Reddit reviews Politics, Gender, and the Islamic Past

> Why did the ‘six-nine’ narrations gain such prominence?

>One may ask why early Muslim scholars did not refute the ages mentioned in the “six-nine” narration in their commentaries. It is possible that they simply took for granted that particular figures in such reports were not necessarily regarded as chronological data, and did not feel the need to comment further as this was self-evident for people of that time. American professor, Denise Spellberg, theorises that political factors, in particular the Shi`a-Sunni split, may have been important in the prevalent notion of Aisha’s young age at marriage. Her young age, and therefore that she was not known to any man before the Prophet , was an important point for supporters of the Sunni Abbasid caliphate as it proved her status as a divinely-appointed wife, and thus a reliable source regarding the ‘thorny’ question of his succession[36]. It may have been that Sunni scholars favoured the reports which placed Aisha at nine years of age as it helped raise her status as the only virgin bride of the Prophet . One may also add that the Shi`a cult around the figure of Sayyiduna Ali no doubt used the fact that he had been brought up in the prophetic household from his early childhood as a mark of his distinction above the other Companions, particularly Aisha. The Shi`a rejected the authority and status of Aisha, and it may have suited Sunni scholars to highlight those reports that showed Aisha to be very young when she entered the Prophet’s household .

http://hameem.org/index.php/multimedia/articles/89-articles/149-proof-that-aisha-was-over-15-years-old-when-she-married-the-prophet-peace-be-upon-him

But that cites this: https://www.amazon.com/Politics-Gender-Islamic-Past-Spellberg/dp/0231079990