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 Adding to Ali's objections, there is Habib Ur Rahman Siddiqui Kandhalvi (1924-1991) who in his Urdu booklet, "Tehqiq e umar e Siddiqah e Ka'inat" (English trans. 1997), laments that he is "tired of defending this tradition" that is "laughed" at and "ridiculed" by English-educated individuals he meets in Karachi who claim it is against "sagacity and prudence" and "preferred English society to Islam over this", and he readily admits his "aim is to produce an answer to the enemies of Islam who spatter mud at the pious body of the Generous Prophet".<ref>All  Habib Ur Rahman Siddiqui Kandhalvi quotations are taken from the Preface of the 2007 English translation of his Urdu booklet, "''Tehqiq e umar e Siddiqah e Ka'inat''", translated by Nigar Erfaney and published by Al-Rahman Publishing Trust under the title, "''Age of Aisha (The Truthful Women, May Allah Send His Blessings)''"</ref> A posthumous [[fatwa]] was issued against him in November 2004, labelling him a "Munkir-e-Hadith" (hadith rejector) and a "Kafir" (infidel) on the basis of being a rejector of hadith.<ref>The original fatwa and the English translation branding Habib Ur Rahman Siddiqui Kandhalvi's beliefs outside of Islam, thus making him a 'kafir', can be viewed here: [{{Reference archive|1=http://marifah.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=3036|2=2012-09-24}} Fatwa's on hadith rejectors?]</ref>
-Deriving arguments from both Habib Ur Rahman and Muhammad Ali, [[Gibril Haddad|Moiz Amjad]] (who refers to himself as "The Learner") is the most recent reference to online apologetic. Moiz admits to having lifted his arguments from them, summarizing and presenting them in response to a Muslim asking him how he can respond to critical Christians.<ref name="Amjad">See: "[http://www.islamawareness.net/FAQ/what_was_ayesha.html What was Ayesha's (ra) Age at the Time of Her Marriage?]", by Moiz Amjad.</ref> With Moiz's restructured response the arguments originating from the Ahmadiyya in the 1920s and 1930s finally achieved a little popularity among a few orthodox Muslims. However, this popularity seems to be strictly limited to articles or arguments on the Internet and not between contemporary sheikhs and scholars.
+Deriving arguments from both Habib Ur Rahman and Muhammad Ali, [[Gibril Haddad|Moiz Amjad]] (who refers to himself as "The Learner") became a prominent reference for online apologetics on this issue. Moiz admits to having lifted his arguments from them, summarizing and presenting them in response to a Muslim asking him how he can respond to critical Christians.<ref name="Amjad">See: "[http://www.islamawareness.net/FAQ/what_was_ayesha.html What was Ayesha's (ra) Age at the Time of Her Marriage?]", by Moiz Amjad.</ref> With Moiz's restructured response the arguments originating from the Ahmadiyya in the 1920s and 1930s eventually achieved widespread popularity among orthodox Muslims who welcome an alternative to the traditionally accepted chronology. However, this popularity seems to be strictly limited to articles or arguments on the Internet, not between traditionalist sheikhs and scholars, nor are they accepted by Muslims concerned about the wider implications of rejecting traditionally authentic hadiths.
 In July 2005, [[Gibril Haddad|Shaykh Dr. Gibril Haddad]] responded to Moiz Amjad's polemics with, "Our Mother A'isha's Age At The Time Of Her Marriage to The Prophet."<ref name="Haddad">Shaykh Gibril F Haddad - [http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=7&ID=4604&CATE=1 Our Mother A'isha's Age At The Time Of Her Marriage to The Prophet] - Sunni Path, Question ID:4604, July 3, 2005 [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fqa.sunnipath.com%2Fissue_view.asp%3FHD%3D7%26ID%3D4604%26CATE%3D1&date=2011-05-05 archive 1] [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.sunniforum.com/forum/showthread.php?2925-Our-Mother-Aisha-s-Age-at-the-Time-of-Her-Marriage-to-the-Prophet-saw&date=2011-05-04 archive 2]</ref> Shaykh Haddad was listed amongst the inaugural "500 most influential Muslims in the world"<ref name="The 500">Edited by Prof. John Esposito and Prof. Ibrahim Kalin - [http://thebook.org/books_pdf/500Muslims_2009.pdf The 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World (P. 94)] - The royal islamic strategic studies centre, 2009</ref> and is considered a Muslim scholar and muhaddith (hadith expert).<ref name="The 500" /> Haddad included many facts that are easily verifiable for those who have access to the hadith and sira literature. For example, his analysis highlighted the fact that many of the arguments were based solely on faulty assumptions taken from hadiths completely unrelated to Aisha's age, or were misrepresenting the sources that were being cited (i.e. hadiths actually in support the idea that Aisha was 9). His reply has not yet been answered by Moiz Amjad.
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 However, Haddad's response did not stop Amjad's arguments from being rehashed by apologists on the Internet with the same missionary and apologetic focus. Other transmitters of these arguments include, but are not limited to; T.O Shavanas,<ref>T.O Shanavas - [http://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_151_200/ayesha_age_the_myth_of__a_prover.htm AYESHA’s AGE: THE MYTH OF  A PROVERBIAL WEDDING EXPOSED] - Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc.</ref> “Imam” Chaudhry (word-for-word plagiarism of Amjad's work),<ref>Imam Chaudhry - [{{Reference archive|1=http://islamicsupremecouncil.com/ayesha.htm|2=2011-05-01}} What Was The Age of Ummul Mo'mineen Ayesha (May Allah be pleased with her) When She Married To Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him)?] - Islamic Supreme Council of Canada</ref> Zahid Aziz,<ref name="Zahid Aziz">Zahid Aziz - [http://www.muslim.org/islam/aisha-age.php Age of Aisha (ra) at time of marriage] - Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha`at Islam Lahore Inc. U.S.A.</ref> Nilofar Ahmed,<ref>Nilofar Ahmed - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/17/of-aishas-age-at-marriage.html|2=2012-02-17}} Of Aisha’s age at marriage] - Dawn, February 17, 2012</ref> and David Liepert.<ref>Dr. David Liepert - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-david-liepert/islamic-pedophelia_b_814332.html|2=2012-09-21}} Rejecting the Myth of Sanctioned Child Marriage in Islam] - The Huffington Post, January 29, 2011</ref>
-==Modern revisionary perspectives==
+==Modern apologetic perspectives==
 Some Muslim authors have eschewed the traditionally-accepted ahadith and attempted to calculate Aisha's age based on details found in other ahadith and some biographies, though Kecia Ali labels these attempts as "revisionist".<ref name=":3" />
-===Not enough narrators===
+===Reliance on Hisham's narrations in Iraq===
-This claim objects that there is only one narrator, Hisham ibn `urwah, and that although it is a sahih (authentic hadith) he alone is not enough to consider the hadith reliable. However, many of the chains of narration for these hadiths<ref>[[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Aisha#Aisha.27s Age at Consummation and Marriage|Quran, Hadith, and Scholars on Aisha's Age at Consummation and Marriage]]</ref> do not involve Hisham (for example, Sahih Muslim 8:3311<ref>'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported that Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) married her when she was seven years old, and he was taken to his house as a bride when she was nine, and her dolls were with her; and when he (the Holy Prophet) died she was eighteen years old.<br>{{Muslim|8|3311}}</ref>), 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.
+The first objection is that, while sahih (sound) by Islamic hadith standards, the transmission of the hadiths about Aisha's marital age goes through one narrator, Hisham b. 'Urwa (from his father 'Urwa b. al-Zubayr, Aisha's nephew); that he did not narrate it in Medina but only after he moved to Iraq; that Imam Malik (in Medina) was angry with Hisham about (unspecified) hadiths he transmitted in Iraq (according to Ibn Khirash, d. 896 CE); that Hisham became unreliable after he moved there by omitting to mention intermediary transmitters when narrating from his father (according to Yaq'ub b. Shaybah, d. 875 CE, as cited by al-Dhahabi, d. 1348 CE); that he became confused in old age (according to al Hasan b. al-Qattan, d. 1231 CE); or that his memory diminished in old age (according to al-Dhahabi, who denies al-Qattan's claim that Hisham became confused).<ref>See pp. 7-8 of Dr Little's thesis, and pp. 435, 450-51 for quotes from Ibn Khirash and al-Dhahabi.</ref>
-Shaykh Haddad also refutes the claim that most of these narrations are reported only by Hisham: "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."<ref name="Haddad" />
+From a traditional Islamic perspective, many of the chains of narration for these hadiths about Aisha's marital age<ref>[[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Aisha#Aisha.27s Age at Consummation and Marriage|Quran, Hadith, and Scholars on Aisha's Age at Consummation and Marriage]]</ref> do not involve Hisham (for example, Sahih Muslim 8:3311<ref>'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported that Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) married her when she was seven years old, and he was taken to his house as a bride when she was nine, and her dolls were with her; and when he (the Holy Prophet) died she was eighteen years old.<br>{{Muslim|8|3311}}</ref>). Details of some of these other chains of narration can be found in the first half of an [https://islamqa.info/en/124483 article by the IslamQA] website.
-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.
+Shaykh Haddad responded to the objection that most of these narrations are reported only by Hisham as follows: "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."<ref name="Haddad" />
-===Locality of narrations===
+Similarly, regarding the objection that it was not reported by Medinan's, Shayqh Haddad replied:
+{{Quote|<ref name="Haddad" />|Al-Zuhri also reports it from `Urwa, from `A'isha; so does `Abd Allah ibn Dhakwan, both major Madanis. So is the Tabi`i Yahya al-Lakhmi who reports it from her in the Musnad and in Ibn Sa`d's Tabaqat. So is Abu Ishaq Sa`d ibn Ibrahim who reports it from Imam al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, one of the Seven Imams of Madina, from `A'isha. All the narratives of this event have been reported. In addition to the above four Madinese Tabi`in narrators, Sufyan ibn `Uyayna from Khurasan and `Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya from Tabarayya in Palestine both report it.}}
-A related claim is that Hisham's hadith is not narrated by Medinans, despite him living there for most of his life. However, Shaykh Haddad responds with examples of Medinans reporting the narration:
+However, as discussed above, in the case of this objection revisionists have strong backing from modern academic scholarship, which indicates that the early Medinan transmissions of the hadiths specifying Aisha's marital age have fabricated isnads and that they were in fact first circulated by Hisham after he moved to Iraq, from where it spread to other regions. On the other hand, one of the letters that Hisham reports his father ('Urwa b. al-Zubayr, Aisha's nephew) sent to the late Umayyad court, in which he mentioned Aisha's age at marriage and consummation, may also have been known to 'Urwa's student al-Zuhri. In addition, a tradition about a three year gap between Aisha's marriage and consummation seems to have been narrated by al-Zuhri when he was still in Medina. For details see the section discussing academic views above.
-{{Quote|<ref name="Haddad" />|Al-Zuhri also reports it from `Urwa, from `A'isha; so does `Abd Allah ibn Dhakwan, both major Madanis. So is the Tabi`i Yahya al-Lakhmi who reports it from her in the Musnad and in Ibn Sa`d's Tabaqat. So is Abu Ishaq Sa`d ibn Ibrahim who reports it from Imam al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, one of the Seven Imams of Madina, from `A'isha. All the narratives of this event have been reported. In addition to the above four Madinese Tabi`in narrators, Sufyan ibn `Uyayna from Khurasan and `Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya from Tabarayya in Palestine both report it.}}
 ===Revelation time of surah al-Qamar===
-This arguments uses the Sahih Bukhari hadith in which Aisha explains she was a young girl when Surah (chapter) al-Qamar of the Quran was revealed.<ref>Narrated Yusuf bin Mahik:
+This argument uses the Sahih Bukhari hadith in which Aisha explains she was a "playful girl" (jariyatun al-'abu لَجَارِيَةٌ أَلْعَبُ) when Surah (chapter) al-Qamar of the Quran was revealed.<ref>Narrated Yusuf bin Mahik:
 I was in the house of `Aisha, the mother of the Believers. She said, "This revelation: "Nay, but the Hour is their appointed time (for their full recompense); and the Hour will be more previous and most bitter." (54.46) was revealed to Muhammad at Mecca while I was a playfull little girl."
-{{Bukhari|6|60|399}}</ref> With the rough estimation that this chapter was revealed nine years before hijrah (c. 622) some conclude that this makes Aisha older than other hadiths claim.
+{{Bukhari|6|60|399}} (see also ({{Bukhari|6|61|515}} for more context)</ref> With the rough estimation that this chapter was revealed nine years before hijrah (c. 622) some conclude that this makes Aisha older than other hadiths claim.
 However, the precise date of the revelation of Surah al-Qamar is unknown. Ibn Hajar, Maududi, and other traditionalists said it was revealed 5 years before Hijrah (BH).<ref>The incident of the ''shaqq-al-Qamar'' (splitting of the moon) that has been mentioned in it, determines its period of revelation precisely. The traditionists and commentators are agreed that this incident took place at Mina in Makkah about five years before the Holy Prophet's ''hijrah'' to Madinah.
@@ Line 140: / Line 139: @@
 ===Age of Asma===
-One [[Sahih#Da'if|da'if]] (weak) hadith narrated from al-Zinad and recorded in the works of some medieval scholars, including al-Dhahabi,<ref>al-Dhahabi. "Siyar a`lam al-nubala'". IslamWeb. Retrieved 3 September 2018. <q>قال عبد الرحمن بن أبي الزناد : كانت أسماء أكبر من عائشة بعشر" (Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi al-Zunad said: Asma was older than Aisha by ten years.)</q></ref> states that Aisha's older sister Asma was ten years older than her. This has been combined with information about Asma's age at the time of her death and used to suggest that Aisha was over thirteen at the time of her marriage.
+One [[Sahih#Da'if|da'if]] (weak) hadith narrated from al-Zinad and recorded in the works of some medieval scholars, including al-Dhahabi,<ref>al-Dhahabi. "Siyar a`lam al-nubala'". IslamWeb. Retrieved 3 September 2018. <q>قال عبد الرحمن بن أبي الزناد : كانت أسماء أكبر من عائشة بعشر" (Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi al-Zunad said: Asma was older than Aisha by ten years.)</q></ref> states that Aisha's older sister Asma was ten years older than her. This has been combined with improbable information about Asma being 100 years old at the time of her death in 73 AH to calculate that Aisha was eighteen or nineteen at the time of her marriage consummation (1 AH or 2 AH - (73 - 100) - 10).
 Shaykh Haddad and the IslamQA website both independently criticise this approach as relying on a single narrator, who most scholars regard as weak, and note that a hadith by a more reliable chain from the same narrator gives a broader range for the age difference between the sisters.<ref name="Haddad" /><ref>Fatwa 124483 - [https://islamqa.info/en/answers/124483/ IslamQA.info]</ref> Both also note that al-Dhahabi too gave the vaguer opinion that Asma was "ten or more" years older than Aisha.
@@ Line 169: / Line 168: @@
 Al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah, Ibn Hisham, Vol. 1, Pg. 227 - 234, Arabic, Maktabah al-Riyadh al-hadithah, Al-Riyadh</ref>
-However, even if the claim Aisha converted to Islam before Umar were true it, does not mean this took place during the first year of Islam, since Umar converted in 617 AD, about 4 years after Aisha’s birth in 613 AD.<ref name="Siddiqui" /> Furthermore Aisha never accounted converting to islam as hadiths show she never remembered a time before when her family wasn't Muslim.<ref>Narrated 'Aisha: (the wife of the Prophet) '''I never remembered my parents believing in any religion other than the true religion (i.e. Islam)''', and (I don't remember) a single day passing without our being visited by Allah’s Apostle in the morning and in the evening."
+However, even if the claim Aisha converted to Islam before Umar were true, it does not mean this took place during the first year of Islam, since Umar converted in 617 AD, about 4 years after Aisha’s birth in 613 AD.<ref name="Siddiqui" /> Furthermore Aisha never accounted converting to islam as hadiths show she never remembered a time before when her family wasn't Muslim.<ref>Narrated 'Aisha: (the wife of the Prophet) '''I never remembered my parents believing in any religion other than the true religion (i.e. Islam)''', and (I don't remember) a single day passing without our being visited by Allah’s Apostle in the morning and in the evening."
 {{Bukhari|5|58|245}}</ref>
@@ Line 198: / Line 197: @@
 ===Hadith saying Aisha had reached puberty===
-This argument is based off a mistranslated hadith, Sahih Bukhari 1:8:465, which reinterprets to the idea that Aisha had seen her parents follow islam since the age of puberty, and not a day passed by without Muhammad visiting them.
+This argument is based on a mistranslated hadith, Sahih Bukhari 1:8:465, which in one English translation states that Aisha had seen her parents follow islam since the age of puberty, and not a day passed by without Muhammad visiting them.
 {{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[...]}}
-However, 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 correctly in another hadith by the same translator.<ref>Narrated Aisha:
+However, 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 correctly by the same translator in another narration of the same hadith.<ref>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...<br>{{Bukhari|3|37|494}}</ref>
@@ Line 212: / Line 211: @@
 }}
-Ahmad Hasan mistranslates Abu Dawud's comment as "That is to say: I menstruated". Aisha's phrase "I burst into laughter" is fa-qultu heeh heeh (فَقُلْتُ هِيهْ هِيهْ), "And I said heh, heh". The Dar-us-Salam English-Arabic edition of Sunan Abu Dawud translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab (Hadith 4933) renders Aisha's words here: "She made me stand at the door and I started to breathe deeply".
+Ahmad Hasan mistranslates Abu Dawud's comment as "That is to say: I menstruated". Aisha's phrase "I burst into laughter" is fa-qultu heeh heeh (فَقُلْتُ هِيهْ هِيهْ), "And I said heh, heh". The Dar-us-Salam English-Arabic edition of Sunan Abu Dawud translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab (Hadith 4933) renders Aisha's words here: "She made me stand at the door and I started to breathe deeply" (Dar-us-Salam do not include Abu Dawud's comment).
 Abu Dawud's comment is ay tanaffasat (أَىْ تَنَفَّسَتْ), which is "That is to say 'I breathed'". The verb nun-fa-sin is used here in Arabic form V with the ta prefix and shadda (doubled) middle letter, which Lane's Lexicon says means "breathed". Form I can mean menstruated, but that is not the form used in the hadith.<ref>nun-fa-sin - [https://lexicon.quranic-research.net/data/25_n/208_nfs.html Lane's Lexicon]</ref>
+===Aisha remembered the migration setting out to Abyssinia===
+Another hadith has been commonly misinterpreted in order to claim that Aisha remembered Muhammad coming to Abu Bakr when it was time to migrate to Abyssinia (modern day Ethiopia). This forced migration occurred due to what Urwa b. al-Zubayr in his first letter describes as the first persecution (''al-fitnah al-ūlā'') in Mecca, before the migration some years later to Medina.
+The hadith itself does not state which migration it relates too.
+{{Quote|{{Bukhari|3|34|348}}|Narrated Aisha:
+Rarely did the Prophet (ﷺ) fail to visit Abu Bakr's house everyday, either in the morning or in the evening. When the permission for migration to Medina was granted, all of a sudden the Prophet (ﷺ) came to us at noon and Abu Bakr was informed, who said, "Certainly the Prophet (ﷺ) has come for some urgent matter." The Prophet (ﷺ) said to Abu Bakr, when the latter entered "Let nobody stay in your home." Abu Bakr said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! There are only my two daughters (namely `Aisha and Asma') present." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I feel (am informed) that I have been granted the permission for migration." Abu Bakr said, "I will accompany you, O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)!" The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "You will accompany me." Abu Bakr then said "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! I have two she-camels I have prepared specially for migration, so I offer you one of them. The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I have accepted it on the condition that I will pay its price."}}
+Another hadith shows clearly that the above hadith actually refers to the migration to Medina, not Abyssinia. Notice the similar phrasing about Muhammad coming to Abu Bakr at noon after being granted permission to migrate, the two she-camels which Abu Bakr had prepared and the general setting. At the end of the quote Medina is mentioned.
+{{Quote|{{Bukhari|5|59|419}}|Narrated `Aisha:
+Abu Bakr asked the Prophet (ﷺ) to allow him to go out (of Mecca) when he was greatly annoyed (by the infidels). But the Prophet (ﷺ) said to him, "Wait." Abu Bakr said, O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! Do you hope that you will be allowed (to migrate)?" Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) replied, "I hope so." So Abu Bakr waited for him till one day Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) came at noon time and addressed him saying "Let whoever is present with you, now leave you." Abu Bakr said, "None is present but my two daughters." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Have you noticed that I have been allowed to go out (to migrate)?" Abu Bakr said, "O Allah's Apostle, I would like to accompany you." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "You will accompany me." Abu Bakr said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! I have got two she-camels which I had prepared and kept ready for (our) going out." So he gave one of the two (she-camels) to the Prophet (ﷺ) and it was Al-Jad`a. They both rode and proceeded till they reached the Cave at the mountain of Thaur where they hid themselves. Amir bin Fuhaira was the slave of `Abdullah bin at-Tufail bin Sakhbara `Aisha's brother from her mother's side. Abu Bakr had a milch she-camel. Amir used to go with it (i.e. the milch she-camel) in the afternoon and come back to them before noon by setting out towards them in the early morning when it was still dark and then he would take it to the pasture so that none of the shepherds would be aware of his job. When the Prophet (and Abu Bakr) went away (from the Cave), he (i.e. 'Amir) too went along with them and they both used to make him ride at the back of their camels in turns till they reached Medina. [...]}}
+==Apologetic justifications for the marriage==
+A number of claims are commonly made in Muhammad's defence by those who accept the traditional account that he married Aisha when she was six and consummated the marriage when she was nine, Muhammad at that time being a fifty-three year old man. These claims are widely criticised both by Muslims who reject the authenticity of the relevant hadiths, as well as by many other people, whatever their stance on the historicity of the story.
+===Cultural norms at the time===
+It does seem that it was common to contract daughters in marriage at an early age in Arab culture at that time. Imam Malik (d. 795 CE) based his rulings on the community practice in Medina. He permitted a father to contract his virgin minor daughter into a marriage and [[Forced Marriage|without her permission]]. Early jurists of other legal schools (who also agreed on this) used narrations about Muhammad's companions (or Muhammad himself) marrying or entering minors into marriage contracts as evidence in their legal discussions, and all more or less agreed that consummation of such marriages was allowed once a girl had reached the age of majority, or in some opinions, earlier if it was judged that she could physically tolerate intercourse (see [[Child Marriage in Islamic Law]]).
+Some argue that critics of Muhammad's actions in the traditional account commit the fallacy of ''presentism'' in which moral standards of an earlier age when circumstances were different are judged by those of today, and further argue that very early marriage and consummation were common at the time.
+However, critics note that unlike in the early Islamic polity, the minimum age of marriage or consummation for girls in the neighbouring Byzantine and Sasanid empires was significantly later at 13 or 12, albeit still very young (see above). Further, they argue that it is objectively the case that adolescent pregnancy brings signicantly greater risk of serious medical complications for both the mother and baby as noted for example by [https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-pregnancy The World Health Organization]) and that this would be no different a thousand years ago, especially in the case of a nine year old girl. Moreover, critics question whether it is legitimate to complain of presentism, given the Islamic concept of Muhammad as al-Insān al-Kāmil (the perfect human) and [[Uswa Hasana]] (an excellent model of conduct). Indeed, Muhammad's marriage to Aisha has been cited by Islamic scholars opposed to the introduction or raising of the minimum age of marriage which has occurred in most Muslim majority countries in recent decades.
+===Shorter life expectancy===
+Some argue that life expectancy a millenium ago was considerably lower than today, so there was an imperative to start a family at a young age. Critics note that such claims are often exaggerated for these purposes by including infant mortality in the calculation of average lifespans. A study of skeletal remains from the Mexican city of Cholula showed that between 900 to 1500 CE, most people who made it to adulthood went on to live beyond the age of fifty. Another study showed that in medieval England those who reached the age of 25 had an average life expectancy of another 25 years.<ref> Sharon DeWitte [https://www.sc.edu/uofsc/posts/2022/08/conversation-old-age-is-not-a-modern-phenomenon.php Old age isn’t a modern phenomenon – many people lived long enough to grow old in the olden days, too] - University of South Carolina website, 10 August 2022</ref> Both Muhammad and Aisha died in their sixties. Furthermore, critics point out that the risk of maternal and infant mortality was relatively high among girls enduring pregnancy in early adolesence (traditionally, Muhammad commenced intercourse with Aisha when she was nine), while in other cases permanent reproductive damage can be done. Aisha did not bear Muhammad any children.
+===Earlier puberty and menarchy in the past===
+Another common argument is that puberty occured earlier in the past or in hot climates. Puberty is a process which takes place over a number of years, while menarchy (first menstruation) is a distinct physiologial event which is the culmination of the anatomical processes of puberty. Apologetic websites typically cite books or articles which mention that the onset of puberty can occur today from as early as the age of eight. An article by Jesse Gamble is commonly quoted for saying that "Menarche affected Paleolithic girls between the ages of 7 to 13".<ref>Jesse Gamble, (2017) "Early Starters: Girls are entering puberty at every younger ages. What are the causes, and should we be worried?", ''Nature'' 550, S10-S11</ref> A journal article by Peter Gluckman and Mark Hanson gives a similar range and is commonly cited for their argument that in the simpler societies of the past, psycho-social maturity was better aligned with the age of physical development.<ref>Gluckman, P. and Hanson, M. (2006) "Evolution, development and timing of puberty", ''Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism'', 17(1)</ref>
+However, critics have noticed that this is only half the story. The opening sentence of Gluckman and Hanson's paper begins by saying, "The age of menarchy has fallen as child health has improved". The paper explains that menarchy begins ''later'' when childhood health and nutrition is poor, such as in the neolithic period, when as a result of "settlement, childhood disease and postnatal undernutrition became common and therefore the average age of menarchy was delayed" in contrast to the paleolithic hunter-gatherers. In Figure 2 of their paper the authors indicate the likely age ranges of menarchy 20,000 years ago (c. 7-14 years old), 2,000 years ago (c. 10-17 years old), 200 years ago during the industrial revolution (c. 13-18 years old) and today, when it has fallen back down (c. 9-15 years old). The authors argue that "With modern hygiene, nutrition and medicine, these pathological constraints on puberty have been removed and the age of menarchy has fallen to its evolutionarily determined range. But now the complexity of society has increased enormously and psychosocial maturation takes longer." Hadiths narrated by Aisha suggest that her mother struggled to make her gain weight before sending her to live with Muhammad (see {{Ibn Majah||4|29|3324}} and {{Abu Dawud|28|3894}}).
+The average age of menarchy today in Europe and the United States has fallen to around 13 years old, while the average is about 14 years old in Yemen in the south of the Arabian Peninsula (coming down from 14.44 years old in 1979 to 13.8 in 2013, standard deviation of 1.36 years). The average age is very similar (13-14) across a large range of low and middle income countries.<ref>Tiziana Leone and Laura Brown [https://www.niussp.org/fertility-and-reproduction/trends-in-age-at-menarche-in-low-and-middle-income-countries-evolution-de-lage-a-la-menarche-dans-les-pays-a-revenu-faible-et-intermediaire/ Trends in age at menarche in low- and middle-income countries] - niussp.org, 1 March 2021</ref>
 ==See Also==
@@ Line 227: / Line 261: @@
 *[http://www.sunnipath.com/about/shaykhgibrilhaddad.aspx Shaykh Gibril Haddad] ''- Biography of Shaykh Gibril Fouad Haddad at SunniPath, The online Islamic Academy''
 *[http://www.answering-islam.org/Responses/Learner/index.htm Responses to "The Learner" (Moiz Amjad) and others] - ''Collection of Answering Islam articles''
+*[https://www.academia.edu/41118215/Was_A%C3%AFsha_Really_Only_Nine Was Aisha really only nine] - Article by Tara MacArthur''
 ==Acknowledgments==
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 {{refend}}
-==Références==
+==References==
 {{Reflist|30em}}
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 [[Category:Marriage]]
 [[Category:Fiqh]]
+[[ar:عمر_عائشة]]