That which you dismissed as assumptions are actual historical facts, it does look like you did not read them and went back to that same website to find the above like another poster did on a previous thread.
I have already spoken with you another thread so really don't consider you worthy of replying to, you are one of those sanghis who think they have some great intellectual capability because you are able to copy and paste from western sourced websites so it makes you a scholar of everything Islamic.
But let me explain once again the science of hadith for the benefit of others. Every hadith has to be judged from several different factors before it can be accepted, it depends on verifying the chain of the narrators as well as the actual words. If there is even a slight doubt on the narrators or the validity of that narrative chain, it has to be rejected and if it also rejects the Qur'an or other Hadiths or any other confirmed aspects of historical setting, then it also has to be rejected.
But I really don't believe you are interested in this discussion purely from an objective historical point of view, you are here on PDF for a certain reason, and we all know what that reason is. But I will indulge in this, not for your sake, but to educate any who are still in doubt from within the Muslim community.
Critics cite that
Tabari, Abu Dawood, and Bukhari also says
Ayesha was 9. Such critics miss the point on
Hisham ibn `urwah. They are unaware of the fact that each one these traditions, whether it is from
Tabari,
Bukhari,
Muslim or
Abu Dawood, is either narrated by
Hisham ibn `urwah or is reported to the respective author by or through an Iraqi. Not even a single narrative is free from either of the two problems.
Tehzeeb al-Tehzeeb, one of the most well known books on the life and reliability of the narrators of the traditions of the Prophet (pbuh) reports that according to
Yaqub ibn Shaibah:
“narratives reported by Hisham are reliable except those that are reported through the people of Iraq.” It further states that
Malik ibn Anas objected on those narratives of
Hisham which were reported through people of Iraq (Vol. 11, pg. 48 – 51).
The actual statements, their translations and their complete references are given below:
Yaqub ibn Shaibah says: He [i.e.
Hisham] is highly reliable, his narratives are acceptable, except what he narrated after shifting to Iraq. (
Tehzeeb al-Tehzeeb,
Ibn Hajar Al-`asqalaaniy, Arabic,
Dar Ihya al-turath al-Islami, Vol. 11, pg. 50)
I have been told that
Malik [
ibn Anas] objected on those narratives of
Hisham which were reported through people of Iraq. (
Tehzi’bu’l-tehzi’b,
Ibn Hajar Al-`asqala’ni, Arabic,
Dar Ihya al-turath al-Islami, Vol. 11, pg. 50)
All the hadith Hisham related regarding the age of Ayesha are from the time he was in Iraq. From a historical and evidentiary perspective, this already puts into severe doubt the veracity of such claims.
It is quite strange that no one from
Medinah, where
Hisham ibn `urwah lived the first seventy one years of his life has narrated the event [from him], even though in
Medinah his pupils included people as well known as
Malik ibn Anas. All the narratives of this event have been reported by narrators from Iraq, where
Hisham is reported to have had shifted after living in
Medinah for seventy one years.
Again, the argument that all those who heard this narrative from
Hisham ibn `urwah were Iraqis, is a simple statement of fact. This can be checked in the biographical sketches of these narrators in any of the books written on the narrators.
Meezaan al-Ai`tidaal, another book on the [life sketches of the] narrators of the traditions of the Prophet (pbuh) reports that when he was old,
Hisham’s memory suffered quite badly (Vol. 4, pg. 301 – 302)
The actual statement, its translation and its complete references is given below:
When he was old,
Hisham‘s memory suffered quite badly (
Meezaan al-Ai`tidaal,
Al-Zahabi, Arabic,
Al-Maktabah al-Athriyyah, Sheikhupura, Pakistan, Vol. 4, pg. 301).
So now we have evidence that when Hisham related the traditions related to Ayesha’s age, he did so while his memory suffered severely. Already, no court of law would consider such testimony valid, not even in a civil court where the burden of proof is quite low compared to a criminal court.
According to
Ibn Hisham, the historian,
Ayesha (ra) accepted Islam quite some time before
`umar ibn al-Khattab (ra). This shows that
Ayesha (ra) accepted Islam during the first year of Islam. While, if the narrative of
Ayesha‘s (ra) marriage at seven years of age is held to be true,
Ayesha (ra) should not have been born during the first year of Islam.
According to a narrative reported by
Ahmad ibn Hanbal, after the death of
Khadijah (ra), when
Khaulah (ra) came to the Prophet (pbuh) advising him to marry again, the Prophet (pbuh) asked her regarding the choices she had in her mind.
Khaulah said: “You can marry a virgin (
bikr) or a woman who has already been married (
thayyib)”. When the Prophet (pbuh) asked about who the virgin was,
Khaulah proposed
Ayesha‘s (ra) name. All those who know the Arabic language, are aware that the word “
bikr” in the Arabic language is not used for an immature nine year old girl. The correct word for a young playful girl, as stated earlier is “
Jariyah“. “
Bikr” on the other hand, is used for an unmarried lady, and obviously a nine year old is not a “lady”.
The complete reference for this reporting of
Ahmad ibn Hanbal is:
Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Vol 6, Pg 210, Arabic,
Dar Ihya al-turath al-`arabi, Beirut.
According to
Ibn Hisham,
Ayesha (ra) was the 20th or the 21st person to enter into the folds of Islam (
Al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah,
Ibn Hisham, Vol. 1, Pg. 227 – 234, Arabic,
Maktabah al-Riyadh al-hadithah,
Al-Riyadh) While
`umar ibn al-khattab was preceded by forty individuals (
Al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah,
Ibn Hisham, Vol. 1, Pg. 295, Arabic,
Maktabah al-Riyadh al-hadithah,
Al-Riyadh).
According to
Ibn Hajar,
Fatimah (ra), the daughter of Prophet Muhammad, was five years older than
Ayesha (ra).
Fatimah (ra) is reported to have been born when the Prophet (pbuh) was 35 years old. Thus, even if this information is taken to be correct,
Ayesha (ra) could by no means be less than 14 years old at the time of hijrah, and 15 or 16 years old at the time of her marriage.
Ibn Hajar‘s original statement, its translation and reference follows:
Fatimah (ra) was born at the time the
Kaa`bah was rebuilt, when the Prophet (pbuh) was 35 years old… she (
Fatimah) was five years older that
Ayesha (ra). (
Al-Isabah fi Tamyeez al-Sahaabah,
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalaniy, Vol. 4, Pg. 377, Arabic,
Maktabah al-Riyadh al-Haditha,
al-Riyadh, 1978)
I have quoted
Tabari,
Bukhari and
Muslim to show that even their own information contradicts with the narrative regarding
Ayesha‘s (ra) age. Thus, when the narrative of
Ayesha‘s (ra) age is not reliable and when there is information in the same books that contradicts the narrative of
Ayesha‘s age, I see absolutely no reason to believe that the information on
Ayesha‘s (ra) age is accepted (when there are adequate grounds to reject it) and the other (contradictory) information is rejected (when there is no ground to reject it).
@EgyptianAmerican