Encyclopedia of Islam

Aisha bint Abi Bakr ibn Abi Quhafa

  

25  J

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illicit relations with the man. In response to this 

slander, the q

Uran

 defends Aisha’s innocence in 

Q 24:11–20.

Muhammad died when Aisha was 18 years 

old; he is reported to have died in her arms in 

her chambers. After the death of the third caliph, 

U

thman

 

ibn

 a

FFan

 in 655, she opposed a

li

 

ibn

 a

bi

t

alib

’s succession to the 

caliphate

, fighting against 

him in the Battle of the Camel, Islam’s first civil 

war, in 656. For this challenge to Ali, she is often 

regarded by Shii Muslims with disdain. Although 

Ali was victorious, Aisha’s efforts reflect her defiant 

and outspoken character as well as the active role 

she played in political matters. After her military 

defeat, Aisha returned to m

edina

, spending the 

remainder of her life transmitting her accounts 

about the Prophet. She died there in 678 at age 66 

and was buried in the al-Baqi 

cemetery

.

See also s

Unnism

; W

omen

.

Aysha A. Hidayatullah