Hazrat-e-Aysha(R.A)

Aisha (R.A.) were born after her parents had embraced Islam. Therefore, she was free from the defilement of polytheism right from her birth.

In her youth, already known for her striking beauty and her formidable memory, she came under the loving care and attention of the Prophet himself. As his wife and close companion she acquired from him knowledge and insight such as no woman has ever acquired.

Aisha lived on almost fifty years after the passing away of the Prophet. She had been his wife for a decade. Much of this time was spent in learning and acquiring knowledge of the two most important sources of God's guidance, the Qur'an and the Sunnah of His Prophet. Aisha (r.a.) was one of the three wives (the other two being Hafsa (r.a.) and Umm Salama (r.a.) who memorised the Revelation. Like Hafsa (r.a.), she had her own script of the Qur'an written after the Prophet had died.

So far as the Hadith or sayings of the Prophet is concerned, Aisha (r.a.) is one of four persons (the others being Abu Hurayra, Abdullah ibn Umar, and Anas ibn Malik) who transmitted more than two thousand sayings. From her, 2210 Hadith have come, out of which 174 Hadith are commonly agreed upon by both Bukhari and Muslim.

Many of her transmissions pertain to some of the most intimate aspects of personal behaviour which only someone in Aishah's position could have learnt. What is most important is that her knowledge of Hadith was passed on in written form by at least three persons including her nephew Urwah who became one of the greatest scholars among the generation after the Companions.

It is the claim of the Scholars of Islam that without her, half of the Ilm-I-Hadith [knowledge, understanding of the Hadith (and Islam)] would have perished.

Many of the learned companions of the Prophet and their followers benefited from Aishah's knowledge. Arwa Bin Zubair says,"I did not find anyone more proficient [than Aisha (r.a.)] in the knowledge of the Holy Qur'an, the Commandments of Halal (lawful) and Haram (prohibited), Ilmul-Ansab and Arabic poetry. That is why, even senior companions of the Prophet used to consult Aisha (r.a.) in resolving intricate issued".Ibn Qayyim and Ibn Sa'ad, Jala-ul-Afham, vol. 2, p. 26.

Abu Musa al-Ash'ari says:"Never had we (the companions) had any difficulty for the solution of which we approached Aisha and did not get some useful information from her".

Sirat-I-Aisha, on the authority of Trimidhi, p. 163.

As a teacher she had a clear and persuasive manner of speech and her power of oratory has been described in superlative terms by al-Ahnaf who said: "I have heard speeches of Abu Bakr and Umar, Uthman and Ali and the Khulafa up to this day, but I have not heard speech more persuasive and more beautiful from the mouth of any person than from the mouth of Aisha."

The Prophet said,

"The superiority of 'Aisha to other ladies is like the superiority of Tharid (i.e. meat and bread dish) to other meals. Many men reached the level of perfection, but no woman reached such a level except Mary, the daughter of Imran and Asia, the wife of Pharaoh."

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith, Narrated by Abu Musa Al-Ash'ari Hadith 4.643.

Musa Ibn Talha (r.a.) says,"I did not see anyone more eloquent than Aisha (r.a.)"

Mustadrak of Hakim, vol.4, p.11.

Men and women came from far and wide to benefit from her knowledge.

Aishah's great interest in the study of the Qur'an is understandable. She was an eye-witness to a number of revelations and had therefore a clear idea of the circumstances in which they were revealed. It was on her bed alone (and no other consort's) that the Prophet received Wahy (Divine Revelations) several times. This helped her in interpreting the verses. At the time of the Prophet's death, the Prophet's head was on her lap. It was in her quarters that the Prophet was buried.
The Prophet’s Favorite Wife