Wahi – Divine Inspirations and Revelations
Prophets marriage with Mother of the believers Ayesha (r.a) The Prophet ﷺ married a total of eleven wives within the last ten years of his prophethood which lasted till he passed away. The first of the eleven was Ayesha (r.a) which took place after the death of Prophet's first wife Khadija (r.a) whom he married before his prophetic mission started. Even though the Prophet ﷺ had other wives yet his marriage with Ayesha (r.a) has become a major topic of discussion and controversy mainly in the West. This is due to a hadith in one of the most authentic collection called Sahih Bukhari in which it is said that she was nine years old when he married her. This age is contested in all of the other sources in Islam that mention her to be of much older than nine years. Regardless of her age at the time of marriage, I am writing this to share that it was not the Prophet but in fact it was Allah ﷻ who made decision for this marriage through revelation. A famous Islamic scholar named Sheikh Imran Hosein commented on this marriage: “There was no Nikah[1] performed between the blessed Prophet ﷺ and Aisha (radiallahu 'anhha) here on earth. Allah Himself married them. This means that Allah ordained that she be his wife. He could have done that even before she was born. Would you any one else have a problem with Him ordaining that someone be wife of a man even before He Created her?”[2] Indeed what the sheikh said is true because Prophet ﷺ did not make the decision to marry Ayesha (r.a), it was Allah’s decision and there is more than enough evidence for this in authentic hadith collection. In a hadith narrated by Ayesha (r.a), the Prophet ﷺ once informed her: “You were shown to me twice in (my) dream. Behold, a man was carrying you in a silken piece of cloth and said to me: She is your wife, so uncover her, and behold, it was you. I would then say (to myself): “If this is from Allah, then it must happen.”[3] The narrations coming from Ayesha (r.a) mention and inform us that Prophet ﷺ seeing her in his dreams before actual marriage or even proposing her father makes it clear that it was a heavenly decision made by Allah ﷻ Himself. The process of revelation in Islam started first with dreams. At first the Prophet ﷺ used to observe dreams and then they would become true in his state of awake. Before sending Archangel Jibraeel (Gabriel) (alaihi salaam) with the first Quran revelation, Allah ﷻ was preparing the prophet mentally and spiritually through the medium of al mubashshiraat (true and good dreams) as discussed in the post of Process of Revelation - Understanding The Prophets Experience: “The commencement of the Divine Inspiration to Allah’s Messenger was in the form of good righteous (true) dreams in his sleep. He never had a dream but that it came true like bright day light. He used to go in seclusion in (the cave of) Hira where he used to worship (Allah) continuously for many (days and) nights He used to take with him the food for that (stay) and then come back to (his wife) Khadija to take more food for another period, till suddenly the Truth (Quran) descended upon him while he was in the cave of Hira….”[4] Dreams are part of Prophethood and give the news of the al-ghayb (unseen) to the prophets and others as per authentic narrations discussed earlier in the post on Dreams - Part of Prophethood. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Nothing would remain of prophethood after me except al-mubashshiraat." The companions asked: "Messenger of Allah, what do you mean by al-mubashshiraat?" He replied: "Good dreams seen by a good man and those seen for him by another man. This is one part of the forty-six parts comprising prophethood.”[5] The Quran also confirms the source of this prophetic knowledge when it mentions Prophet Yusuf (alaihi salaam) (Joseph) receiving the news of his great future through the medium of dream. Thus the dream shown to the Prophet ﷺ was a decision by Allah ﷻ for future of Ayesha (r.a) and the Prophet ﷺ. At this point it is also important to mention that the Prophet’s ﷺ was not marrying solely based on his desires and wishes. It was Allah ﷻ Who was guiding him in these decisions and approved them because after his eleventh marriage Allah ﷻ decided for him that he should not marry anymore and he did exactly what was decided for him: “It is not allowed to you to take women afterwards, nor that you should change them for other wives, though their beauty be pleasing to you.”[6] Hence all his marriages including that with Ayesha (r.a) had Allah's preapproval and this is confirmed for us in the book of Allah ﷻ. References: [1] Sahih al-Bukhari 5125 – Sunnah.com [2] Nikah is an Islamic marriage ceremony. [3] What was the age of Aisha when she was married? Please comment on her age? – Women in Islam – www.imranhosein.org. [4] Sahih Bukhari Vol. 6, Book 60, Hadith 478 – Sunnah.com [5] Imam Malik – Muwatta Malik [6] Al Quran 33:52
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