Hazrat Ayesha's Age at Marriage.

[Ababeel]

I am producing here few more reply in this regard which can be taken as a point of view of Muslim religious scholars:


Question:

Asalamu Alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

I am writing my question in regards to the matter of child marriage. I would like to ask your opinion on the validity and acceptability of the marriage of minors by their parents or guardians. Although it is not very common, their are still Muslim families who believe that it is a good thing for them to marry their daughters at a very young age, e.g. 9-14 so that they can secure a good match for them or get rid of the financial burden of raising them.

But i have heard of cases where the child is maltreated as well, but the Prophet's (saws) marriage to Aisha (ra) is always cited as the model example.

Also, although the option of puberty is given as a way out to the child, the initial trauma of marriage does not seem to be a consideration. Please tell me what is your opinion is about the acceptability of this type of marriage and what you would advise to parents or guardians who wish to marry their children off at young ages. Can it still be justified in today's world?

Ahlaam Khurshid
ahlaam@hotmail.com
United States

Answer:

Mr. Ahlaam Khurshid!

You have touched a sensitive question that has been elaborately taken up by the learned theologians and scholars since long. We will not add to that and let the people follow whatever view they consider carries more weight. What however, we feel to suggest (as our personal opinion) is that there is no specific order about the child marriage in Islam. It is not mandatory for the Ummah, and the issue left is open to the stages of social advancement and situations. If a society feels that in the current day sociological setting, marriage below a certain age is not required, it may go for that.

But let us make a note of warning too. The issue of child marriage has come via West and is part of a whole “package” that intends to dismantle Islam as a social code and state philosophy. Try to look at the components in that whole context. Let me give you a few tips: “child marriage”, “gender equality”, “women empowerment”, “sex education”, “reproductive control”, “contraception”, sustainable growth” – are among the few terms used in the gender context. Can you please tell me that you know enough about this “UN sponsored shari'ah”, that is being thrust as alternative to the Shariah of Islam? If you are not well aware, then kindly be careful about pushing too hard even some seemingly “reasonable” issues like child marriage. The real intention (seems) not to stop this practice today (which is more a Hindu issue), but lead to the erroneous conclusion that Islam permitted a “wrong” thing. Afterall this subject has been of special interest for them for the last thousand years or more. Why do you forget that the central theme of the ****** books like “Rangeela Rasool” and the “Satanic Verses” has been this so-called child-marriage.



M. Haq

Question:

Is it true that Aisha (P.B.U.H)age was 7 years at the time of her marriage with prophet(P.B.U.H).If it is true then what should be the age of girls to marry.

Sameer
India
al_moin@usa.net

Answer:

There are different reports and traditions regarding Ummu-ul-Mo'mineen Aisha's age when she was betrothed. What every one agrees to is that while the promise/nikah happened in Makkah, she was delivered to the house of the Prophet (s.a.w.) (meaning her 'Rukhsati') about four years later in Medina. Thus even according to the age you have quoted, she was about 11 years old when she entered the Prophet's haram in Madina. Some believe that she was above 13; some others reports say much older (17,19). The generally quoted age is 9 years.

In fact, Islam has imposed no restriction on the age of marriage, and certainly it has not ordered the young age marriages as well. What, of course, is obligatory is that a girl cannot be given in marriage without her consent, although the marriage has to be arranged by her 'wali'. An adolescent given in marriage has the right to break the contract at puberty.

M. Haq

JI: Marriage of Ayesha (RA) with Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.)

[MIG_ACE]

Let's assume for a moment that Hazrat Ayesha was indeed nine years old when the marriage was consummated. Even so, if anyone tries to justify child marriage on those grounds today that would still be wrong.Wouldn't it? And it'd be our duty to try and stop the perpetrators So there is no need to try and ascertain her real age which is impossible IMO considering the length of time that has passed.
All said and done we know for certain today that child marriages can have a negative effect on the mind and body of the concerned child. So why bother about something which may or may not have occurred hundreds of years ago?

[AgNoStIc MuSliM]

Originally Posted by MIG_ACE

Let's assume for a moment that Hazrat Ayesha was indeed nine years old when the marriage was consummated. Even so, if anyone tries to justify child marriage on those grounds today that would still be wrong.Wouldn't it? And it'd be our duty to try and stop the perpetrators So there is no need to try and ascertain her real age which is impossible IMO considering the length of time that has passed.
All said and done we know for certain today that child marriages can have a negative effect on the mind and body of the concerned child. So why bother about something which may or may not have occurred hundreds of years ago?

Because religion guides the lives of millions, and it can be used as a force for good, and for that reason, it is important to determine Ayesha's age, to debunk those who would use such an interpretation as justification. I do believe in Pakistan there was stiff resistance to the idea of enforcing a higher age of marriage, from some quarters, because of this reason.

[AgNoStIc MuSliM]

Ababeel,

Yet, the issue you raised - or the like, which attempt to question the seerah, and behaviour of the Prophet of Islam (Sall Allah-o-alaihe wa sallam) makes me sad, and I find it hard to discuss. Why, because, as a Muslim, I have accepted it first and foremost that Muhammad (Sall Allah-o-alaihe wa sallam) was the prophet of Allah and never said or did anything without clear Divine sanction and permission - Ma yantiqo anil hawa'; in huwa illa' wahyun yooha' - al-Qur'an - that: he (the Prophet) never said (or did) anything of his own liking, but what was revealed to him. That being the position I never dare to question what the Prophet did and why. I wished you had avoided this marriage or age question related to the beloved wife of the Prophet (Sall Allah-o-alaihe wa sallam) who, according to Ha'kim (Mustadarak) was shown to him in his dream by an angel saying: A'isha is your wife. This means the marriage was ordained by Allah Himself.

This is why Islam has stagnated - when our "learned" scholars discourage discourse over issue that people may have questions or disagreements over.

M Haq is a fool for "not daring to question" what the prophet did, because the majority of the accounts we have about the prophet are the "word of mouth" accounts, passed on from generation to generation, laid open to distortion and subjective revision, disagreed upon by the various sects, and completely rejected by others. If this is to pass for "absolute truth", then the brothers Grimm should be amongst the most exalted.

We have contrasting interpretations by various scholars here, though they all seem to agree that there is no "specific" age decreed in Islam, and the account posted by Saracen makes the most sense:

So let us think! Marriage being described as a contract between two willing parties requires of each party to be competent enough to enter into this solemn contract.
Now, by just reading the HQ would not provide you with the exact numeral for marriageable age, but thinking into it has simply solved this problem - so simply . Even a simple person can easily deduce from the above Quraanic principle, that in order to enter into a contract of marriage, the parties should be of consenting age. Does your common sense tell you that a girl of 6 would have attained that age? The answer is obviously NOT.

[saracen]

Originally Posted by Ababeel

I am producing a reply as it is given to a muslim from South Africa regarding the same matter which he asked to Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan:

Question:

Assalamu alaikum

I am part of a study group & we meet weekly to read texts on the life of the prophet (s). Last night we read that the prophet (s) married Aisha (ra) at the age of 6 years and that the marriage was consummated when she was 9 years old. Could you please sketch the background/context to this event? Secondly, how should we deal with questions from non-Mulsims regarding this marriage & the apparent young age of Aisha when marriage contracted (at age 6)?

Best regards and Shukran jazilan.

Dr Faadiel Essop
Cape Heart Center, UCT Medical School, Cape Town, South Africa
September 08, 2000

ANSWER:

Dear Dr Faddiel Essop! Wa alaikum assalam.

In the loving and brotherly manner that you approach this Website, compels me never to let any of your query ....

We now come to the third period of the Holy Prophet's life from 51 to 54 years.

After the death of Khadija, ....
Lastly, my own personal opinion is that A'isha's marriage (consummation at the age of 9 to 11) indicates that if health condition and body vigour permit, there will be no "legal bar" (religiously speaking) on age, but it will certainly not be binding as well to go for young age marriages. Afterall, the Prophet (Sall Allah-o-alaihe wa sallam) never ordered or suggested that his followers should marry young maidens.

I hope this lengthy treatment of the subject matter will satisfy most who are eager to know the facts and reasons. The few ****** minds will not stop creating "Satanic Verses". We leave them to the harsh judgement of Allah - Maalik-i-Yaum ad-Deen.

M. Haq

JI: Marriage of Ayesha (RA) with Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.)

Please read the above discourse, and if you have a daughter of 6-9-11 ?? just look in her eyes, and decide for your self!

I did suggest in my last post, that if you want answers to any problem, go to the Holy Quraan - the Furqan, and think. Otherwise, you will be at the mercy of blinkard Mullah and his "pitari".

If you have credibility problems with my above statements, go read Allama Iqbal - including his book "Reconstruction of Islamic Thought"

[Ababeel]

Whatever I have reproduced here are some reply from Jamaat website.
Secondly what decisions a prophet takes are not his own actions but the order of Almighty Allah who has sent him for guidance of the mankind. Since you read the whole reply you choose just a certain portion of M Haq's own thoughts to reply me.
It is crystal clear that the Prophet did not make it obligatory or not even ordered particularly that muslims must follow this action of his own as a prophet. Although he has said and it is well known that An Nikaha min Sunnati.....(Nikah is my Sunnah).
Now a question from me: What is your thinking about Prophet's (PBUH) marriage with Hazrat Ayesha (RA) after going through tons of literature as a muslim?

[AgNoStIc MuSliM]

Originally Posted by Ababeel

Whatever I have reproduced here are some reply from Jamaat website.
Secondly what decisions a prophet takes are not his own actions but the order of Almighty Allah who has sent him for guidance of the mankind. Since you read the whole reply you choose just a certain portion of M Haq's own thoughts to reply me.
It is crystal clear that the Prophet did not make it obligatory or not even ordered particularly that muslims must follow this action of his own as a prophet. Although he has said and it is well known that An Nikaha min Sunnati.....(Nikah is my Sunnah).
Now a question from me: What is your thinking about Prophet's (PBUH) marriage with Hazrat Ayesha (RA) after going through tons of literature as a muslim?

I am not sure whether that was directed at me or Saracen, but I'll reply to a couple of points.

My response to the passage I quoted from M haq's answer was directed to his argument of not "questioning" any thing about the prophet. I assume you agree with him on that issue based on your second sentence. My disagreement isn't so much with the idea that a prophet, commanded by God, can do no wrong, but that there are questions about what exactly he did.

I am not questioning Allah, the Quran or H Muhammad, but the reported age of H Ayesha, based on the fact that the only way to verify it are the the hadith, and there are arguments, that have been presented here, that contradict the 6/9 age, as well as the arguments I made against the veracity of the hadith in general.

There is also the moral question, of whether a girl of 6/9 is even competent enough to make the decision of marriage. H Muhammad was Allah's messenger for all time, it makes no sense that his actions would only comply with the "customs and traditions" of his era, because that implies that he is not a prophet for all time. If you accept that marrying a 6 year old girl, and having intercourse with her at 9, is completely fine even today, then we have nothing more to discuss - but if you accept that such a thing is immoral, and devastating to a child's psyche and physical well being, then you have to answer why it would be acceptable for the Prophet of Allah to do such a thing. If Child marriage can be condoned on the basis of "tradition of the Arabs", then you could also condone female infanticide, practiced by the Arabs in that age, if the Prophet had committed it.

The argument of time based relativistic interpretations may work for ordinary people, but not for a Prophet of God, because Allah is all knowing, and he will only command his messenger to do that which holds true for all time, not just for Arab society 1400 years ago.

I would suggest that in the light of the moral argument against child marriage, and the against the hadith that support age 6/9, H Ayesha's age was most probably 16 plus at the time of her marriage.

[Ababeel]

Sorry I forgot to quote the name of Saracen as it was directed towards Saracen as I was replying him. I have written again that it was Allah's order to a prophet. It's not obligatory to or ordered to muslims. Most of all everybody knows the role and place of Hazrat Ayesha (RA) in Islamic history. Her great contributions to Islam, her share in quoting Ahadith, particularly related to women and their certain problems and issues.
If some one is not satisfied with something and keep insisting one the issue he/she is responsible for his/her actions in this world and hereafter. We have to go back to Allah with our bliefs and good or bad deeds. Nobody will be responsible for other's actions and deeds.
Thanks.

[AgNoStIc MuSliM]

Originally Posted by Ababeel

Sorry I forgot to quote the name of Saracen as it was directed towards Saracen as I was replying him. I have written again that it was Allah's order to a prophet. It's not obligatory to or ordered to muslims. Most of all everybody knows the role and place of Hazrat Ayesha (RA) in Islamic history. Her great contributions to Islam, her share in quoting Ahadith, particularly related to women and their certain problems and issues.
If some one is not satisfied with something and keep insisting one the issue he/she is responsible for his/her actions in this world and hereafter. We have to go back to Allah with our bliefs and good or bad deeds. Nobody will be responsible for other's actions and deeds.
Thanks.

If Allah's "orders" to a prophet are not obligatory to ordinary people, then there should be no need for hadith or the Prophets Sunnah, so why are we so enamored with them? We should only follow the Quran, which was ALlah's word for the "ordinary people".

Also, once again, I am not questioning H Ayesha's status, just her reported age at marriage. Why would Allah command a prophet to commit an act that would be considered "improper" in a later era? Perhaps he didn't, and Ayesha was not 9 years old?

[ARSENAL6]

Originally Posted by AgNoStIc MuSliM

Also, once again, I am not questioning H Ayesha's status, just her reported age at marriage. Why would Allah command a prophet to commit an act that would be considered "improper" in a later era? Perhaps he didn't, and Ayesha was not 9 years old?

it was claimed that she was 16 when she got married.

[blain2]

Originally Posted by AgNoStIc MuSliM

If Allah's "orders" to a prophet are not obligatory to ordinary people, then there should be no need for hadith or the Prophets Sunnah, so why are we so enamored with them? We should only follow the Quran, which was ALlah's word for the "ordinary people".

Also, once again, I am not questioning H Ayesha's status, just her reported age at marriage. Why would Allah command a prophet to commit an act that would be considered "improper" in a later era? Perhaps he didn't, and Ayesha was not 9 years old?

Because God's prophets are tasked and "chosen" for missions that not everyone else can handle. There were many specific things that were expected or required of the Prophet Muhammad (May Allah's immense blessings be upon him) that ordinary people were spared from. As an example, the nightly prayers of Tahajjud. Although a supererogatory prayer for ordinary Muslims, it was obligatory for the Prophet of Allah SWT.

The need for sunnah is as such because it puts the commandments of Allah (I.e. Quran) into action and present an example to Muslims. The oft quoted example of prayers comes to mind. We know that we need to pray, but how do we go about it? That is the benefit of Sunnah.

As far as the age of Syeda Aisha (May Allah be pleased with her) is concerned, and I know you ask a valid question, in my opinion Muslims only need to know this in order to be able to counter the vicious orientalist and modern day critique by all and sundry. Otherwise for an ordinary Muslim, it is a non-issue. As to her age, its the same thing as us trying to figure out how many were in the cave (Al-Kahf) when its something that we can't really state with absolute certainty.

On an interesting note, having been fairly close to Law in the US, there have been very many state statutes in the US which have allowed for marriage to be entered into at a nascent age of 15. These have recently been changed (in the last two decades or so). So this issue of age is relative to times as I am sure you would agree.

Why would Allah command a prophet to commit an act that would be considered "improper" in a later era?

Improper and inappropriate are again debatable issues. Why is polygamy considered "improper" now when the patriarch of all three monotheistic religions, Abraham PBUH, was polygamous? I think the beauty of a religion is that its not tempered by time, rather it holds onto the age old principles and laws that it espouses. To me at least, changing with the wind is a con. So this point, in addition to the exceptional requirements made of prophets are things to consider when asking ourselves the above question.

[niaz]

Like any other muslim, I have faith in the holy Quran and the Prophet ( PBUH). Debate about Hazrat Ayesha ( RA) age is a good example to indicate that authenticity of the some of the Sunan ( plural of Sunnat) as noted down in various books can be doubted. Sahih Bukahri lists Hazart Ayesha ( RA) age as nine. No matter how I reconcile my self as to the will of Allah, I find it hard to accept that 54/55 year old person would like to marry a nine year old girl. This does not mean that I have any less respect for the holy Prophet ( PBUH) it only implies that the accuracy of the Hadith as mentioned in Sahih Bukhari is doubtful.

One has to understand that most of the Hadith were collected nearly one hundred years after the Prophet ( PBUH) , before it was oral transmission thru the companions and subsequently thru the Tabi'oon. The method of Isnad is only empirical. Another example is that there is a Hadith thru Hazart Ayesha ( RA) which says that face can be left uncovered but there is another Hadith with more Isnad which says that face should also be covered. Which one should one follow??. More Isnad mean that it is correct and less Isnad imply its is weak therefore not correct?? Isn't it possible that the Hadith with less Isnad even though heard and repeated by fewer people can be true whereas one with more Isnad could have been inaccurately transmitted??

It is precisely this dilemma which has given rise to many faction or sects of Islam. Khwaarij were so sure in their belief that they even considered Hazarat Ali ( RA) as Wajib Ul Qatal and it was ony 30 years after the passing away of the Prophet ( PBUH)

My point in all this is that one must be prepared to accept that some of the traditions as written down could be incorrect. I have firm faith that our holy Prophet (PBUH) was incapable of any wrong doing and therfore would not have married a nine year old girl.

[MIG_ACE]

Are the Hadith's the Islamic counterparts of Gospels in Christianity?

[blain2]

Originally Posted by MIG_ACE

Are the Hadith's the Islamic counterparts of Gospels in Christianity?

Overall similar but not exactly alike either. Gospels are essentially written out as whole texts about the life of Christ and may or may not be totally attributed (attribution is the key here) to Jesus (pbuh). Hadith on the other hand is not a text as such. Its usually small narrations directly attributed to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

As an example this is a hadith (all on its own with its own context and attribution to the Prophet):

Allah's Apostle said, "The seller and the buyer have the right to keep or return goods as long as they have not parted or till they part; and if both the parties spoke the truth and described the defects and qualities (of the goods), then they would be blessed in their transaction, and if they told lies or hid something, then the blessings of their transaction would be lost."

[Chanakya]

Ayesha is revealing that she was playing on a swing when her mother took her to the Prophet.

Sunan Abu-Dawud Book 41, Number 4915, also Number 4915 and Number 4915
Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:
The Apostle of Allah (pbuh) married me when I was seven or six. When we came to Medina, some women came, according to Bishr's version: Umm Ruman came to me when I was swinging. They took me, made me prepared and decorated me. I was then brought to the Apostle of Allah (pbuh), and he took up cohabitation with me when I was nine. She halted me at the door, and I burst into laughter.

And used to play with her dolls.

Sahih Bukhari Volume 8, Book 73, Number 151
Narrated 'Aisha:
I used to play with the dolls in the presence of the Prophet, and my girl friends also used to play with me. When Allah's Apostle used to enter (my dwelling place) they used to hide themselves, but the Prophet would call them to join and play with me. (The playing with the dolls and similar images is forbidden, but it was allowed for 'Aisha at that time, as she was a little girl, not yet reached the age of puberty.) (Fateh-al-Bari page 143, Vol.13)


Sahih Muslim Book 008, Number 3327:
'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported that Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) married her when she was seven years old, and he was taken to his house as a bride when she was nine, and her dolls were with her; and when he (the Holy Prophet) died she was eighteen years old.