Aisha Siddiqah: A Woman of Great Learning

AN EXTRAORDINARY WOMAN A isha was the daughter of Abu Bakr Siddiq, the first caliph of Islam. She was born in Makkah eight years before the Hijrah and passed away in 58 AH at the age of sixty-six. Khadijah, the first wife of the Prophet Muhammad, passed away about three years before the Hijrah. Sometime later, Khawlah bint Hakim, one of the early Companions, approached Abu Bakr on the Prophet’s behalf with a marriage proposal for Aisha. Abu Bakr explained that Mut‘im ibn Adi, chief of the Banu Nawfal clan of the Quraysh, had earlier proposed a marriage between Aisha and his son Jubayr, and that he had accepted the proposal. Abu Bakr was known for never going back on his word. As the report states: “By God, Abu Bakr never broke a promise.” (Dala’il al-Nubuwwah by al-Bayhaqi, Vol. 2, p. 411) Abu Bakr then went to Mut‘im and asked whether he still wished his son to marry Aisha. Mut‘im turned to his wife and asked for her opinion.