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It is not clear when she was born, as various traditions conflict. Her birth date has been calculated as anywhere from 605 to 613. She was the daughter of Abu Bakr of Mecca, one of the first converts to Islam. They belonged to Muhammad's tribe, the Quraysh. Aisha herself is said to have adopted Islam soon after her father.
Before marrying Muhammad, Aisha was engaged to Jubair son of Mut`am ibn `Adi, a Meccan elder. After the death of Khadija, Muhammad's first wife, her father broke the engagement and betrothed her to Muhammad.
Because Aisha was still too young for marriage, the marriage was delayed until after the Hegira, 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, by the bride and groom drinking a bowl of milk in front of witnesses.
Even though the marriage may have been politically motivated, to mark the ties between Muhammad and his companion Abu Bakr, all histories agree that Muhammad and Aisha became sincerely fond of each other. Aisha was jealous of the other wives that Muhammad took during this period (see Muhammad's marriages). Muhammad in his turn spent much time with Aisha. He defended her when she was accused of adultery, after she was left behind on a trip and returned after a day's absence. During his last illness, he sought her apartments and died with his head in her lap.
Aisha never remarried after Muhammad's death. She lived in Medina and made several pilgrimages to Mecca.
After Muhammad's death, her father Abu Bakr became the first caliph, or leader of the Muslims. His reign was short. He was followed by Umar, and then Uthman, both of them warriors linked to Muhammad by clanship and marriage. In 656, Uthman was killed by rebels, who then acclaimed Ali, Muhammad's son-in-law, as the fourth caliph.
Aisha was outraged. The death of Uthman should be avenged, not rewarded! She is said to have gone to the mosque of Mecca, veiled, and there delivered a fiery speech calling for vengeance. She raised a small force which confronted Ali's army outside the city of BasraBasra (also known as Basrah or Basara historically sometimes called Busra Busrah and early on Bassorah Arabic: , Al-Basrah is the second largest city of Iraq with an estimated population of about 1,377,000 in 2003. It is the country's main port. The city. Battle ensued and Aisha's forces were defeated. Aisha is said to have led her forces from a howdah on top 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. Thenceforth she lived a retired life until she died in approximately 678.
This is an extremely contentious issue. On the one hand, we have several hadithThe Hadith (, pl. Ahadith is a body of laws, legends and stories about Muhammad's way of life, (Arabic, Sunnah which includes his biography or the sira) and the sayings themselves where he elaborated on his choices or offered advice; many parts of the Hads, said to have been narrated by Aisha herself, claiming that she was 6 years old when betrothed and 9 when the marriage was consummated. On the other hand, there is some contradictory evidence from early Muslim chroniclers like Ibn IshaqIbn Ishaq (d. 768), Arabic historian, lived in Medina, where he interested himself to such an extent in the details of the Prophet's life that he was attacked by those to whom his work seemed to have a rationalistic tendency. He was the first sira writer and TabariAbu Jafar Muhammad ibn Jarir at-Tabari ( 838- 923), Iranian historian and theologian, was born in Amol, Tabaristan (south of the Caspian), and studied in Ray (Rages) , Baghdad, and in Syria and Egypt. Tabari" means from Tabaristan. He died in Baghdad in 9 that indicate Aisha may have been 12 to 14 years old, just past the age of puberty, or perhaps even older.
Most Muslim scholars have accepted the tradition that Aisha was 9. This has in turn led critics to denounce Muhammad for marrying a girl so young. The usual response has been that Aisha was indeed post-pubescent at 9 (even though that is medically unlikely) and that such early marriages were accepted practice in those days.
However, some Muslim scholars point to other traditions that conflict with those attributed to Aisha in this matter. If the other traditions are right, this would imply that Aisha was either confused in her dating, was exaggerating her youth at marriage, or that her stories (which were not written down until more than 100 years after her death) had been garbled in transmission. If we believe traditions that say she was post-pubescent when married --extremely likely in light of practices in other societies where early marriage is common -- then these other traditions, from Ibn Ishaq and Tabari and others, seem much more convincing.
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