She was Umm ‘Abdullaah, ‘Aa’ishah bint Abu Bakr ibn Abu Quhaafah. Her mother was Umm Roomaan bint ‘Aamir ibn ‘Uwaymir Al-Kinaaniyyah. ‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, was born into a Muslim family four or five years after the beginning of the Prophethood of Muhammad .
When her father emigrated with the Prophet to Al-Madeenah, he sent her ‘Abdullaah ibn Urayqit Al-Laythi with two or three camels so she could join him. Therefore, she emigrated with her sister, Asmaa’, her mother and her brother.
The Prophet married her almost ten months before Hijrah when she was six years old. He consummated his marriage with her in Shawwaal in the second year after Hijrah when she was nine years old. Before marrying her, the Prophet saw her in a vision. Jibreel (Gabriel), may Allah exalt his mention, came to him carrying her picture and said:“This is your wife in this life and in the Hereafter.” [At-Tirmithi] There is a narration in Al-Bukhari and Muslim that conforms with this narration.
The Prophet did not marry a virgin other than her. This was a great honor that was conferred on her and she continued to boast about it all her life. She said to the Prophet : “O Messenger of Allah, Suppose you landed in a valley where there is a tree from which something has been eaten and then you found trees of which nothing has been eaten; of which tree would you let your camel graze?"He said,"(I will let my camel graze) on the one from which nothing has been eaten before."[Al-Bukhari]She meant that the Messenger of Allah did not marry a virgin except herself. She also said: “I was given nine (merits) that no other woman was given after Maryam bint ‘Imraan.” Then, she said: “The Messenger of Allah married no virgin other than me.”
‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, had a special place in the heart of the Messenger of Allah that he shared with no one but her. He did not conceal his love for her from anybody. Out of his love for her, he used to drink from the place she drank from and to eat from the place that she ate from. When ‘Amr ibn Al-‘Aas, may Allah be pleased with him, asked him: “O Messenger of Allah, whom do you love most?”He replied saying, “`Aa’ishah.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] The Prophet used to joke and play with her and he sometimes used to race with her on his way to some of the battles. ‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, narrated an incident that indicates the kindness of the Prophet towards her. She said: “By Allah, I saw the Messenger of Allah standing at the door of my room while the Abyssinians were playing with spears. The Prophet screened me with his cloak so I could watch the spear-play over his shoulder. Then, he stayed there for my sake until I had seen enough.”[Ahmad]
Knowing that ‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, had a special place in the heart of the Prophet the people would choose the time when it was her turn for the Prophet to be with her to offer their gifts as narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim . Out of his love for her, the Prophet asked his wives to allow him to stay with ‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, during his last days when he was very ill. She was famous for her extreme jealousy about the Prophet that was clear proof of her strong love for him. She expressed this love when she said: “How could not someone like me feel jealous about someone like you (the Prophet )?” [Muslim]
One day the Prophet was with ‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, and one of the Mothers of the Believers sent him food in a container. ‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, broke the container (out of jealousy). Therefore, the Prophet picked up the food while saying: “Your Mother felt jealous.” [Al-Bukhari]
Whenever the Prophet married a woman, ‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, used to rush and look at her to see whether the new wife would be a threat to her special place in the heart of the Prophet or not. She felt very jealous of Khadeejah, may Allah be pleased with her, because the Prophet used to mention her a great deal.
One night when the Prophet left for Al-Baqee‘ cemetery, ‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, thought that he had gone to one of his wives. She felt jealous and followed him in order to know where he was going. The Prophet blamed her and said to her:“Did you think that Allah and His Messenger would be unjust to you?” [Muslim]
Talking about her merits is interesting and lengthy. She used to fast and pray at night frequently and also used to do a lot of good deeds. She rarely had money because she used to give it away in charity. Once she gave one hundred thousand Dirham in charity. The Prophet testified to this saying: “The superiority of ‘Aa’ishah to other women is like the superiority of meat and broth to other kinds of food.”[Al-Bukhari and Muslim] Another thing that indicates her virtue is the Hadeeth where the Prophet said to her: “O ‘Aa’ishah, this is Jibreel greeting you.”Then, she said, ‘May the peace and Mercy of Allah be upon him.’” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
In spite of her young age, she was intelligent and used to learn quickly. Hence, she memorized a great deal of knowledge from the Prophet and she narrated many of his Hadeeths. There is no woman in the Muslim nation who understands Islam better than her. This is supported by what Abu Moosa Al-Ash‘ari, may Allah be pleased with him, said about her: “Whenever we, the Companions of Muhammad found a problem with any Hadeeth, we used to ask ‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, and she always had knowledge of it.” [At-Tirmithi]
It was said to Masrooq “Did ‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, have sound knowledge about determining the prescribed shares of inheritance?” He answered, “Yes, I swear by Allah! I saw the great scholars from among the Companions of Muhammad asking her about determining the prescribed shares of inheritance.” [Al-Haakim] Az-Zuhri said, “If the knowledge of the women of this Muslim nation, including the knowledge of the wives of the Prophet were combined together, the knowledge of ‘Aa’ishah would be more than theirs.” [At-Tabaraani]
In addition to her knowledge of Hadeeth and Fiqh, she had great knowledge of poetry, medicine and genealogy. She learned this knowledge from her father, husband and the delegates of the Arabs who used to come to the Messenger of Allah .
One of the blessings she was granted was that she was the reason behind the revelation of some verses including the verse of Tayammum (dry ablution). She borrowed a necklace from Asmaa’, may Allah be pleased with her, and lost it. The Messenger of Allah sent some of his Companions to look for it. It was time to pray but they had no water; hence, they prayed without performing ablution. When they returned to the Prophet they complained to him about that. Due to this situation the verse of dry ablution was revealed. Usayd bin Hudhayr, may Allah be pleased with him, said to ‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her: “May Allah reward you. By Allah, whenever you have a problem, Allah Would Make for you a way out and Would Bring with it a blessing for the Muslims.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] When she was afflicted with “The Incident of the Slander”, Allah the Almighty Announced her innocence in Quranic verses that are to be recited until the Day of Resurrection. Allah the Almighty Says (what means): {Indeed, those who came with falsehood are a group among you. Do not think it bad for you; rather it is good for you. For every person among them is what [punishment] he has earned from the sin, and he who took upon himself the greater portion thereof - for him is a great punishment.* Why, when you heard it, did not the believing men and believing women think good of one another and say, "This is an obvious falsehood"?} [Quran 24: 11-12]
She died in the year fifty-seven A.H. when she was more than sixty-three years of age. Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, prayed over her and she was buried in Al-Baqee‘. She was not buried in her room beside the Prophet because she had given up her place in favor of ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattaab, may Allah be pleased with him. Therefore, may Allah Be Pleased with her and him and with all the Mothers of the Believers.