The Wisdom Behind
the Marriage
As is known, Aisha al-Siddiqah was under ten years old when her marriage to the Prophet of Islam took place. After the marriage, she lived with him throughout the entire Madinan period. This ten-year period was the most eventful period in the early history of Islam. Throughout these years, she remained continuously in the company of the Prophet of Islam, even accompanying him on journeys. Thus, for Aisha al-Siddiqah, this ten-year period was like an association with a living school.
This was the real purpose behind Aisha al-Siddiqah’s marriage to the Prophet of Islam at a young age. At that time, she was in the stage of life known as the formative period. The study of psychology shows that by about the age of ten, the mind of a person is largely formed. Its conditioning has already become so strong that breaking it at a later stage becomes extremely difficult.
It appears that Aisha al-Siddiqah’s father, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, understood this secret. According to a carefully considered plan, he arranged the marriage of his intelligent daughter to the Prophet of Islam at a young age. This took place with the full consent of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, the first Caliph. It involved both deep sincerity and great wisdom.
The result of this marriage—or, in other words, this educational planning—was something that perhaps has no parallel in human history. As a result of this planning, a capable personality like Aisha al-Siddiqah was formed. During the most receptive stage of her life, she had, perhaps more than anyone else, the opportunity to learn directly from the final Prophet and develop under his guidance. In this way, she became a complete inheritor of prophetic knowledge. After the death of the Prophet of Islam, she continued for nearly fifty years to disseminate this knowledge among people. In an age before the printing press and the tape recorder, she became, as it were, a living recorder of the Prophet of Islam.
This transmission of prophetic knowledge through Aisha al-Siddiqah continued for a long period after the death of the Prophet of Islam. This became possible only because she had entered the Prophet’s household at a young age. Had Aisha al-Siddiqah been approximately the same age as the Prophet of Islam, both would have passed away around the same time, with only a slight difference. When the Prophet’s voice fell silent, Aisha al-Siddiqah’s voice too would have fallen silent, and the transmission of prophetic knowledge would have come to an abrupt end.
It should also be added that this kind of acquisition of knowledge from the Prophet could not have taken place through a man. For this purpose, a woman was required—one who could live with him continuously as his wife. Only a woman, as his wife, could remain in such constant companionship with him; a man could not. Seen in the light of these considerations, Aisha al-Siddiqah’s marriage was a far-reaching arrangement whose benefit has reached all humanity and will continue to do so until the Day of Judgment. If the various aspects of this matter are considered objectively, it is not difficult to understand that what happened was the only possible arrangement. There was, in fact, no alternative that could have fulfilled this need.
The original sources of Islam are the Quran and Hadith. The Quran and Hadith may be called the text of Islam. This text is, as it were, the literal statement of Islam. Anyone who wishes to know what Islam is can learn it by studying the Quran and Hadith.
However, there is another element that holds great importance in religion, and that is companionship. Companionship does not mean merely sitting silently in a gathering. It necessarily includes intellectual exchange. In the true sense, a person benefits from companionship when he or she participates in a gathering in such a way as to receive direct benefit from the one whose company is being shared: increasing knowledge through questions and answers, clarifying unclear matters through further discussion, and at the same time receiving personal benefit from the person’s experience, spirituality, and God-realization.
The Companions were living examples of the benefits of their association with the Prophet. In Aisha, however, an exceptional example was established. Her close relationship with the Prophet became a particularly complete model of what could be gained from such association. Moreover, this model continued, long after the death of the Prophet of Islam, to make people aware of the importance of companionship.
Aisha al-Siddiqah is, as it were, a living embodiment of the principle of companionship. In her life, the principle of companionship took the form of an institution. This institution must now be kept alive permanently within the Muslim community. Senior members of every generation should continue to pass on this benefit of companionship to the men and women of the next generation, so that Islam may remain preserved not only in the form of text, but also through the intellectual and spiritual benefit provided by the institution of companionship. (Aurat Memar e Insaniyat)
