Re: its more a religious issue to me
^ LOL!!
Aside from armughal's lament and his own personal contradictive state of affairs, lets analyze this.
There's more to the argument than "Has she gotten her period yet?".
There is a vast difference between stating that puberty is a minimal requirement for marriage, vs. claiming it as the only requirement. In 500 A.D. , what, really, did a post-pubertal female have between her virgin state and that of being in a sound marriage? Was the sheep-grazing getting in her way? Clearly, in ancient society, east or west, there weren't universities, job interviews, etc.
Society has changed, and with it, so have social customs. What we as muslims should truly be concerned with in this case isn't "Well if it was good enough for Aisha (RA), then it should be good enough for any girl today". We should be concerned with whether there was any financial bribery involved, which may have burdened the family to essentially give away their daughter in order to financially survive in today's downward spirally global economy? And don't say it doesn't happen - in fact, financial problems are a big reason behind child marriage today. Not the idea of practicing "sunnah" as some moral perverts will have you believe. We also need to question why this little girl should not have been schooled first before being married off, as there is tremendous weight in the argument that an educated mother begets a more successful and sensible set of children. And after all, a religious leader should have the desire to be with a more educated woman, as his intellectual thirst is probably so demanding (*scoffs at the gaffe).
Why aren't these issues important to us? Why are armughals of today hell bent on excusing such behavior that only inhibits women from progressing and educating themselves, from experiencing the world a little more so that they can raise a better family and oh here it comes again, actually satisfy their own existence a little by experiencing the world and developing themselves intellectually and financially and emotionally before committing themselves in a relationship. Let me tell you why. Because armughals of the world are too insecure to allow women to achieve this goal , because it only makes it more easier to dump the very people who have a vested interest in keeping child marriages an alive and thriving business.