheep was slaughtered on behalf of me.}} | ||
{{Quote|{{Tabari|9|p. 131}}| | {{Quote|{{Tabari|9|p. 131}}|The Messenger of God saw 'A'ishah twice-[first when] it was said to him that she was his wife (she was six years old at that time), and later [when] he consummated his marriage with her after coming to Medina when she was nine years old.}} | ||
{{Quote|{{Tabari| | {{Quote|{{Tabari|9|p. 131}}|[The Prophet] married her three years before the Emigration, when she was seven years old, and consummated the marriage when she was nine years old, after he had emigrated to Medina in Shawwil. She was eighteen years old when he died.}} | ||
{{Quote|{{Tabari|39|pp. 171-173}}| | {{Quote|{{Tabari|39|pp. 171-173}}|The Prophet married Aishah in Shawwal in the tenth year after the [beginning of his] prophethood, three years before Emigration. He consummated the marriage in Shawwal, eight months after Emigration. On the day he consummated the marriage with her she was nine years old.}} | ||
===Ninth Argument: Time of Umar's Conversion to Islam=== | ===Ninth Argument: Time of Umar's Conversion to Islam=== | ||
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Fatimah (ra) was born at the time the Kaa`bah was rebuilt, when the Prophet (pbuh) was 35 years old... she (Fatimah) was five years older that Ayesha (ra). (Al-Isabah fi Tamyeez al-Sahaabah, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalaniy, Vol. 4, Pg. 377, Arabic, Maktabah al-Riyadh al-Haditha, al-Riyadh, 1978)}} | Fatimah (ra) was born at the time the Kaa`bah was rebuilt, when the Prophet (pbuh) was 35 years old... she (Fatimah) was five years older that Ayesha (ra). (Al-Isabah fi Tamyeez al-Sahaabah, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalaniy, Vol. 4, Pg. 377, Arabic, Maktabah al-Riyadh al-Haditha, al-Riyadh, 1978)}} | ||
Using Fatima’s age difference with Aisha to refute the Aisha’s Age sahih hadiths is a logical fallacy because the biography of Fatima is conflicting. Nobody knows for sure when Fatima was born (when her father was a nobody), and though her death was well-recorded her age at death is not known for certain. | Amjad has deceptively combined and quote-mined two different versions of Fatima's age reported by Ibn Hajar. Shaykh Gibril Haddad shows that Ibn Hajar was merely reporting what some narrators reported, not his own conclusion. The first version he reports says that Muhammad was 35 when Fatima was born. The second, which mentions the five year age difference, says that Fatima was born when Muhammad was 41. | ||
{{Quote|1=[http://www.webcitation.org/67gTj2QC2 Gibril Haddad]|2=Ibn Hajar mentions two versions: (1) al-Waqidi's narration that Fatima was born when the Prophet was 35; and (2) Ibn `Abd al-Barr's narration that she was born when he was 41, approximately one year more or less before Prophethood, and about five years before `A'isha was born. The latter version matches the established dates.}} | |||
Using Fatima’s age difference with Aisha to refute the Aisha’s Age sahih hadiths is a logical fallacy because the biography of Fatima is conflicting. Nobody knows for sure when Fatima was born (when her father was a nobody) nor her age difference with Aisha, and though her death was well-recorded her age at death is not known for certain. | |||
The traditional account is that she was born on Friday, 20th jumada ` th-thaaniyah in the fifth year after the declaration of the prophet - hood (615 AD), which means she was about the same age as Aisha.<ref>[http://www.hadith.net/english/prophet/fatimah.htm Fatimah az-Zahra] - (A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles, p. 47-53)</ref><ref>[http://www.ummah.net/khoei/fatima.htm A Brief Biography of Fatima (A.S) the daughter of the Last Messenger and the Mother of Imams] - Ummah.net</ref> | The traditional account is that she was born on Friday, 20th jumada ` th-thaaniyah in the fifth year after the declaration of the prophet - hood (615 AD), which means she was about the same age as Aisha.<ref>[http://www.hadith.net/english/prophet/fatimah.htm Fatimah az-Zahra] - (A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles, p. 47-53)</ref><ref>[http://www.ummah.net/khoei/fatima.htm A Brief Biography of Fatima (A.S) the daughter of the Last Messenger and the Mother of Imams] - Ummah.net</ref> Another account reports that Fatima was born when Muhammad was 41, one year into his prophetic career. | ||
{{Quote|1=[http://home.swipnet.se/islam/A_Personality/Fatima(a.s).htm Fatimah The Radiant, Daughter of the Apostle of Allah]|2=The most predominant view in the traditions transmitted by our traditionists is that Fatimah az-Zahra' was born in Mecca, on the twentieth of Jumada 'l-Akhirah, in the fifth year of the Prophet's apostolic career. It is also asserted that when the Prophet died, Fatimah was eighteen years and seven months old. | {{Quote|1=[http://home.swipnet.se/islam/A_Personality/Fatima(a.s).htm Fatimah The Radiant, Daughter of the Apostle of Allah]|2=The most predominant view in the traditions transmitted by our traditionists is that Fatimah az-Zahra' was born in Mecca, on the twentieth of Jumada 'l-Akhirah, in the fifth year of the Prophet's apostolic career. It is also asserted that when the Prophet died, Fatimah was eighteen years and seven months old. | ||
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Reference: Abu Ali al-Fadl ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Fadl at-Tabrisi (c. 468/1076 - 548/1154)}} | Reference: Abu Ali al-Fadl ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Fadl at-Tabrisi (c. 468/1076 - 548/1154)}} | ||
So we have already seen conflicting accounts that Fatima was born when Muhammad was 35, 41 (and Aisha born 5 years after), and 45. | |||
In conclusion, Fatima’s birth date is uncertain. The traditional account matches well with the established facts. Despite this, Amjad combined Fatima's birth date in one account, with her age difference to Aisha from another account that gave a conflicting birth date. He presented this combination as if it were a single account and hid the conflict between them. | |||
===Thirteenth Argument: Arab Tradition=== | |||
{{Quote|1=[http://www. | {{Quote|1=[http://www.understanding-islam.com/ri/mi-005.htm Moiz Amjad]|2=In my opinion, neither was it an Arab tradition to give away girls in marriage at an age as young as nine or ten years, nor did the Prophet (pbuh) marry Ayesha (ra) at such a young age. The people of Arabia did not object to this marriage, because it never happened in the manner it has been narrated.}} | ||
Although we agree there is no evidence to support the claim (usually made by Muslims in defence of Muhammad's pedophilia) that it was an Arab tradition to give away pre-pubescent young girls in marriage to old men, no credence should be given to mere ‘opinion’ of Aisha's age of consummation when there are sahih hadiths that explicitly state that Aisha married and had sex with Muhammad when she was aged only nine. | |||
Although an ad hominem, this neatly summarizes what an actual Muslim scholar thinks about Moiz Amjad’s scholarship. | |||
{{Quote|1=[http://www.webcitation.org/67gTj2QC2 Gibril Haddad]|2=Those that itch to follow misguidance always resort to solipsisms because they are invariably thin on sources. In this particular case "the Learner" proves to be ignorant and dishonest. It is no surprise he moves on every single point, without exception, from incorrect premises to false conclusions.}} | |||
==Other Arguments== | |||
===Hadith Saying 'Aisha Had Reached Puberty=== | |||
{{ | 'Aisha lived with her parents before her marriage to Muhammad was consumated at the age of 9 ({{Muslim|8|3310}}). The following mistranslation is used to claim she reached puberty while she still lived there. | ||
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|1|8|465}}| Narrated `Aisha: | |||
(the wife of the Prophet) I had seen my parents following Islam since I attained the age of puberty. Not a day passed but the Prophet (ﷺ) visited us, both in the mornings and evenings...}} | |||
The word أَعْقِلْ means thoughts or reasoning, but the translator Muhsin Khan has used the word 'puberty'. The meaning rather is simply that 'Aisha was aware that her parents were following Islam. A literal translation would be "I was not aware of my parents other than that the two of them both acknowledged the religion". | |||
The exact same Arabic phrase is translated as follows in another hadith by the same translator: | |||
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|3|37|494}}| Narrated Aisha: | |||
(wife of the Prophet) Since I reached the age when I could remember things, I have seen my parents worshipping according to the right faith of Islam. Not a single day passed but Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) visited us both in the morning and in the evening...}} | |||
==Conclusion== | ==Conclusion== | ||
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==See Also== | ==See Also== | ||
* [[ | * [[Muhammad and the Clinical Definition of Pedophilia]] | ||
* [[Responses to Apologetics: Muhammad and Aisha]] | * [[Responses to Apologetics - Muhammad and Aisha|Responses to Apologetics: Muhammad and Aisha]] | ||
{{ | {{Template:Translation-links-english|[[Aišin věk konzumace|Czech]]}} | ||
==External Links== | ==External Links== | ||
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{{refbegin}} | {{refbegin}} | ||
This article is greatly indebted to the following: | This article is greatly indebted to the following: | ||
*Dr. Shaykh Gibril Fouad Haddad, scholar and muhaddith (hadith expert), for [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.sunniforum.com/forum/showthread.php?2925-Our-Mother-Aisha-s-Age-at-the-Time-of-Her-Marriage-to-the-Prophet-saw|2=2011-05-04}} Our Mother A'isha's Age At The Time Of Her Marriage to The Prophet] | *Dr. Shaykh Gibril Fouad Haddad, scholar and muhaddith (hadith expert), for [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.sunniforum.com/forum/showthread.php?2925-Our-Mother-Aisha-s-Age-at-the-Time-of-Her-Marriage-to-the-Prophet-saw|2=2011-05-04}} Our Mother A'isha's Age At The Time Of Her Marriage to The Prophet] | ||
*The Muslimhope website, for [http://www.muslimhope.com/aishanine.htm A’isha: Mohammed’s Nine-Year Old Wife] | *The Muslimhope website, for [http://www.muslimhope.com/aishanine.htm A’isha: Mohammed’s Nine-Year Old Wife] | ||
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[[Category:Islam and Women]] | [[Category:Islam and Women]] | ||
[[Category:Hector]] | [[Category:Hector]] | ||
{{Page_title| | {{Page_title|Aisha's Age of Consummation}} |