More on the Young Marriage of 'Aishah

A comment, posted in response to Bani Qurayza, Marriage at Puberty and the Tacit Approval of Jesus, has prompted me to post some various articles and other material related to the marriage of 'Aishah—radi Allahu 'anha. I've had some of this evidence since shortly after writing my article The Young Marriage of 'Aishah several years ago, but just never got around to posting it.

Essentially, these materials address two different sub-issues related to this debate: 1) The reservations of apologetic modernist Muslims who, in their zeal to remove anything from Islam that those who adhere to modern Western values might find offensive, continue to quibble over whether 'Aishah—radi Allahu 'anha—was only nine years old when the Prophet—salla Allahu 'alayhi wa salam—consummated his marriage with her; and 2) The attempts by anti-Islamic polemicists to demonstrate that 'Aishah—radi Allahu 'anha—had not reached puberty (i.e. was prepubescent) at the time of her marriage to the Prophet—salla Allahu 'alayhi wa salam.

In regards to the first sub-issue, I've posted two articles by Shaykh Gibril F. Haddad, which are entitled 'A'isha's Age at the Time of Her Marriage and More on 'A'isha's Age at the Time of Her Marriage. However, it's really the latter article that directly addresses the various points which are brought forward by apologetic Muslims, which in this case is one who goes by the nom de plume "The Learner". In regard to his strained, feeble and sometimes dishonest use of evidence, which he employs in a futile attempt to shore up his case, "The Learner" is rather typical of most apologists on this subject, so Shaykh Gibril's complete deconstruction of him pretty much undermines all of the arguments that I've heard surrounding this particular issue.

I feel that I should mention that I lost all intellectual respect for "The Learner" when he contacted me soon after I first wrote The Young Marriage of 'Aishah—radi Allahu 'anha. The essential reason behind this, and my subsequent decision not to waste my time trying to reason with someone who was so obviously sunk in gross intellectual dishonesty (if not complete self-delusion), was one of his statements in his article entitled More on Ayesha's Age. In this article, "The Learner" made the following statement in response to my article:

"But even then, the narratives describing Ayesha's (ra) age at the time of her marriage do not fall under the scope of Sunnah. Obviously, the narrative of Ayesha's (ra) age at the time of her marriage is not a part of "the sayings of the Prophet, (peace be upon him)", it cannot be termed as the Prophet's "practices" and neither can it be included in the "actions which gained his approval". The narrative of Ayesha's age is just a narrative of a historical event. Just because it has been reported by Bukhari and Muslim, does not change its status from being a narrative of a historical event to a Sunnah. Because of this fact, this narrative should be seen in the light of all other narratives of historical events which have been reported by Bukhari, Muslim and other historians of Islam."

Well beside the rather ironic fact that "The Learner", in spite of his above appeals to the authority of "Bukhari, Muslim and other historians of Islam", repeatedly demonstrates throughout his writing that he essentially has very little respect for their skills as masters of the sciences of hadith (thus they're downgraded to simply being "...historians of Islam"), his reasoning here is absolutely ridiculous. This is because he misses the rather glaring point that the hadiths in questions clearly mention the actions of the Prophet—salla Allahu 'alayhi wa salam!!! Indeed, the various narrations in both the collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim essentially state that "he betrothed (zawaj) her when she was six years old and he consummated (nikah) his marriage when she was nine years old"...thus there's no doubt that these were "practices" of the Prophet—salla Allahu 'alayhi wa salam—thus part of his Sunnah. Only a person willing to engage in outright dishonesty could deny this...although this is what "The Learner" is seemingly willing to do in this case.

To add insult to injury, his quibble that 'Aishah's age at the time of her marriage is just "a narrative of a historical event" is simply inconsequential to the point he's so desperately trying to make. This is because any hadith that conveys anything that the Prophet—salla Allahu 'alayhi wa salam—said, did or tacitly approved is essentially, at a certain level, "a narrative of a historical event"!!! Thus "The Learner" just further demonstrates that he's really missing the point when he states that, "Just because it has been reported by Bukhari and Muslim, does not change its status from being a narrative of a historical event to a Sunnah", because what makes something a Sunnah is the fact that it's authentically reported that he—salla Allahu 'alayhi wa salam-did such an action. There's no need for some desperately imagined need to "change its status", since if it's reported on both al-Bukhari and Muslim that the Prophet—salla Allahu 'alayhi wa salam—did such-and-such an action, then this action is both part of his Sunnah as well as being a "narrative of an historical event"—although this latter portion simply restates the obvious and doesn't add any value.

Now that I've addressed "The Learner's" dishonest little game of horse hockey— a monumental contribution to poor polemics if there ever was one—I'll move on to addressing the issue which a comment from a previous post recently mentioned—and that's the arguments put forward by "anti-Muslim atheists" who challenge the "assumption" that 'Aishah—radi Allahu 'anha—had not reached puberty at the time of her marriage. Before demonstrating that in order to adhere to such a position, one would have to have to be laboring under some assumptions as well, I'd like to point out that the mere fact that these hate-mongers have attempted to shift the focus of this debate clearly seems to indicate that they have acquiesced to the fact that marriage at puberty, based on historical evidence which documented the norms of various human societies, has widely and often been considered morally acceptable. Indeed, since it has already been clearly and effectively demonstrated [(1)(2)]—at least to any honest and fair-minded person—that there was nothing wrong with marrying a woman at puberty in the society in which 'Aishah—radi Allahu 'anha—lived, it seems that the Islamophobes have abandoned their initial arguments and tried to move the debate on this issue into a second phase...and this is what I'll now address.

There's considerable evidence—both textual, logical and circumstantial—which, when considered as an integral whole, demonstrates that 'Aishah—radi Allahu 'anha—had reached puberty at the time of her marriage. This evidence includes:

• The fact that Muslim scholars overwhelmingly agree that the minimum age of marriage is puberty. This can be clearly seen in the Qur'anic exegesis of the phrase "they reach the (age of) marriage" found in Surat al-Nisa' 4:6. In regards to this, four of the well-known classical commentators have the following to say [Click here to view an image of the following statements in the original Arabic]:

Tafsir al-Tabari: Clearly states that "And when He said 'they reach the (age of) marriage' then He means they reached puberty (al-hulum)"—and he lists numerous references.

Tafsir al-Qurtubi: In regards to the statement "until they reach the (age of) marriage", Imam al-Qurtubi says, "meaning puberty (al-hulum). And said the Most High, 'When children reach puberty' (al-Nur 59),meaning puberty (al-balugh) and state of marriage (wa hal al-nikah)."

Tafsir Ibn Kathir: In explaining, "until they reach the (age of) marriage", he states that "Mujahid said meaning puberty (al-hulum)".

Tafsir al-Jalalayn: Contains the explanation that: "'And Challenge' test 'the orphans' before they reach puberty in their religion and their conduct 'until they reach the (age of) marriage', meaning they reach puberty or the age of fifteen years old according to the Shafi'is".

• The above ruling regarding the age of marriage is mutually supported by an authentic (hassan) narration in Sunan al-Tirmidhi's Kitab al-Nikah,where 'Aishah herself says: "When the girl reaches nine years of age she is a woman". Reason dictates that this is because she was referring to her own experience in which she reached puberty at the age of nine. If this wasn't the case, all of the just mentioned tafsirs would seemingly need to state that "until they reach the (age of) marriage" means "nine" and not "puberty".
  


• In steadfast consistence with the above points, Surat al-Nur 24:59, clearly shows that children are considered adults when they reach puberty, since it says "And when the children among you come to puberty (al-hulum), then let them (also) ask for permission, as do those senior to them (in age)". Indeed, this is a clear Qur'anic reference that the age of discretion (i.e. adulthood) was identified with the onset of puberty.
  


• The fact that the various hadiths clearly state that 'Aishah—radi Allahu 'anha—was "betrothed (zawaj)" when she was "six years old" and "consummated (nikah)" her marriage when she was "nine years old", clearly begs the question: "What, pray tell, were her parents waiting for?" Well the obvious answer to why they waited some three years between the betrothal and the consummation of the marriage is that they were waiting for their daughter to reach adulthood—which is, as already demonstrated above, clearly defined as puberty.


• The above question is answered directly and unambiguously on page 128 of The History of al-Tabari — Volume IX, where it states that "As for 'A'ishah, when he married her she was very young and not yet ready for consummation"—which clearly proves that they were waiting for her to reach puberty (i.e. to be biologically "ready"). Likewise, the statement that 'A'ishah—radi Allahu 'anha—was "not yet ready for consummation" would undoubtedly be nonsensical in a social context where marriage to prepubescent children was allowed. Thus it both severely undermines the merely circumstantial evidence which has been brought forward in an ineffectual attempt to prove the contrary, and serves as strong proof that the marriage in question certainly did not involve a prepubescent girl.
  

The honest conclusion after considering all of the above mutually supporting evidence as a whole, including a statement from 'Aishah herself, is that the marriage took place when 'Aishah—radi Allahu 'anha—had become a "woman"—meaning that she had reached puberty.

Now in regards to the various hadiths ([1][2][3][4]) that anti-Islamic apologists have employed in an attempt to prove that 'Aishah—radi Allahu 'anha—was still a young girl who was playing with dolls at the time of her marriage. Well unfortunately for them, they've jumped to some hasty conclusions since none of these hadiths ([1][2][3][4]) explicitly indicate whether the marriage had been consummated at this time. Rather, one could just as easily conclude—especially in light of the evidence I've presented above—that the incidents in which 'Aishah—radi Allahu 'anha—was playing with dolls along with her young friends occurred at a time when she was still living with her parents (i.e. after the betrothal and prior to the consummation). Actually, based on the fact that the Prophet—salla Allahu 'alayhi wa salam—was known to regularly visit 'Aishah's father Abu Bakr—radi Allahu 'anhu, these events could have taken place anytime during 'Aishah's childhood—radi Allahu 'anha.

As for the hadith which states that 'Aishah—radi Allahu 'anha—still had dolls even at the time of either the battle of Khaybar (Muharram-Safar 7 A.H.) or the siege of Tabuk (Rajab 9 A.H.), at which time she would have been between 13 and 15 years old, well it doesn't disprove my point either. This is because one purpose behind 'Aishah's statement was seemingly to bring attention to the surprise of the Prophet—salla Allahu 'alayhi wa salam—in discovering that she still had her dolls at such a late age. Indeed, since the other hadiths [(1)(2)(3)] make it abundantly clear that the Prophet—salla Allahu 'alayhi wa salam—already knew that 'Aishah played with dolls when she was younger, his exclamatory statement "What is this?" simply shows that he was surprised that she still had them in her store room—and there's nothing to suggest that she was actively playing with them. Indeed, at least one of the narrations clearly states: "...saw some dolls with which 'Aishah used to play".

Consequently, to take this as evidence that 'Aishah—radi Allahu 'anha—had not reached puberty at this time (i.e. the relatively late age of 13-15) simply to avoid the dilemma of her having in her possession (allegedly) forbidden dolls—even though there's no explicit evidence that such toys were inherently unlawful to keep in a community that was teeming with young children—seems rather extreme. Rather, a more balanced approach would be to consider all of the evidence, including the substantial point that the Prophet's statement "What is this?" seems to clearly indicates that he was surprised that 'Aishah—radi Allahu 'anha—was still saving her dolls after so many years. Ultimately, Hafiz Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani concludes that: "To say with certainty 'that she was not yet at the age of puberty' is questionable"—and even this view is seemingly based on considering this hadith in isolation without taking textual evidence from other sources in account...but Allahu 'alim. Thus in the final analysis, the so-called "evidence" and "proof" that this hadith provides to those trying to spin a case of prepubescent marriage is "questionable" and anything but decisive.

In conclusion, I think all of this demonstrates that the mainstream Islamic position on the marriage of 'Aishah—radi Allahu 'anha—still stands. Indeed, the articles and other evidence presented above has exposed the strained, dishonest and weak arguments of Westoxicated apologetic Muslims who—with their "Undermine Islam In Order To Save It" approach—seem dead set on proving that 'Aishah—radi Allahu 'anha—was older than nine at the time of her marriage, regardless of how many upright scholars and reputable hadith narrators they have to slander. At the other extreme, we've shown that that anti-Islamic polemicists—the ones who seek to degrade the religion of Islam by claiming that 'Aishah—radi Allahu 'anha—was prepubescent at the time of her marriage—have, with their pre-conceived notions conveniently in place, selectively built their case on circumstantial evidence that neither stands up to scrutiny nor takes all of the evidence into consideration...wa Allahu 'alim.