Abu Salamah and Yahya bin Abd al-Rahman bin Hatib both narrate: When Sayyidah Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her) passed away, Sayyidah Khawlah bint Hakim (may Allah be pleased with her), the wife of Sayyiduna Uthman bin Maz'un (may Allah be pleased with him), came and said: "O Messenger of Allah! Will you not marry?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "To whom?" She said: "If you wish, a virgin girl, and if you wish, a previously married woman." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Who is the virgin girl?" She replied: "The daughter of the dearest of Allah's creation to you, Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him): Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her)." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "And who is the previously married woman?" She replied: "Sayyidah Sawdah bint Zam'ah, who has believed in you and followed you in what you say." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Go and mention this matter of mine to them." She came to Sayyidah Umm Ruman (may Allah be pleased with her) and said: "O Umm Ruman! Allah Almighty has brought good and blessing upon you people." Sayyidah Umm Ruman (may Allah be pleased with her) asked: "How so?" She replied: "The Messenger of Allah has sent me to convey a proposal of marriage on his behalf for Aishah." Sayyidah Umm Ruman (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "Wait for Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) until he comes." When Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) came, Sayyidah Khawlah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "O Sayyiduna Abu Bakr! What good and blessing Allah Almighty has brought upon you!" Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: "What has happened?" She told him: "The Messenger of Allah has sent me to convey a proposal of marriage on his behalf for Aishah." Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: "Can Aishah be married to him? She is like his brother's daughter." She went back to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and mentioned this to him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Go back to him and tell him: 'I am your brother in Islam and you are my brother, but I may marry your daughter.'" She went back and mentioned this to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). He said: "Wait," and then he went out. Sayyidah Umm Ruman (may Allah be pleased with her) related that Mut'im bin Adi had proposed his son for Aishah. By Allah! Whenever he made a promise to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), he never broke it. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) went to Mut'im bin Adi, and with him was his wife, Umm Fityan. That woman said: "O son of Abu Quhafah! Perhaps you will turn our boy away from his religion and bring him into the religion you follow, if he marries into your family." Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Mut'im bin Adi: "Is your opinion the same as what this woman says?" He said: "She is the one saying it (that is, her view seems right)." Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) came out from him, and Allah Almighty had removed from his heart what had been there regarding the promise made with Mut'im bin Adi. He came back and said to Sayyidah Khawlah (may Allah be pleased with her): "Bring the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to my house." She brought the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) married Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). At that time Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) was six years old. Then she left from there and went to Sayyidah Sawdah bint Zam'ah (may Allah be pleased with her) and said: "What good and what blessing Allah Almighty has brought upon you!" Sayyidah Sawdah (may Allah be pleased with her) asked: "What has happened?" She said: "The Messenger of Allah has sent me to convey to you a proposal of marriage on behalf of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)." Sayyidah Sawdah bint Zam'ah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "I would love that. Go to my father and mention the proposal of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to him." He was an elderly man who had grown very old, and for that reason he had stayed behind from the Hajj. She went to him and greeted him in the manner of the Jahiliyyah. He asked: "Who is it?" She said: "Khawlah bint Hakim." He asked: "What is your business?" She said: "Muhammad bin Abdullah has sent me to convey a proposal of marriage on his behalf for Sawdah." He said: "He is an honourable and suitable match. What does Sawdah say?" She said: "She likes it too." He said: "Bring her to me." She brought Sayyidah Sawdah (may Allah be pleased with her), and he said to his daughter: "This woman says that Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Abd al-Muttalib has sent a proposal of marriage for you, and he is an honourable and suitable match. Would you like me to marry you to him?" Sayyidah Sawdah (may Allah be pleased with her) replied: "Yes." He said: "Bring him to me." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went to him, and he married Sayyidah Sawdah (may Allah be pleased with her) to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Sayyidah Sawdah's (may Allah be pleased with her) brother, Abd bin Zam'ah, returned from Hajj and began throwing dust on his head. Later, after he had accepted Islam, he would say: "I was a fool in those days, when I was throwing dust on my head because the Messenger of Allah had married Sawdah bint Zam'ah." Sayyidah Aishah Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: We came to Madinah and stayed among Banu al-Harith bin al-Khazraj at al-Sunh. Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came; he came to our house. My mother brought me; at that time I was swinging on a swing that was between two branches. My mother took me down from the swing. My hair reached a little below my ears; she parted it and wiped my face with some water. Then she walked me along until I stopped near the door. I was out of breath from exhaustion, and when my breathing had settled she brought me inside. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was seated on a couch in our house, and with him were some men and women of the Ansar. My mother kept me in a room, then she said: "These are your family; may Allah Almighty bless you in them and bless them in you." Then the men and women got up and went out, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) consummated the marriage with me in our house. No camel was slaughtered for my wedding, nor was any goat sacrificed, until Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him) sent us a large bowl that he used to send to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) whenever the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went to his wives. At that time I was nine years old. (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: part of it is mentioned in the Sahih.
Ahmad recorded it. In part of it, some narrators explicitly state that the chain is connected to Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), and most of it is narrated as mursal. Its chain contains a narrator, Muhammad bin Amr bin Alqamah, whom more than one has declared trustworthy. The rest of its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.
Hadith Referenceمجمع الزوائد ومنبع الفوائد / كتاب المناقب / 15286