Why would the Prophet ﷺ marry a child? That is the question many want answered, but before we begin to address it, we have to admit it is more than a mere question; rather, it is an accusation and judgment of character. Underneath the question lies the notion that we should be troubled by the age of ‘Aisha at marriage, that whatever her age was, it is concerning, and—worse than that—however great the Prophet ﷺ was, the age at which ‘Aisha was married to him is problematic.

The controversy over the age of ‘Aisha is, in fact, a quite recent phenomenon. It is quite simply an attempt to defame the Prophet ﷺ—as those of old attempted to do—by questioning his judgment and ethics in marrying ‘Aisha at as young as 9. But this attempt at defamation, like all others, falls flat.

Ḥayāʾ (healthy shame) is without doubt from among the foundational moral qualities, so much so that the Prophet ﷺ deemed it the very hallmark of Islam by saying, “Every religion has its signature character trait, and the signature character trait of Islam is ḥayāʾ.”

Note: The audio files are generated using AI technology. As such, the intonations and pronunciation of certain words may not reflect human speech patterns. For the original written research paper check out https://yaqeeninstitute.org

This paper is an english translation of Ibn al-Iraqi's book presenting 27 opinions on the timing of laylat al-qadr, and the various signs of laylat al-qadr, including where:

• the occurrence of laylat al-qadr has been abrogated (one opinion);
• the timing of laylat al-qadr is entirely hidden (one opinion);
• laylat al-qadr is a fixed night every year (23 opinions); and
• laylat al-qadr shifts from year to year (two opinions).

Note: The audio files are generated using AI technology. As such, the intonations and pronunciation of certain words may not reflect human speech patterns. For the original written research paper check out https://yaqeeninstitute.org