The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 238
Seal of the Prophets - Volume II 238 her parents. However, now, in the second year of Hijrah , after five years had elapsed since the announcement of her marriage she had fully matured at the age of twelve. As such, it was Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr ra himself who approached the Holy Prophet sa and requested for the Rukhsatānah to take place. 1 Upon this, the Holy Prophet sa arranged for the dowry to be paid (in that era it was customary for the dowry to be paid in cash) and in the month of Shawwāl 2 A. H. , Ḥaḍrat ‘Ā’ishah ra bid the home of her parents farewell and entered the household of the Holy Prophet sa. In this day and age, the question of how old Ḥaḍrat ‘Ā’ishah ra was at the time of her Rukhsatānah has become a bone of contention. In most books of history and Aḥādīth, the age of Ḥaḍrat ‘Ā’ishah ra has been recorded to be nine or ten years. Even in Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī a narration is related by Ḥaḍrat ‘Ā’ishah ra herself that on the occasion of her Rukhsatānah she was only nine years of age. It is on the basis of this very narration that many historians have mentioned an age of nine years. 2 However, in contrast to this, by varying methods of deductions, some modern-day research scholars have attempted to establish her age as being fourteen, or even sixteen years of age. Although we do not agree with the opinion of these modern-day research scholars, a study of the circumstances reveals that the notion of her being nine years of age is also erroneous. Rather, as we have mentioned above, at the time of her Rukhsatānah , it is proven that Ḥaḍrat ‘Ā’ishah ra was a full twelve years of age or nearly twelve years of age. In actuality, the early scholars have misjudged the entire issue because they have considered the nine-year approximation of Ḥaḍrat ‘Ā’ishah ra , which has been recorded in authentic Aḥādīth , as being completely definite and categorical, and have thus, not directed their attention to anything else; although every sensible individual can understand that for a narration to be authentic is one thing, and for an approximation to be correct is quite the other. In other words, although the narrations in which the estimate of Ḥaḍrat ‘Ā’ishah ra as being nine years of age at the time of her Rukhsatānah may well be authentic in terms of narration, this estimate of Ḥaḍrat ‘Ā’ishah ra in itself may be incorrect, as many a time, the estimates of people with respect 1 Sharḥul-‘Allāmatiz-Zarqānī ‘Alal-Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah, By Allāmah Shihābuddīn Al-Qasṭalānī, Volume 4, p. 383, ‘Ā’ishah Ummul-Mu’minīn, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996) 2 ‘Umdatul-Qārī Sharḥu Ṣaḥīḥil-Bukhārī, By Imām Badruddīn Abī Muḥammad Maḥmud bin Aḥmad Al-‘Ainī, Volume 17, p. 50, Kitābu Manāqibil-Anṣār, Bābu Tazwījin-Nabiyyi sa ‘Ā’ishata, Ḥadīth No. 3894, Dāru Iḥyā’it-Turāthil-‘Arabī, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (2003)