A research work concerning Hazrat Ayesha's (R.A) age, hope it will help all to understand the reason why there's such a confusion concerning her true age.
The Quran was written during the time of Prophet Muhammad (Salalaho Alehe Wassalam) and its 100% authentic!
Nowhere in The Quran is it mentioned about the Prophet's marriage! But its mentioned in the Hadiths!
BUT LETS SEE WHAT THESE HADITHS SAY:
The Prophet married Aisha 1 year after Hijrah! This is a known fact!
POINT 1
According to Sahih Bukhari (which is the most authentic) of the hadiths! According to Sahih Bukhari, Aisha is reported to have said that at the time Surah Al-Qamar, the 54th Chapter of the Quran, was revealed, "I was a young girl" The 54th surah of The Quran was revealed nine years before Hijrah. So Aisha was a young girl (jariyah), and not an infant (sibyah) at that time!
THE PROPHET MARRIED AISHA ONE YEAR AFTER HIJRAH!
SO NOW WE KNOW SHE WAS A YOUNG GIRL, 9 YEARS BEFORE HIJRAH!
SO EVEN IF FOR EXAMPLE SHE WAS 7 YEARS OLD WHEN SHE SAID "I WAS A YOUNG GIRL", THEN SHE MARRIED THE PROPHET 10 YEARS AFTER THAT! WHICH MEANS SHE WAS OVER 17 YEARS OLD WHEN THE PROPHET MARRIED HER!
POINT 2
According to a number of narratives, Aisha accompanied the Muslims in the Battle of Badr and Uhud. It was usual for women to accompany men in battle so they can help in looking after the wounded. It was a strict rule that none under the age of 15 was allowed to accompany anyone in battle! BATTLE OF BADR WAS 2 YEARS AFTER HIJRAH AND BATTLE OF UHUD WAS 3 YEARS AFTER HIJRAH!
REMEMBER PROPHET MUHAMMAD (Salalaho Alehe Wassalam) MARRIED HER 1 YEAR AFTER HIJRAH!
WHICH MEANS SHE COULD NEVER HAVE BEEN 9 YEARS OLD WHEN THE PROPHET MARRIED HER!
POINT 3
It is a known fact that the Asma, (the elder sister of Aisha) was 10 years older than Aisha. It is reported that Asma died 73 years after Hijrah when she was 100 years old.
Now, Obviously if Asma was 100 years old 73 years after Hijrah, then Asma should have been 27 or 28 years old at the time of Hijrah! If Asma was 27 or 28 years old at Hijrah, then Aisha would be 17 or 18 years old at Hijrah!
REMEMBER PROPHET MUHAMMAD (Salalaho Alehe Wassalam) MARRIED AISHA 1 YEAR AFTER HIJRAH!
SO THAT MEANS AISHA WAS 18 OR 19 YEARS OLD WHEN SHE GOT MARRIED!
POINT 4
Tabari in his treatise on Islamic history, while mentioning Abu Bakr (father of Aisha) reports that Abu Bakr had four children and all four were born during pre Islamic period! If Aisha was born before in the Pre Islamic period, then she would be more than 13 years old during Hijrah!
REMEMBER PROPHET MUHAMMAD (Salalaho Alehe Wassalam) MARRIED HER 1 YEAR AFTER HIJRAH!
WHICH MEANS SHE WOULD BE MORE THAT 14 YEARS OLD DURING THE TIME OF MARRIAGE!
POINT 5
According to Ibn Hisham, Aisha accepted Islam quite some time before Umar ibn Khattab. Umar ibn Khattab accepted Islam roughly 7 years before Hijrah! Obviously, she would have been a young girl when she accpeted Islam!
If you add 7 years to a young girl! You can think for yourselves!
REMEMBER PROPHET MUHAMMAD (Salalaho Alehe Wassalam) MARRIED HER 1 YEAR AFTER HIJRAH!
POINT 6
According to Ibn Hajar, Fathima (daughter of Prophet) was 5 years older than Aisha! Fathima was born more than 5 years before Muhammad was a Prophet! That means Fathima was born more than 19 years before Hijrah!
PROPHET MARRIED AISHA ONE YEAR AFTER HIJRAH!
SO THIS AGAIN PROVES AISHA WAS OVER 15 YEARS OLD WHEN THE PROPHET MARRIED HER!
ALL THIS EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT AISHA WAS NOT 9 YEARS OLD WHEN THE PROPHET MARRIED HER!
BUT WHERE DOES IT SAY SHE WAS 9 YEARS OLD?
The narratives saying Aisha was 9 years old at the time of marriage, are reported only by a man named Hisham ibn Urwah reporting from what he heard from his father!
If Hisham ibn Urwah was right then others would have also reported but Hisham ibn Urwah is the only person to report this!
Hisham ibn Urwah lived in Medinah but its very fishy because there were so many others in Medinah including the Jews!Even the Jews did not report any such thing!
If Prophet had married a 9 year old, obviously the Jews would have reported or made a fuss because as we know Jews always wanted to destroy Islam!
All the narratives saying Prophet Muhammad (Salalaho Alehe Wassalam) married a 9 year old have been reported from Iraq!
Hisham ibn Urwah moved to Iraq later and these narratives come from Iraq!
Hisham moved to Iraq when he was 71 years old!
We know Iraq was influenced by Shias! Shia Muslims don't like the Prophet!
We don't know if the narratives of Hisham ibn Urwah were influenced by them!
The narratives of Hisham ibn Urwah where he says Aisha was 9 years old when she married the Prophet have all come from Iraq!
WHAT DO OTHERS SAY ABOUT HISHAM IBN URWAH?
Tehzibu'l-tehzib, a man who was one of the most well known people on the life and reliability of the narratives of the traditions of the Prophet!
What did he have to say about Hisham ibn Urwah's narrations?
According to Yaqub ibn Shaibah he said: "narratives reported by Hisham which are reported through the people of Iraq are unreliable!
It further states that Malik ibn Anas objected on those narratives of Hisham ibn Urwah that were reported through people of Iraq (Volume 11, page 48-51) Mizanu'l-ai 'tidal, another person on the narrators of the traditions of the Prophet reports that Hisham ibn Urwah's memory suffered quite badly when he was old!
(Volume 4, page 301-302)
IT IS A PROVEN FACT THAT AISHA WAS NOT 9 YEARS OLD WHEN SHE MARRIED THE PROPHET BUT THE ENEMIES OF ISLAM KNOW THIS BUT THEY CONTINUE TO SLANDER OUR PROPHET!
Proof # 1
Ibn Hajar reports that, Fatima was five years older than Aisha. Fatima is reported to have been born when the prophet was 35 yrs old. Thus, Aisha could by no means be less than 15 years old at the time of Hijrah and 18 or 19 years old at the time when marriage was consumed.
Proof # 2
Tabari reports that Abu Bakr wished to spare Aisha the discomforts of a journey to Ethiopia soon after 615 CE, and tried to bring forward her marriage to Mut`am’s son. Mut`am refused because Abu Bakr had converted to Islam, but if Aisha was already of marriageable age in 615 CE, she must have been older than nine in 622 CE.
Proof # 3
Tabari also reports that Abu Bakr’s four children were all born during the Jahiliyyah, the pre Islamic period, which ended in 610 CE, making Aisha at least twelve in 622 CE.
Proof # 4
According to number of narratives, Aisha accompanied the Muslims in the battle of Badr and Uhud. Furthermore it is also reported in books of hadeeth and history that no one under the age of 15 years was allowed to take part in the battle of Uhud. Everyone below the age of 15 were sent back. Hence, participation of Ayesha in Battle of Uhud and Badar clearly indicates that she was 15 or above. After which marriage was consumed.
