Taking all the various pieces of evidence into consideration, the conclusion of the investigation is that the nikah of Aishah (May Allah Be Pleased with Her) to the Prophet SAAW took place when she was around 16-17 years old, and not 6; and her marriage was solemnized when she was 19 and not 9. The Prophet died when she was 28, not 18; and she became one of the leading scholars and teachers of Islam, giving aid and advice to the subsequent Caliphs.

She lived in widowhood some 40 years, and died in 50 AH/672 CE at the age of 67.

Abu Bakr May Allah Be Pleased with Him, married two women in the pre-Islamic era, who gave birth to four children. Abdullah and Asma were by Qatilah, while Abdur Rahman and Aishah were by Umm Ruman bint Amir. All these children were born before the advent of Islam’.

The Prophet SAAW was singularly used to a marital relationship with Khadija May Allah Be Pleased With Her, an older woman – since his sole partner for some twenty-five years was at least fifteen years older than himself. The Prophet did not remarry until he was over fifty, and when he was fifty his beloved Khadijah was sixty-five!.

# The Prophet married Aisha primarily for three reasons:

# To reinforce the friendly relations already existing with Abu Bakr (his closest companion).

# To educate and train Aisha so she may serve the purposes of Islam.

# To teach her to utilize her capabilities for the sake of Islam.

# Her Marriage with the prophet was a Wahi (Divine Revelation). She, herself relates from the Prophet, ‘He said, “I saw you in dreams three times. The angel brought you to me and you were clad in white silk. He (the angel) said that it was your consort and he (angel) showed me by opening your face. You are just like that…” Sahih Muslim, Vol.2, p.285.

# Aisha ® was born after her parents had embraced Islam. Therefore, she was free from the defilement of polytheism right from her birth.

# In her youth, already known for her striking beauty and her formidable memory, she came under the loving care and attention of the Prophet himself. As his wife and close companion she acquired from him knowledge and insight such as no woman has ever acquired.

Aishah lived on almost fifty years after the passing away of the Prophet. She had been his wife for a decade. Much of this time was spent in learning and acquiring knowledge of the two most important sources of God’s guidance, the Quran and the Sunnah of His Prophet. Aishah ® was one of the three wives (the other two being Hafsa ® and Umm Salamah ®) who memorized the Revelation. Like Hafsa ®, she had her own script of the Quran written after the Prophet had died.

# So far as the Hadith or sayings of the Prophet is concerned, Aishah ® is one of four persons (the others being Abu Hurrah, Abdullah ibn Umar, and Ana ibn Malik) who transmitted more than two thousand sayings. From her, 2210 Hadith have come, out of which 174 Hadith are commonly agreed upon by both Bukhari and Muslim. Many of her transmissions pertain to some of the most intimate aspects of personal behavior which only someone in Aishah’s position could have learnt. What is most important is that her knowledge of Hadith was passed on in written form by at least three persons including her nephew Urwah who became one of the greatest scholars among the generation after the Companions. It is the claim of the Scholars of Islam that without her, half of the Ilm-I-Hadith [knowledge, understanding of the Hadith (and Islam)] would have perished.

# Many of the learned companions of the Prophet and their followers benefited from Aishah’s knowledge. Abu Musa al-Ashari once said: “If we companions of the Messenger of God had any difficulty on a matter, we asked Aisha about it.”

“Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from Said ibn al-Musayyab that Abu Musa al-Ashari came to Aishah, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said to her, “The disagreement of the companions in a matter which I hate to bring before you has distressed me.” She said, “What is that? You did not ask your mother about it, so ask me.” He said, “A man penetrates his wife, but becomes listless and does not ejaculate. “She said, “When the circumcised part passes the circumcised part ghusl is obligatory.” Abu Musa added, “I shall never ask anyone about this after you.” Al-Muwatta of Imam Malik Hadith 2.75

Arwa Bin Zubair says, “I did not find anyone more proficient (than Aisha ®) in the knowledge of the Holy Quran, the Commandments of Halal (lawful) and Haram (prohibited), Ilmul-Ansab and Arabic poetry. That is why, even senior companions of the Prophet used to consult Aisha ® in resolving intricate issued“.Jala-ul-Afham by Ibn Qaiyem and Ibn Sa’ad, Vol.2, p.26

Abu Musa al-Ashari says: “Never had we (the companions) had any difficulty for the solution of which we approached Aisha and did not get some useful information from her“.Sirat-I-Aisha, on the authority of Trimidhi, pg. 163

# As a teacher she had a clear and persuasive manner of speech and her power of oratory has been described in superlative terms by al-Ahnaf who said: “I have heard speeches of Abu Bakr and Umar, Uthman and Ali and the Khulafa up to this day, but I have not heard speech more persuasive and more beautiful from the mouth of any person than from the mouth of Aishah.”

The Prophet said, “The superiority of ‘Aisha to other ladies is like the superiority of Tharid (i.e. meat and bread dish) to other meals. Many men reached the level of perfection, but no woman reached such a level except Mary, the daughter of Imran and Asia, the wife of Pharaoh.” Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith, Narrated by Abu Musa Al Ashari Hadith 4.643

Musa Ibn Talha ® says, “I did not see anyone more eloquent than Aisha ®” Mustadrak of Hakim, Vol.4,p.11

# Men and women came from far and wide to benefit from her knowledge.

Aisha’s great interest in the study of the Qur’an is understandable. She was an eye-witness to a number of revelations and had therefore a clear idea of the circumstances in which they were revealed. It was on her bed alone (and no other consort’s) that the Prophet received Wahi (Divine Revelations) several times. This helped her in interpreting the verses.

# At the time of the Prophet’s death, the Prophet’s head was on her lap. It was in her quarters that the Prophet was buried.

The life of Aishah (R) is a proof that a woman can be far more learned than men and that she can be the teacher of scholars and experts. Her life is also a proof that a woman can exert influence over men and women and provide them with inspiration and leadership. Aisha (R) is a continuing inspiration and role model to today’s youth who are diligently searching for an example amongst the pop stars, movie actresses and sports stars. May the memory of her’s live forever in the heart of the Muslim Ummah and may Allah grant her the highest abode in Paradise…Aameen.

“I have studied him – the wonderful man and in my opinion far from being an anti-Christ, he must be called the Savior of Humanity. I believe that if a man like him were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he would succeed in solving its problems in a way that would bring it the much needed peace and happiness: I have prophesied about the faith of Muhammad that it would be acceptable to the Europe of tomorrow as it is beginning to be acceptable to the Europe of today.” George Bernard Shaw, THE GENUINE ISLAM, Vol. 1, No. 81936.

“It is impossible for anyone who studies the life and character of the great Prophet of Arabia, who knows how he taught and how he lived, to feel anything but reverence for that mighty Prophet, one of the great messengers of the Supreme. And although in what I put to you I shall say many things which may be familiar to many, yet I myself feel whenever I re-read them, a new way of admiration, a new sense of reverence for that mighty Arabian teacher.”

Annie Besant, THE LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF MUHAMMAD, Madras, 1932, p. 4.

You couldn't have said it better. At the same time, while most of the modern world seen such practices as barbaric and just otherly inhumane, conservative muslims (large number are) don't see anything wrong with that because Mohammed said so....oh, and I don't even want to get into the whole "70 virgins" belief.

Thats real disgusting.

I wonder if muslims know about this....

No one is trying to discredit Islam. You are obviously trying to side track the discussion of whether or not he was pedophile, by introducing emotional sentiment that has nothing to do with the topic in discussion. He had sex with children, therefore he was a pedophile.