Iqbal1089

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullah.

I thought i'd open a new thread to address a few more of the evidences presented by T.O. Shanavas in his attempt to discredit the hadith that reports Aisha's (r) young age at the time of her marriage to Prophet Muhammad (s). The original thread posted by PA, titled Hadith Inconsisties [sic] Exposed: Ayesha a Six-Year-Old-Bride?, can be found here. I'll repost my initial reply to evidence #1 and will then briefly look at evidence #2 & #3 as i think these suffice to show the author's bias and habit of selectively quoting only that which fits his agenda. I may look at the other evidences at some later point if time permits.

Here is the initial reply to evidence #1.

Interesting title. What's an "Inconsisties"? In any case, i think the only thing "exposed" here is the pitiful lack of research on the part of T.O. Shanavas (he or she?) and the gullibility of those who swallow hook, line and sinker whatever he's written in this particular article.

So Shanavas had a "thorn in the heart" of his faith. We'll see below how he went about removing that thorn, by passing over evidence that contradicted his agenda whilst promoting one or two quotes that helped him discredit the hadith that report Aisha's (r) young age.

It seems the problem Shanavas and his Christian questioner have is not Aisha's (r) individual age at the time of her marriage to the Prophet (s) but rather the age gap between the two of them. Otherwise what is the point of mentioning the Prophet's (s) age? Would Shanavas and his friend prefer it if the Prophet (s) had been younger? Some Christians, having failed to defame the exemplary character of the Prophet (s) based only on Aisha's (r) age at the time of her marriage introduced a new factor into the equation, namely that the marriage is offensive because of the age difference between the two marriage partners.

Let's first look at evidence #1, it seems as good a place as any to start.

This isn't a very good start for Shanavas and those who've submitted to his arguments. "Most of the narratives", we are told, "are reported only by Hisham ibn `Urwah." Okay, let's accept for argument's sake that most of them have been reported only by Hisham ibn `Urwah. Yet it is clear from Shanavas' own words that there are in fact other reports that aren't related through Hisham at all. So why doesn't Shanavas mention any of them? Shanavas all too quickly passes over evidence that refutes his thesis, and his supporters are more than willing to let him do so. They are equally to blame; guilty by association i'd say.

The fact that other narrators agree with Hisham in reporting the young age of Aisha (r) at the time of her marriage suffices to show grave defects in Shanavas' evidence #1 argument. His attempt therefore - as we shall see below - to discredit Hisham ibn `Urwah is both unnecessary and disingenuous. This is despite the fact that to suit his purpose Shanavas has grossly exaggerated Hisham's weakness as we shall see. Shanavas wants us to believe that Hisham was mistaken in his reporting of Aisha's (r) age. So what? Is he also going to condemn all the other narrators that agree with Hisham?

Hisham ibn `Urwah isn't alone in reporting Aisha's (r) young age at the time of her marriage to Prophet Muhammad (s). Here are some other narrators who report the same age that Hisham does:

Ibn Majah (d.273H) in his Sunan hadith collection, in the book of marriage, records it with his chain of transmission through Abu Ubaydah, on the authority of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud.

An-Nasa'i (d.303H) in his Sunan, the book of marriage, cites it with his chain of transmission through Muhammad ibn Abi Salmah, on the authority of Abdul Rahman, on the authority of Aisha (r).

An-Nasa'i also relates it through al-'Amash, on the authority of Ibrahim, on the authority of al-Aswad, from Aisha. (Cf. ibn al-Qayyim's [d.751H], Tahdhib as-Sunan #2122). Likewise, Hafidh al-Haythami (d.807H), in his Majma az-Zawa'id (#15297), cites it from al-Aswad from Aisha (r) as does Imam Ahmed (d.241H) in his Musnad collection, in the section on Aisha's (r) hadith.

At-Tabarani (d.360H) in his Mu'jam al-Kabir, in the chapter on the wives of the Prophet (s), has a number of chains of transmission for this report. Here are three of them:

- from Sa'd ibn Ibrahim, on the authority of al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, from Aisha (r)

- from Sai'd ibn Abu 'Aruba, on the authority of Qatadah, re. Aisha

- from Abu Asamah, on the authority of al-'Ajlih, on the authority of ibn Abi Malayka, re. Aisha

None of the above routes of transmission go through Hisham ibn `Urwah yet they agree with him in narrating the young age of Aisha (r).

It is in fact reported by more than just one, two or three people.

Al-Qasim ibn Muhammad reports the age from Aisha (r) as per at-Tabarani's chain above and he was one of the seven famous Imams of Madina.

The last chain cited from at-Tabarani's work is through ibn Abi Malayka who is another Madinan scholar and an eminently reliable hadith narrator. He met at least thirty of the Prophet's (s) Companions. (ibn Hajar, at-Taqrib #3454)

Yahya al-Lakhmi also reports it from Aisha (r), as per ibn Sa'd's (d.230H) Tabaqat al-Kubra, and he is another Madinan authority.

In Sahih Muslim (#1422) we have az-Zuhri citing this report from Hisham ibn 'Urwa. Az-Zuhri was a Madinan hadith master and it is safe to assume that he heard this report from Hisham in Madina prior to him moving to Iraq.

No! Madinan authorities have also cited this hadith as have other non-Iraqi narrators through chains that don't mention Hisham at all.

Continued... Iqbal