# Was Aisha really nine, as Yaqeen Institute concluded?

*Reaction to Omar Suleiman and Yaqeen's conclusion that Aisha was nine*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/chyxri7trnk/s/1/
- Date: 2018-11-30 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Shaykh Omar Suleiman & the Yaqeen Institutes On Age of Aisha (r.a.) -Mufti Abu Layth (0:00–6:33)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHyxRI7Trnk&t=0s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/chyxri7trnk/

**Topics:** The age of Aisha; Views on contemporary scholars

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Mufti Abu Layth rejects the conclusion that Aisha was six at marriage and nine at its consummation, saying such a marriage would be morally abhorrent and did not happen. He disputes the claim that the question is not a moral one and says the chains of the report are unreliable.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says that a marriage of the Prophet to Aisha at six would be disgusting and did not happen, that the question is plainly a moral one, and that the few chains of the report of her age are all unreliable.

**Evidence, his words at 3:52:** “six years old that is a tiny girl that's disgusting that it did not happen” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHyxRI7Trnk&t=232s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth says someone sent him a clip of Shaykh Omar Suleiman summarising, in a khutbah, a Yaqeen Institute research project on Aisha's age: several projects were run in parallel, and as Mufti reports it, one allowed that she may have been older while the others concluded overwhelmingly that she was nine. He says he respects Omar Suleiman for his social work and his stand for the rights of Black people, Native Americans and others, but was deeply disappointed by the conclusion and by the closing plea not to reduce Aisha to a number, which he says would not work as a defence in any court. He asks those who defend the narrative what would then be wrong with marrying a child of three or two, and says that the marriage of a six-year-old would be abhorrent and did not happen; he rejects the argument that the Quraysh would have condemned it, saying they did not condemn it because it did not happen. He also rejects Suleiman's statement that it is not a moral judgment, saying it is plainly a moral issue, as slavery is. He refers to his detailed video and says he will later show that the few chains of the report, including Hisham ibn Urwa from his father in Bukhari and the one in Muslim, are all unreliable.

## Sources and names cited

- Aisha
- Omar Suleiman
- Yaqeen Institute
- report: married her when she was six and consummated the marriage when she was nine
- Hisham ibn Urwa
- Sahih al-Bukhari
- Sahih Muslim
- Quraysh
- khutbah

## Transcript (machine tier, 0:00–6:33)

[0:00] right the age of Aisha okay let's talk a bit about the age of Aisha people age of Asia Robbi along on her the wife of the Prophet right with the title the mother of the believers you see I recently somebody sent me a clip of chef Omar Suleiman and the Athene Institute so they have been doing a project for I'm not sure whether it's all of 2018 or a huge part of 2018 I don't know but they've been doing a project on the age of Aisha and they've run something like

[0:37] so I just watched his summary khutba he's got like a sermon it's on social media and chef Omar Suleiman is speaking about okay this is the conclusion people we've done all the research they was ever to do and he says we've done it and we've done we've run for projects in parallel they've been operationalized in parallel and one of them came with the conclusion of saying well okay maybe I share was of an older age but all three overwhelmingly said that no I shall was definitely a young she was nine and then

[1:16] he said well in conclusion look people that she is nine you know it's not a laughing matter I laugh but honestly I was so just disappointed she almost philemon who I have respect for as a person he's done great social work you know he stands up for the rights of people he you know puts his life on the line in America standing up for the rights of black people of Native Americans of South Americans all these

[1:55] kind of things which is amazing and may Allah bless him for that but honestly I was so disappointed with what share Homer Solomon said here that look with all due respect he said like this is what he said in the end of the hood bah he said look people don't reduce I sure to a number she was a person don't worry do you say to a number what on earth are you on about age is a number goddamnit how can you what do you mean don't she's

[2:34] 9 years old don't reduce it to a number I mean yeah try that defense in court you know like oh well your honor don't worry you said to a number no mate daddy is a sexual offence you know it's not like what do you mean that don't reduce it or of course people are they your age at that a definitely BC okay and here's my question here's my question to these people that want to support this narrative of saying the age of Aisha was so young and what's wrong

[3:12] with that this is what they're saying I asked them then okay what's wrong with 403 marrying a three-year-old or marrying a two-year-old what's wrong with that what if a person said oh I won't sexually there won't be no penetrative sex I'll just fondle her I'll just touch her would you be okay with that and what if they said don't reduce her to a number I know she's three but don't reduce it to a number she's a human being why is of course his god damn disgusting how could what what does that mean that how can it be that if if the Prophet

[3:52] married this this woman and she's six six years old that is a tiny girl that's disgusting that it did not happen and this argument that oh if this if this was truly abominable and disgusting then the Quraysh would have condemned the Prophet well they didn't condemn him because it didn't happen that's a stupid argument of course that what does that even mean like an and you know they start kind of nice Americanized kind of like all you this kind of oh she's a human being don't reduce it to a number whoa I

[4:31] honestly oh my god I want to hahaha this stuff enrages me that water that sounds nice I accept that sounds very cute when you're talking about adults not when you're talking about a kid that cannot sound good in any way in any capacity in any shape then then you can't what is your then why nine why not five why not four why not - if a person says okay I won't have like I said if a person says I'll just touch I won't penetrative ly have sex with the child I'll just touch it still disgust it's still an

[5:11] abomination it's still there's no this kind of stuff and then to say well look and cheer Omar Suleiman said well I'm not saying you have to do it and I'm saying you can have your own cultural practices but it's not a moral judgment of course it's a moral judgment of course it's a moral judgment what does that mean what does that mean it's not a moral judgment of course it's a morality issue it's an issue that it's a kid what do you mean that's not morality it's not a textbook issue my friend it is a morality issue that is a more the slavery thing you see this is the

[5:49] irony that all the reason I'll tell you why these people are not saying that they're refusing to accept the age of I said to be hi I have a detailed video detailed showing that first of all and I will in future do a on the actual hadith in my video I just show how the hadith were unacceptable I don't go too much into the chains but I will show that every these few chains they have are all unreliable all unreliable the one by other wire the one bar from his son in sham in Bihari the one in Muslim they are all unreliable but put that aside

[6:28] let's just take look the thing that did this for me clearly the thing that did this for me is look at the narrative human beings we can look at we can look at human lives and we can winnow out other things and we can have a result in the year of sorrow when the prophet salallahu alaihe salam went through the most tragic of his years because he lost his wife Khadija who was a support for him and he had children at home he had children he had to look of them he had lost his wife

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment cHyxRI7Trnk/s/1. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/chyxri7trnk/s/1/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.