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Taste first.
If you reach for the salt shaker the second your plate hits the table, set it down and start tasting your food first. Most foods have plenty of salt added during cooking and they taste delicious once served. Break the habit and train yourself to taste your food before adding excess sodium.
Use herbs and spices.
Go overboard on basil, cilantro, mint, cumin, and curry. The more herbs and spices you add to your food, the less salt you will need to bring out the flavors in the dish.
Cut a little at a time.
A love of salt is something that grows over time, and loving it less takes time, too. Begin by reducing how much salt you use by 1/8 teaspoon per day. Over the next week, cut it by another 1/8. Continue this process until you find a reduced level that still tastes good.
Cook more.
Processed, convenience foods, and restaurant meals are notorious for being loaded with sodium. By cooking dinner just two nights per week, and controlling the amount of salt and packaged foods used, you can greatly reduce your sodium intake.
Take care when eating out.
When you do eat out, look for low-sodium options on the menu. Don't assume that healthier options like salads and steamed vegetables have reduced salt. Sauces, toppings, and dressings can make the sodium content skyrocket. Ask your server how foods are prepared and ask for the amount of salt to be reduced.
Rinse it away.
When using canned foods, such as beans and vegetables, rinse and drain the contents before adding them to your recipes. Tests show that rinsing and draining canned beans can reduce sodium up to 40%. Also, always select no-salt-added varieties whenever possible.
Go easy on instant.
Instant foods like hot and cold cereals, bars, and boxed kits like rice and potatoes dishes are already seasoned, often with lots of sodium. Look for low-processed forms of cereals and other grains, and experiment with making your own bars and side dishes. You can add your own herbs and spices for flavor without so much salt.
Watch out for low, light, and reduced.
When a packaged food is made lower in calories, carbohydrates, or fat, companies have to find a way to boost the flavor. Unfortunately, this is often done with additives that spike sodium content. Don't assume that these terms mean that the food is a healthy choice.
Pick plain.
When selecting everything from frozen fish and vegetables to a baked potato at a restaurant, pick plain. Skip sauces and other toppings, or ask for these on the side. You can then add an appropriate amount for flavor without excess salt.
Careful with condiments.
Often the foods we eat don't have a lot of sodium, but what we choose to put on top of them do. Ketchup, barbecue sauce, soy sauce, relishes, cheeses, sour cream, salad dressings, and salted seeds and nuts can be loaded with sodium. Cut back on how much you use or select low-sodium versions.


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Connecticut Bond Commission to vote today on $115 million in rail improvements in Stamford
STAMFORD -- The State Bond Commission is expected to approve $115 million for improvements to Connecticut's busiest station along the New Haven commuter rail line and the replacement of a key railroad bridge.
The commission, chaired by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, is scheduled to vote Friday on issuing $40 million in bonds to upgrade the Stamford Transportation Center. The project calls for replacing the aging 727-space parking garage with a new facility that has a minimum of 1,000 new spaces, improving the flow of traffic around the facility and promoting transit-oriented development.
Commission members are also anticipated to approve $75 million to replace the New Haven Line railroad bridge over Atlantic Street in Stamford. The bridge was originally built in 1896.
Both projects are expected to be completed in 2016.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Government report forecasts dull future for electric cars
A US federal government report forecasts that the overwhelming majority of cars on American roads will still be powered by gasoline for some time to come.
The US Energy Information Administration Annual Energy Outlook report for 2014 isn't all bad news. Though it forecasts that only 1% of all new cars sold will be of the plug-in electric variety, other fuel efficient or alternatively powered vehicles will become progressively more popular in coming years.
Chief among these will be hybrid vehicles that combine a small petrol or diesel engine with an electric motor to cut emissions and optimize fuel economy - cars such as the Volkswagen XL1, the only car currently capable of traveling 100km on 0.9 liters of fuel, launched earlier this year. Hybrids could account for 5% of all new cars on the road by 2040 and already have a 3% market share.
Thanks to the kudos associated with Audi, Mercedes and BMW, US consumers are also starting to change their opinion about diesel engines. They're no longer the noisy, dirty and slow motors they once were and this image rehabilitation will help to drive sales. In 2012, only 2% of new cars sold in the US were diesels but they are expected to account for 4% of all new vehicle sales by 2040.
Currently, 18% of all new cars on US roads are powered by something other than gasoline and by 2040 they are predicted to represent 22% of all new cars. However, that means that even two and a half decades into the future, 78% of cars will be powered solely by fossil fuels.
Still, the nature of traditionally powered cars is also changing, even in the US. Car makers are slowly moving away from big-block V8s to smaller four-cylinder engines and companies such as Ford are using turbochargers to squeeze both power and efficiency out of low-capacity engines. The report also estimates that 42% of gasoline-fueled cars will use some form of battery-powered stop start or energy regeneration technology to boost power further while continuing to cut emission and increase fuel efficiency.


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AR-15-Bad Rap The configuration of a Colt AR-15 is an assault weapon look-a-like because of it's structural integrity. It cannot be altered to fully automatic fire. It is a weapon of choice by returning veterans, who attained proficiency and safe handling of type. We send precious youth off to fight in foreign wars then refuse them their rights. I cannot however speak for other weapons that perhaps could be altered. If Nancy Lanza kept her gun in a gun safe and trigger locked, as per Connecticut law and guidelines this tragic event would never have occurred. With $250,000 plus a year on alimony, she could certainly afford a gun safe. She also could have given her obviously disturbed son, the psychiatric help he so desperately needed. I am a Korean vet. My brother Smokey, flying in a B-17 during WW II, got shot down in the Med. Five crew died. He survived but was badly injured. Injuries that effected the rest of his life. He fought in a justified war. He fought on a justified war. He fought for justice and freedom. The freedoms that are gradually chipped away by legislators, that have never experienced war fear and P.T.S.D. God Bless America Land of the free. Bobby Brzozowy, New Hartford Regarding football celebrity Dan Marino and his love child: The bigger they are, the harder they fall. I disagree with those who believe celebrity football star Dan Marino should not receive a backlash from the media for his part in fathering a love child back in 2005. As with any celebrity, the price they pay for their faux pas' should be commensurate with the fame they have achieved. Dan Marino may have never claimed to be above other people but he also never shied away from all the trappings that come with being a big sports star. He collected hefty paychecks for lame endorsements of products like Papa John's Pizza, Hooters, Maroone automobiles, AARP, FirstPlus Mortgage, Isotoner gloves and Levinson Jewelers - to name but a few. He also parlayed his football career into an acting career making appearances in movies like "Little Nicky," "Holy Man," "Bad Boys II" and "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective." In addition, Marino was known to charge as much as $50,000-100,000 for various appearances, motivational speaking engagements and autograph signings. Yet Marino, while publically endorsing himself and touting his so-called "leadership skills" to the world, was using his money to hide the fact that he was secretly engaging in non-leadership, sexual infidelities. And now that he has been found out, he wants all the bad publicity to go away so he can continue on just as before - keeping his "arrangement private to protect all parties involved." Is such a phony truly beyond our moral reproach? Is he really beyond public scrutiny? I think not. Celebrities who want it all should be ready to take the fall. Sincerely, Paul Kokoski, Hamilton, Ontario
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In short:
"The Battle for Wesnoth, or simply Wesnoth or BfW, is a fantasy themed 2D turn-based strategy game started by David White in June 2003. The game is programmed in C++ and its code and media are licensed under the GPL. This game does not require 3D hardware acceleration. "
The point of this? This:
Wesnoth has a large active community at the Wesnoth forum with about 10,000 members and over 280,000 posts in their forums as of February 20th, 2009.
So, how did they get so many people and what did they do and what do they have that we didn't and don't?


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Status Report
From: Astrobiology Magazine
Posted: Monday, December 3, 2007
The European Mars Science & Exploration Conference: Mars Express and ExoMars concluded on November 16 at ESA's Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, The Netherlands. The conference covered a range of topics concerning Mars exploration, including results from the Mars Express satellite after almost four years in orbit and preparations for Europe's upcoming ExoMars mission. Here we present interviews with selected experts on some hot topics concerning Mars.
Frances Westall, ExoMars Microscope co-Team Coordinator, CNRS, France.
Subjects: Exobiology, origin of life during planetary history, extreme environments
Q: Looking for signs of life outside the Earth is one the most exciting ventures mankind is undertaking. However, most planets in the Solar System seem pretty inhospitable. What make you think that Mars is - or was - hosting life?
Over the last few decades we have learnt an enormous amount about Mars and its habitability from orbital and in-situ studies, as well as the analyses of martian meteorites. It is clear that, early in its history, Mars had a lot more liquid water on its surface than at present, and that perhaps there existed a small ocean in the northern hemisphere of the planet. Liquid water is, however, only one of the ingredients necessary for maintaining life, the other two being: first a source of essential elements, for example carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorous and sulphur, and second energy.
Carbon would have been as abundant on early Mars as it was on Earth, coming both from internal mantle sources as well as external sources (carbonaceous meteorites, micrometeorites, comets). Although today, the lighter, more volatile carbon molecules are destroyed by oxidation and ionization at the surface of the planet. Early on, when the planet still had a considerable carbon dioxide atmosphere and a protective gravity field, this was not the case. The other elements were also abundant on the surface of the planet. Thus, early Mars was habitable.
But, just being habitable does not mean that a planet was inhabited. On the other hand, as far we understand at present, the environmental conditions on early Mars and early Earth were similar enough to hypothesize that life arose independently on Mars.
Q:Could Mars still host life?
Conditions are not favorable for the long-term (or even short-term) existence of life at the surface of Mars right now. The lack of liquid water, plus the radiation and oxidizing conditions are not conducive to life.
But, it is clear that at certain periods in the history of Mars, water did exist for slightly longer periods of time at the surface without completely and instantaneously subliming.
It is possible that, if life had evolved at an earlier epoch, if could be preserved in protected subsurface environments where water is in a liquid phase. Not all life forms need sunlight, but in fact, the most primitive life forms can exist on inorganic sources of carbon, obtaining their energy from chemical reactions taking place at the surfaces of minerals in the presence of liquid water.
Could this subterranean life come to the surface when water or ice is expelled intermittently from the subsurface reservoirs?
In such a scenario, it is possible that cells could survive for long enough to divide and metabolize at the planet's surface.
Q:Are the chances of finding present life comparable to those of finding signs of past life?
Given the inhospitable conditions at the surface of Mars today, it is unlikely that we will find traces of living cells on the surface, except, in the scenario I've just described, when subsurface cells are brought to the surface and they can survive for a brief period of time.
Again, life could still exist in protected subsurface aquifers, but such niches will be very heterogeneous. Moreover, the cells will have to metabolize and divide with sufficient rapidity to overcome the long term effects of mantle radiation. If the organisms are in a very small habitat over long periods of geological time (hundreds to thousands of millions of years), they run the risk of exhausting their sources of nutrients and/or energy and becoming extinct. Since the potential microhabitats of living cells will occur heterogeneously in the subsurface, looking for them will require good analysis of the subsurface and the areas where liquid water may exist. The prospective of finding present life is low, but we cannot exclude this possibility.
Certainly, if life did appear on Mars in its youth, we are more likely to find evidence of past life than present, simply because the environmental conditions conducive to life were far better before about 4.0 thousand million years ago. The process of fossilization of microorganisms starts within 24 hours (although, not all microorganisms fossilize) and during the process, if there is no oxidation, the organic material making up the microorganism can become trapped in a mineral matrix. It is thus possible to find morphological and geochemical traces of life in rocks formed in environments that could have hosted life.
Q:What kind of life form may we expect to find?
First, we have to assume that primitive life forms on Mars will have been carbon and water-based, as on Earth, given that the starting ingredients and environmental conditions were similar to those on Earth. Although we cannot exclude the possibility of other life forms based on different constituents, with the same starting ingredients, only the cellular, carbon and water-based life form became dominant in the competitive, Darwinian-style evolution on Earth. Presumably the same thing happened on Mars.
We therefore expect small, cellular life forms on Mars that used complex carbon molecules (the equivalent of proteins, sugars and lipids that characterize terrestrial life). The chirality (handedness) of these molecules will also be characteristic, although they may not be of the same chirality as the terrestrial organic molecules.
One of the characteristics of terrestrial microorganisms is that they are never isolated - they occur in colonies that may be loose or dense. Terrestrial microorganisms can live in sophisticated mixed-species communities that can be very large, sometimes forming mats that, at least on modern Earth, can cover some square kilometers on the floors of large lakes, or shallow lagoons and small basins. However, these complex communities are complex. They existed on early Earth, at least 3.5 thousand million years ago, but environmental conditions on early Earth at this stage were far better than those on Mars.
3.5 thousand million years ago, the surface of Mars was probably completely inhospitable to life. The question is: how much time did life on Mars take to evolve from the very first, most primitive cells? Did it have enough time to evolve into mat-forming communities (primarily based on photosynthetic organisms which are the primary producers for the community living in the mats)? If life ever did appear on Mars, studies of its evolutionary steps will greatly help us understand the early evolution of life on Earth (since terrestrial plate tectonic activity has eliminated the first billion years of usable rock record).
At the very minimum, we can expect very small, simple cells occurring in colonies in a mineral environment and having chemolithotrophic metabolisms (using inorganic sources of carbon and energy sources). Perhaps early life forms on Mars managed to evolve into mat-forming communities, in which case we may expect to find the lithified remains of these communities in the form of biolaminations in rocks.
Q:Are there or were there other planets in the solar system that could (have) hosted life?
Certainly, Venus in its early history was very similar to the early earth and early Mars. It is therefore likely that, if life appeared on Earth and on Mars, it might have appeared on Venus.
Another possible contender is Europa, especially early in its history when its rocky mantle was warm and volcanically active. Now, heating of the planet comes through the tidal frictional forces induced by the gravitational field of Jupiter. If life did appear on the planet, early in its history, it could still possibly survive in the cold slush of melted ice beneath the ice crust of the planet.
// end //
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ObamaCare Oct. 1 Launch Date Looks Doubtful
A series of glitches and delays have left many doubtful that health0care exchange system that will support ObamacAre will be ready by the scheduled Oct. 1 launch. WSJ's Christopher Weaver explains. Photo: Getty Images
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... the the ... the problem is ... the ... new health care a lot still at this I how much at ... risk in active pay for health care ... health and science reporter Chris Weaver if you tell us more like ... an ... irate still people ... hadn't been signing ... now they can figure out how much of it to charge any movies that people have been a sign that the that the issues that worsened bearing down on this I really hate the park over for speeding when people can't stop it and that the drop dead date October first like to ... hear that from the mine in the wall and it's been great really hotly anticipated really closely watched in its picked up a lot of ... political baggage as we draw the line and Audi I think ... both like to put into the wall watching for problems than consumers who were looking forward to benefiting from the warp contests like that ... it's great that she did actually that they don't know how much they're going to be charging people for their health care plan for the folks behind the ... curtain are ... still wary with only twelve days left before this being the bad part of the software that will let you sign up for the subsidize coverage and that the wall ... this mix is that we miss calculate what your subsidy would be ... and therefore what you would pay for insurance mythic a big problem is you get a much bigger or smaller subsidy may make it different writes whatever talking I mean in terms of how many people are having places to be impacted by that ... so this thirty six states with the federal government's is this morning the exchanges that it's their software that has this glitch the of the states have ... essentially their own software and dob ... in some different levels of Brady pacifists point it's still a role as the race day you turn off concealer is buying all of this that people are like wow this is an asset not a sign up right after I quote I'm just frustrated ... he I think insurance companies in particular aware read the people of that initial experience with with trying to sign up ... we might not ... come back ready to make it so turned off or salaried ... and dob ... and you know they're they're counting on his people because that's where their growth is suppose to come from ... so at this is the latest letter that a series of ... delays in which is a mean are there people out there who think that this thing is just doomed to fail ... you know I think ... in terms of set of ... technological glitches ... nobody shocked that this problems with this giant system that nobody has had a chance to test yet ... of tie dyed t experts we spoke with say ... this is somewhat to be expected but also ... worrisome when it was so close to the deadline because of the delays to the top ... I'd you know this this is really what technical ... I ... will thank you very much for being ...


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Was Ayesha A Six-Year-Old Bride?
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Posted: 11 October 2006 at 5:12pm
I was wondering what was the true age of `A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her). Do we know what her true age was? I have read in places that the hadiths that say what her age was at marriage are weak hadiths. Is this true?
Thank you for any response.
Thank you for your question.
The issue of `A'ishah bint Abi Bakr has arisen purely around the fact that she married Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) when she was young and as you said, "Do we know what her true age was?" The problem is that we are dependent on reports of information. Even with accurate reporting, it is difficult to sustain that level of accuracy 100% of the time, all the time.
The true records that are referred to by Muslims for guidance are the Qur'an and the Hadiths (traditions) of Prophet Muhammad, the essence of both of which is the religion of Islam. They are not sociology textbooks although Islam covers all aspects of life. One of the foremost records depended upon is the collection of hadiths of Prophet Muhammad in the Sahih of Al-Bukhari. From the translation of Dr. Amin Al-Masri of Cambridge University, England and Head of Shari`ah at the College of Shari`ah and Islamic Studies in Makkah, we are informed:
`A'ishah reported that the Prophet wrote the marriage contract with her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old. Hisham said: "I have been informed that `A'ishah remained with the Prophet for nine years (i.e., till his death)." (Al-Bukhari 7: 65)
The Prophet wrote the (marriage contract) with `A'ishah while she was six years old and consummated his marriage with her while she was nine years old and she remained with him for nine years (i.e., till his death). (Al-Bukhari 7: 88)
A great misconception prevails as to the age at which `A'ishah was taken in marriage by the Prophet. Ibn Sa`d has stated in the Tabaqat that when Abu Bakr (father of `A'ishah) was approached on behalf of the Prophet, he replied that the girl had already been betrothed to Jubair and that he would have to settle the matter first with him. This shows that `A'ishah must have been approaching maturity at the time.
Again, the Isaba, speaking of the Prophet's daughter Fatimah, says that she was born five years before the Call and was about five years older than `A'ishah. This shows that `A'ishah must have been about ten years at the time of her betrothal to the Prophet, and not six years as she is generally supposed to be.
This is further borne out by the fact that `A'ishah herself is reported to have stated that when the fifty-fourth chapter [i.e., surah] of the Qur'an entitled "The Moon" [Al-Qamar] was revealed, she was a girl playing about and remembered certain verses then revealed. Now the fifty-fourth chapter was undoubtedly revealed before the sixth year of the Call. All these considerations point to but one conclusion, viz., that `A'ishah could not have been less than ten years of age at the time of her nikah, which was virtually only a betrothal.
And there is one report in the Tabaqat that `A'ishah was nine years of age at the time of nikah. Again it is a fact admitted on all hands that the nikah of `A'ishah took place in the tenth year of the Call in the month of Shawwal. This is while there is also preponderance of evidence as to the consummation of her marriage taking place in the second year of Hijrah in the same month, which shows that full five years had elapsed between the nikah and the consummation. Hence, there is not the least doubt that `A'isha was at least nine or ten years of age at the time of betrothal, and fourteen or fifteen years at the time of marriage.
In the time before Islam, Abu Bakr married two women. The first was Fatila daughter of `Abdul `Uzza, from whom `Abdullah and `Asmaa' were born. Then he married Umm Ruman, from whom `Abdur-Rahman and `A'ishah were born. These four were born before Islam.
Looking at `A'ishah's impressions of her early life, we can indeed see that she was born before the Call:
Since I reached the age when I could remember things, I have seen my parents worshiping according to the right faith of Islam. Not a single day passed but Allah's Messenger visited us both in the morning and in the evening. When the Muslims were persecuted, Abu Bakr set out for Ethiopia as an emigrant. When he reached a place called Bark Al-Ghimad, he met Ibn Ad-Daghna, the chief of the Qara tribe, who asked Abu Bakr, "Where are you going?" Abu Bakr said, "My people have turned me out of the country and I would like to tour the world and worship my Lord." Ibn Ad-Daghna said, "A man like you will not go out, nor will he be turned out, as you help the poor earn their living, keep good relations with your kith and kin, help the disabled (or the dependents), provide guests with food and shelter, and help people during their troubles. I am your protector. So, go back and worship your Lord at your home."
Ibn Ad-Daghna went along with Abu Bakr and took him to the chiefs of Quraysh saying to them, "A man like Abu Bakr will not go out, nor will he be turned out. Do you turn out a man who helps the poor earn their living, keeps good relations with kith and kin, helps the disabled, provides guests with food and shelter and helps the people during their troubles?" (Al-Bukhari 3: 37 #494)
The famous classical commentator on the Qur'an, Ibn Kathir, wrote in Al-Bidayya wan-Nihaya: "Asmaa' died in 73 AH at the age of one hundred years. She was ten years older than her sister `A'ishah."
It might be worth noting that pubescence is characterized by the proliferation of sex cells which begins with the menarche, or first menstruation, in girls. Research has noted that the average age at which the menarche begins has been decreasing among Western European girls and apparently among girls of the United States and Canada, as well, since as far back as 1976. What this means is that we should try to avoid generalizations about when menstruation begins; this differs from culture to culture as well as epoch to epoch. If you want to take this further: puberty comes from the Latin word pubertas, which means "adult". The Qur'an states what means:
It all depends on what one wishes to recognize, the laws of nature or the social laws constructed by man. `A'ishah married willingly under circumstances that supported that marriage, whichever argument one chooses to follow.
Thank you again for your question and please keep in touch.
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About the Marriages of the Prophet
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The Prophet said: "Do not eat before you are hungry, and stop eating before you are full"
"1/3 of your stomach for food, 1/3 for water, 1/3 for air"
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The Ancient Myth Exposed
by T.O. Shanavas
A Christian friend asked me once, "Will you marry your seven year old daughter to a fifty year old man?" I kept my silence. He continued, "If you would not, how can you approve the marriage of an innocent seven year old, Ayesha , with your Prophet?" I told him, "I don't have an answer to your question at this time." My friend smiled and left me with a thorn in the heart of my faith. Most Muslims answer that such marriages were accepted in those days. Otherwise, people would have objected to Prophet's marriage with Ayesha .
However, such an explanation would be gullible only for those who are naive enough to believe it. But unfortunately, I was not satisfied with the answer.
The Prophet was an exemplary man. All his actions were most virtuous so that we, Muslims, can emulate them. However, most people in our Islamic Center of Toledo , including me, would not think of betrothing our seven years daughter to a fifty-two year-old man. If a parent agrees to such a wedding, most people, if not all, would look down upon the father and the old husband.
In 1923, registrars of marriage in Egypt were instructed not to register and issue official certificates of marriage for brides less than sixteen and grooms less than eighteen years of age. Eight years later, the Law of the Organization and Procedure of Sheriah courts of 1931 consolidated the above provision by not hearing the marriage disputes involving brides less than sixteen and grooms less than eighteen years old. (Women in Muslim Family Law , John Esposito, 1982). It shows that even in the Muslim majority country of Egypt the child marriages are unacceptable.
So, I believed, without solid evidence other than my reverence to my Prophet, that the stories of the marriage of seven-year-old Ayesha to 50-year-old Prophet are only myths. However, my long pursuit in search of the truth on this matter proved my intuition correct. My Prophet was a gentleman. And he did not marry an innocent seven or nine year old girl. The age of Ayesha has been erroneously reported in the hadith literature.
Furthermore, I think that the narratives reporting this event are highly unreliable. Some of the hadith (traditions of the Prophet) regarding Ayesha'
s age at the time of her wedding with prophet are problematic. I present the following evidences against the acceptance of the fictitious story by Hisham ibn 'Urwah and to clear the name of my Prophet as an irresponsible old man preying on an innocent little girl.
EVIDENCE #1: Reliability of Source
Most of the narratives printed in the books of hadith are reported only by Hisham ibn `Urwah , who was reporting on the authority of his father. First of all, more people than just one, two or three should logically have reported. It is strange that no one from Medina , where Hisham ibn `Urwah lived the first 71 years of his life narrated the event, despite the fact that his Medinan pupils included the well-respected Malik ibn Anas . The origins of the report of the narratives of this event are people from Iraq , where Hisham is reported to have shifted after living in Medina for most of his life.
Tehzibu'l-Tehzib , one of the most well known books on the life and reliability of the narrators of the traditions of the Prophet, reports that according to Yaqub ibn Shaibah : "He [Hisham ] is highly reliable, his narratives are acceptable, except what he narrated after moving over to Iraq" (Tehzi'bu'l-tehzi'b , Ibn Hajar Al-`asqala'ni , Dar Ihya al-turath al-Islami , 15th century. Vol 11, p. 50).
It further states that Malik ibn Anas objected on those narratives of Hisham which were reported through people in Iraq : "I have been told that Malik objected on those narratives of Hisham which were reported through people of Iraq " (Tehzi'b u'l-tehzi'b , Ibn Hajar Al-`asqala'ni , Dar Ihya al-turath al-Islami , Vol.11, p. 50).
Mizanu'l-ai`tidal , another book on the life sketches of the narrators of the traditions of the Prophet reports: "When he was old, Hisham's memory suffered quite badly" (Mizanu'l-ai`tidal , Al-Zahbi , Al-Maktabatu'
l-athriyyah , Sheikhupura , Pakistan, Vol. 4, p. 301).
CONCLUSION: Based on these references, Hisham's memory was failing and his narratives while in Iraq were unreliable. So, his narrative of Ayesha's marriage and age are unreliable.
CHRONOLOGY: It is vital also to keep in mind some of the pertinent dates in the history of Islam:
a.. pre-610 CE: Jahiliya (pre-Islamic age) before revelation
b.. 610 CE: First revelation
c.. 610 CE: AbuBakr accepts Islam
d.. 613 CE: Prophet Muhammad begins preaching publicly.
e.. 615 CE: Emigration to Abyssinia
f.. 616 CE: Umar bin al Khattab accepts Islam
g.. 620 CE: Generally accepted betrothal of Ayesha to the Prophet
h.. 622 CE: Hijrah (emigation to Yathrib , later renamed Medina )
i.. 623/624 CE: Generally accepted year of Ayesha living with the Prophet EVIDENCE #2: The Betrothal
According to Tabari (also according to Hisham ibn 'Urwah , Ibn Hunbal and Ibn Sad), Ayesha was betrothed at seven years of age and began to cohabit with the Prophet at the age of nine years.
However, in another work, Al-Tabari says: "All four of his [Abu Bakr's ] children were born of his two wives during the pre-Islamic period" (Tarikhu'
l-umam wa'l-mamlu'k , Al-Tabari (died 922), Vol. 4, p. 50, Arabic, Dara'
l-fikr , Beirut, 1979).
If Ayesha was betrothed in 620 CE (at the age of seven) and started to live with the Prophet in 624 CE (at the age of nine), that would indicate that she was born in 613 CE and was nine when she began living with the Prophet.
Therefore, based on one account of Al-Tabari , the numbers show that Ayesha must have born in 613 CE, three years after the beginning of revelation (610 CE). Tabari also states that Ayesha was born in the pre-Islamic era (in Jahiliya ). If she was born before 610 CE, she would have been at least 14 years old when she began living with the Prophet. Essentially, Tabari contradicts himself.
CONCLUSION: Al-Tabari is unreliable in the matter of determining Ayesha's age.
EVIDENCE # 3: The Age of Ayesha in Relation to the Age of Fatima
According to Ibn Hajar , "Fatima was born at the time the Ka`bah was rebuilt, when the Prophet was 35 years old... she was five years older that Ayesha " (Al-isabah fi tamyizi'l-sahabah , Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani , Vol. 4, p. 377, Maktabatu'l -Riyadh al-haditha , al-Riyadh, 1978).
If Ibn Hajar's statement is factual, Ayesha was born when the Prophet was 40 years old. If Ayesha was married to the Prophet when he was 52 years old, Ayesha's age at marriage would be 12 years.
CONCLUSION: Ibn Hajar , Tabari an Ibn Hisham and Ibn Humbal contradict each other. So, the marriage of Ayesha at seven years of age is a myth.
EVIDENCE #4: Ayesha's Age in relation to Asma's Age
According to Abda'l -Rahman ibn abi zanna'd : "Asma was 10 years older than Ayesha (Siyar A`la'ma'l-nubala ' , Al-Zahabi , Vol. 2, p. 289, Arabic, Mu'
assasatu'l-risalah , Beirut , 1992).
According to Ibn Kathir : "She [Asma ] was elder to her sister [Ayesha ] by 10 years" (Al-Bidayah wa'l-nihayah , Ibn Kathir , Vol. 8, p. 371, Dar al-fikr al-`arabi , Al-jizah , 1933).
According to Ibn Kathir : "She [Asma ] saw the killing of her son during that year [73 AH], as we have already mentioned, and five days later she herself died. According to other narratives, she died not after five days but 10 or 20, or a few days over 20, or 100 days later. The most well known narrative is that of 100 days later. At the time of her death, she was 100 years old." (Al-Bidayah wa'l-nihayah , Ibn Kathir , Vol. 8, p. 372, Dar al-fikr al-`arabi , Al-jizah , 1933)
According to Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani : "She [Asma ] lived a hundred years and died in 73 or 74 AH." (Taqribu'l-tehzib , Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani , p. 654, Arabic, Bab fi'l-nisa ', al-harfu'l-alif , Lucknow ).
According to almost all the historians, Asma , the elder sister of Ayesha was 10 years older than Ayesha . If Asma was 100 years old in 73 AH, she should have been 27 or 28 years old at the time of the hijrah .
If Asma was 27 or 28 years old at the time of hijrah , Ayesha should have been 17 or 18 years old. Thus, Ayesha , being 17 or 18 years of at the time of Hijra , she started to cohabit with the Prophet between at either 19 to 20 years of age.
Based on Hajar , Ibn Katir , and Abda'l -Rahman ibn abi zanna'd , Ayesha's age at the time she began living with the Prophet would be 19 or 20. In Evidence # 3, Ibn Hajar suggests that Ayesha was 12 years old and in Evidence #4 he contradicts himself with a 17 or 18-year-old Ayesha . What is the correct age, twelve or eighteen?
CONCLUSION: Ibn Hajar is an unreliable source for Ayesha's age.
EVIDENCE #5: The Battles of Badr and Uhud
A narrative regarding Ayesha's participation in Badr is given in the hadith of Muslim, (Kitabu'l -jihad wa'l-siyar , Bab karahiyati'l-isti`anah fi'
l-ghazwi bikafir ). Ayesha , while narrating the journey to Badr and one of the important events that took place in that journey, says: "when we reached Shajarah ". Obviously, Ayesha was with the group travelling towards Badr . A narrative regarding Ayesha's participation in the Battle of Uhud is given in Bukhari (Kitabu'l -jihad wa'l-siyar , Bab Ghazwi'l-nisa ' wa qitalihinna ma`a'lrijal ): "Anas reports that on the day of Uhud , people could not stand their ground around the Prophet. [On that day,] I saw Ayesha and Umm-i-Sulaim , they had pulled their dress up from their feet [to avoid any hindrance in their movement]." Again, this indicates that Ayesha was present in the Battles of Uhud and Badr .
It is narrated in Bukhari (Kitabu'l-maghazi , Bab Ghazwati'l-khandaq wa hiya 'l-ahza'b ): "Ibn `Umar states that the Prophet did not permit me to participate in Uhud , as at that time, I was 14 years old. But on the day of Khandaq , when I was 15 years old, the Prophet permitted my participation."
Based on the above narratives, (a) the children below 15 years were sent back and were not allowed to participate in the Battle of Uhud , and (b) Ayesha participated in the Battles of Badr and Uhud
CONCLUSION: Ayesha's participation in the Battles of Badr and Uhud clearly indicates that she was not nine years old but at least 15 years old. After all, women used to accompany men to the battlefields to help them, not to be a burden on them. This account is another contradiction regarding Ayesha's age.
EVIDENCE #6: Surat al-Qamar (The Moon)
According to the generally accepted tradition, Ayesha was born about eight years before hijrah . But according to another narrative in Bukhari , Ayesha is reported to have said: "I was a young girl (jariyah in Arabic)" when Surah Al-Qamar was revealed (Sahih Bukhari , kitabu'l-tafsir , Bab Qaulihi Bal al-sa`atu Maw`iduhum wa'l-sa`atu adha ' wa amarr ).
Chapter 54 of the Quran was revealed eight years before hijrah (The Bounteous Koran , M.M. Khatib , 1985), indicating that it was revealed in
614 CE. If Ayesha started living with the Prophet at the age of nine in 623 CE or 624 CE, she was a newborn infant (sibyah in Arabic) at the time that Surah Al-Qamar (The Moon) was revealed. According to the above tradition, Ayesha was actually a young girl, not an infant in the year of revelation of Al-Qamar . Jariyah means young playful girl (Lane's Arabic English Lexicon ). So, Ayesha , being a jariyah not a sibyah (infant), must be somewhere between 6-13 years old at the time of revelation of Al-Qamar , and therefore must have been 14-21 years at the time she married the Prophet.
CONCLUSION: This tradition also contradicts the marriage of Ayesha at the age of nine.
EVIDENCE #7: Arabic Terminology
According to a narrative reported by Ahmad ibn Hanbal , after the death of the Prophet's first wife Khadijah , when Khaulah came to the Prophet advising him to marry again, the Prophet asked her regarding the choices she had in mind. Khaulah said: "You can marry a virgin (bikr ) or a woman who has already been married (thayyib )". When the Prophet asked the identity of the bikr (virgin), Khaulah mentioned Ayesha's name.
All those who know the Arabic language are aware that the word bikr in the Arabic language is not used for an immature nine-year-old girl. The correct word for a young playful girl, as stated earlier, is jariyah . Bikr on the other hand, is used for an unmarried lady without conjugal experience prior to marriage, as we understand the word "virgin" in English. Therefore, obviously a nine-year-old girl is not a "lady" (bikr ) (Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal , Vol. 6, p. .210, Arabic, Dar Ihya al-turath al-`arabi , Beirut ).
CONCLUSION: The literal meaning of the word, bikr (virgin), in the above hadith is "adult woman with no sexual experience prior to marriage."
Therefore, Ayesha was an adult woman at the time of her marriage.
EVIDENCE #8. The Qur'anic Text
All Muslims agree that the Quran is the book of guidance. So, we need to seek the guidance from the Quran to clear the smoke and confusion created by the eminent men of the classical period of Islam in the matter of Ayesha's age at her marriage. Does the Quran allow or disallow marriage of an immature child of seven years of age?
There are no verses that explicitly allow such marriage. There is a verse, however, that guides Muslims in their duty to raise an orphaned child. The Quran's guidance on the topic of raising orphans is also valid in the case of our own children. The verse states: "And make not over your property (property of the orphan), which Allah had made a (means of) support for you, to the weak of understanding, and maintain them out of it, clothe them and give them good education. And test them until they reach the age of marriage. Then if you find them maturity of intellect, make over them their property..." (Quran , 4:5-6).
In the matter of children who have lost a parent, a Muslim is ordered to (a) feed them, (b) clothe them, (c) educate them, and (d) test them for maturity "until the age of marriage" before entrusting them with management of finances.
Here the Quranic verse demands meticulous proof of their intellectual and physical maturity by objective test results before the age of marriage in order to entrust their property to them.
In light of the above verses, no responsible Muslim would hand over financial management to a seven- or nine-year-old immature girl. If we cannot trust a seven-year-old to manage financial matters, she cannot be intellectually or physically fit for marriage. Ibn Hambal (Musnad Ahmad ibn Hambal , vol.6, p. 33 and 99) claims that nine-year-old Ayesha was rather more interested in playing with toy-horses than taking up the responsible task of a wife. It is difficult to believe, therefore, that AbuBakr , a great believer among Muslims, would betroth his immature seven-year-old daughter to the 50-year-old Prophet. Equally difficult to imagine is that the Prophet would marry an immature seven-year-old girl.
Another important duty demanded from the guardian of a child is to educate them. Let us ask the question, "How many of us believe that we can educate our children satisfactorily before they reach the age of seven or nine years?" The answer is none. Logically, it is an impossible task to educate a child satisfactorily before the child attains the age of seven. Then, how can we believe that Ayesha was educated satisfactorily at the claimed age of seven at the time of her marriage?
AbuBakr was a more judicious man than all of us. So, he definitely would have judged that Ayesha was a child at heart and was not satisfactorily educated as demanded by the Quran . He would not have married her to anyone.
If a proposal of marrying the immature and yet to be educated seven-year-old Ayesha came to the Prophet, he would have rejected it outright because neither the Prophet nor AbuBakr would violate any clause in the Quran .
CONCLUSION: The marriage of Ayesha at the age of seven years would violate the maturity clause or requirement of the Quran . Therefore, the story of the marriage of the seven-year-old immature Ayesha is a myth.
EVIDENCE #9: Consent in Marriage
A women must be consulted and must agree in order to make a marriage valid (Mishakat al Masabiah , translation by James Robson, Vol. I, p. 665).
Islamically , credible permission from women is a prerequisite for a marriage to be valid.
By any stretch of the imagination, the permission given by an immature seven-year-old girl cannot be valid authorization for marriage.
It is inconceivable that AbuBakr , an intelligent man, would take seriously the permission of a seven-year-old girl to marry a 50-year-old man.
Similarly, the Prophet would not have accepted the permission given by a girl who, according to the hadith of Muslim, took her toys with her when she went live with Prophet.
CONCLUSION: The Prophet did not marry a seven-year-old Ayesha because it would have violated the requirement of the valid permission clause of the Islamic Marriage Decree. Therefore, the Prophet married an intellectually and physically mature lady Ayesha .
It was neither an Arab tradition to give away girls in marriage at an age as young as seven or nine years, nor did the Prophet marry Ayesha at such a young age. The people of Arabia did not object to this marriage because it never happened in the manner it has been narrated.
Obviously, the narrative of the marriage of nine-year-old Ayesha by Hisham ibn `Urwah cannot be held true when it is contradicted by many other reported narratives. Moreover, there is absolutely no reason to accept the narrative of Hisham ibn `Urwah as true when other scholars, including Malik ibn Anas , view his narrative while in Iraq , as unreliable. The quotations from Tabari , Bukhari and Muslim show they contradict each other regarding Ayesha's age. Furthermore, many of these scholars contradict themselves in their own records. Thus, the narrative of Ayesha's age at the time of the marriage is not reliable due to the clear contradictions seen in the works of classical scholars of Islam.
Therefore, there is absolutely no reason to believe that the information on Ayesha's age is accepted as true when there are adequate grounds to reject it as myth. Moreover, the Quran rejects the marriage of immature girls and boys as well as entrusting them with responsibilities.
T.O. Shanavas is a physician based in Michigan . This article first appeared in The Minaret in March 1999.
© 2001 Minaret
Extracted 09/06/02 from The Minaret
The Prophet said: "Do not eat before you are hungry, and stop eating before you are full"
"1/3 of your stomach for food, 1/3 for water, 1/3 for air"
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assalamu alaikum
Br semar i would advise removing the above article as it contains false referencing to say the least.
Our Mother A'isha's Age At The Time Of Her Marriage to The Prophet
Answered by Shaykh Gibril F Haddad
To begin with, I think it is the responsibility of all those who believe that marrying a girl as young as nine years old was an accepted norm of the Arab culture, to provide at least a few examples to substantiate their point of view. I have not yet been able to find a single dependable instance in the books of Arab history where a girl as young as nine years old was given away in marriage. Unless such examples are given, we do not have any reasonable grounds to believe that it really was an accepted norm.
In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,
- Abu Tughlub ibn Hamdan married the daughter of `Izz al-Dawla Bakhtyar when she was three and paid a dowry of 100,000 dinars. This took place in Safar 360 H. (Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil).
- Al-Shafi`i in al-Umm reported that he saw countless examples of nine-year old pubescent girls in Yemen. Al-Bayhaqi also narrates it from him in the Sunan al-Kubra as does al-Dhahabi in the Siyar.
- Al-Bayhaqi narrated with his chains in his Sunan al-Kubra no less than three examples of Muslim wives that gave birth at age nine or ten.
- Hisham ibn `Urwa himself (whom the objector claims to know enough to forward the most barefaced judgments on his reliability) married Fatima bint al-Mundhir when she was nine years old (al-Muntazam and Tarikh Baghdad).
- Our liege-lord `Umar married Umm Kulthum the daughter of `Ali and Fatima at a similar age per `Abd al-Razzaq, Ibn `Abd al-Barr and others.
- And our Mother `Aisha herself was first almost betrothed to Jubayr ibn Mut`im before her father dropped that option when he received word from the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless and greet him and be well-pleased with them.
In my opinion, the age of Ayesha (ra) has been grossly mis-reported in the ahadith. Not only that, I think that the narratives reporting this event are not only highly unreliable, but also that on the basis of other historical data, the event reported, is quite an unlikely happening. Let us look at the issue from an objective stand point. My reservations in accepting the narratives, on the basis of which, Ayesha's (ra) age at the time of her marriage with the Prophet (pbuh) is held to be nine years are: Most of these narratives are reported only by Hisham ibn `Urwah, reporting on the authority of his father. An event as well known as the one being reported, should logically have been reported by more people than just one, two or three.
Try more than eleven authorities among the Tabi`in that reported it directly from `A'isha, not counting the other major Companions that reported the same, nor other major Successors that reported it from other than `A'isha.
It is quite strange that no one from Medinah, where Hisham ibn `Urwah lived the first seventy one years of his life has narrated the event, even though in Medinah his pupils included people as well known as Malik ibn Anas.
Not so. Al-Zuhri also reports it from `Urwa, from `A'isha; so does `Abd Allah ibn Dhakwan, both major Madanis. So is the Tabi`i Yahya al-Lakhmi who reports it from her in the Musnad and in Ibn Sa`d's Tabaqat. So is Abu Ishaq Sa`d ibn Ibrahim who reports it from Imam al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, one of the Seven Imams of Madina, from `A'isha. All the narratives of this event have been reported
Nor by narrators from Iraq, where Hisham is reported to have had shifted after living in Medinah for seventy one years.
Not so. In addition to the above four Madinese Tabi`in narrators, Sufyan ibn `Uyayna from Khurasan and `Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya from Tabarayya in Palestine both report it.
Nor was this hadith reported only by `Urwa but also by `Abd al-Malik ibn `Umayr, al-Aswad, Ibn Abi Mulayka, Abu Salama ibn `Abd al-Rahman ibn `Awf, Yahya ibn `Abd al-Rahman ibn Hatib, Abu `Ubayda (`Amir ibn `Abd Allah ibn Mas`ud) and others of the Tabi`i Imams directly from `A'isha.
This makes the report mass-transmitted (mutawatir) from `A'isha by over eleven authorities among the Tabi`in, not counting the other major Companions that reported the same, such as Ibn Mas`ud nor other major Successors that reported it from other than `A'isha, such as Qatada!
Tehzibu'l-tehzib, one of the most well known books on the life and reliability of the narrators of the traditions of the Prophet (pbuh), reports that according to Yaqub ibn Shaibah: "narratives reported by Hisham are reliable except those that are reported through the people of Iraq". It further states that Malik ibn Anas objected on those narratives of Hisham which were reported through people of Iraq. (vol11, pg 48 - 51)
Rather, Ya`qub said: "Trustworthy, thoroughly reliable (thiqa thabt), above reproach except after he went to Iraq, at which time he narrated overly from his father and was criticized for it." Notice that Ya`qub does not exactly endorse that criticism.
As for Malik, he reports over 100 hadiths from Hisham as is evident in the two Sahihs and Sunan! to the point that al-Dhahabi questions the authenticity of his alleged criticism of Hisham.
Indeed, none among the hadith Masters endorsed these reservations since they were based solely on the fact that Hisham in his last period (he was 71 at the time of his last trip to Iraq), for the sake of brevity, would say, "My father, from `A'isha? (abi `an `A'isha)" and no longer pronounced, "narrated to me (haddathani)".
Al-Mizzi in Tahdhib al-Kamal (30:238) explained that it became a foregone conclusion for the Iraqis that Hisham did not narrate anything
from his father except what he had heard directly from him.
Ibn Hajar also dismisses the objections against Hisham ibn `Urwa as negligible in Tahdhib al-Tahdhib (11:45), saying: "It was clear enough to the Iraqis that he did not narrate from his father other than what he had heard directly from him".
In fact, to say that "narratives reported by Hisham ibn `Urwa are reliable except those that are reported through the people of Iraq" is major nonsense as that would eliminate all narrations of Ayyub al-Sakhtyani from him since Ayyub was a Basran Iraqi, and those of Abu `Umar al-Nakha`i who was from Kufa, and those of Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman from Kufa (the Shaykh of Abu Hanifa), and those of Hammad ibn Salama and Hammad ibn Zayd both from Basra, and those of Sufyan al-Thawri from Basra, and those of Shu`ba in Basra, all of whom narrated from Hisham!
Mizanu'l-ai`tidal, another book on the narrators of the traditions of the Prophet (pbuh) reports that when he was old, Hisham's memory suffered quite badly. (vol 4, pg 301 - 302)
An outright lie, on the contrary, al-Dhahabi in Mizan al-I`tidal (4:301 #9233) states: "Hisham ibn `Urwa, one of the eminent personalities. A Proof in himself, and an Imam. However, in his old age his memory diminished, but he certainly never became confused. Nor should any attention be paid to what Abu al-Hasan ibn al-Qattan said about him and Suhayl ibn Abi Salih becoming confused or changing! Yes, the man changed a little bit and his memory was not the same as it had been in his younger days, so that he forgot some of what he had memorized or lapsed, so what? Is he immune to forgetfulness? [p. 302] And when he came to Iraq in the last part of his life he narrated a great amount of knowledge, in the course of which are a few narrations in which he did not excel, and such as occurs also to Malik, and Shu`ba, and Waki`, and the major trustworthy masters. So spare yourself confusion and floundering, do not make mix the firmly-established Imams with the weak and muddled narrators. Hisham is a Shaykh al-Islam. But may Allah console us well of you, O Ibn al-Qattan, and the same with regard to `Abd al-Rahman ibn Khirash's statement from Malik!"
According to the generally accepted tradition, Ayesha (ra) was born about eight years before Hijra. But according to another narrative in Bukhari (kitabu'l-tafseer) Ayesha (ra) is reported to have said that at the time Surah Al-Qamar, the 54th chapter of the Qur'an, was revealed, "I was a young girl". The 54th surah of the Qur'an was revealed nine years before Hijra.
Not true. The hadith Masters, Sira historians, and Qur'anic commentators agree that the splitting of the moon took place about five years before the Holy Prophet's (upon him blessings and peace) Hijra to Madina.
Thus it is confirmed that our Mother `Aisha was born between seven and eight years before the Hijra and the words that she was a jariya or little girl five years before the Hijra match the fact that her age at the time Surat al-Qamar was revealed was around 2 or 3.
According to this tradition, Ayesha (ra) had not only been born before the revelation of the referred surah, but was actually a young girl (jariyah), not an infant (sibyah) at that time. Obviously, if this narrative is held to be true, it is in clear contradiction with the narratives reported by Hisham ibn `Urwah. I see absolutely no reason that after the comments of the experts on the narratives of Hisham ibn `Urwah, why we should not accept this narrative to be more accurate.
A two year old is not an infant. A two year old is able to run around, which is what jariya means. As for "the comments of the experts" they concur on 6 or 7 as the age of marriage and 9 as the age of cohabitation.
According to a number of narratives, Ayesha (ra) accompanied the Muslims in the battle of Badr and Uhud. Furthermore, it is also reported in books of hadith and history that no one under the age of 15 years was allowed to take part in the battle of Uhud. All the boys below 15 years of age were sent back. Ayesha's (ra) participation in the battle of Badr and Uhud clearly indicate that she was not nine or ten years old at that time. After all, women used to accompany men to the battle fields to help them, not to be a burden on them.
First, the prohibition applied to combatants. It applied neither to non-combatant boys nor to non-combatant girls and women. Second, `A'isha did not participate in Badr at all but bade farewell to the combatants as they were leaving Madina, as narrated by Muslim in his Sahih. On the day of Uhud (year 3), Anas, at the time only twelve or thirteen years old, reports seeing an eleven-year old `A'isha and his mother Umm Sulaym having tied up their dresses and carrying water skins back and forth to the combatants, as narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim.
According to almost all the historians, Asma, the elder sister of Ayesha was ten years older than Ayesha.
Well, Ibn Kathir based himself on Ibn Abi al-Zinad's assertion that she was ten years older than `A'isha, however, al-Dhahabi in Siyar A`lam al-Nubala' said there was a greater difference than 10 years between the two, up to 19, and he is more reliable here.
It is reported in Taqri'bu'l-tehzi'b as well as Al-bidayah wa'l-nihayah that Asma died in 73 hijrah when she was 100 years old. Now, obviously if Asma was 100 years old in 73 hijrah she should have been 27 or 28 years old at the time of hijrah. If Asma was 27 or 28 years old at the time of hijrah, Ayesha should have been 17 or 18 years old at that time. Thus, Ayesha, if she got married in 1 AH (after hijrah) or 2 AH, was between 18 to 20 years old at the time of her marriage.
Ibn Hajar reports in al-Isaba from Hisham ibn `Urwa, from his father, that Asma' did live 100 years, and from Abu Nu`aym al-Asbahani that "Asma' bint Abi Bakr was born 27 years before the Hijra, and she lived until the beginning of the year 74." None of this amounts to any proof for `A'isha's age whatsoever.
Tabari in his treatise on Islamic history, while mentioning Abu Bakr, reports that Abu Bakr had four children and all four were born during the Jahiliyyah -- the pre Islamic period. Obviously, if Ayesha was born in the period of Jahiliyyah, she could not have been less than 14 years in 1 AH -- the time she most likely got married.
Al-Tabari nowhere reports that "Abu Bakr's four children were all born in Jahiliyya" but only that Abu Bakr married both their mothers in Jahiliyya, Qutayla bint Sa`d and Umm Ruman, who bore him four children in all, two each, `A'isha being the daughter of Umm Ruman.
According to Ibn Hisham, the historian, Ayesha accepted Islam quite some time before Umar ibn Khattab.
Nowhere does Ibn Hisham say this.
This shows that Ayesha accepted Islam during the first year of Islam. While, if the narrative of Ayesha's marriage at seven years of age is held to be true, Ayesha should not have been born during the first year of Islam.
Rather, Ibn Hisham lists `A'isha among "those that accepted Islam because of Abu Bakr." This does not mean that she embraced Islam during the first year of Islam. Nor does it mean that she necessarily embraced Islam before `Umar (year 6) although she was born the previous year (year 7 before the Hijra) although it is understood she will automatically follow her father's choice even before the age of reason.
Tabari has also reported that at the time Abu Bakr planned on migrating to Habshah (8 years before Hijrah), he went to Mut`am -- with whose son Ayesha was engaged -- and asked him to take Ayesha in his house as his son's wife. Mut`am refused, because Abu Bakr had embraced Islam, and subsequently his son divorced Ayesha (ra).
Not at all, there is no mention of emigration in Tabari's account of Abu Bakr's discussion with Mut`im. Nor did he ever ask him to take `A'isha because there had been only some preliminary talk, not a formal arrangement. Umm Ruman, Abu Bakr's wife, reportedly said: "By Allah, no promise had been given on our part at all!" Rather, al-Tabari said that when news of the Prophet's interest in `A'isha came, he went to see Mut`im. Then Mut`im's wife manifested her fear that her son would become Muslim if he married into Abu Bakr's family. Abu Bakr then left them and gave his assent to the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace.
Now, if Ayesha was only seven years old at the time of her marriage, she could not have been born at the time Abu Bakr decided on migrating to Habshah. On the basis of this report it seems only reasonable to assume that Ayesha had not only been born 8 years before hijrah, but was also a young lady, quite prepared for marriage.
Your assumption fizzles at the root when you read al-Tabari's positive assertion: "On the day he consummated the marriage with her, she was nine years old."
According to a narrative reported by Ahmad ibn Hanbal, after the death of Khadijah, when Khaulah came to the Prophet advising him to marry again, the Prophet asked her regarding the choices she had in her mind. Khaulah said: "You can marry a virgin (bikr) or a woman who has already been married (thayyib)". When the Prophet asked about who the virgin was, Khaulah proposed Ayesha's name. All those who know the Arabic language, are aware that the word "bikr" in the Arabic language is not used for an immature nine year old girl. The correct word for a young playful girl, as stated earlier is "Jariyah". "Bikr" on the other hand, is used for an unmarried lady, and obviously a nine year old is not a "lady".
This is ignorant nonsense, bikr means a virgin girl, a girl who has never been married even if her age is 0 and there is no unclarity here whatsoever.
According to Ibn Hajar, Fatimah was five years older than Ayesha. Fatimah is reported to have been born when the Prophet was 35 years old. Thus, even if this information is taken to be correct, Ayesha could by no means be less than 14 years old at the time of hijrah, and 15 or 16 years old at the time of her marriage.
Rather, Ibn Hajar mentions two versions: (1) al-Waqidi's narration that Fatima was born when the Prophet was 35; and (2) Ibn `Abd al-Barr's narration that she was born when he was 41, approximately one year more or less before Prophethood, and about five years before `A'isha was born. The latter version matches the established dates.
So our Mother `A'isha was nineteen to twenty years younger than her sister Asma' (b. 27 before Hijra-d. 74) and about five years to eight years Fatima's junior.
These are some of the major points that go against accepting the commonly known narrative regarding Ayesha's (ra) age at the time of her marriage. In my opinion, neither was it an Arab tradition to give away girls in marriage at an age as young as nine or ten years, nor did the Prophet marry Ayesha at such a young age. The people of Arabia did not object to this marriage, because it never happened in the manner it has been narrated.
Those that itch to follow misguidance always resort to solipsisms because they are invariably thin on sources. In this particular case "the Learner" proves to be ignorant and dishonest. It is no surprise he moves on every single point, without exception, from incorrect premises to false conclusions.
Hajj Gibril
Rasul Allah (sallah llahu alaihi wa sallam) said: "Whoever knows himself, knows his Lord" and whoever knows his Lord has been given His gnosis and nearness.
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Bi ismillahir rahmanir raheem
However, such an explanation would be gullible only for those who are naive enough to believe it.
this is by far the most idiotic statement of the entire article, it was common practice up until the 19th century throughout the entire world to marry women at an extremely young age. If any person knows the history of modern western schooling which began in Prussia and the effect it has had on society you would know that it has increased adolescence by about 10 years.
In 1923, registrars of marriage in Egypt were instructed not to register and issue official certificates of marriage for brides less than sixteen and grooms less than eighteen years of age. Eight years later, the Law of the Organization and Procedure of Sheriah courts of 1931 consolidated the above provision by not hearing the marriage disputes involving brides less than sixteen and grooms less than eighteen years old. (Women in Muslim Family Law , John Esposito, 1982). It shows that even in the Muslim majority country of Egypt the child marriages are unacceptable.
This is hardly evidence for anything, 1923 was around the time the Arab world was declaring its independence of Islam and anything Islamic. lets not forget the Ottoman Khalifah you know those guys in turkey who we swore an oath to, lets not forget the Balfour Declaration of 1917.
Edited by rami
Rasul Allah (sallah llahu alaihi wa sallam) said: "Whoever knows himself, knows his Lord" and whoever knows his Lord has been given His gnosis and nearness.
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It is widely believed that Hazrat Ayesha's age was seven years when she was married to the Prophet (Pbuh) and she was 9 when she came to live with him but this is wrong. The fact is that she was 17 when married and 19 at the time of her rukhsati (departure from her home to the husband's house). There are too many indisputable evidences in favour of this. A few of those are listed below:
1. Imam Waliuddin Muhammad Abdullah Al-Khateeb, the author of famous work on Hadith, namely Mishkaat was also an acknowledged expert of Asma-ur-Rijal (the unique art of research on people). He registered the following about Hazrat Asma at the end of Mishkaat.
"She is Asma, the daughter of Abu Bakr Siddiq...She is the mother of Abdullah Bin Zubair...She was 10 years older than her sister Ayesha...She died at the age of 100 in Makkah in 73AH..."(Mishkaat, Asma-ur-Rijal)
There is unanimity among all the scholars of Asma-ur-Rijal and historians on the above-mentioned facts.
It can be easily computed from above that being 100 years old in 73 AH, Hazrat Asma, daughter of Hazrat Abu Bak'r was at least 27 (100-73) years old at the time of Hijrah of the Prophet (Pbuh). If she died in the beginning of 73 AH, then her age was (100-72) 28 years at Hijrah. It is stated above that she was 10 years older than Hazrat Ayesha. It means Hazrat Ayesha was 18 years old at Hijrah. She came into the Nikah of the Prophet (Pbuh) one year before Hijrah and she shifted to the Prophet's house two years later. Clearly, she was 17 at the time of nikah and 19 at her rukhsati.
2. The historians have placed Hazrat Ayesha between No. 17 and 20 in the list of those who were earliest to embrace Islam. Ibne Ishaq, the earliest authentic Islamic historian has placed her at No. 18. We also know that Hazrat Umar was the 40th person to embrace Islam and he entered into the faith in the first year of prophethood. It means Hazrat Ayesha was among those few who embraced Islam almost immediately after the declaration of prophethood. She must have been at least 5 years old to be categorized in the list of those who embraced Islam. Therefore her age was 18 when Hijrah came about 13 years later.
Now imagine this. The saying goes that she was 7 at her nikah i.e. 8 at Hijrah that occurred 13 years after the declaration of prophethood. If it were true the declaration of prophethood occurred 5 years before her birth. Did she embrace Islam 5 years prior to her birth?
3. There are indications that she was among those who went to war of Badar but her presence in the battleground of Uhad is beyond doubt. It is in many authentic books of Hadiths and history that she was among those women in Uhad who were carrying water to the injured Sahaba. Now remember the incident of two young boys Rafe and Samra who were 13 and the Prophet (Pbuh) was not permitting them to join forces for their age but later agreed to their pleading as they were very enthusiastic. If Hazrat Ayesha was 10 when Uhad came about in 2 AH, was it possible that a new bride of 10 would have been permitted while the young boys of 13 were refused permission to go to Uhad? On the contrary if she was 18 at Hijrah her age was 20 and fit to take care of the injured in the battlefield when Uhad took place.
There are quite a number of other irrefutable evidences of her age being 19 when she entered into the Prophet's home 2 years after her Nikah to him.
The wrong notion of her being 7 at marriage is widely accepted (and many Fiqh deductions are erroneously made on its basis) as there is a false report narrated by Hashsham bin Urwah in all the six most authentic collections of Hadith i.e. Sihah-e-Sittah! Hashsham bin Urwah was a very reliable narrator according to all scholars but this fact skipped the scrutiny of the famous Muhaddiseen of Sihah-e-Sittah that Hashsham became forgetful and unbalanced at his old age when he shifted to Iraq. The said report was narrated by him while he was in Iraq. Hashsham was the teacher of Imam Malik and he has accepted a number of Hadiths narrated by him in his collection of Hadith, Muatta. It was none other than Imam Malik, Hahsham's disciple who declared after Hashsham shifted to Iraq that none of his former teachers' statements were reliable any more because of his mental condition. The compilers of Sihah-e-Sittah, all being non-Arabs were not aware of it.
Now you know that when Hazrat Ayesha came to the Prophet's house she was a major. The age difference is still considerable but no law of any land objects to the union of mutual wilful consent of two majors. Remember also that the Prophet (Pbuh) possessed exceptional health at 53 with all his hair black and he being stronger than most youngsters. Besides he was an ideal husband and the history testifies to his ideal care of his young wife with all the psychological considerations.
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Salam to all
I want to know what is the minimum age of marriage in Islam ?
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I am not scholar. As far as I know there is no exact age, but they use "baligh" is the limit that people start will be responsible of their act. People consider baligh is when people start have desire to the opposite sex and one of the sign is when the girls start have menstruation and the boys start produce sperm (have "wet" dream).
Edited by semar - 27 January 2010 at 12:25pm
The Prophet said: "Do not eat before you are hungry, and stop eating before you are full"
"1/3 of your stomach for food, 1/3 for water, 1/3 for air"
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Thanks semar for reply. There are few things which I want to understand. Baligh is a term which as you explain can be a point where a girl can be married, however, Aysha was married when she was six ? Does it mean She was also Baligh at that time ?
Further I was reading verses of Sura Talaq, 65:4 which says and I quote;
"65:4 And those of your women as have passed the age of monthly courses, for them the 'Iddah (prescribed period), if you have doubts (about their periods), is three months, and for those who have no courses [(i.e. they are still immature) their 'Iddah (prescribed period) is three months likewise, except in case of death] . And for those who are pregnant (whether they are divorced or their husbands are dead), their 'Iddah (prescribed period) is until they deliver (their burdens), and whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make his matter easy for him"
Now according to this verse Iddah period for girls who are still immature is also three months ! Does it not imply that girls who are not mature yet can be married according to this verse ?
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text:
At the New York GAA's 80th annual dinner dance to celebrate its 100th anniversary on Saturday night in Queens, incoming President-elect of the GAA in Ireland Aogan O Fearghail announced the multi-million dollar commitment, which will go towards the development of the clubhouse and function room at Gaelic Park.
Cavan native O Fearghail also voiced his support for New York's continued involvement in the Connacht Senior Football Championship this year and for the foreseeable future. Current GAA President Liam O'Neill raised hackles last week with public remarks that questioned New York's possible future involvement.
A plan has been established to demolish the existing bar and function rooms at Gaelic Park and create a three-floor 12,000 footprint to replace it. "We have plans for a 12,000 square foot first floor with a bar and function room which is approximately the same size as the function hall at the moment," New York GAA Chairman Liam Bermingham told the Irish Voice.
"We will also have a function hall on the second floor which will be leased out to a separate company who will rent from us," he added.
The basement floor level which is earmarked to be eight feet high and partially at ground level is allocated for player dressing rooms, a doctor's office and referee rooms, as well as storage. With the rent on the field at the moment listed at $75,000 a year and the bar at twice that number, the projection is for the new hall to be able to take care of the bill that comes in from both entities with the funds that will be raised from the new development.
The demolition of the existing bar and function room is slated for mid-summer with structural drawings presently in for approval.
The cost of the new home will be significant, but support is forthcoming. At the dinner dance Bermingham also announced a further $750,000 contribution from the Irish government's Department of Foreign Affairs. The footing this gives the New York GAA moving forward is "brilliant," according to Bermingham.
In his speech to the more than 600 people at the dance, O Fearghail made note of Gaelic Park's illustrious history and spoke about its future as the hub of Irish culture and sports in New York. He was vocal in saying that GAA is not only about sports, but about family and culture too.
"I was delighted to hear about the recent Scor competition that took place in New York, another huge part of the GAA," he stated.
The president-elect remarked that Ireland is firmly behind Gaelic Park development and that the GAA at home "looks forward to New York's involvement in the Connacht Championship for the future."
Gaelic Park has been the home for the GAA in New York since the late 1920s, after a number of years playing in Sunnyside, Wakefield and other temporary stops. The highlight of the GAA's history here was the playing of the 1947 All-Ireland final at the Polo Grounds in upper Manhattan when Cavan defeated Kerry.
New York was then invited into the National League in both hurling and football where they annexed three titles in the large ball sport, most recently in 1967 when Galway was defeated over two legs.
Gaelic Park, however, was a dustbowl at the best of times in the height of summer during that period.
The field in Gaelic Park was developed to its present status during the Seamus Dooley years as New York chairman, with a state of the art surface, flood lights and lengthening of the pitch.
When the field was developed the GAA in Ireland came forward with $1 million, while New York also contributed over $500,000 as part of the 50 percent contribution to its partnership with Manhattan College, which owns Gaelic Park.
The park is now able to cater for all of the New York GAA games during the course of the year, with an average of 10 to 12 games played in a seven-day cycle.
With three different divisions at adult level, including ladies football, men's hurling and men's football, as well as a large number of Minor Board fixtures, the extent to which it is used is substantial. While use of the field has reached a peak, the function hall and the dressing rooms have lagged far behind.


text:
Here's a new trailer for Monster Hunter Tri 3G, which shows off some intense battles with the wide variety of monsters you will face.
The trailer starts off calmly, showing some exploration and cut-scenes, but quickly comes to life with soaring music and high-action combat sequences.
It's an exciting trailer, I will say, and the graphics look very nice. Good work, Capcom! I'm curious about how it looks running on the system with the 3D slider all the way up, because the effects could potentially be a little dizzying.
Regardless, the video displays some diverse combat, a plethora of big weapons and a host of different environments to play and fight in. A quick reminder that this is all single player footage, because the game will not have online gameplay.
The Wii version of Monster Hunter Tri was very successful, so this game should be looking to build off that. It is slated for release on Dec. 10 in Japan, with no release dates announced for other regions.


text:
What you need to know before you go
Croatia stretches along the Adriatic and is home to over 1,000 islands – some of which are among the most charming in Europe. The country is also home to 7 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, which include dramatic, centuries-old towns that continue to win the hearts of travellers as well as filmmakers for their magnificence and well-preserved architecture.
The Croatian countryside offers an abundance in natural beauty, with numerous old-world wine regions that date back to Ancient Greek settlers. Besides offering an impressive history with numerous sites that you can visit and admire up close, Croatia is a cultural melting pot – it's right at the intersection between Central and Southeast Europe, bordering countries like Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, and Montenegro.
Croatia — pieprasītākie galamērķiKurp dosities nākamreiz?
Dubrovnik overlooks the Adriatic Sea in southern Croatia, and its Old Town is one of the most beautiful in the world. Encircled by 10th-century walls, its labyrinthine streets are pleasant places to wander, and many of its historical buildings are still in remarkably great shape. The Stradun is the main thoroughfare – an elegant strip full of cafes and stately buildings. The Square of the Loggia is a popular meeting spot, featuring the Loggia of the Bells which dates from 1480. History lovers should make the trip to Fort Lovrijenac, which also hosts Dubrovnik's famed Summer Festival.Izvērst
Croatia — pašreizējās tendencesIevērību cienīgi un izklaidējoši raksti
Ceļojuma plānošana
Europe — citas iecienītas vietas
Iepazīstiet citas vietas
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- England
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Malta
- Monaco
- Montenegro
- Netherlands
- Northern Ireland
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Russia
- Scotland
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Turkey
- United Kingdom
- Wales


text:
Updated May 6, 5:46 p.m.
Police announced Sunday that a body found in the Hudson River was identified as Jiwon Lee, the Columbia Dental student first reported missing on April 2.
A New York Police Department spokesperson confirmed early Monday morning that Lee had been found on Sunday afternoon. The cause of death was blunt injuries to the head and the manner of death was suicide, Julie Bolcer, Director of Public Affairs at the NYC Medical Examiner's Office, confirmed Tuesday.
According to the New York Daily News, she was wearing a sweater, underwear, and boots and was floating in the river off of West 86th Street. The Daily News also said that Lee had suffered from depression and attempted suicide before she disappeared.
On a GoFundMe page originally set up by her brother Matt to raise money for a private investigator to look into Lee's case, Matt posted, "Thank you for your continued prayers, donations, and support. Unfortunately, Jiwon, beloved daughter, sister, and friend has gone on to a better place. Our family thanks you at this time for respecting our privacy. We are currently planning a memorial service to honor Jiwon and will post further details as soon as possible."
The GoFundMe page raised over $87,000 as of Sunday, and in a post in early April, Matt Lee said that he had been in touch with Irma Rivera, a former NYPD homicide detective, to look into his sister's disappearance.
An email sent by College of Dental Medicine Associate Dean of Admissions Laureen Zubiaurre Bitzer, Vice Dean for Academic Affairs Letty Moss Salentijn, and Dean Christian Stohler on Monday morning said that school officials had been in contact with Lee's family to provide support and assistence.
"We wish to convey our heartfelt condolences to the Lee family for their terrible loss and ask that you keep them in your thoughts in the days ahead," part of the email said. "Jiwon was a talented student, committed to the care of her patients, and one who enjoyed helping out her classmates. Her passion and energy were infectious."
Lee had last been seen near her residence at 220 West 98th St. at 8:30 p.m. on April 1. The police report on her disappearance described Lee as a 29-year-old female, 5-foot-2, 120 pounds, with black hair and black eyes.
Lee served as president of the American Student Dental Association last year and served as a student representative on the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations from 2011 to 2014.
Lee was also a comedian who performed on Comedy Central's 2007 Open Mic Fight and in various New York City comedy clubs like Stand Up NY, Comix, and the Laugh Lounge. After news of her disappearance went public in April, many prominent New York City comedians, including Max Silvestri and Giulia Rozzi, tweeted to ask followers to look out for Lee.
Walk-in hours at the Columbia University Medical Center's Center for Student Wellness are extended until 8 p.m. on Monday. Mental Health Services at CUMC also have walk-in hours available from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday.
Maia Bix contributed reporting.
firstname.lastname@example.com | @ChristiZhang


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The City of Angels goes to hell in the newest gameplay footage from Treyarch's upcoming sequel to the hit Call of Duty: Black Ops. L.A.'s iconic freeways become a shattered battlefield when future America's massive store unmanned war assets get turned against us. An escort mission where the player character safeguards the American president through a full-scale attack showed off x-ray sniper scopes and what appeared to be a web-connected engagement theater. The bar for COD's trademark set pieces looks like it' getting raised big time in Black Ops 2. Look for more coverage this week on Kotaku.
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text:
Java development 2.0
Redis for the real world
How Redis beats memcached in heavily read applications
Content series:
This content is part # of # in the series: Java development 2.0
This content is part of the series:Java development 2.0
Stay tuned for additional content in this series.
I've discussed the concept of NoSQL before in this series and introduced a variety of NoSQL data stores that are compatible with the Java platform, including Google's Bigtable and Amazon's SimpleDB. I've also discussed more conventional server-based data stores like MongoDB and CouchDB. Every data store has strengths and weaknesses, especially as applied to a particular domain scenario.
This month's Java development 2.0 spotlight is on Redis, a lightweight key-value data store. Most NoSQL implementations are essentially key-value, but Redis supports an unusually rich set of values, including strings, lists, sets, and hashes. As such, Redis is often labeled a data structure server. Redis also has a reputation for being exceptionally fast, which makes it an optimum choice for a certain class of use cases.
When trying to understand something new, it can be helpful to compare it to something you are already familiar with, so we'll start our exploration of Redis by considering its similarity to memcached. I'll then demonstrate key features of Redis that could give it an edge over memcached in some application scenarios. And finally, I'll show you how to use Redis as a traditional datastore for model objects.
Redis and memcached
Memcached is a well-known, in-memory object caching system that works by putting a target key and value into a memory cache. Memcached thus sidesteps the I/O cost that happens when a read hits the disk. Sticking memcached between a web application and a database can yield better read performance. Memcached is, therefore, a good choice for applications that require fast data look ups. One example would be a stock look-up service that would otherwise hit a database for fairly static data, such as ticker-to-name or even pricing information.
But memcached has some limitations, including the fact that all its values are simple strings. Redis, as an alternative to memcached, supports a richer feature set. Some benchmarks also indicate that Redis is much faster than memcached. Redis's rich data types make it possible to store far more sophisticated data in memory than you could with memcached. And unlike memcached, Redis can persist its data.
Redis makes a great caching solution, but its rich feature set leads to other uses. Because Redis is capable of storing data on disk and replicating data across nodes, it can be leveraged as a data repository for traditional data models (that is, you can use Redis much like you would an RDBMS). Redis is also often employed as a queuing system. In this use case, Redis is the basis of a backing, persistent store of work queues that leverage Redis's list type. GitHub is one example of a large-scale infrastructure that uses Redis this way.
Get Redis and go!
In order to get started with Redis, you'll have to get access to it, which you can do via a local install or a hosted provider. If you're on a Mac, the install process couldn't be easier. If you're using Windows®, you'll need to have Cygwin installed. Regardless of how you access Redis, you will be able to follow the examples later in the article. I should point out, though, that using a hosted Redis provider for caching might not be a great caching solution, because network latency could undo any performance gains.
You interact with Redis via commands, meaning that there is no SQL-like query language.
Working with Redis is very much like working with a traditional
map data structure — everything has a key and a value, and each value has a rich set of data types associated with it. Every data type also has its own set of commands. For instance, if you planned on using simple data types, say in some sort of caching scheme, you could use the commands
set and
You can interact with an instance of Redis via a command-line shell. There also are multiple client implementations for programmatically working with Redis. Listing 1 shows a simple command-line shell interaction using basic commands:
Listing 1. Using basic Redis commands
redis 127.0.0.1:6379> set page registration OK redis 127.0.0.1:6379> keys * 1) "foo" 2) "page" redis 127.0.0.1:6379> get page "registration"
Here, I've associated the key "page" with the value "registration" via the
set command. Next, I've issued the
command (the trailing
* signifies that I want to see all instance keys available). The
keys command shows that there is a
page key as well as a
foo one — I can retrieve the value associated with a key via the
get command. Keep in mind that the value retrieved from a
get can only be a string. If a key's value is a list, for example, you must use a list-specific command to retrieve the list's elements. (Note that there are commands to query a value's type.)
Java integration with Jedis
For programmers wanting to integrate Redis into Java applications, the Redis team recommends a project called Jedis. Jedis is a lightweight library that maps native Redis commands to simple Java methods. For instance, Jedis lets me get and set simple values like in Listing 2:
Listing 2. Basic Redis commands in Java code
JedisPool pool = new JedisPool(new JedisPoolConfig(), "localhost"); Jedis jedis = pool.getResource(); jedis.set("foo", "bar"); String foobar = jedis.get("foo"); assert foobar.equals("bar"); pool.returnResource(jedis); pool.destroy();
In Listing 2, I configure a connection pool and grab a connection, (much like you would in a typical JDBC scenario), which I then return at the bottom of the listing. Between the connection-pool logic, I set the value
"bar" with the key
"foo", which I retrieve via the
get command.
Similar to memcached, Redis allows you to associate an expiration time to a value. So I
can set a value (say a stock's temporary trading price) that eventually will be purged from the Redis cache. If I want to set an expiration time in Jedis, I do it after issuing my
set call, by associating it with an expire time, as shown in Listing 3:
Listing 3. A Redis value can be set to expire
jedis.set("gone", "daddy, gone"); jedis.expire("gone", 10); String there = jedis.get("gone"); assert there.equals("daddy, gone"); Thread.sleep(4500); String notThere = jedis.get("gone"); assert notThere == null;
In Listing 3, I've used an
expire call to set the value of "gone" to expire in 10 seconds. After
Thread.sleep has been invoked, a
get for "gone" will return
Data types in Redis
Working with Redis data types such as lists and hashes requires specialized command
usage. For instance, I can create lists by appending values to a key. In the code in
Listing 4, I issue an
rpush command, which appends a value to the right or tail of a list. (A corresponding
lpush command prepends a value to the front of a list.)
Listing 4. Redis lists
jedis.rpush("people", "Mary"); assert jedis.lindex("people", 0).equals("Mary"); jedis.rpush("people", "Mark"); assert jedis.llen("people") == 2; assert jedis.lindex("people", 1).equals("Mark");
Redis supports a wide variety of commands for working with data types; moreover, each data type has its own set of commands. Rather than going over them individually, I'll show you some of them at work in a realistic application development scenario.
Redis as a caching solution
I've mentioned that Redis is easily employed as a caching solution, and it just happens that I have need of one of those! In this application example, I'm going to integrate Redis with my location-based mobile web service, called Magnus.
If you haven't been following this series, I first implemented Magnus using the Play framework, and I've developed or refactored it in various implementations since then. Magnus is a simple service that takes JSON documents via HTTP
PUT requests. These documents describe the location of a particular account, which means a person holding a mobile device.
Now I want to integrate caching into Magnus — that is, I want to reduce I/O traffic in the form of a look-up by storing, in memory, data that doesn't often change.
Magnus caches!
My first step in Listing 5 will be to find out if an incoming account name (which is the key) is in Redis via a
get call. A call to
get will either return the account ID as a value or it will return
null. If a value is returned, I'll use that as my
acctId variable. If
null is returned (indicating that the account's name isn't in Redis as a key), then I'll look up the account value in MongoDB and add it to Redis via a
set command.
The advantage here is speed: The next time a requested account submits a location, I will be able to obtain its ID from Redis (acting as an in-memory cache) rather than having to go to MongoDB and incur a read I/O cost.
Listing 5. Using Redis as an in-memory cache
"/location/:account" { put { def jacksonMapper = new ObjectMapper() def json = jacksonMapper.readValue(request.contentText, Map.class) def formatter = new SimpleDateFormat("dd-MM-yyyy HH:mm") def dt = formatter.parse(json['timestamp']) def res = [:] try{ def jedis = pool.getResource() def acctId = jedis.get(request.parameters['account']) if(!acctId){ def acct = Account.findByName(request.parameters['account']) jedis.set(request.parameters['account'], acct.id.toString()) acctId = acct.id } pool.returnResource(jedis) new Location(acctId.toString(), dt, json['latitude'].doubleValue(), json['longitude'].doubleValue() ).save() res['status'] = 'success' }catch(exp){ res['status'] = "error ${exp.message}" } response.json = jacksonMapper.writeValueAsString(res) } }
Note that the aMagnus implementation (written in Groovy) in Listing 5 still uses a NoSQL implementation for data model storage; it just uses Redis as a cache implementation for look-up data. Because my primary account data lives in MongoDB (in fact, it resides at MongoHQ.com) and my Redis data store runs locally, Magnus will get a significant speed boost when looking up subsequent account IDs.
But wait! Why do I need both MongoDB and Redis? Can't I get away with using just one?
Node.js for ORM
A number of projects provide an ORM-like mapping for Redis, including a highly influential Ruby-based alternative called Ohm. I checked out a Java-based derivative of that project (called JOhm) but eventually settled on using a variation written for Node. The beauty of Ohm and its derivative projects is that they allow you to map an object model into a Redis-based data structure. Thus, your model objects are both persistent and (in most cases) extremely fast in read situations.
Using Nohm, I was able to quickly rewrite my Magnus app in JavaScript and persist
Location objects in a snap. In Listing 6, I've defined a
Location model that includes three properties. (Note that I've kept my example simple by making
timestamp a string rather than a true timestamp.)
Listing 6. Redis ORM in Node.js
var Location = nohm.model('Location', { properties: { latitude: { type: 'float', unique: false, validations: [ ['notEmpty'] ] }, longitude: { type: 'float', unique: false, validations: [ ['notEmpty'] ] }, timestamp: { type: 'string', unique: false, validations: [ ['notEmpty'] ] } } });
Node's Express framework makes using my new Nohm
Location object really easy. In my application's
PUT implementation, I grab the incoming JSON values and put them into an instance of
Location, via Nohm's
p call. I then check to see whether the instance is valid. If it is, I persist it.
Listing 7. Using Nohm in Node's Express.js
app.put('/', function(req, res) { res.contentType('json'); var location = new Location; location.p("timestamp", req.body.timestamp); location.p("latitude", req.body.latitude); location.p("longitude", req.body.longitude); if(location.valid()){ location.save(function (err) { if (!err) { res.send(JSON.stringify({ status: "success" })); } else { res.send(JSON.stringify({ status: location.errors })); } }); }else{ res.send(JSON.stringify({ status: location.errors })); } });
As Listing 7 shows, Redis pretty easily steps up to being an in-memory, blazingly fast datastore. And in some cases, it might even be a better cache than memcached!
In conclusion
Redis is useful for a wide variety of data storage scenarios, and because it can persist data to disk (and because it supports a rich data set), it's sometimes a worthy competitor to memcached. In cases where it makes sense for your domain, you can use Redis as a backing store for data models and queues. Redis client implementations have been ported to just about every programming language there is.
Redis isn't a total replacement for an RDMBS, nor is it a heavyweight store, rich with query features like MongoDB. In many cases, it can live side-by-side with these technologies, however. As I've shown in this article, Redis can be a good stand-alone data storage solution for applications that run heavy on data lookups, or where realtime statistics could be done via Redis's speedy atomic operations.
Downloadable resources
Related topics
- Java development 2.0: This dW series explores technologies that are redefining the Java development landscape. Topics include NoSQL (May 2010), MongoDB (September 2010), and Gretty (August 2011).
- Download Redis and Jedis: Redis is an open source key-value store and data structure server; Jedis is the current recommended client for Java-based development.
- Get Nohm: A Node.js implementation of the Redis object-relational mapper, Ohm.
- "Is memcached a dinosaur in comparison to Redis?" (Stackoverflow.com, May 2010): More tips for comparing and evaluating Redis and memcached for specific application scenarios.
- "Applying memcached to increase site performance" (Martin Brown, developerWorks, August 2010): Learn more about the mechanics and performance benefits of in-memory data storage with memcached.
- "James Phillips discusses the post relational world" (Java technology zone technical podcast series, developerWorks, May 2011): Couchbase is a NoSQL solution that combines the elasticity and high performance of CouchDB with traditional features like queries and indexing. Join Andrew Glover and Couchbase cofounder James Phillips as they discuss the brave new world of fast and safe web applications.