Aisha's Age - Revision history

Qorqud: Added Azerbaijani translation

2026-03-13T10:54:18Z

Added Azerbaijani translation

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:54, 13 March 2026
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	*[[She's too young]] (Fatima)		*[[She's too young]] (Fatima)

	{{Template:Translation-links-english\|[[Aišin věk konzumace\|Czech]]}}		{{Template:Translation-links-english\|[[Aişənin yaşı\|Azerbaijani]], [[Aišin věk konzumace\|Czech]]}}

	==External Links==		==External Links==

Lightyears at 21:37, 11 November 2025

2025-11-11T21:37:41Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:37, 11 November 2025
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	The detailed hadith of this incident is widely transmitted from Aisha through 'Urwa b. al-Zubayr (her nephew), through his student Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri. A brief answer to a question about the names of her accusers (though with no further detail) also appears in a letter by 'Urwa, transmitted through his son, Hisham.<ref>An analysis of the hadith transmission is summarized on pp. 34-37 of Goerke, A, Motzki, H & Schoeler, G (2012) [https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/12692843/First_Century_Sources_for_the_Life_of_Muhammad_a_debate.pdf First-Century Sources for the Life of Muhammad? A Debate], Der Islam, vol. 89, no. 2, pp. 2-59. https://doi.org/10.1515/islam-2012-0002</ref>		The detailed hadith of this incident is widely transmitted from Aisha through 'Urwa b. al-Zubayr (her nephew), through his student Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri. A brief answer to a question about the names of her accusers (though with no further detail) also appears in a letter by 'Urwa, transmitted through his son, Hisham.<ref>An analysis of the hadith transmission is summarized on pp. 34-37 of Goerke, A, Motzki, H & Schoeler, G (2012) [https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/12692843/First_Century_Sources_for_the_Life_of_Muhammad_a_debate.pdf First-Century Sources for the Life of Muhammad? A Debate], Der Islam, vol. 89, no. 2, pp. 2-59. https://doi.org/10.1515/islam-2012-0002</ref>

	The same phrase occurs in narrations about Muhammad screening Aisha with his garment when some Ethiopians were playing (e.g. {{Bukhari\|\|\|5236\|darussalam}}). One version of a hadith about Aisha experiencing menstruation while on pilgrimage to Mecca too describes her using the same phrase ({{Muslim\|2\|~~2773~~}}) though the other narrations of that hadith do not include the phrase (one explicitly points out its absence: {{Muslim\|\|1211k\|reference}}).		The same phrase occurs in narrations about Muhammad screening Aisha with his garment when some Ethiopians were playing (e.g. {{Bukhari\|\|\|5236\|darussalam}}). One version of a hadith about Aisha experiencing menstruation while on pilgrimage to Mecca too describes her using the same phrase ({{Muslim\|\|1211j\|reference}}) though the other narrations of that hadith do not include the phrase (one explicitly points out its absence: {{Muslim\|\|1211k\|reference}}).

	==Modern academic views==		==Modern academic views==
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	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>		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>

	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\|\|1422c\|reference}}</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.		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 1422c<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\|\|1422c\|reference}}</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.

	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" />		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" />
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	===Hadith saying Aisha had reached puberty===		===Hadith saying Aisha had reached puberty===
	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.		This argument is based on a mistranslated hadith, Sahih Bukhari 476, 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\|\|\|476\|darussalam}}\|Narrated `Aisha:		{{Quote\|{{Bukhari\|\|\|476\|darussalam}}\|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 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[...]}}

Lightyears: Automated script replacing USC-MSA hadith numbering system for Bukhari, Muslim, and Abu Dawud

2025-11-11T21:35:04Z

Automated script replacing USC-MSA hadith numbering system for Bukhari, Muslim, and Abu Dawud

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Lightyears: /* Modern apologetic perspectives */

2025-11-01T22:43:13Z

Modern apologetic perspectives

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:43, 1 November 2025
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	[...]<BR />		[...]<BR />
	'''At that time the Prophet (ﷺ) was in Mecca, and he said to the Muslims, "In a dream I have been shown your migration place, a land of date palm trees, between two mountains, the two stony tracts." So, some people migrated to Medina''', and most of those people who had previously migrated to the land of Ethiopia, returned to Medina. Abu Bakr also prepared to leave for Medina, but Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said to him, "Wait for a while, because I hope that I will be allowed to migrate also." Abu Bakr said, "Do you indeed expect this? Let my father be sacrificed for you!" The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Yes." So Abu Bakr did not migrate for the sake of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) in order to accompany him. He fed two she-camels he possessed with the leaves of As-Samur tree that fell on being struck by a stick for four months. '''One day, while we were sitting in Abu Bakr's house at noon''', someone said to Abu Bakr, "This is Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) with his head covered coming at a time at which he never used to visit us before." Abu Bakr said, "May my parents be sacrificed for him. By Allah, he has not come at this hour except for a great necessity." So Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) came and asked permission to enter, and he was allowed to enter. When he entered, he said to Abu Bakr. "Tell everyone who is present with you to go away." Abu Bakr replied, "There are none but your family. May my father be sacrificed for you, O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)!" The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "i have been given permission to migrate." Abu Bakr said, "Shall I accompany you? May my father be sacrificed for you, O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)!" Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Yes." Abu Bakr said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! May my father be sacrificed for you, take one of these two she-camels of mine." Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) replied, "(I will accept it) with payment." '''So we prepared the baggage quickly and put some journey food in a leather bag for them.''' [...]}}		'''At that time the Prophet (ﷺ) was in Mecca, and he said to the Muslims, "In a dream I have been shown your migration place, a land of date palm trees, between two mountains, the two stony tracts." So, some people migrated to Medina''', and most of those people who had previously migrated to the land of Ethiopia, returned to Medina. Abu Bakr also prepared to leave for Medina, but Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said to him, "Wait for a while, because I hope that I will be allowed to migrate also." Abu Bakr said, "Do you indeed expect this? Let my father be sacrificed for you!" The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Yes." So Abu Bakr did not migrate for the sake of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) in order to accompany him. He fed two she-camels he possessed with the leaves of As-Samur tree that fell on being struck by a stick for four months. '''One day, while we were sitting in Abu Bakr's house at noon''', someone said to Abu Bakr, "This is Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) with his head covered coming at a time at which he never used to visit us before." Abu Bakr said, "May my parents be sacrificed for him. By Allah, he has not come at this hour except for a great necessity." So Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) came and asked permission to enter, and he was allowed to enter. When he entered, he said to Abu Bakr. "Tell everyone who is present with you to go away." Abu Bakr replied, "There are none but your family. May my father be sacrificed for you, O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)!" The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "i have been given permission to migrate." Abu Bakr said, "Shall I accompany you? May my father be sacrificed for you, O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)!" Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Yes." Abu Bakr said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! May my father be sacrificed for you, take one of these two she-camels of mine." Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) replied, "(I will accept it) with payment." '''So we prepared the baggage quickly and put some journey food in a leather bag for them.''' [...]}}

			===Arabs counted ages from ten or puberty onwards===
			An entirely modern invention is the claim that the Arabs at the time of Muhammad counted a person's age from ten onwards, or from puberty onwards, such that "six" years old could actually mean a teenager. No source supports this claim. All early and classical scholars understood the traditional age of Aisha at her marriage and consummation in the straightforward sense.

	==Apologetic justifications for the marriage==		==Apologetic justifications for the marriage==

Lightyears: Minor improvements and had debunked wrong hadith for Abyssinia argument

2025-05-19T20:48:50Z

Minor improvements and had debunked wrong hadith for Abyssinia argument

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AdrianE: Fixed some misspellings.

2024-05-24T21:13:12Z

Fixed some misspellings.

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Asmith: /* Acknowledgments */

2024-05-19T02:49:34Z

Acknowledgments

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:49, 19 May 2024
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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 [https://archive.ph/Rngiz 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]
	{{refend}}		{{refend}}

Lightyears at 22:34, 15 October 2023

2023-10-15T22:34:10Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:34, 15 October 2023
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	Aside from Hisham b. 'Urwa (d. 146 AH), who was Aisha's great nephew and whose simple narration is the most widely transmitted, Muhammad b. 'Amr (d. 144 AH) is the other reconstructable Medinan common link, though like Hisham, he moved to Iraq and merely seems to append one of Hisham's versions of the hadith to another narration. The other early common links are three Kufans (in Iraq) who died 146-160 AH. Though it is possible that one or more other narrations go back to Aisha herself, this cannot be demonstrated on an ICMA basis.<ref>pp. 397-99 of Dr Little's thesis</ref>		Aside from Hisham b. 'Urwa (d. 146 AH), who was Aisha's great nephew and whose simple narration is the most widely transmitted, Muhammad b. 'Amr (d. 144 AH) is the other reconstructable Medinan common link, though like Hisham, he moved to Iraq and merely seems to append one of Hisham's versions of the hadith to another narration. The other early common links are three Kufans (in Iraq) who died 146-160 AH. Though it is possible that one or more other narrations go back to Aisha herself, this cannot be demonstrated on an ICMA basis.<ref>pp. 397-99 of Dr Little's thesis</ref>

	Little then analyzes in greater depth his reconstructed matns for these common links. Based on shared words, phrases and sequencing, he concludes that they all derive from a single, simple formulation, and are not independently transmitted memories of a common event. This original formulation seems to be the widely transmitted one of Hisham, who also transmitted a few versions with additional details. Hisham attributed all of these to his father 'Urwa b. al-Zubayr who was also Aisha's nephew. Hisham did so falsely, argues Little; however, in his thesis he does not notice that the distinctive content of 'Urwa's letter about Aisha's marriage reported by Hisham is also narrated by a Syrian partial common link who ascribed it via his own uncle to 'Urwa's student, al-Zuhri, who moved from Medina to Syria. The letter and al-Zuhri's narration alone share a very distinctive sequencing of seven elements, ~~as well as~~ some otherwise unique exact phrases and content.<ref>'Urwa wrote a number of letters on early Islamic history to the late Umayyad court. These letters were transmitted by his son Hisham and the traditions therein were often also transmitted by 'Urwa's Medinan student al-Zuhri. 'Urwa's letters are translated in full in Sean Anthony, ''Muhammad and the Empires of Faith: The making of the Prophet of Islam'', Oakland CA: University of California, 2020, Chapter 4. In 2012, the creators of the ICMA method, Andreas Görke, Harald Motzki and Gregor Schoeler, strongly argued that the traditions in the letters attributed to 'Urwa probably do in some way originate with him, especially when they are supported by parallel traditions going back to 'Urwa (Goerke, A, Motzki, H & Schoeler, G (2012) [https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/12692843/First_Century_Sources_for_the_Life_of_Muhammad_a_debate.pdf First-Century Sources for the Life of Muhammad?] A Debate, Der Islam, vol. 89, no. 2, pp. 2-59. https://doi.org/10.1515/islam-2012-0002).<BR />		Little then analyzes in greater depth his reconstructed matns for these common links. Based on shared words, phrases and sequencing, he concludes that they all derive from a single, simple formulation, and are not independently transmitted memories of a common event. This original formulation seems to be the widely transmitted one of Hisham, who also transmitted a few versions with additional details. Hisham attributed all of these to his father 'Urwa b. al-Zubayr who was also Aisha's nephew. Hisham did so falsely, argues Little; however, in his thesis he does not notice that the distinctive content of 'Urwa's letter about Aisha's marriage reported by Hisham is also narrated by a Syrian partial common link who ascribed it via his own uncle to 'Urwa's student, al-Zuhri, who moved from Medina to Syria. The letter and al-Zuhri's narration alone share a very distinctive sequencing of seven elements, within which there are also some otherwise unique exact phrases and content.<ref>'Urwa wrote a number of letters on early Islamic history to the late Umayyad court. These letters were transmitted by his son Hisham and the traditions therein were often also transmitted by 'Urwa's Medinan student al-Zuhri. 'Urwa's letters are translated in full in Sean Anthony, ''Muhammad and the Empires of Faith: The making of the Prophet of Islam'', Oakland CA: University of California, 2020, Chapter 4. In 2012, the creators of the ICMA method, Andreas Görke, Harald Motzki and Gregor Schoeler, strongly argued that the traditions in the letters attributed to 'Urwa probably do in some way originate with him, especially when they are supported by parallel traditions going back to 'Urwa (Goerke, A, Motzki, H & Schoeler, G (2012) [https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/12692843/First_Century_Sources_for_the_Life_of_Muhammad_a_debate.pdf First-Century Sources for the Life of Muhammad?] A Debate, Der Islam, vol. 89, no. 2, pp. 2-59. https://doi.org/10.1515/islam-2012-0002).<BR />

	One of 'Urwa's letters is a short one about Aisha's marriage. It was reported in a couple of chains through Hisham and is quoted in the Relevant Quotations section above. Little contests a couple of arguments for the general authenticity of 'Urwa's letters but without wider engagement with Goerke et al. He also questions how we can in any case identify which words or elements thereof Hisham accurately transmitted (p. 314).<BR />		One of 'Urwa's letters is a short one about Aisha's marriage. It was reported in a couple of chains through Hisham and is quoted in the Relevant Quotations section above. Little contests a couple of arguments for the general authenticity of 'Urwa's letters but without wider engagement with Goerke et al. He also questions how we can in any case identify which words or elements thereof Hisham accurately transmitted (p. 314).<BR />
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	There is some evidence that Hisham did not originally extend the isnad of most of his versions back to Aisha herself, but rather only to his father 'Urwa, Aisha's nephew, and that they were narrated in the 3rd person, not in her own voice.<ref>Ibid. p. 305 including footnote 996</ref> It is even clearer that such isnad "raising" occured for transmissions by others back to Aisha by other routes.		There is some evidence that Hisham did not originally extend the isnad of most of his versions back to Aisha herself, but rather only to his father 'Urwa, Aisha's nephew, and that they were narrated in the 3rd person, not in her own voice.<ref>Ibid. p. 305 including footnote 996</ref> It is even clearer that such isnad "raising" occured for transmissions by others back to Aisha by other routes.

	Aside from the most widely transmitted version which simply states that Aisha was married to Muhammad at the age of six and their marriage was consummated when she was nine, Little's ICMA confirms that Hisham also narrated an extended simple version adding that he was informed Muhammad and Aisha were together for nine years<ref>Ibid. p. 272</ref> (possibly also another simple version adding that she played with dolls<ref>Ibid. p. 322</ref>). He also narrated a short letter about the marriage from his father 'Urwa - see the discussion about this letter ~~in a previous~~ footnote ~~above~~.<ref>Ibid. pp. 309 ff.</ref> Finally, he also narrated Aisha's account of the women collecting her while she was playing so she could be prepared for her marital consummation.<ref>See the section of Hisham, pp. 295 ff., especially the reconstructions of Hisham's four versions of the hadith on pp. 302-317</ref> Examples of each of these can be seen in the Relevant Quotations section above.		Aside from the most widely transmitted version which simply states that Aisha was married to Muhammad at the age of six and their marriage was consummated when she was nine, Little's ICMA confirms that Hisham also narrated an extended simple version adding that he was informed Muhammad and Aisha were together for nine years<ref>Ibid. p. 272</ref> (possibly also another simple version adding that she played with dolls<ref>Ibid. p. 322</ref>). He also narrated a short letter about the marriage from his father 'Urwa - see the discussion about this letter above (including the footnote).<ref>Ibid. pp. 309 ff.</ref> Finally, he also narrated Aisha's account of the women collecting her while she was playing so she could be prepared for her marital consummation.<ref>See the section of Hisham, pp. 295 ff., especially the reconstructions of Hisham's four versions of the hadith on pp. 302-317</ref> Examples of each of these can be seen in the Relevant Quotations section above.

	Hisham seems to have transmitted the hadith after he moved to Kufah in Iraq. There are a few transmissions ascribed to his Medinan students, though these are each dubious for various reasons (though one is difficult to explain away<ref>Little struggles somewhat to discount Ibn ʾabī al-Zinād's transmission from Hishām as having occurred in Medina (see pp. 426-433). The Medinan, Ibn ʾabī al-Zinād, is a confirmed partial common link from Hishām, and the (generally unreliable) Medinan historian al-Wāqidī is one of those who report it from him. In order to place the transmission as having occured in Iraq, where (if biographical sources are to be trusted) Ibn ʾabī al-Zinād moved from Medina, though to a different Iraqi city than Hishām and did so only after Hishām's death, or at most shortly beforehand, and where al-Wāqidī also moved from Medina but only after Ibn ʾabī al-Zinād's death, Little requires both that al-Waqidi did not transmit directly from Ibn ʾabī al-Zinād and that the latter did not transmit directly from Hishām. Incidentally, al-Wāqidī separately reports a distinct but isolated Medinan narration about Aisha's marriage (pp. 215-6).</ref>). Little argues that the hadith was unknown in Medina, as it is not mentioned in the biographical works of Ibn Ishaq nor (it seems) Musa b. 'Uqbah, nor does it feature in Maliki legal texts, where Little believes it would be expected to feature had it been circulating in Medina. Some early Kufans are ascribed as transmitting the story to the Kufan common links before Hisham arrived in Iraq, but these isnads are doubtful according to Little because the marital age hadith does not occur in early Kufan legal hadith compilations, nor in early versions of Kufan hadiths narrating the virtues of Aisha. Rather, these Kufan references to Aisha's marriage too seem to have originated with Hisham's formulations.		Hisham seems to have transmitted the hadith after he moved to Kufah in Iraq. There are a few transmissions ascribed to his Medinan students, though these are each dubious for various reasons (though one is difficult to explain away<ref>Little struggles somewhat to discount Ibn ʾabī al-Zinād's transmission from Hishām as having occurred in Medina (see pp. 426-433). The Medinan, Ibn ʾabī al-Zinād, is a confirmed partial common link from Hishām, and the (generally unreliable) Medinan historian al-Wāqidī is one of those who report it from him. In order to place the transmission as having occured in Iraq, where (if biographical sources are to be trusted) Ibn ʾabī al-Zinād moved from Medina, though to a different Iraqi city than Hishām and did so only after Hishām's death, or at most shortly beforehand, and where al-Wāqidī also moved from Medina but only after Ibn ʾabī al-Zinād's death, Little requires both that al-Waqidi did not transmit directly from Ibn ʾabī al-Zinād and that the latter did not transmit directly from Hishām. Incidentally, al-Wāqidī separately reports a distinct but isolated Medinan narration about Aisha's marriage (pp. 215-6).</ref>). Little argues that the hadith was unknown in Medina, as it is not mentioned in the biographical works of Ibn Ishaq nor (it seems) Musa b. 'Uqbah, nor does it feature in Maliki legal texts, where Little believes it would be expected to feature had it been circulating in Medina. Some early Kufans are ascribed as transmitting the story to the Kufan common links before Hisham arrived in Iraq, but these isnads are doubtful according to Little because the marital age hadith does not occur in early Kufan legal hadith compilations, nor in early versions of Kufan hadiths narrating the virtues of Aisha. Rather, these Kufan references to Aisha's marriage too seem to have originated with Hisham's formulations.

Lightyears at 11:57, 9 October 2023

2023-10-09T11:57:34Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:57, 9 October 2023
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	Aside from Hisham b. 'Urwa (d. 146 AH), who was Aisha's great nephew and whose simple narration is the most widely transmitted, Muhammad b. 'Amr (d. 144 AH) is the other reconstructable Medinan common link, though like Hisham, he moved to Iraq and merely seems to append one of Hisham's versions of the hadith to another narration. The other early common links are three Kufans (in Iraq) who died 146-160 AH. Though it is possible that one or more other narrations go back to Aisha herself, this cannot be demonstrated on an ICMA basis.<ref>pp. 397-99 of Dr Little's thesis</ref>		Aside from Hisham b. 'Urwa (d. 146 AH), who was Aisha's great nephew and whose simple narration is the most widely transmitted, Muhammad b. 'Amr (d. 144 AH) is the other reconstructable Medinan common link, though like Hisham, he moved to Iraq and merely seems to append one of Hisham's versions of the hadith to another narration. The other early common links are three Kufans (in Iraq) who died 146-160 AH. Though it is possible that one or more other narrations go back to Aisha herself, this cannot be demonstrated on an ICMA basis.<ref>pp. 397-99 of Dr Little's thesis</ref>

	Little then analyzes in greater depth his reconstructed matns for these common links. Based on shared words, phrases and sequencing, he concludes that they all derive from a single, simple formulation, and are not independently transmitted memories of a common event. This original formulation seems to be the widely transmitted one of Hisham, who also transmitted a few versions with additional details. Hisham attributed all of these to his father 'Urwa b. al-Zubayr. He did so falsely, argues Little; however, in his thesis he does not notice that the distinctive content of 'Urwa's letter about Aisha reported by Hisham is also narrated by a Syrian partial common link who ascribed it via his own uncle to 'Urwa's student, al-Zuhri, who moved from Medina to Syria. ~~This apparent corroboration is potentially significant, since~~ al-Zuhri's ~~knowledge would most likely have come from 'Urwa~~, ~~in which case Little's thesis would essentially be wrong~~<ref>'Urwa wrote a number of letters on early Islamic history to the late Umayyad court. These letters were transmitted by his son Hisham and the traditions therein were often also transmitted by 'Urwa's Medinan student al-Zuhri. 'Urwa's letters are translated in full in Sean Anthony, ''Muhammad and the Empires of Faith: The making of the Prophet of Islam'', Oakland CA: University of California, 2020, Chapter 4. In 2012, the creators of the ICMA method, Andreas Görke, Harald Motzki and Gregor Schoeler, strongly argued that the traditions in the letters attributed to 'Urwa probably do in some way originate with him, especially when they are supported by parallel traditions going back to 'Urwa (Goerke, A, Motzki, H & Schoeler, G (2012) [https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/12692843/First_Century_Sources_for_the_Life_of_Muhammad_a_debate.pdf First-Century Sources for the Life of Muhammad?] A Debate, Der Islam, vol. 89, no. 2, pp. 2-59. https://doi.org/10.1515/islam-2012-0002).<BR />		Little then analyzes in greater depth his reconstructed matns for these common links. Based on shared words, phrases and sequencing, he concludes that they all derive from a single, simple formulation, and are not independently transmitted memories of a common event. This original formulation seems to be the widely transmitted one of Hisham, who also transmitted a few versions with additional details. Hisham attributed all of these to his father 'Urwa b. al-Zubayr who was also Aisha's nephew. Hisham did so falsely, argues Little; however, in his thesis he does not notice that the distinctive content of 'Urwa's letter about Aisha's marriage reported by Hisham is also narrated by a Syrian partial common link who ascribed it via his own uncle to 'Urwa's student, al-Zuhri, who moved from Medina to Syria. The letter and al-Zuhri's narration alone share a very distinctive sequencing of seven elements, as well as some otherwise unique exact phrases and content.<ref>'Urwa wrote a number of letters on early Islamic history to the late Umayyad court. These letters were transmitted by his son Hisham and the traditions therein were often also transmitted by 'Urwa's Medinan student al-Zuhri. 'Urwa's letters are translated in full in Sean Anthony, ''Muhammad and the Empires of Faith: The making of the Prophet of Islam'', Oakland CA: University of California, 2020, Chapter 4. In 2012, the creators of the ICMA method, Andreas Görke, Harald Motzki and Gregor Schoeler, strongly argued that the traditions in the letters attributed to 'Urwa probably do in some way originate with him, especially when they are supported by parallel traditions going back to 'Urwa (Goerke, A, Motzki, H & Schoeler, G (2012) [https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/12692843/First_Century_Sources_for_the_Life_of_Muhammad_a_debate.pdf First-Century Sources for the Life of Muhammad?] A Debate, Der Islam, vol. 89, no. 2, pp. 2-59. https://doi.org/10.1515/islam-2012-0002).<BR />

	One of 'Urwa's letters is a short one about Aisha's marriage. It was reported in a couple of chains through Hisham and is quoted in the Relevant Quotations section above. Little contests a couple of arguments for the general authenticity of 'Urwa's letters but without wider engagement with Goerke et al. He also questions how we can in any case identify which words or elements thereof Hisham accurately transmitted (p. 314).<BR />		One of 'Urwa's letters is a short one about Aisha's marriage. It was reported in a couple of chains through Hisham and is quoted in the Relevant Quotations section above. Little contests a couple of arguments for the general authenticity of 'Urwa's letters but without wider engagement with Goerke et al. He also questions how we can in any case identify which words or elements thereof Hisham accurately transmitted (p. 314).<BR />
	However, Dr Little did not notice that another hadith he discusses which is ascribed to 'Urwa's Medinan student al-Zuhri contains the same core tradition as this letter, especially the otherwise unique sequence of elements, albeit not in the form of a letter. It is easy to imagine al-Zuhri learning it from 'Urwa directly or from the letter (though the isnad does not go that far back). Indeed, for much of this distinctive sequence they even share the same words and exact phrases, much of which would otherwise be unique to the letter. The content of the dream element is also highly distinctive to them, being very different in other narrations. The close relationship is obvious, as someone illustrated in [[Media:UrwaLetter-alZuhriComparison.png\|this image]] which uses Dr Little's own isnad diagrams. See Dr Little's blog for the full diagrams, from which the distinctiveness is readily apparent. Little's transliteration of 'Urwa's reconstructed letter on pp. 310-11 of his thesis can also be compared with his reconstructed transmission from al-Zuhri of the same elemental sequence (through al-Hajjaj b. Abi Mani; pp. 204-5; see also 370-72 and 482).<BR />		However, Dr Little did not notice that another hadith he discusses which is ascribed to 'Urwa's Medinan student al-Zuhri contains the same core tradition as this letter, especially the otherwise unique sequence of elements, albeit not in the form of a letter. It is easy to imagine al-Zuhri learning it from 'Urwa directly or from the letter (though the isnad does not go that far back). Indeed, for much of this distinctive sequence they even share the same words and exact phrases, much of which would otherwise be unique to the letter. The content of the dream element is also highly distinctive to them, being very different in other narrations. The close relationship is obvious, as someone illustrated in [[Media:UrwaLetter-alZuhriComparison.png\|this image]] which uses Dr Little's own isnad diagrams. See Dr Little's blog for the full diagrams, from which the distinctiveness is readily apparent. Little's transliteration of 'Urwa's reconstructed letter on pp. 310-11 of his thesis can also be compared with his reconstructed transmission from al-Zuhri of the same elemental sequence (through al-Hajjaj b. Abi Mani; pp. 204-5; see also 370-72 and 482).<BR />
	Al-Hajjaj, who lived in Aleppo, Syria, serves as a partial common link for the transmission and ascribed it via his uncle to al-Zuhri, who does not himself count as a common link but did move from Medina to Damascus and later Resafa, Syria, where he tutored the Caliph's sons.<BR />Given the very short chain, compatible geography of the transmitters, and closely matched and often uniquely shared wording and elemental sequence, this evidence cannot be lightly dismissed. The closest examples of similar content to the letter are cobbled together, clearly late, long single chained false ascriptions to Qatada and Ibn Abbas with far less similarity of elemental sequence and wording (these can be seen in the "Other Traditions" isnad diagram on his blog or see pp. 375 and 393 of his thesis).</ref>.		Al-Hajjaj, who lived in Aleppo, Syria, serves as a partial common link for the transmission and ascribed it via his uncle to al-Zuhri, who does not himself count as a common link but did move from Medina to Damascus and later Resafa, Syria, where he tutored the Caliph's sons.<BR />Given the very short chain, compatible geography of the transmitters, and closely matched and often uniquely shared wording and elemental sequence, this evidence cannot be lightly dismissed. The closest examples of similar content to the letter are cobbled together, clearly late, long single chained false ascriptions to Qatada and Ibn Abbas with far less similarity of elemental sequence and wording (these can be seen in the "Other Traditions" isnad diagram on his blog or see pp. 375 and 393 of his thesis).</ref> This apparent corroboration is potentially significant, since al-Zuhri's knowledge would most likely have come from his teacher, 'Urwa, in which case Little's thesis would essentially be wrong.

	There is some evidence that Hisham did not originally extend the isnad of most of his versions back to Aisha herself, but rather only to his father 'Urwa, Aisha's nephew, and that they were narrated in the 3rd person, not in her own voice.<ref>Ibid. p. 305 including footnote 996</ref> It is even clearer that such isnad "raising" occured for transmissions by others back to Aisha by other routes.		There is some evidence that Hisham did not originally extend the isnad of most of his versions back to Aisha herself, but rather only to his father 'Urwa, Aisha's nephew, and that they were narrated in the 3rd person, not in her own voice.<ref>Ibid. p. 305 including footnote 996</ref> It is even clearer that such isnad "raising" occured for transmissions by others back to Aisha by other routes.

Lightyears: An important weakness in Little's thesis has grown larger

2023-10-08T21:03:48Z

An important weakness in Little's thesis has grown larger

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