Question 2: 2018 HSC exam
“Let there be no compulsion in religion; truth stands out, clear from error” (Qur’an 2:256)
To what extent has ONE significant person or school of thought, other than Muhammad and
the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs, assisted adherents to seek the truth?
Aisha bint Abu Bakr is a significant person who has spread the words of Muhammad about the ‘truth’
to a large extent. This leads to her being a primary witness as she is the third wife of Muhammad who
is the prophet of Islam. As she is the wife of Muhammad, she is in a high political position which
makes her opinions relevant in any case of politics which leads to the arguments of the narration of
hadith, her involvement with Muhammad and how she created the Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh).
Aisha was involved with Muhammad as she was married to him at an age that is unknown, but critics
allege that she was married to him at the age of six years old and Muhammad was fifty years old. This
created controversy in modern society as people wouldn’t accept marriage with an age gap of fortyfour years. This didn’t matter during the time as many women were sold off to their husbands at an
early age. This is significant as it happened after the flight from Mecca to Medina (the hijra). Her
involvement with Muhammad was through a divine command that was narrated by Angel Gabriel
who went to Prophet Muhammad and said “this is your wife in this world” which was narrated by al
Tirmidhi. This had become a pinnacle moment in their life as Muhammad had taken Aisha to every
revelation that he received which made her the primary source for the Qur’an and Hadith. This
became useful for the process of Fiqh as well as the narration of the hadith. This makes her a
significant person who spreads the words of ‘truth’.
Narration of hadiths was probably the most important as she was a significant person in the political
realm of Islam. Aisha helped transmission the details about Muhammad’s life but also the narration of
more than 2000 hadith which had been more than any other person. According to the write al
Asqalani, Aisha’s narrations and teachings are presented in one-quarter of Sharia law (the path of the
watering hole), this leads to a hadith Bu Ata bin Abi Rabah “2210 sayings of the prophet Muhammad
were attributed to her among which are 170 which have been approved and Bukhari took 54 sayings
from them.” Aisha has helped many scholars understand Muhammad through his public religious
persona but also the teachings that Aisha had held after Muhmmad’s death. As she has helped many
people, she had narrated a hadith saying that “if any of you feels drowsy while praying, he should go
to bed till his slumber is over because in praying while drowsy one does not know whether one is
asking for forgiveness or for a bad thing for oneself” (Bukhari Ch.41.161). This has led to many
learning about the ‘truth’ through the narrations and teachings about the Hadith that were presented
by Aisha.
Fiqh which means understanding or knowledge is widely used by Muslims as it is the current system
which uses the Qur’an, Hadith, Qiyas (reasoning by analogy), Ijma (renowned scholars that are used
by Sunni’s only) and Ayatollah (recognised authorities that are used by Shia’s only) . This had been
put together by early contributors like Aisha who was significant in making this system as she was the
most reliable source of the hadith after Muhammad’s death. As she was the most reliable source, she
had a significant amount of knowledge and expertise about the Qur’an and about the history of Arabia
in relation with Muhammad. This is wasn’t all, she contributed over 2000 sayings of Muhammad and
justified the prophet’s teachings though her own knowledge of the Qur'an and Muhammad's teaching.
This had led to her voicing her own opinions and giving voices to all women as she was accepted and
actively involved in the narration of hadith. This makes it a process of finding the ‘truth’ in order for
people to know what is acceptable and unacceptable in Islam.
Aisha bin Abu Bakr has been voicing out her own opinions made her a role model for many Muslim
women, but this has helped out many people including scholars and writers to learn about the truth of
Muhammad’s revelations and the Qur’anic and Hadith verses that memorised by many Muslims
today.