Muhammad (SAW) and his wives

Society Religion & Philosophy
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I am watching CNN’s Series This is Life. They’re interviewing these mormon kids and how they’re confessing of child abuse and how it was suspect that Warren had married > 80 women and married kids < 16 years of age. Well anyway, putting that aside, because obviously that dude is NOT a Prophet and we know that because of this behavior alone.

But now I extrapolate this to Rasullullah (SAW). I bring this up, because it is important to me that I am strong in my faith about who I believe as a Prophet of God.

So I want to revisit the issue of polygamy in Islam. And the issue of consent to marriage and age in Islam. The Quran is pretty clear - it says you can’t take women against their will. And in Islam, will and consent occurs puberty and beyond.

So the hadith that says Aisha’s age was 6 at time of marriage seems to be spurious, especially in the light of other hadith’s when put together would estimate her age to be between 15 to 20 years of age.

If a man is a pedophile truly, Allah would not make him a Prophet. There’s just no way. So it follows that Aisha’s age was NOT 6 as originally described. It may have been a promise or a proposal that was made at the age of 6, but that he married her - that must have been a lot later. But still, it makes you wonder why a man would see a 6 year old and send a proposal? And how this didn’t cause the Sahabah to be concerned or confused? And usually pedophiles don’t have one victim, they have multiple. So for him to marry one underaged girl and there not be other girls, would be odd. I just don’t buy the theory that Aisha (R) was really that young.

How do you guys reconcile this as well as the idea of polygamy, which is clearly spelled out in the Quran, with the idea that Islam is the one true religion? And to what extent is Polygamy described in the Jewish and Christian revelations and literature?

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As for the topic of Nabi (SAW)'s marriage to Aisha (RA), I'm in no doubt that the nikah took place when she was 6 and she was about 18 at the time of Nabi (SAW)'s demise. Now as to why the Sahabah weren't perturbed by it...well, it wasn't something out of the ordinary for that time. Even the people who sought to defame Nabi (SAW) and insult him didn't bother bringing up this aspect of his life as it wasn't even something worth mentioning for that purpose.

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In context to holy prophet (pbuh)'s marriage to Ayesha (ra), she was neither 6 nor 9 years of age. please take a look at this article.

Of Aisha’s age at marriage - Newspaper - DAWN.COM

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This issue is well answered by yasir qadhi..may Allah bless him. ameen
His answer was very clear regarding this matter. I will find the video may be i ve posted it in video gallery recently. He talked in his lecture regarding this age issue of hazrat ayesha Radi Allah ta'alla anha

Peace and blessing upon muhammad sallal laho and his house hold and his companion Ameen

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PCG one thing is for sure. Jatni marzi koi aawaz kary... you have to make peace rasool-ullah's life was not ordinary life. Hang on to what you know. Could he be some one who would do wrong to some one ???
Some time It feels allah put some stuff in his life for some purpose. His marriage was not wrong(look Cap. obvious argument). But did allah know it would cause debate if future?? YES
So what you feel is right. That's how it supposed to be. He(saw) wasn't meant to be kool 21st century spiritual guru..

Mathematically. That one marriage proves Muslims did not augment his persona, did not tell what wasn't. Did not hide what was.

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PCG, btw, try to study what bible says about the number of wives of the prophets to bani israel especially hazrat suleiman (as). you will get enlightened

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Great post sir

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6 is way too young. You've seen how 6 yr olds look. 6 isn't even the avg age of puberty. She must have hit puberty. Otherwise how can she consent.

Always found it odd that most of the Hadith point to an age 15-20. But this one everyone chooses to believe.

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Mary(pbud) gave birth to Jesus(pbuh) at the age of 12.,, Joseph the husband was 90.
That tells you some thing was different physically back then.
On top abu bakar(as) was influential man.. he would not give her daughter away in unreasonable marriage.

Now think about this..
back then girls did not have to finish uni..
people die with tooth infections... during travels etc...
Strength came from more son, and men it tribe.
Put those factors together, would a father keep her daughter till the age of 25 , before he marry her? OR would they put her in circle of life as soon as girls are ready ?

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Sister PCG

Some of your concerns can be put to rest easily. First of all the term paedophile is one given to a person who is haunted and wired to lust and exploit children sexually. Usually these sorts of people exhibit certain behavioural traits, such as being unable to mix socialy with people their own age. They will be weak willed. They will not will have high morals. So the psychological profile of RasoolAllah (SAW) does not match with what we know today as paedophile. Certainly paedophiles do not seek to get married to their victims, they groom them and are not concerned about marriage or the wishes of their parents. So as a person in the medical profession you should be able to lay that filthy accusation to rest right here.

Secondly all marriages of RasoolAllah (SAW) were arranged through a process of parental consent and social justice and the fruits of the marriage with Sayyidah Aisha (RA) resulted in a huge wealth of ahadith that we all benefit from as Muslims today. As a Muslim you are obliged to believe nothing was done by RasoolAllah (SAW) out of personal desire, but by Allah's command alone. He was masoom ... Totally innocent (SAW). She was not a mother. But there are ahadith of her close relations with him (SAW) and these were mainly related later in her life. She was indeed young, but she did not exhibit a mind that was abused rather she expressed an intense maturity in thought. Why that should be related to age is not understood ... Age is a misnoma. We have a fixation in the modern times over age in terms of solar cycles, however age in the past was assessed by looking at physical and mental maturity signs not through the arbitrary measure of time. To prove that - it is still considered "exploitation" if a man has intimate relations with a 20 year old female who suffers from mongolism for example, this is because she is not free from her own innocent younger self. She is not mentally a woman. Sayyidah Aisha (RA) was clearly mentally a woman early in age.

The ahadith in question talks about cohabitation not strictly consummation and that is a loss in translation. It could be that years passed before actual intimacy happened and we should be happy with this level of information and ignore the whsipers, taunts and half truths of both the enemies of Islam and the ignorant apologists.

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She was 6 years old at the time of nikkah but remained with her parents until she went through puberty at the age of 9 and that was when the marriage was consummated.
I don't find it hard to believe that she was 9 at the time of consummation and it doesn't make me doubt either. Because as previous posters have already said, you can't compare what happened socially in the 14th century to today. People died younger, the had kids at an earlier age. They had harder lives, children matured mentally a lot quicker because if the lifestyle.
Plus her marriage did not have a negative effect on her. Anyone who has read about Aisha RA will know what kind of personality she was. She was independent, outspoken extremely confident. Very sharp and clever. Most hadith has been narrated by her. More than 80 scholars were taught by her. The woman was a force of nature. And she was definitely a woman. She says so herself. When she was happy with her marriage who are we to talk about it?
And another thing Aisha RA was already engaged to another man before the prophet pbuh. She was engaged to Jubayr Ibn Mutim but he broke the engagement because Abu Bakr RA became Muslim. After this Khawlah suggested that the Prophet pbuh marry Aisha RA.
So it wasn't anything extraordinary when the prophet married such a young girl.

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PCG,
Polygamy was commonly practiced in the tribal arab society at the time. The prophet was just one of the men in that society. Consider this:
Umar had nine wives. The youngest one was Umme Kalsoom was grand-daughter of his good friend Prophet Mohammad!
Abu Bakr had four wives.
Uthman had eight wives, two of them were daughters of his good friend Prophet Mohammad!
Ali was prevented from marrying further when he was married to the Prophet's favorite daughter. He married another six women after her death.
Hasan had fifteen wives!
Zubair had eight wives!
Abdur Rehman bin Awf had fifteen wives
All of them had other concubines and slave girls as well

How young would Umme Kalsoom have been when she was married to Umar RA? Her mother was born, raised and died in front of her husband!

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Quran 4:6 … Test the orphans when they reach the age of marriage (Balaghu-un-Nikah). Then if you discern in them maturity, deliver to them their property. And do not consume it lavishly and hastily lest they should grow up. As for him who is well-off, let him be abstemious, and as for him who is poor, let him eat in an honourable manner. And when you deliver to them their property, take witnesses over them, and Allah suffices as reckoner.

[Even though, 'Surah Nisa' was revealed around 4H, we should know that for Prophet (SAW), it is our belief that he (SAW) never did anything in life that was against Islam ... hence, even though Prophet (SAW) married Aisha (RA) before this ayah, what is mentioned in this ayah applies on Prophet (SAW) life too ... and a Muslim should not even think that Prophet (SAW) would have done something in his life that was against Islam].

Thus, from above ayah, it is clear that there is age of marriage (Balaghu-un-Nikah) in Islam. Above ayah also tells when that age happens, as according to above ayah, that age is also age of maturity, not just physical maturity but intellectual and economical maturity too … or awareness of economical interest. It is because, at this age, person who is holding assets of an orphan should test them (orphan) and then handover those assets to the orphan (this is recommended because, some children never grow or become money conscious even when they are grown up, and thus, for their own good, their assets should be managed even when they are grown-up).

Knowing or being aware of economical interest is necessary for a person getting married, because in Islam, marriage starts with money transaction … Money related to Mahr is given by groom and received by bride … and to do such transaction, both (bride and groom) should be aware of their interest (especially, economical interest and its value to their life).

Similarly, Islam wants both boy and girl getting married consent to marriage themselves in front of wakil (nikah-khwa) and witnesses. No one can take that decision on their behalf. That decision making also needs a certain age where both boys and girls are mature enough that they could take such decision on their own. Only an ignorant would believe or say that such important decision of life (accepting of life partner) can be taken by an immature under 15 years old.

Above two factors, that is taking decision of making life partner by bride and groom, and exchange of money, is not there in any other religion except Islam' (as far as I know, no religion gives such responsibility on both bride and groom as religious requirement in marriage)... hence, for such to happen, certain age of maturity becomes essential requirement.

Islam is religion where when laws are made or given by Allah, it is for average cases (or persons) and not for exceptional cases (or persons) ... so, if there are any exceptional cases than they have to follow the law that is made for average persons, especially, when an exceptional case person can follow the law that is meant for average case persons.

So, above ayah is clear that marriageable age is average age when boys and girls could look after their assets properly (take responsibility of their wealth and financial possessions). It is obvious that average 10 or 15 years old boys and girls could not look after their economical interests or manage their assets. It is safe to say that this age of economical awareness is somewhere above 15 or 16 years of age (widely accepted age for such purpose), and thus that is the minimum age of marriage (according to Islam). Similarly, life awareness should also be there in both boy and girl, that they can choose right partner for themselves on their own responsibility, that no one can expect from under 15 years old.

It means, whoever marries 9 or 10 years old, they are disobeying Quran, what obviously Prophet (SAW) or any pious Muslim of his time could not have done.

That is different matter that later Muslims brought culture of their own religion when they became Muslim, and thus young boys and girls start getting married in Islam too (against clear ayah in Quran, that marriageable age is age when a child becomes economical aware and money conscious).

As for Aisha (RA), according to all known historical sources, she (RA) was 10 years younger than her elder sister Asma (RA). It is also known from all known historical sources that Asma (RA) was 100 years old when she died in 73 Hijri. That means, Asma (RA) was 27 years old at the time of Hijrat and it means Aisha (RA) was 17 years old at time of Hijrat.

Thus, following historical sources, Nikah of Aisha (RA) happened around 2 years before hijrat (when she was around 15 or 16) and rukhsati (marriage) happened a year or two after hijrat (around 3 years after Nikah) when she was around 18 or 19.

Note: Khadija (RA) died 10 years after prophet-hood, or 3 years before Hijra ... when Prophet (SAW) was 50. Prophet (SAW) married Sauda (RA) few months after the death of Khadija (RA) … and then Prophet (SAW) married (brought into nikah) Aisha (RA) a year or two later.

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PCG....sometimes it helps to read about our beloved prophet (SAW) not in light of faith but in light of politics.
There's a book that you might find interesting: Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet by Karen Armstrong