Hisham Ibn uruwahs narrations

Asalamu alaykum,
I’ve been reviewing the older threads and Q&As and came across IRS’s refutation of Aisha’s narration about the aya of adult breastfeeding and stoning. One of the three arguments was:

“ Third, the word of one person is unacceptable and it is not narrated from anyone else other than A’isha. Therefore, the invalidity of this report is correct.”

Why does it not apply in the case of her age? I see men misrepresenting their height and women misrepresenting their age all the time today so I can’t help but ask.
Furthermore, is there any other zaydi narrations or historical records that prove one of the ahlul bayt married someone that young?

Fi amanillah,
Religionlover19

wa alaikum as-salam,

Maybe I have not explained it well enough before, so I will try to shed some light on the matter.

Firstly, what the brother cited was about the solitary ḥadīth transmitted from ʿĀ’ishah regarding the ayah of breastfeeding and stoning, which claims that it was eaten by a donkey. The narration states that it was eaten while they were preoccupied with the death of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

So this narration concerns a different subject altogether namely, the preservation of the Qur’an. It is not a fiqh (jurisprudential) matter, but rather an issue related to ʿitiqād (belief, creed).

In matters of belief, it is one of the uṣūl (principles) of the scholars that they do not use solitary narrations (āḥād riwāyāt) as proof, because of the probability and uncertainty associated with such reports. That is why the Imām (ʿalayhi as-salām) said:

    “It is not acceptable to rely upon a solitary narration in such a matter, and this report was not transmitted by anyone except ʿĀ’ishah.”

That’s that

Now, as for the actual issue, let me explain it in a different way.

This matter is not one of endorsement. It is not that the Sharīʿah says, “Go and marry a small girl or a small boy.” (And it goes both ways historically, there were cases where adult women married young boys.)

Rather, the matter is one of regulation. Humanity is always changing and never constant; what seems good today may be considered bad a hundred years later.

Allah, ʿazza wa jall, has sent down laws to regulate our behavior so that it does not go to excess. Imagine a society without laws or rules everyone could do whatever they pleased, and what one person dislikes another might approve of. In such a world, who could stop others from doing harmful things? Nobody. That is why people form villages, cities, and societies: to regulate life.

As Muslims, we believe that Allah regulates our lives through His limitless wisdom, giving us rules and setting boundaries and these are always good for us, even if we do not see their value at first glance.

Now, you may ask, “What are you talking about?”

The point is this:
If there were no rule concerning minimum age, people would make arbitrary laws sometimes good, sometimes bad depending on time, place, and circumstance.

Islam was not revealed only for the modern age, which has its own sensitivities. Islam came for all of humankind, across all times until al-Qiyāmah (the Day of Resurrection). Thus, there may be rulings that are legally valid according to the Sharīʿah, but no longer practiced because circumstances have changed. That is not a problem.

Denying the Sharīʿah is kufr (disbelief), but not practicing certain interpersonal rulings, where one voluntarily gives up a right, is not.

So while the traditional ruling on the minimum age of marriage may seem “wrong” to modern sensibilities, it is not wrong it is lawful. In the past, humanity did not have the luxury of waiting until everyone was 18 for survival reasons. People often died young, survivors generaly died in their thirties, so early marriage was common.

This rule protected underage girls and boys from harm while ensuring that, once they reached puberty, they could marry and produce offspring safeguarding themselves and their families.

We could go deeper into this discussion, but in my opinion, it is futile to delve too deeply into such matters, so I will stop here

wa salam