Child Marriage in the Qur'an: Difference between revisions

The Prophet Muhammad married Aisha when she was six, and had sexual intercourse with her while she still remained pre-pubescent at the age of nine lunar years. This fact has been recorded many times in Sahih ahadith. In addition, the Qur'an in verse 33:49 that states that no 'Iddah is prescribed for a woman who has not had intimate contact with her husband, but goes on to stipulate the 'Iddah for pre-pubescent girls in verse 65:4, has been interpreted to mean that theQur'an supports marrying and having sex with prepubescent girls. Despite the discomfort that this causes for modern readers, the conclusion seems to be that the Qur'an endorses sexual intercourse (as a part of Islamic marriage) with pre-pubescent girls.

Introduction

The Qur'an has stipulated a waiting period which women must observe before they can remarry. This waiting period must be observed after they are divorced, or if their husbands have died. In the Qur'an, this is called 'Iddah or 'Iddat (العدة‎). However, there is one exception to this requirement in Qur'an 33:49:

From the verse above it is understood that 'Iddah (stipulated waiting period) is required if sexual contact has occurred within the marriage. If a woman is not touched by her husband, she should not have to observe any waiting period at all.

After the mention of women who have not had their marriage consummated, the Qur'an goes further - discussing the women who need to observe the 'iddah, and the span of time required. We see in Qur'an 65.4:

Here the 'Iddah is prescribed to three categories of women:

1. First the phrase: “Yaisna min al-maheedhi” which means “those women who are desperate of menses” is an indication to women who reached the stage of menstruation but do not menstruate and of those who reached menopause. Desperate of menses underlines that it concerns women who though reached the age, fail to menstruate too. Their 'Iddah period is three months.
2. Next comes, “Wallaee Lam yahidhna” which means “those who have not menstruated yet” This group of females are pre-pubescent girls who have not yet menstruated. Here the 'Iddah prescribed for them is equal to the previous group of women (ie. three months).
3. Lastly, the women who are pregnant - their prescribed 'iddah is until they have given birth.

The above translation of the verse masks the real meaning, so the verse has to be studied in Arabic. The actual meaning of this verse and its implications are explicitly endorsed by tafsirs as will be shown below.

Analysis of Verse in Arabic

The Qur'an says in Arabic:

The transliteration of the verse and the meaning of each portion of the verse is given below:

Wa Al-Lā'ī Lam Yaĥiđna

wa ( وَ ) = and

Al-Lā'ī ( وَاللَّائِي ) = for those who

Lam ( لَمْ ) = did not (negation in past tense) ^[2]

Yaĥiđna ( يَحِضْنَ ) = menstruate.

Yaĥiđna comes from the verbal root H-Y-D ( حيض ) which means "to menstruate".

The addition of prefix "Ya" and suffix "na" to the root "HYD" shows that the word is used in used in third person, feminine gender, plural, imperfective aspect.^[3]

The imperfective aspect, by itself lacks any tense feature. ^[2] The tensed negatives like lam ( لَمْ ) (negation in past tense), lan ( لن ) (negation in future tense), laa ( لَ ) (negation in present tense) combined with imperfectives decide the tense in this case.

Thus lam Yadrus = He did not study.

In the verse 65:4, Lam Yaĥiđna = 'those who did not menstruate'.

Further the imperfective verb in the context of lam ( لَمْ ) (past tensed negatives) is in the Jussive mood. ^[2]

Supporting these meanings, from Lane's lexicon, Lam (ل) means 'not':

From the Lexicon, Arabic word for Menstruate is 'Haiz' (حيض):

Conclusion:

• It is clear the verse 65:4 is given as a command to be followed (Jussive mood).
• The verse itself refers to those women who did not menstruate(in all of past time until the present time), which can include children or girls before puberty or attainment of menarche (first period).

Therefore, the exact translation of this portion of Quran 65:4 is "Not menstruated yet" ( لَمْ يَحِضْنَ ). In Arabic, the menstruating process is called HAIDH ( حيض ). It is possible to turn this noun into its verb form. Like we do it with menstruation, "menstruate" is YAHIDH ( يَحِض ). But it is LAM ( لَمْ ) that appears before YAHIDH and the NA ( نَ ) associated with YAHIDH and this puts Islamic apologists in a quandary because it cannot have any other meaning than “Not menstruated yet”. This is the appropriate English translation.

This verse 65:4 should be read as a continuation of Qur'an 33:49. If a woman who has not been used for sex should not have to observe any Iddah at all, as mentioned in 33:49, what is the reason for the prescribed Iddah for those women who have not yet menstruated? This is a clear indication marrying pre-pubescent girls and having sex with them is sanctioned by the Qur'an.

The phrase found in Qur'an 65:4 as "Wallaee Lam Yahidhna" is sometimes mistranslated by apologists. Exact meaning of the phrase is available in Tafsirs (Quran interpretations).

Tafsirs of the Verse

Only the relevant parts from the Tafsirs will be quoted, because quoting the tafsir's for the verse in their entirety will be space consuming and a waste of effort. What needs to be confirmed will be extracted from Tafsirs. If anyone doubts whether these have been quoted out of context, the reference is given on each tafsir so it can be verified by checking original sources.

Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi

Note here what Maududi mentions on giving pre-pubescent girls in marriage and consummating the marriage with them. The interpreter affirms it is permitted by the Qur'an and no Muslims can question or forbid it.

Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Uthaymeen

The reason for bringing two more recent scholars is to show that nothing has changed in the Islamic tenets on marrying and having sex with pre-pubescent girls, even in this modern era.

'Ibn Kathir

Al-Jalalayn

Ibn Abbas

Al-Wahidi

Al-Tabari

Al-Zamakhshari

The bold text means “Those who have not menstruated” are young girls.

Tabrasi

The bold text translates as “They are those who haven’t reached the age of menstruation”. Tabrasi comments on the phrase “Wallaee Lam yahidhna” = “Those who have not menstruated yet” in the verse.

Al-Shawkani

The bold part translated as: “Those who have not menstruated yet” are young girls who have not reached the age of menstruation.

Abu-Hayyan

The bold: “Those who have not menstruated yet” denotes those not menstruated because of being young.

Evidence from the Hadith

From Imam Bukhari in his book of Tafsir and hadith collections:

From Sahih Muslim:

The following Muwatta hadith shows it's permissible to marry girls who have not reached puberty:

The following is from Fath al-Bari, the most authoritative commentary on Sahih Al-Bukhari:

Recent Fatwas

IslamOnline.net is the sixth most popular Islamic website on the internet, according to Wikipedia. The following excerpt is taken from a December 2010 fatwa.

Modern Views and Perspectives

The Qur'an prohibits marriage to pre-pubescent females

Modern apologists who reject the tafsirs and the ahadith often wish to present Qur'an 65:4 as having been 'mistranslated' or 'misunderstood' throughout the ages by all of their own Islamic scholars. Instead they wish to re-translate 65:4 in a less harmful way, and then point to other verses in the Qur'an in an attempt to show that Allah did not allow Muslim men to marry pre-pubescent females. The favourite verse for this is usually Qur'an 4:6:

Please note that the word Nikah has double meaning in Arabic language:

1. According to the Islamic Sharia, "Nikah" is a terminology, whose Shar'i meaning is "marriage". Actually, Zuwaj ^[10] is the correct word for marriage in Arabic, but the Qur'an uses both words in reference to marrying women; Nikah for human females and Zuwaj for the Houris.
2. While the literal meaning of "Nikah" in Arabic language is "Fuck/Sexual Intercourse"

Few Modern Islam advocates use this word "Nikah" in this verse as "marriage" (i.e. till they (the orphans) reach the age of marriage). Their argument is that this verse links the age of "Nikah" with "becoming sound in Judgement to take care of the property", and thus a child's Nikah is impossible while a child does not have the sound judgement to take care of his/her property.

But contrary to these few modern Islam advocates, the traditional view of Muslim Ulama of the last 1400 years was that word "Nikah" had been used in it's literal meaning here (i.e. reaching the age where they are able to do the sexual intercourse). And their arguments are as under:

Firstly, this verse is talking about the "male orphans" and not about the "female orphans". It becomes evident from the Arabic word بَلَغُوا (balaghū) in this verse, and the Arabic grammar used in it is (3rd person masculine plural perfect verb). This Arabic grammar could be seen at the Corpus Quran Website.

Thus the exact translation of this verse becomes: "And test the (male) orphans until they reach the age of (doing) the sexual intercourse (i.e. Nikah). Then if you perceive in them sound judgement, release their property to them ...."

Secondly, it becomes even more evident from another verse of Quran 17:34:

The word أَشُدَّهُ (full strength) in this verse means the age when a young boy starts feeling the desire/strength of doing sexual intercourse.

And the Arabic grammar in the word يَبْلُغَ in this verse is "3rd person masculine singular imperfect verb", which again points out that this verse is talking about the "male orphans" only. This Arabic grammar could be again seen at the Corpus Quran Website.

Thirdly, please note that:

• As far as Shar'i Nikah (marriage) is concerned, then there is no condition present in it of reaching the أَشُدَّهُ (i.e. Strength to do the intercourse).
• And the proof is that Muhammad himself did the Shar'i Nikah with 'Aisha, when she was only 6 years old.
• And no one tests a 6 years old child for handing over his/her property to him/her, as 6 years old child has neither أَشُدَّهُ (Strength/Desire) nor he/she has any kind of "sound judgement" to look after his/her property.

Thus, the Shar'i Nikah has nothing to do with the أَشُدَّهُ (strength), as Muhammad did this Shar'i Nikah with 6 years 'Aisha.

Actually, even at the age of 9, when 'Aisha finally came to the house of Muhammad for the consummation of marriage, still she was not mentally sound enough to look after any property or business. It is evident from the following hadith:

Fourtly, according to Islamic Sharia:

• When a girl reaches puberty, then she herself gets the right to give her consent for the marriage, or to deny the marriage.
• But if she is a minor or prepubescent girl, then her father/guardian could wed her to anyone even without her consent^[11].
• And if she is a prepubescent and also an orphan, then her guardian has the right to wed her with himself (even without her consent), in order to get her property and the wealth.

It is evident from the following hadith:

Thus a prepubescent girl is practically at the mercy of her guardian, and he could marry her to himself, even without her consent, and even for very little Mahr price.

The Tafsir's agree with this understanding of 4:6:

The Arabic word “Nisa” does not refer to young females

Apologists claim that the Qur'an only uses the word Nisa to refer to mature, adult women, therefore 65:4 cannot be talking about pre-pubescent females. This is indeed a weak argument, which we can refute using the Qur'an itself. Here are some verses that use the word "nisa":

In the above verses, the word "Nisa" is referring to female infants. To understand this clearly, we must look to the Exodus account, because these verses were plagiarized from the Bible.

Moreover the Quran itself clarifies “Who the Nisa are”.

In summary, when Muslims asked Muhammad who the "Nisa" were, he said they were the:

1. Orphans
2. Female wards
3. Those you desire to marry
4. The weakened from the children or new born.

This verse applies to married teenagers

Given the evidence from the Islamic texts themselves, this interpretation is not the 'most reasonable' as asserted. We have ample evidence that Muhammad (who is considered the uswa hasana - perfect example) married and had sex with a pre-pubescent Aisha, we have evidence that Muhammad's companions also did it and that Muslims to this very day are marrying pre-pubescent females and having intercourse with them. In none of these cases are the husbands comparable in age to the wife. So even though this is a possible interpretation, it is by no means the only reason that Muhammad revealed this verse - as evidenced also in the tafsir's provided above. Simply put, Muhammad did not specify an 'iddah for those whom menstruation was not present, so one had to be sent regarding these 3 groups of women. Nowhere in the Qur'an or the ahadith does it discuss teenagers marrying teenagers (ie. to 'explain' this verse) and all the evidence that we have points to [much] older men marrying and having sexual relations with pre-pubescent females.

65.4 talks only of the 'Iddah and not of sexual activity

Often pointed out is the fact that 65.4 does not explicitly discuss consummation or other sexual activity in regards to any of the females discussed in the verse; it merely sets the prescribed 'Iddah required for each. The 'iddah (prescribed waiting period) for females is required after a divorce or widowing, so that a child's father can be correctly identified. This is established in Qur'an 33:49. The verse is quoted above.

Here are some tafsirs on this ayah:

This verse effectively removes the apologist's objection to Qur'an 65.4 as we see clearly that if a man has not consummated his marriage with his wife then she does not need to observe an 'iddah. If Qur'an 65.4 specifies that pre-pubescent females must observe a 3 month 'iddah then clearly sexual intercourse is halal to Allah.

This verse is only talking about adult women who don't know if they are pregnant

The very reason 65:4 was revealed in the first place, was as a clarification to an existing revelation by Allah. Allah had already revealed that women must wait 3 menstrual periods before they can end the 'iddat and be free to marry again. This is in Qur'an 2:228:

However, after this, Muslim men went to Muhammad to ask about those who did not presently have their menses - how do they measure the 'iddat in those cases? It is in this circumstance that Allah sent down the clarification (65:4) for the three groups of women that did not have menstruation, therefore they could not wait the '3 menstrual cycles' as mandated by Qur'an 2:228.

Those Muslims who make this claim are ignoring what all of their own scholars have said about 65:4; that it is referring to the peri-menopausal and post menopausal women, the pre-pubescent girls and the pregnant women. The women who are currently menstruating are told in Qur'an 2:228 that they must wait 3 menstrual cycles, therefore this apologetic is also debunked.

This verse is applied to unconsummated widows

Another claim is that Qur'an 65.4 doesn't necessarily mean that Muslim men can have sex with pre-pubescent females because there may be cases where a man has married a pre-pubescent female, but while waiting for her to attain menstruation before consummating the marriage, he died. The 'iddah could be referring to a situation such as this. This claim is invalid because the Qur'an specifies the 'iddah for all widows to be 4 months and 10 days; in Qur'an 2:234:

This verse clearly contradicts this particular apologist claim, since the 'Iddah specified in Qur'an 65.4 is for a different amount of time, therefore the verses are referring to different situations.

See Also

• Child Marriage in the Muslim World

Translations

• A version of this page is also available in the following languages: French. For additional languages, see the sidebar on the left.

External Links

• Marriage to Minors: Surah At-Talaq (65:4) - Answering Islam

The following links show that girls as young as 8 months have been able to menstruate. This does not mean it is acceptable to have sex with them:

• Lina Medina, The youngest mother in history
• Puberty Hitting Girls as Young as 4 Years Old

References