Muhammad's Engagement to `A'ishah

The rejection of Muhammad by the tribes increased his isolation, as the doubled and

redoubled injuries of the Quraysh increased Muhammad's pain and grief. The period

of mourning for Khadijah passed, and Muhammad thought of marrying again in the

hope of finding consolation in a new companion. He also thought that marriage might

even furnish a new occasion for strengthening the bond of brotherhood and

commitment between himself and the earlier converts to Islam. He therefore asked

Abu Bakr for the hand of his daughter, `A'ishah. Since she was still too young to

marry, the engagement was announced, but the marriage was postponed for three

more years until `A'ishah reached the age of eleven. In the meantime, Muhammad

married Sawdah, the widow of one of the Muslim companions who emigrated to

Abysinnia but died upon his return to Makkah. In both these instances, it is hoped

that the reader will have a glimpse of the principle regulating Muhammad's later

domestic life which we shall discuss in a forthcoming chapter.