Aisha

Aisha Mother of the Believers
عائشة
Grave of A'isha in al-Baqi alongside other wives of Muhammad
Born	c. 614 Mecca, Hejaz, Arabia
Died	c. July 678 (aged 63–65) Medina, Umayyad Caliphate (present-day Saudi Arabia)
Resting place	Al-Baqi Cemetery, Medina
Spouse	Muhammad (m. 620; died 632)
Parent(s)	Abu Bakr (father) Umm Ruman (mother)
Family	Banu Taym (by birth) Ahl al-Bayt (by marriage, disputed)[1]

A'isha bint Abi Bakr^[a] (c. 614 – 16 July 678) was the third wife of Muhammad. Born in Mecca to Muhammad's two close companions, Abu Bakr and Umm Ruman, A'isha was initially engaged to Mut'im ibn Adi, the Mushrikite chief of the Banu Nawfal clan, though Mut'im later backed off the marriage and A'isha was instead betrothed to Muhammad on the proposal of the latter's aunt Khawla bint Hakim.

A'isha was the subject of the "Necklace Incident", in which she was falsely accused to have committed adultery with Safwan ibn al-Mu'attal in the aftermath of the expedition of al-Muraysi in 627. She remained close to Muhammad until his death in 632 and then played an important role in early caliphal history, supporting the caliphates of her father Abu Bakr (r. 632–634) and Umar (r. 634–644). A'isha was opposed to several policies of the third caliph Uthman (r. 634–644), though staunchly denounced the latter's murder by rebels. She subsequently refused to recognize Uthman's successor Ali (r. 656–661) as caliph, calling for revenge against Uthman's killers and the election of a new caliph through shura. She joined al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam and Talha ibn Ubayd Allah to oppose Ali and led the unsuccessful opposition army in the Battle of the Camel against Ali, after which she was pardoned by the caliph. Thereafter, she retired in Medina and, following Ali's assassination, maintained correspondence with Caliph Mu'awiya (r. 661–680).

Honored as one of the "Mothers of the Believers" in the Qur'an, A'isha narrated c. 2,210 hadiths throughout her life on a wide range of topics such as eschatology, inheritance, pilgrimage and prayer. In her later years, A'isha was a prominent Islamic scholar and the teacher of several companions and the tabi'in. Sunni Muslim tradition considers her as Muhammad's second favourite wife after Khadija bint Khuwaylid and a member of the ahl al-bayt, a view rejected by Shia Muslims who view A'isha negatively for her perceived hostility towards Ali.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).