At a glance
- Roles
- Companion · Scholar
- Counted among
- Sunni
- Era
- The Prophetic Era · The Rashidun Caliphate
- Region
- Arabia
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
In time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
WomenScripture and its sciencesFactions, splits and schisms
Place in the story
- Family of the Prophet · c. 623 CE · c. 1 AH† – 632 CE · 11 AH†Tradition
- Companion · c. 623 CE · c. 1 AH†Tradition
- Transmitter · c. 632 CE · c. 11 AH†Historical
Sunni (transmitted)
Roles are dated and sourced; the museum describes the act and attributes the judgement.
Brief
Aisha bint Abi Bakr was a daughter of the first caliph and a wife of the Prophet. In Sunni tradition she is among the greatest transmitters of hadith — reports of what the Prophet said and did — and one of the most learned women of the first Islamic century.
Life
Born in Mecca about 613–614 CE (the traditional chronology is debated), Aisha migrated to Medina with The Hijra and was married to Muhammad around 623 2. She grew up in the Prophet's household and was remembered by contemporaries for a sharp memory and a probing mind 1.
In 627 CE she was caught in the episode the tradition calls the slander: separated from the caravan on the return from a raid, she was escorted back by a young Companion, and gossip accused her of adultery. The tafsir tradition links her vindication to verses of the Qur'an (24:11 and following) 1.
Widowed at about eighteen, she lived on in Medina for nearly five decades. She narrated well over two thousand reports in the Sunni collections, corrected Companions on points of law and ritual, and took part in the politics of the first civil war, leading the party that confronted Ali ibn Abi Talib at the Battle of the Camel in 656 2. She died in Medina in July 678 CE.
Legacy
Her voice runs through Sunni law, theology and Qur'an commentary: where the community asked what the Prophet had done or said, Aisha's answer carried exceptional weight.
For young visitors
Aisha had one of the best memories of her generation. People came from far away to ask her what the Prophet had said and done, and her answers helped write down the tradition.
Opinions on the question
The question: How are Aisha's standing and role viewed in the different traditions?
First opinion · Sunni tradition (the museum's frame)Main reference
More opinions (2)
Academic viewSecondary opinion
Twelver Shia viewOther opinion
Connections
- Born in
- Mecca
- Died in
- Medina
- Child of
- Abu Bakr al-SiddiqUmm Ruman
- Spouse of
- Muhammad
- Member of
- Ahl al-BaytMothers of the Believers
- Participated in
- The HijraThe Battle of UhudAbu Bakr leads the prayers during the final illnessThe death of the ProphetThe Farewell PilgrimageThe Incident of the Slander (Hadith al-Ifk)
- Mentioned in
- Qur'an 24:11Arba'un 5 — whoever introduces into this matter of ours
People and things also explored
MuhammadAbu Bakr al-SiddiqHafsa bint UmarMedinaUmar ibn al-KhattabUmm Salama (Hind bint Abi Umayya)Sawda bint Zam'aThe Prophetic Era
Sources
- Ibn Sa'd, Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir (Bewley translation, Ta-Ha)
- Watt, Muhammad at Medina (1956)
- Momen, An Introduction to Shi'i Islam (1985)
- al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri
- Nisa' Hawl al-Rasul: Tarajim wa Qisas — al-Maktaba al-Asriyya
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Aisha bint Abi Bakr”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/aisha/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-12.