Al-Albani on Aisha’s Statement that 9-Year-Old Girls are Women

There are specific narrations where Muhammad’s child-bride Aisha is reported to have said that a girl of nine is a woman. Case in point:

Qutaybah told us: Abdul Aziz bin Muhammad told us, on the authority of Muhammad bin Amr, on the authority of Abu Salamah, on the authority of Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah said: “The orphan girl is consulted about herself. If she remains silent, that is her permission, and if she refuses, then there is no permission for her.” Meaning: if she reaches maturity and refuses. And in this chapter, there are narrations from Abu Musa, Ibn Umar, and Aisha: ⦗410⦘ “The hadith of Abu Hurayrah is a hasan hadith.” 

“The scholars differed regarding the marriage of an orphan girl. Some scholars held that if an orphan girl is married, the marriage is suspended until she reaches puberty. When she reaches puberty, she has the choice to approve or annul the marriage. This is the opinion of some of the Tabi’in (Successors).” And others said: “It is not permissible to marry an orphan girl until she reaches puberty, and there is no option to annul the marriage. This is the opinion of Sufyan al-Thawri, al-Shafi'i, and others among the scholars.”

Ahmad and Ishaq said: “If an orphan girl reaches nine years of age and is married, and she consents, then the marriage is permissible, and she has no option to annul the marriage once she reaches puberty.” They cited as evidence the hadith… Aisha reported that the Prophet consummated the marriage with her when she was nine years old. Aisha also said: "When a girl reaches nine years of age, she is a woman."

[Al-Albani's ruling]: Hasan Sahih (Sunan al-Tirmidhi - Edited by Shaker: https://shamela.ws/book/1435/1922)

Some dawagandists use this to justify Muhammad consummating the marriage with Aisha at that age, despite his being 54 years old at that time.

What these polemicists fail to mention is that these statements are not authentic, and have been rejected by some of Islam’s greatest hadith scholars. This includes the late 20^th century Muslim scholar Nasir al-Din al-Albani, whom Salafis consider to be one of the most knowledgeable hadith experts that has ever lived.

I quote Albani’s ruling on the veracity of the words attributed to Aisha:

[Chapter on Menstruation]

(185) - (It was narrated on the authority of Aisha that she said: “When a girl reaches nine years of age, she is a woman.” p. 55)

* Suspended.

It was narrated by Al-Tirmidhi (1/207) and Al-Bayhaqi (1/320) as a suspended narration without a chain of transmission, and he said: “We narrated on the authority of Aisha that she said: and he mentioned it. And he said: She meant, and God knows best, that she menstruated, so she is a woman.”

I said: It has been narrated with a chain of transmission going back to the Prophet, on the authority of Ibn Umar, as will come in “Marriage” (and with his wording) [1]: “If a girl reaches nine years of age, then she is a woman.”

It was narrated by Abu Nu’aym in “Akhbar Asbahan” (2/273) and on his authority by Al-Daylami in “Al-Musnad” (1/1/89 – abridged) on the authority of Ubayd ibn Sharik, who said: Sulayman bint [2] Sharhabil told me, who said: Abd al-Malik ibn Mihran told us, who said: Sahl ibn Aslam al-Adawi told us, on the authority of Mu’awiyah ibn Qurrah, who said: I heard Ibn Umar with it.

I said: This is a weak chain of transmission. Abdul Malik bin Mihran, Ibn Adi said: “Unknown.”

Al-Uqaili said: “He is a man of reprehensible character, overcome by delusion, and he does not establish anything in the hadith.”

I said: And I did not know those below him[3]...

[Comment by the book's editor for Al-Shamela]

(1) {Thus in the original, and perhaps the correct reading is: and his wording}(2) {Thus in the original, and the correct reading is: Ibn}(3) {There is an omission in this place in the book, and this omission was written in error on (p. 203). It is related to this hadith, so we corrected it from there. Its text is:

Then I saw the hadith of Ibn Umar, narrated by Ibn al-Jawzi in “Al-Tahqiq” (3/82/1-2) through the chain of transmission of Muhammad ibn Ismail, who said: Abdul-Malik ibn Mihran al-Rifa’i narrated it to us. He said: In its chain of transmission are unknown narrators, including Abdul-Malik. Ibn Adi said: He is unknown and not well-known.

Ibn Abdul-Hadi confirmed this in “Al-Tanqih” (3/273) and said: The well-known version is what al-Bukhari mentioned on the authority of Aisha, who said: and he mentioned it. Imam Ahmad narrated it with his chain of transmission on her authority.}

It is known that attributing something to Bukhari and Ahmad means: in "Sahih" and "Musnad", and I have not seen it in either of them. (Irwa' al-Ghalil fi Takhrij Ahadith Manar al-Sabil: https://shamela.ws/book/22592/192)

Further Reading

Aisha: Do 9-year-olds Become Women?