He (ﷺ) sent Zayd ibn Ḥārithah and Abū Rāfiʿ to bring his family and the family of Abū Bakr, and they arrived with them soon after the Prophet’s migration. At that time Asmāʾ was in the final stage of her pregnancy; in other words, her delivery was imminent. When she gave birth, the Muslims proclaimed a great takbīr out of joy, for a rumor had reached them that the Jews had cast a spell so that no child would be born to the Muslims after their emigration. Allah therefore exposed the falsity of what the Jews had claimed.

Section: The Prophet’s consummation of his marriage with ʿĀʾishah in Shawwāl of this year

Imām Aḥmad relates (1): “Wakīʿ narrated to us; Sufyān narrated to us, from Ismāʿīl ibn Umayyah, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUrwah, from his father, from ʿĀʾishah who said: ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ married me in Shawwāl and consummated the marriage with me in Shawwāl. Which of the wives of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was more favored by him than I?’ ʿĀʾishah herself used to prefer that the brides she escorted be married in Shawwāl.”

Muslim, al-Tirmidhī, al-Nasāʾī, and Ibn Mājah also transmitted it through various chains from Sufyān al-Thawrī (2). Al-Tirmidhī remarked: “It is ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ; we do not know it except through the narration of Sufyān al-Thawrī.”

Accordingly, his ﷺ consummation with her took place seven—or eight—months after the Hijrah; Ibn Jarīr cites both opinions (3). Earlier we described, in connection with his marriage to Sawdah, how he wed ʿĀʾishah after arriving in Madinah and consummated the marriage at al-Sunḥ during the daytime (4)—contrary to what people customarily do today. His ﷺ consummating the marriage in Shawwāl likewise refutes the notion some people hold that entering into wedlock between the two ʿĪds leads to separation between spouses. This notion is baseless, as ʿĀʾishah herself refuted those who imagined it in her time: “He married me in Shawwāl and consummated with me in Shawwāl; which of his wives was more beloved to him than I?” This shows that she understood from him ﷺ that she was his most beloved wife—a correct understanding, as borne out by clear evidence, not least the rigorously authentic ḥadīth in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (5) narrated by ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ:

I said, “O Messenger of Allah, who among the people is dearest to you?”
He replied, “ʿĀʾishah.”
I asked, “And among the men?”
He said, “Her father.”