Bibi A'ishah (r.a.)
married the Prophet (s.a.s.)
only after she had reached
the age of eleven
One has to keep in forefront the period in history, the 
geographical location, the prevalent social traditions in mind 
while reading this article and above all the socio-political reason 
and need put forward by the biographer behind this marriage. 

'Hayat Muhammad' - 
                  an acclaimed book of Prophet's biography in Arabic

       Dr. Muhammad Husayn Haykal, the author of 'Hayat Muhammad' is well known to his readers for his several master piece works in Arabic. In the Forward to the first edition published in 1935, the Grand Shaykh of al Azhar, Muhammad Mustafa al Maraghi, acknowledges that having studied Law and philosophy Dr. Haykal had made reason the judge and evidence the foundation of knowledge, while writing this detailed biography of the Prophet. The Grand Shaykh also adds; "Dr. Haykal has chastised those who speculate without evidence; who regard the old purely for its age, as sacred. He has imposed the teaching of the truth upon all those who have the capacity to grasp it." 

      The distinguished Muslim scholar Ismai'l Raji al Faruqi, then the professor of the Temple University of Philadelphia, undertook the mammoth task of translating this renowned biography into English. With the persistent and dedicated efforts of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth of Saudi Arabia and the Muslim Students Association of the United Sates and Canada this English translation was published under the title 'The Life of Muhammad'. The following two excerpts are printed from this English edition published by the North American Trust Publications of U.S.A. (ISBN number 0-89259-002-5).
My thanks are due to all these learned Muslim scholars and the publishers. 

An excerpt from page 139
Muhammad's Engagement to 'A'ishah

     The rejection of Muhammad by the tribes increased his isolation, as the doubled and redoubled injuries of the Quraysh
increased Muhammad's pain and grief. The period of mourning for Khadijah passed, and Muhammad thought of marrying again in the hope of finding consolation in a new companion. He also thought that marriage might even furnish a new occasion for strengthening the bond of brotherhood and commitment between himself and the earlier converts to Islam. He therefore asked Abu Bakr for the hand of his daughter, 'A'ishah. Since she was still too young to marry, the engagement was announced, but the marriage was postponed for three more years until 'A'ishah reached the age of eleven. In the meantime, Muhammad married Sawdah, the widow of one of the Muslim companions who emigrated to Abyssinia but died upon his return to Makkah.

      Some of the readers of this article may be familiar with the millennium or so ago compiled "re-narrated reports" called Hadiths. A couple of these reports mention the age of Bibi A'ishah, at the time of her marriage, to be lower than the one recorded by Dr. Haykal. Under the Preface to the first edition appears the following  noteworthy passage on the subject of Hadith Criticism, as if it was there to refute these reports. I suggest the readers to read that Criticism carefully and also surf my article 'Myths and Realities of Hadith' at URL:
 http://www.mostmerciful.com/hadithbook-sectionone.htm
An excerpt from the Preface pages lxxxii and lxxxiii
The Standard of Hadith Criticism
        Despite the great care and precision of the Hadith scholars, much of what they regarded as true was later proved to be spurious. In his commentary on the collection of Muslim, al Nawai [Yahya Abu Zakariyya al-Nawawi] wrote: “A number of scholars discovered many hadiths in the collections of Muslim and Bukhari which do not fulfill the conditions of verification assumed by these men.” The collectors attached the greater weight to the trustworthiness of the narrators. Their criterion was certainly valuable, but it was not sufficient. In our opinion, the criterion for the Hadith criticism, as well as standard for materials concerning the Prophet’s life, is the one which the Prophet himself gave. He said: “After I am gone differences will arise among you. Compare whatever is reported to be mine with the Book of God; that which agrees therewith you may accept as having come from me ; that which disagrees you will reject as a fabrication.” This valid standard is observed by the great men of Islam right from the very beginning. It continues to be the standard of thinkers today. Ibn Khaldun wrote: “I do not believe any hadith or report of a companion of the Prophet to be true which differs from the common sense meaning of the Qur’an, no matter how trustworthy the narrators may have been. It is not impossible that a narrator appears to be trustworthy though he may be moved by ulterior motive. If the hadiths were criticized for their textual contents as they were for the narrators who transmitted them a great number would have had to be rejected. It is a recognized principle that a hadith could be declared spurious if it departs from the common sense meaning of the Qur’an from the recognized principles of the Shari’ah, the rules of logic, the evidence of sense, or any other self-evident truth.” This criterion, as given by the Prophet as well as ibn Khaldun, perfectly accords with modern scientific criticism.
An Islamic web site claims that the age of Bibi A'ishah (r.a.) 
was much higher than eleven years at the time of her marriage...  
To read the details with evidences please visit:

 http://www.understanding-islam.com/related/text.asp?type=question&qid=375 


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