– Saffana Kamal
For a Muslim woman, the biography of Aisha (RA) is worth emulating. Therefore, Ayesha’s (RA) biography is a mirror for them, in which it will be seen what is the true picture of a Muslim woman’s life.
Ayesha (RA) is the name, Siddiqa is the title, UmmulMomineen, and Umm Abdullah are the surnames, and Humaira is the nickname. The Holy Prophetﷺ also addressed her asBintul-Siddique. According to Syed SulaimanNadwi, she was born at the end of the fifth year of Prophethood, i.e. Shawwal 9 before Hijrat or July 614 AD.
After the death of Hazrat Khadija(RA), the Holy Prophet ﷺ used to be very sad, but because of the grief of this loneliness, life became difficult and the relatives were very worried about it. The Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) should get married, heﷺ said: With whom? Hazrat Khola said that there are both widows and virgins, widow Hazrat Souda and virgin Hazrat Aisha(RA). It was said that it is better that you talk about them.
The Holy Prophetﷺ saw in a dream that an angel was presenting something in front of him wrapped in a silk cloth. When he opened it, it was Aisha(RA). Hazrat Aisha was six years old when she got married.
Hazrat Ayesha was married with 500 dirhams for meher in May 620 according to Shawwal 3 before Hijra, she was six years old at that time. The real purpose of this young marriage was to strengthen the relationship between Prophethood and the Caliphate. First the physical capacity of women for extraordinary growth in the warm climate of Arabia, secondly, the mental and psychological strength of distinguished persons has an extraordinary capacity for development. In the same way, there is a special quality of fertility in this stature. This is called “pre-consciousness”. In any case, the acceptance of Hazrat Ayesha(RA) as his wife by the Holy Prophet ﷺ at this young age is clear proof of the fact that from her young age, she showed signs of growth and intelligence.
The marriage of Hazrat Aisha’s (RA) was held in a simple way that Hazrat Aisha RA was playing with the girls, her grandmother came and took her away, and Hazrat Abu Bakr came and performed the marriage ceremony.
A Muslim woman’s marriage requires only this much arrangement. But today, the marriage of a Muslim girl is a combination of extravagant expenses and idolatrous ceremonies.
Hazrat Aisha (RA)left her father’s house during the day in Shawwal 1 Hijri. Hazrat Aisha was 9 years old at that time. Arabs could not marry their foster brother’s daughter. By marrying Hazrat Aisha, Heﷺ also ended this ritual. Many other rituals of jahiliyyah were also broken through this marriage.
The great interest in the multiple marriages of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and especially in the marriage of Ayesha (R.A.) at a young age was that although hundreds of men were brought to a high level of knowledge by their perpetual companionship, this opportunity was not available to ordinary women, but only wives. The wives could get benefited and then this light could gradually spread through these stars to the entire feminine universe. Her rank is so high in the book, sunnah, jurisprudence, and rulings that her name is taken with Hazrat Umar Farooq RA, Ali Murtaza RA, and Abdullah bin Abbas RA. Hazrat Ayesha (RA) is a great favor to the feminine world that through her, we got awareness about the issues of jurisprudence and women.
She was a great example of piety and chastity. The incident of “ifk”,which was the result of the hypocrites’ conspiracies, she got bedridden due to that grief. Then Allah sent down the verse of Bar’at which is a complete proof of her purity and what is more proof of her purity than that God has given the testimony of it?
The house in which Hazrat Aisha(RA) entered was not a tall and luxurious building, but a room in which a man’s hand would reach the ceiling if he stood up. A blanket was used as a curtain on the door. The entire universe of the house was a cot, a mat, a bed, and a pillow filled with bark. There were no more than two pots for keeping flour and dates, a pot of water, and a bowl for drinking water. Lighting a lamp at night was beyond the means of the owner. She had four daughters from the womb of Hazrat Khadija(RA). They lived together but no incident of mutual annoyance was mentioned.
Hazrat Ayesha was eighteen years old when the Holy Prophet (SAW) took the journey to the Hereafter. The era of Hazrat Amir Muawiya was the last era of her life. In Ramadan of 678 A.D., she passed away after Witr prayer at night.
