Aisha

| native_name = | image = | nocat_wdimage = yes | caption = | birth_date = | birth_place = Mecca, Hejaz, Arabia | death_date = (aged 63–65) | death_place = Medina, Umayyad Caliphate | occupation = Scholar, orator, political figure, teacher | resting_place = Al-Baqi Cemetery, Medina | parents = Abu Bakr (father)
Umm Ruman (mother) | spouse = Muhammad ( 620; died 632) | family = }} }}

Aisha bint Abi Bakr , ; , . Like other wives of Muhammad, her name is sometimes prefixed by the honorific "Mother of the Believers" ().}}}} ( – July 678}}) was a muhadditha, political figure, and the third and youngest wife of Islamic prophet Muhammad. Following the death of and succession to Muhammad, she was politically active during the caliphates of Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman, and stands out as a prominent female figure during the period.

Aisha played a significant role in early Islamic history, both during Muhammad's life and after his death. She is regarded in Sunni tradition as intelligent, inquisitive, and scholarly, and is often described as Muhammad's most beloved wife after Khadija bint Khuwaylid. She contributed to the transmission of Muhammad's teachings and remained active in the Muslim community for 44 years after his death. Aisha is credited with narrating over 2,000 hadiths, covering not only aspects of Muhammad's personal life but also legal, ritual, and theological subjects such as inheritance, pilgrimage, prayer, and eschatology. Her intellectual abilities and knowledge of poetry, medicine, and Islamic jurisprudence were praised by early scholars, including al-Zuhri and her student Urwa ibn al-Zubayr.

In addition to her scholarly contributions, Aisha was involved in the religious, social, and political affairs of the early Muslim community. During the caliphates of Abu Bakr (her father), Umar, Uthman, and Ali, she engaged in public discourse, transmitted religious knowledge, and took part in major events, including the Battle of the Camel. Her participation in such matters was notable given the limited public roles generally held by women at the time. In Sunni Islam, she is revered as a leading scholar, hadith transmitter, and teacher of several companions and the , while in Shia Islam, she is viewed critically for her opposition to Ali.

Aisha's reported age at marriage has become a subject of modern debate and criticism. Most early Islamic sources state that she was nine years old when the marriage was consummated. This has led to criticism of Muhammad based on contemporary views and laws on the age of consent. Historians have noted that the marriage was consistent with 7th-century cultural norms, and that the Islamic textual emphasis on her youth was likely intended to establish her virginity and "religious purity" at the time. Provided by Wikipedia