Aisha

For other uses, see Aisha (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Aisha or Ayesha (name).

Aisha bint Abi Bakr (Arabic عائشة `ā'isha, "she who lives", also transcribed as A'ishah, Ayesha, 'A'isha, or 'Aisha, Turkish Ayşe, Ottoman Turkish Âişe etc.) was a wife of Muhammad. In Islamic writings, she is thus often referred to by the title "Mother of the Believers" (Arabic: أمّ المؤمنين umm-al-mu'minīn), per the description of Muhammad's wives as "Mothers of Believers" in The Qur'an (33.6). She is quoted as source for many hadith (traditions about Muhammad's life), with Muhammad's personal life being the topic of most narrations.

Aisha is a controversial figure because of differing portrayals of her in Shia versions of Islamic history and her role in the first Islamic civil war at the head of an army against Ali ibn Abu Talib in the Battle of Bassorah.

Early life

Aisha was the daughter of Umm Rumman and Abu Bakr of Mecca. Abu Bakr belonged to the Banu Taim sub-clan of the tribe of Quraysh, the tribe to which Muhammad also belonged. Aisha is said to have followed her father in accepting Islam when she was still young. She also joined him in his migration to Ethiopia in 615 AD; a number of Mecca's Muslims emigrated then, seeking refuge from persecution by the Meccans who still followed their pre-Islamic religions.

According to the early Islamic historian al-Tabari, Aisha's father tried to spare her the dangers and discomfort of the journey by solemnizing her marriage to her fiance, Jubayr, son of Mut`am ibn `Adi. However, Mut’am refused to honor the long-standing betrothal, as he did not wish his family to be connected to the Muslim outcasts. The emigration to Ethiopia proved temporary and Abu Bakr's family returned to Mecca within a few years. Aisha was then betrothed to Muhammad.

Marriage to Muhammad

Aisha was initially betrothed to Djubayr ibn Mutim, a Muslim whose father, though pagan, was friendly to the Muslims. When Khawla bint Hakim suggested that Muhammad marry Aisha after the death of Muhammad's first wife (Khadija), the previous agreement regarding marriage of Aisha with Ibn Mutim was put aside by common consent. Watt suggests that Muhammad hoped to strengthen his ties with Abu Bakr.

Aisha was six or seven years old when betrothed to Muhammad. She stayed in her parents' home until the age of nine, when the marriage was consummated. The marriage was delayed until after the Hijra, or migration to Medina, in 622. Aisha and her older sister Asma only moved to Medina after Muhammad had already fled there. Abu Bakr gave Muhammad the money to build a house for himself. After this, the wedding was celebrated very simply.

After the wedding, Aisha continued to play with her toys, and Muhammad entered into the spirit of these games. Watt writes that "this relationship between a man of fifty-three and a girl of ten must have been a strange one, more like father and daughter than husband and wife." He adds that though Aisha did not bear Muhammad any children, "Aisha seems to have been as happy as a girl could be in a polygamous household."

Status as "favorite wife"

Even though the marriage may have been politically motivated, to mark the ties between Muhammad and his companion Abu Bakr, most early accounts say that Muhammad and Aisha became sincerely fond of each other. Aisha is usually described as Muhammad's favorite wife, and it was in her company that Muhammad reportedly received the most revelations. Aisha is believed to have been Muhammad's only virgin wife. Shia Muslims would disagree with this description. They adduce the following episodes as proof that Muhammad and Aisha's marriage did not always go smoothly, and that Khadija's memory never left Muhammad.

Accused of adultery

Aisha was traveling with her husband Muhammad and some of his followers. Aisha claimed that she had left camp in the morning to search for her lost necklace, but when when she returned, she found that the company had broken camp and left without her. She waited for half a day, until she was rescued by a man named Safwan ibn Al-Muattal and taken to rejoin the caravan. This led to speculation that she had committed adultery with Safwan. Muhammad's adopted son Zayd defended Aisha's reputation, while Ali urged Muhammad to divorce Aisha.

Shortly after this, Muhammad announced that he had received a revelation confirming Aisha's innocence and directing that charges of adultery be supported by four eyewitnesses. These verses also rebuked Aisha's accusers,, whom Muhammad ordered to receive forty lashes, among them his poet Hassan ibn Thabit.

The story of the honey

Ibn Kathir wrote in his biography of Muhammad that Muhammad's wife Umm Salama Hind bint Abi Umayya was given a skin filled with honey, which she shared with her husband. He was fond of sweets and stayed overlong with Umm Salama Hind bint Abi Umayya; at least in the opinion of Aisha and her co-wife Hafsa. Aisha and Hafsa conspired. Each of them was to tell Muhammad that the honey had given him bad breath. When he heard this from two wives, he believed that it was true and swore that he would eat no more of the honey. Soon afterwards, he reported that he had received a revelation, in which he was told that he could eat anything permitted by God (66:1). In the following verses, Muhammad's wives are rebuked for their unruliness: "your hearts are inclined (to oppose him)".

Word spread in the small Muslim community that Muhammad's wives were tyrannizing over the mild-mannered man, speaking sharply to him and conspiring against him. Umar, Hafsa's father, scolded his daughter and also spoke to Muhammad of the matter. Muhammad, saddened and upset, separated from his wives for a month. By the end of this time, his wives were humbled and harmony was restored.

When Muslim commentators on the Qur'an explicate Sura 66, it is usually this story that is told to explain the "occasion of revelation."

There is a similar but alternative explanation of this chapter, also involving Aisha. In this story, Aisha and her co-wives were unhappy because Muhammad was infatuated with Maria al-Qibtiyya, the Christian Coptic woman who bore Muhammad a brief-lived son. (Some accounts say that she was a slave, some that she converted to Islam, was freed, and was taken as a wife.)

The death of Muhammad

Ibn Ishaq, in his Sirat Rasulallah, states that during Muhammad's last illness, he sought Aisha's apartments and died with his head in her lap. The Sunni take this as evidence of Muhammad's fondness for Aisha. The Shia deny this, and say that Muhammad died with his head in Ali's lap. Aisha never remarried after Muhammad's death. A passage in the Qur'an forbids any Muslim to marry a widow of Muhammad:

Nor is it right for you that ye should annoy God's Apostle, or that ye should marry his widows after him at any time. Truly such a thing is in God's sight an enormity.

— Qur'an 33:53

--Aminz 07:30, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

After Muhammad

Aisha's father becomes the first caliph

After Muhammad's death in 632 AD, Aisha's father, Abu Bakr, became the first caliph, or leader of the Muslims. This matter of succession to Muhammad is extremely controversial. Shia believe that Ali had been chosen to lead by Muhammad; Sunni maintain that the community chose Abu Bakr, and did so in accordance with Muhammad's wishes.

The battle of the camel

Main article: Battle of the Camel

Abu Bakr's reign was short, and in 634 AD he was succeeded by Umar, as caliph. Umar reigned for ten years, and was then followed by Uthman in 644 AD. Both of these men had been among Muhammad's earliest followers, were linked to him by clanship and marriage, and had taken prominent parts in various military campaigns. Aisha, in the meantime, lived in Medina and made several pilgrimages to Mecca.

In 656 Uthman was killed by rebellious Muslim soldiers. The rebels then asked Ali to be the new caliph. Many reports absolve Ali of complicity in the murder. He is reported to have refused the caliphate. He agreed to rule only after his followers persisted.

Aisha raised an army which confronted Ali's army outside the city of Basra. Professor Leila Ahmed claims that it was during this engagement that Muslim slaughtered Muslim for the first time. Battle ensued and Aisha's forces were defeated. Aisha was directing her forces from a howdah on the back of a camel; this 656 battle is therefore called the Battle of the Camel.

Ali captured Aisha but declined to harm her. He sent her back to Medina under military escort. She lived a retired life until she died in approximately 678 under the reign of Muawiya.

Sunni and Shia views of Aisha

Sunni historians see Aisha as a learned woman, who tirelessly recounted stories from the life of Muhammad and explained Muslim history and traditions. She is considered to be one of the foremost scholars of Islam's early age with some historians accrediting up to one-quarter of the Islamic Shariah, based on the collection of hadiths, to have stemmed from her narrations. Aisha became the most prominent of Muhammad’s wives and is revered as a role model by millions of women.

Shia historians believe that Ali should have been the first caliph, and that the other three caliphs were usurpers. Aisha not only supported Umar, Uthman, and her father Abu Bakr, she also raised an army and fought against Ali, her step-son-in-law. Shia believe that she did wrong in rebelling against Ali.

See also

• Persons related to Qur'anic verses
• Muhammad's marriages
• Family tree of Aisha
• Arranged marriage

References

• Guillaume, A. -- The Life of Muhammad, Oxford University Press, 1955
• Rodinson, Maxime -- Muhammad, 1980 Random House reprint of English translation
• Spellberg, D.A. -- Politics, Gender, and the Islamic Past: the Legacy of A'isha bint Abi Bakr, Columbia University Press, 1994
• Aisha bint Abi Bakr, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, Oxford University Press, 2000
• Rizvi, Syed Saeed Akhtar. -- The Life of Muhammad The Prophet, Darul Tabligh North America, 1971.

External links

• Biography of Aisha