Understanding Aisha Siddiqah

Understanding Aisha Siddiqah thirteenth year of Prophethood, when the Prophet of Islam migrated from Makkah to Madinah with Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, Aisha also migrated with her family. Along with her remarkable memory, she was exceptionally intelligent and perceptive. Though she was only eight years old at the time of the Hijrah, she remembered its events in great detail. No other Companion preserved such a continuous and detailed account of the Hijrah as she did. The Prophet of Islam’s first marriage was to Khadijah bint Khuwaylid in Makkah, when he was twenty-five years old. Khadijah passed away three years before the Hijrah. After her death, he married Aisha bint Abi Bakr. The proposal was conveyed through Khawlah bint Hakim. Hadith sources show that the marriage contract took place in Makkah when Aisha was six years old. Her formal departure to the Prophet’s household took place in Madinah after the Hijrah, when she was nine years old. (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 24867) The marriage contract was conducted by her father, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq. (Al-Mustadrak al-Hakim, Hadith No. 2704) According to the narrations, her mahr, a mandatory marriage gift, was five hundred dirhams. (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 1426) In ancient Arabia, literacy was not common, and only a few people knew how to read and write. Abu Bakr alSiddiq was among this small educated group. Because