In answer to the video "Surah 65:4 and Child Marriage in Islam"
In Christian tradition, it is reported Joseph at 90 married Mary who was 12 which is the double age difference than that of Muhammad when he allegedly married Aisha. That is besides the disturbing notion of an eternal deity impregnating a young virgin with whom the age difference is infinitely greater than Muhammad and Aisha, and out of whose private parts was born an entity combining human and divine attributes.
1. Church leaders that argued what was inerrant and what was not, never challenged the age. In the story itself we read that the society accepts and even expects a 12 years old to be sexually active "When she turned twelve, a group of priests took counsel together, saying, "Look, Mary has been in the temple of the Lord twelve years. What should we do about her now, so that she does not defile the sanctuary of the Lord our God?" Her turning 12 is what prompted the priests to gather to find her a husband. God himself, finding nothing wrong with her age, chooses the old Joseph for her, from among other men of advanced age "And the high priest said, "Joseph! Joseph! You have been chosen by lot to take the virgin into your own keeping". As already said, neither God nor the society saw a problem with a 12 year old given to marriage. Joseph then expresses his fear that he might be ridiculed among the people, and this is due to 3 precise factors; he is old, meaning barren. The angel instructed Zachariah to seek potential husbands from among men of advanced age for a reason, protecting the virgin birth from any accusation. Joseph further said he already has sons, meaning beyond the need for a progeny, and Mary is young, meaning the marriage would appear to be simply motivated by lust, not even companionship. Had he feared mockeries because of the age difference, the mention of him having sons would be unnecessary and he would have stressed her being "too young" not simply "young". Why would a young woman be married to an old, barren man who already has children, in addition impotent? Her pregnancy only occurred 4 years later while Joseph had not defiled her. Little in the NT indicates Mary's age when she was married to Joseph. She is described as reciting a short 10 verses prayer, which isnt a hard task for a 12 years old, and undertaking a trip from Nazareth to Judah, which of course did not have to be undertaken by foot.
2. Not a single 'apocrypha' scripture was rejected based upon the age of Joseph marrying Mary.
3. Just because an apocrypha was rejected, does not mean it was rejected for all of it's contents. For example, the same Apocrypha can say that Jesus was born in a stable and 3 wise-men came and visited him. Is this story 'false' because it's in Apocrypha? Besides the fact that it is known that we find reference throughout the Bible to information extracted from lost and non canonical texts. But let us assume this particular detail of Mary’s age was made up. It would then make the point even stronger that it is acceptable, one could even say recommended for such a marriage to happen in Christian tradition. It is the venerated, idolised Mary who is supposed to have been given by the respected temple priest to Joseph at that age. No Christian of that time would have invented that detail in her story if such union was seen as morally wrong.
4. One man's apocrypha is another man's scripture, thus the example of the book of Revelation, among other books, being rejected as apocrypha until later on.
5. What is the minimum age of virgins allowed to be taken as war captives in Num31?
6. The Bible forbids, even under the death penalty by stoning, certain morally and physically harmful sexual practices like adultery and homosexuality. Why would it be silent on minor marriage, a very common practice in all ancient and pre-modern societies around the Judeo-Christian world and among Jews and Christians themselves, had the God of the Bible and His prophets disapproved of it?
7. More importantly, does the Bible even set an age of consent, or gives any ethical instructions to consider when determining marriage age, contrary to the Quran which clearly lays out psycho-physical requirements?
Assuming the Quran allows pre-pubescent marriages, and that the prophet did, how does this claim discredit Islam or its prophet, especially coming from Christians? They in general level this claim to attack the prophet's personality and imply that he couldnt be a prophet based on his evil deeds. What is the biblical criteria for a true prophet and does it include "not marrying pre-pubescent kids"? There is a reason why nothing at all is said about uprightness of character. In fact one needs turning to the Quran, not the Bible, to see among the criteria of a prophetic envoy, impeccable morality as one of the primary requirements. Looking at these Christians' own bible, the characters and deeds of its most prominent prophets, then, simply based on behavior, even if one would accept every single calumny the Christ-loving evangelists have been throwing, then adding many more on top, it would still do nothing to erode Muhammad's credibility even an iota. None of the individuals the bible calls "prophets" ceased being prophets while premeditating their murders, committing adultery and debauchery, hoarding wealth and enslaving nations, idolatry, capturing countless virgins in their holy genocidal wars. Some repented and others never did, and it is besides the point. These Judeo-christian critics lack consistency and intellectual honesty; Condemning a man as a false prophet while the book they stand for approves of prophets whose deeds should give them a heart attack if they finds the supposed charges against Muhammad offensive. That is why no Muslim is bothered by such dishonest criticism. They can only hope to trouble Muslims if they argue from the angle of the Quran's standards of the prophets as sublime examples of morality, then showing that the prophet Muhammad's supposed deeds are in conflict with those standards. So long as the accusers keep the bible as a standard of morality of the true prophets, these attacks self-destruct. By the Quranic standard, one that is extremely high in comparison to the Bible, as well as the accepted standards of morality, Muhammad did not commit a single inappropriate deed for a prophet. Finally, it is interesting to note that the prophet, whom those critics claim invented the Quran, as well as committed every possible misdeed under the sun (misdeeds that still make him look like a saint in comparison to the true prophets of the Bible) went out of his way to establish a pattern of morality among the prophets that contradicts his own. He had every reason to not change a single thing of what is shamelessly attributed to the Biblical prophets, so that he might justify his supposed misdeeds all the while claiming to be a prophet of God, in line with those very prophets of the Bible.
As a final observation, among the most outspoken Christian polemicists on that particular issue, many admit, knowing the lowly moral standards of those described as true prophets in their Bible, that should one prove Muhammad's prophethood then they would not object to him marrying Aisha as described in the hadith. Here lies their dishonesty, they will defend the authenticity and veracity of the information in those particular ahadith, but will reject other reports from the same books with no slightest bit of controversy as are found as regards Aisha's age, describing Muhammad as a prophet of God, receiving revelation, experiencing miracles, either as the direct agent or indirectly, making prophecies, giving information of the unseen.
It is important to keep in mind, that books of hadith, especially Bukhari and Muslim, are stronger in reliability than the books of history such as those of Tabari, ibn Ishaq and others. This isnt the point of contention, although it is also important to add, some of the narrations in these 2 books, were already regarded with suspicion starting with the generation of Bukhari and Muslim’s teachers, then their peers, then those who came after them through Ibn Abd al-Barr, al-Nawawi, Ibn Hajar and others.
In Islam, the one and only text pledged to be safeguarded from corruption and which Muslims are required to believe as divinely protected, free from error is the Quran. All the rest, the Quran has repeatedly urged mankind to look at with reason and sound judgement.
Disregarding Hisham ibn Urwa's bias and weakness for argument's sake, the matter here is comparing authentic reports going back to a single person, Aisha, with many independent contradicting clues from the authentic hadith themselves as well as the books of history. Of course none of the clues by themselves are sufficient to prove that Aisha's estimation of her age of engagement and marriage was wrong. But the concurrence of all those clues together is a strong piece of evidence towards Aisha being mistaken in the report of her own age.
Again, we only have Aisha's word for it.
It is important to keep in mind, that books of hadith, especially Bukhari and Muslim, are stronger in reliability than the books of history such as those of Tabari, ibn Ishaq and others. This isnt the point of contention, although it is also important to add, some of the narrations in these 2 books, were already regarded with suspicion starting with the generation of Bukhari and Muslim’s teachers, then their peers, then those who came after them through Ibn Abd al-Barr, al-Nawawi, Ibn Hajar and others.
In Islam, the one and only text pledged to be safeguarded from corruption and which Muslims are required to believe as divinely protected, free from error is the Quran. All the rest, the Quran has repeatedly urged mankind to look at with reason and sound judgement.
Disregarding Hisham ibn Urwa's bias and weakness for argument's sake, the matter here is comparing authentic reports going back to a single person, Aisha, with many independent contradicting clues from the authentic hadith themselves as well as the books of history. Of course none of the clues by themselves are sufficient to prove that Aisha's estimation of her age of engagement and marriage was wrong. But the concurrence of all those clues together is a strong piece of evidence towards Aisha being mistaken in the report of her own age.
Again, we only have Aisha's word for it.
Today, even among the most educated people living in rural areas, personal information like precise age is a matter of approximation. This in itself does not compromise a person's intellectual capabilities. In the absence of documentation, if one is not born in a landmark year then they can loose track, so establishing a precise age is something impossible to do. If one looks at works of biography, including al Dhahabi's Siyar i3lam al-nubul, we see that birth dates, which were important in the authentication of hadith transmission, are almost always disagreed upon, even for the most famous personalities. The prophet humbly stated, following a memory lapse "I am only human like you; I forget as you forget". He was here referring to nothing less than the pillar of religion, which is prayer, something he was wholeheartedly dedicated to in his daily life. If it happened to him in such a precisely memorized matter, then what would prevent even the staunchest dogmatist to objectively evaluate Aisha's statement in light of so many conflicting evidences, made towards the end of her life about her age, which is a matter known for its uncertainty among the ancient people?
That is why one might still accept the hadith's authenticity, that Aisha did truly believe her marriage age was as stated in the sahih, but it still does not prove that she actually knew the reality of the matter, and neither does such confusion compromise her reliability in terms of hadith transmission. That is why the early hadith scholars did not deem it important to cross examine this specific information transmitted by Aisha.
It is only when someone makes the ridiculous claim that the age of 9 is a 100% certainty, and uses it to fuel hatred, lies and ignorance that Muslims must present an accurate, honest, overall picture of the matter. Besides, to argue that the issue regarding the age of Aisha is in response to Western cultural values is to ignore what was already stated centuries before concerning criticism in the shia literature of Umar wanting to marry Ali's daughter, with the criticism being that she was young and he was too old. Whether the narration is fabricated to make Umar look bad by shia is irrelevant, the reality is, it still attests to a stigma that would have to exist to make Umar look bad.
It is only when someone makes the ridiculous claim that the age of 9 is a 100% certainty, and uses it to fuel hatred, lies and ignorance that Muslims must present an accurate, honest, overall picture of the matter. Besides, to argue that the issue regarding the age of Aisha is in response to Western cultural values is to ignore what was already stated centuries before concerning criticism in the shia literature of Umar wanting to marry Ali's daughter, with the criticism being that she was young and he was too old. Whether the narration is fabricated to make Umar look bad by shia is irrelevant, the reality is, it still attests to a stigma that would have to exist to make Umar look bad.
Further "western" values are perpetually changing. Western critics of Islam saw no problem with Aisha's age of marriage since it was something they practiced themselves. From the advent of Islam and its numerous opponents that hated Muslims and the prophet, these enemies whose lies and calumnies are well documented in Islamic literature, to the 7th century Byzantine Anti-Muslim polemics, followed by the Christian smearing campaigns againt the prophet during the crusades and medieval times, then the renaissance and enlightenment period and its unabating hatred of Islam, to the orientalists of the 18th-19th centuries, not a single critic targeted this particular issue. The reason is simple; marriages to prepubescent girls were perfectly acceptable and legal up to the 1900s but usually not consummated prior to puberty. Contrary to modern times where such a thing would and should be seen as revolting, childhood was understood as ending with puberty. Mental maturity and social responsibility were attained much earlier. The concept of adolescence itself, seen as a transitional phase between childhood and adulthood (approx. 10 to 19years old) is a modern creation of the late 19th century.
Sources;
(1)Tabari's Tarikh "Abu Bakr married during the pre-Islamic period Qutayla bint Abd al-Uzzaand from this marriage Abdullah and Asmaa' were born to him. He alsomarried Umm Ruman bint Amir during the pre-Islamic period and from thismarriage Abd al-Rahman and Aisha were born to him. All of these fourchildren were born to his two wives that we mentioned in the pre-Islamicperiod."
(2)"According to 'Abd al-Hamid b. Bayan al-Sukkari-Mu-hammad b. Yazid-Ismail (that is, Ibn AN Khalid)-'Abdal-Rahman b. Abi al-Dahhak-a man from Quraysh-'Abd al-(Rahman b. Muhammad: 'Abd Allah b. Safwan together with an-other person came to 'A'ishah, and 'A'ishah said (to the latter), "0so-and-so, have you heard what Hafsah has been saying?"" He said, "Yes, 0 Mother of the Faithful." 'Abd Allah b. Safwan askedher, "What is that?" She replied, "There are nine special features in me that have not been in any woman, except for what God be-stowed on Maryam bt. Imran." By God, I do not say this to exalt myself over any of my companions." "What are these?" he asked. She replied, "The angel brought down my likeness; the Messen-ger of God married me when I was seven; my marriage was con-summated when I was nine; he married me when I was a virgin, no other man having shared me with him; inspiration came to him when he and I were in a single blanket ; I was one of the dearest people to him; a verse of the Qur'an was revealed con-cerning me when the community was almost destroyed;'s I saw Gabriel when none of his other wives saw him; and he was taken (that is, died) in his house when there was nobody with him but the angel and myself."
(3)Nawawi, Kitab Tahdhib al-asmaa wal-lughaat
(4)al qurtubi and ibn abbas
(5)Bukhari's Kitab-ul-Kafalat "Once the Muslims started to face trials, Abu Bakr left toward Abyssinia, until he reached Barak al-Ghimad and met Ibn al-Dughna"
(6)Ibn Abi Asim in his al-Aahaad, al-Tabari in his Tarikh, al-Bayhaqi and many others;"Khawla said to Abu Bakr: “The messenger of God sent meto ask for Aisha’s hand in marriage.” He said to her to her: “Wait,” then he went out. UmmRuman mother of Aisha said to her: “Mut`im bin Adi had asked for her hand for his son. By God, Abu Bakr has never made a promise that he broke later.” Abu Bakr went to Mut`im bin Adi while his wife was there, mother of the young man. She said: “O Ibn Abi Quhafa (i.e. O Abu Bakr), perhaps you will require our companion [[referring to her son?]] to apostatize toyour religion if he marries your daughter.” Abu Bakr said to Mut`m bin Adi: “Yes, what do yousay?” He said: “She says such and such.” So he left them, his heart content that the promise hethought he had made was no longer in force"
(7)see Al Khattabi in his book A`laam al-Hadith "Regarding his saying tanquzaan, naqz means to skip or jump, but I consider itto have been tazifraan, and zafr means to carry heavy containers, and thecontainer itself is called zifr".
(8)he married Fatima bint al Mundhir when she was 9 (al-Muntazam and Tarikh Baghdad)
(9)See Mishkat al-Masabih, Imam Wali-ud-Din Muhammad ibn Abdullah Al-Khatib. Also,Ibn Abd al-Barr in his al-Isti`aab and Ibn Asaakir in Tarikh Dimashq narrate from two chainsfrom al-Asma`i from Ibn Abi al-Zinad that he had said: “Asma bint Abu Bakr is about ten year older than Aisha.” And this is a good (jayyid) isnad
(10)Ibn al-Athir corroborates in Usud al-Ghaaba: "Abu Nuaym says: "She was born before the calendar by 27 years." Ibn Abdal-Barr says in al-Isti`ab: "Asmaa' died in Mecca in the month of Jamadi al-Ulain the year 73 AH. She died when she had reached 100."
(11)Taqri'bu'l-tehzi'b AND Ibn Kathir's Al-bidayah wa'l-nihayah AND And Abu Nu`aym says in his Ma`rifat al-Sahaba in his article on Asmaa’: She was born before the start of the Islamic calendar by 27 years, and she died in 73 AH in Mecca days after her son Abdullah bin al-Zubayr was killed when she was 100 years old. Ibn kathir adds that despite her advanced age, Asma had still maintained her mental capacities.
(12)hadith found in Muslim and Bukhari
Sources;
(1)Tabari's Tarikh "Abu Bakr married during the pre-Islamic period Qutayla bint Abd al-Uzzaand from this marriage Abdullah and Asmaa' were born to him. He alsomarried Umm Ruman bint Amir during the pre-Islamic period and from thismarriage Abd al-Rahman and Aisha were born to him. All of these fourchildren were born to his two wives that we mentioned in the pre-Islamicperiod."
(2)"According to 'Abd al-Hamid b. Bayan al-Sukkari-Mu-hammad b. Yazid-Ismail (that is, Ibn AN Khalid)-'Abdal-Rahman b. Abi al-Dahhak-a man from Quraysh-'Abd al-(Rahman b. Muhammad: 'Abd Allah b. Safwan together with an-other person came to 'A'ishah, and 'A'ishah said (to the latter), "0so-and-so, have you heard what Hafsah has been saying?"" He said, "Yes, 0 Mother of the Faithful." 'Abd Allah b. Safwan askedher, "What is that?" She replied, "There are nine special features in me that have not been in any woman, except for what God be-stowed on Maryam bt. Imran." By God, I do not say this to exalt myself over any of my companions." "What are these?" he asked. She replied, "The angel brought down my likeness; the Messen-ger of God married me when I was seven; my marriage was con-summated when I was nine; he married me when I was a virgin, no other man having shared me with him; inspiration came to him when he and I were in a single blanket ; I was one of the dearest people to him; a verse of the Qur'an was revealed con-cerning me when the community was almost destroyed;'s I saw Gabriel when none of his other wives saw him; and he was taken (that is, died) in his house when there was nobody with him but the angel and myself."
(3)Nawawi, Kitab Tahdhib al-asmaa wal-lughaat
(4)al qurtubi and ibn abbas
(5)Bukhari's Kitab-ul-Kafalat "Once the Muslims started to face trials, Abu Bakr left toward Abyssinia, until he reached Barak al-Ghimad and met Ibn al-Dughna"
(6)Ibn Abi Asim in his al-Aahaad, al-Tabari in his Tarikh, al-Bayhaqi and many others;"Khawla said to Abu Bakr: “The messenger of God sent meto ask for Aisha’s hand in marriage.” He said to her to her: “Wait,” then he went out. UmmRuman mother of Aisha said to her: “Mut`im bin Adi had asked for her hand for his son. By God, Abu Bakr has never made a promise that he broke later.” Abu Bakr went to Mut`im bin Adi while his wife was there, mother of the young man. She said: “O Ibn Abi Quhafa (i.e. O Abu Bakr), perhaps you will require our companion [[referring to her son?]] to apostatize toyour religion if he marries your daughter.” Abu Bakr said to Mut`m bin Adi: “Yes, what do yousay?” He said: “She says such and such.” So he left them, his heart content that the promise hethought he had made was no longer in force"
(7)see Al Khattabi in his book A`laam al-Hadith "Regarding his saying tanquzaan, naqz means to skip or jump, but I consider itto have been tazifraan, and zafr means to carry heavy containers, and thecontainer itself is called zifr".
(8)he married Fatima bint al Mundhir when she was 9 (al-Muntazam and Tarikh Baghdad)
(9)See Mishkat al-Masabih, Imam Wali-ud-Din Muhammad ibn Abdullah Al-Khatib. Also,Ibn Abd al-Barr in his al-Isti`aab and Ibn Asaakir in Tarikh Dimashq narrate from two chainsfrom al-Asma`i from Ibn Abi al-Zinad that he had said: “Asma bint Abu Bakr is about ten year older than Aisha.” And this is a good (jayyid) isnad
(10)Ibn al-Athir corroborates in Usud al-Ghaaba: "Abu Nuaym says: "She was born before the calendar by 27 years." Ibn Abdal-Barr says in al-Isti`ab: "Asmaa' died in Mecca in the month of Jamadi al-Ulain the year 73 AH. She died when she had reached 100."
(11)Taqri'bu'l-tehzi'b AND Ibn Kathir's Al-bidayah wa'l-nihayah AND And Abu Nu`aym says in his Ma`rifat al-Sahaba in his article on Asmaa’: She was born before the start of the Islamic calendar by 27 years, and she died in 73 AH in Mecca days after her son Abdullah bin al-Zubayr was killed when she was 100 years old. Ibn kathir adds that despite her advanced age, Asma had still maintained her mental capacities.
(12)hadith found in Muslim and Bukhari
(13)Sunan abu Dawud
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