Child Marriage in the Qur'an: Difference between revisions

The subject of child marriage per se never arises in the Qur'an. Yet scholars were more or less unanimous that the Qur'an deals indirectly with the topic. The Qur'an lays down strict rules for how long a woman must wait in between the end of one marriage and the beginning of another. The purpose of this in a pre-modern, patriarchal society was to ensure that a woman would not marry a new man while pregnant from her last husband and impute fathership of her baby to the wrong husband. Pursuant to these rules Quran 2:228 stipulates a waiting period ('Iddah) of 3 months after divorce, while Quran 33:49 states that no waiting period is prescribed for a woman who has not had intimate contact with her husband. However, the Quran also clarifies a number of other scenarios in verse Quran 65:4, including that there is also a 3 month waiting period for "those who have not menstruated".

This has been interpreted in the Islamic tradition to mean that the Qur'an supports marrying prepubescent girls. Jurists were unanimous that a father could contract his child in marriage at any age, while the family was to hand over the daughter to her husband for consummation when she could physically tolerate intercourse without physical harm (see Child Marriage in Islamic Law). Some Quran commentators and modernist Muslims mention opinions that Quran 65:4 may refer rather to women whose menstruation has been interrupted (for example, due to illness) and interpret the Quran as sanctioning marriage only with those who have reached puberty.

Today, many modern Muslim countries have legislated to raise the minimum age of marriage, in many cases to the age of 16 or 18 for girls (though often with loopholes or with ineffective enforcement) and to prevent forced marriage, often in the face of opposition from Islamic scholars. Many Muslim campaign groups and charities have been involved in this process and continue to offer help to those at risk (see the article Forced Marriage which includes sources of help).^[1] In collaboration with activists, in 2019 the deputy Grand Mufti of al-Azhar University in Cairo issued a fatwa calling for marriage based on mutual consent with a minimum age set as 18.^[2] Unicef say that the prevalence of child marriages are decreasing globally but are nevetheless common (including among non-Muslim populations in some regions of the world).

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 عدة.

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 before the divorce, she should not have to observe any waiting period at all.

According to traditional accounts, Muhammad was later asked about scenarios not covered in these verses:

These scenarios are addressed in Qur'an 65:4:

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

1. First the phrase: “Yaisna min al-maheedhi” يئسن من المحيض 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” واللائي لم يحضن which means “those who have not menstruated yet”. This was more or less unanimously interpreted to mean 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 ʿIddah is until they have given birth.

Linguistic 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:

واللائي لم يحضن" فعدتهن ثلاثة أشهر

Wa L-Lāʾī Lam Yaḥiḍna

Wa ( وَ ) = and

Al-Lāʾī ( وَاللَّائِي ) = for those who

Lam ( لَمْ ) = did not (negation in past tense) ^[4]

Yaḥiḍna ( يَحِضْنَ ) = menstruate.

Yaḥiḍna 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 third person, feminine gender, plural, imperfective aspect, jussive mood.^[5]

The imperfective aspect, according to traditional understanding of classical Arabic grammar, by itself lacks any tense feature (as is true of other classical Semetic languages such as Hebrew). ^[4] The tensed negatives like lam ( لَمْ ) (negation in past tense), lan ( لن ) (negation in future tense), lā ( لا) (negation in present tense) combined with imperfective (in different moods) decide the tense in the case of a negative sentence.

Thus lam Yadrus لم يدرس = He did not study. The verb is in the imperfect tense, but the particle lam لم conveys a meaning of a simple, negated past.

In the verse 65:4, Lam Yaḥiḍna لم يحضن= 'those who did not menstruate'. The meaning here is that the females being referred to have not, yet, menstruated, ie they are pre-pubescent.

The imperfective verb in the with the negation particle lam ( لَمْ ) (indicating a past-tense meaning) is in the Jussive mood(يعني المضارع المجزوم). ^[4]

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

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

It thus follows that 65:4 is describing the state of women have not yet menstruated, which would logically include children or girls before puberty or attainment of menarche (first period). This implication, as seen below, was also drawn by the majors Tafsirs.

The exact translation of this portion of Quran 65:4 is thus "Not menstruated yet" ( لَمْ يَحِضْنَ ). In Arabic, the menstruation process is called HaiD( حيض ), and the verb for "to menstruate" is yaHiD( يَحِض ), with the noun likely being derivative of the verb (as with most but not all derivations in Arabic). The LAM ( لَمْ )clearly shows that the verb refers to women who menstruated, and the na ( نَ ) at the end of the verb drives home the point that this verb speaks of women. “Not menstruated yet” or some similar translation is the only acceptable English translation.

This verse 65:4 is read by the tafsirs as a continuation of Qur'an 33:49. A question that naturally arises from these verses, and which was more or less answered by the mufassiruun, is 'if a woman who has not had 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?' The answer seems to be that marrying pre-pubescent girls and having sex with them is sanctioned by the Qur'an, or at least such marriages are alluded to without criticism.

The phrase found in Qur'an 65:4 as "wallaee lam yaHiDhna" واللائي لم يحضن is sometimes mistranslated by apologists to mask the fact that pre-pubescent girls are normally understood as the intended meaning here; the exact meaning of the phrase is clearly understood this way in the Tafsirs.

Some also point out that Quran 2:236-237 implies that there can be a significant time period between contracting a marriage and consummation. Between this time a husband may divorce his wife with reduced compensation. Since a particularly significant amount of time would typically pass between the contracting of marriage with a minor and the consummation, the need for such guidance might seem to imply that the author had such marriages in mind.

Tafsirs of the Verse

The classical tafsirs are essentially unanimous that Quran 65:4 prescribes the 'iddah for a pre-pubscent girl. Although not spelled out explicitly in the verse itself, this meaning is clearly the one that was taken away by the orthodox Sunni muslim exegetical tradition. It must be noted that while mentioning this interpretation, al-Tabari and al-Qurtubi also include opinions that it refers to women whose normal menstruation is interrupted (see Child Marriage in Islamic Law). For example, al-Qurtubi cites the companion Mujahid, though see also the hadith quoted from Sahih al-Bukhari below where Mujahid gives the traditional interpretation. The alternative interpretation is also advocated by Islamic modernists and is discussed in the section on modern views below.

Besides the tafsirs quoted below, a large set of translated quotes from various well known exegetical and jurist texts relating to these matters is also available online.^[9]

Modern Tafsirs

The following commentaries show that the tradition of interpreting this verse as referring to the divorce (and thus marriage) of pre-pubescent girls comes well into the modern period.

The largest Quran publisher in the world, King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran, which is located in Saudi Arabia, published a Quran edition called “The easy interpretation” where every Quran page includes explanatory notes. This edition is authored by an elect of scholars. Here’s what this edition says about verse 65:4:

Abu Bakr Al-Jaza'iri (1921-2018)

Ibn 'Ashur (1879-1973)

Abul A'la Al-Maududi (1903-1979)

Note here what Al-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.

Al-Sa'di (d.1956)

Al-Shawkani (d.1839 AD)

Classical Tafsirs

The traditional understanding of this verse reaches far back into Islamic history. Almost all of the classical commentators have dealt with this verse, and they are near-unanimous in declaring that it refers to the divorce, and therefore the marriage, of pre-pubescent girls.

Ibn Kathir (d.1373 AD), whose interpretation of the Quran is the most popular in the Muslim world, says:

Al-Tabari (d.923 AD), whose interpretation is the earliest comprehensive interpretation of the Quran, says:

Tafsir Ibn Abbas. Which is a collection of the Quranic interpretation reports attributed to Ibn Abbas, Muhammad's cousin.

Al-Jalalayn by Al-Mahalli (d.1459 AD) & Al-Suyuti (d.1505 AD)

Al-Wahidi (d.1076 ِAD)

Al-Zamakhshari (d.1143 ِAD)

Tabrasi (d.1153 ِِِAD), a Shia scholar.

Abu Hayyan (d.1344 AD)

Evidence from the Hadith

This interpretation is widespread amongst the mufassirun for good reason. All of the most authoritative collections of Sunni hadith all support this interpretation.

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

From Sahih Muslim:

Muṣannaf of Abdul Razzaq (126-211 AH), one of earliest collections of Hadith, mentions a report where companions of Muhammad reference verse 65:4 while answering a legal question about a divorced woman. They said:

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

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

Recent Fatwas

IslamOnline.net is one of the most popular Islamic fatwa sites on the internet. The following excerpt is taken from a December 2010 fatwa.

Shaykh Muhammad Bin ʿUthaymīn (d.2001)

Modern Views and Perspectives on the Meaning of Qur'an 65:4

The Qur'an prohibits marriage to pre-pubescent females

Some Modern du'aah who decry the traditional sources as endorsing pedophilia often take issue with the interpretation of the wording of Qur'an 65:4 in these source. They see the verse as limited to post-pubescent women and not pre-pubescent women (taking as a starting point medieval modes of understanding "adulthood" for women.^[14].

Qur'an 4:6 is also often leveraged as part of this argument:

The word Nikah can have multiple understandings:

1. According to the Islamic Shar'iah, "Nikah" is a technical term, whose Shar'i (Islamic legal) meaning is "the consumation of a marriage through vaginal intercourse" and in many Islamic languages and cultures, such as Urdu speaking Muslims in South Asia, this by extension merely means "(Islamic) marriage." In Arabic, though , Zuwaaj زواج^[15] is the specific word for just "marriage" (although the contract of marriage which both parties sign is called "'aqd an-nikaah" عقد النكاح), but the Qur'an uses both words in reference to marrying women; Nikaah for human females and Zuwaaj for the Houris.
2. The underlying, literal meaning of "Nikaah" in Arabic language is vaginal, "Sexual Intercourse"

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

Contrary to these modern opinions, the traditional view of Muslim 'ulamaa' of the last 1400 years was that word "Nikaah" had been used in it's literal meaning here (i.e. reaching the age where they are able to do the sexual intercourse). For futher discussion, see Child Marriage in Islamic Law. Islamqa.com, one of the largest Fatwa sites on the internet argues for the traditonal view on the verse:

Some point out that hadiths seem incompatible with the claim that the age of marriage is linked to reaching sound judgment. 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:

According to the schools of Islamic jurisprudence:

• Most agreed that when a girl reaches puberty, then she herself gets the right to give her consent for a proposed marriage, or to deny the marriage.
• However, the schools of jurisprudence were unanimous that if she is a minor (prepubescent girl), then her father/guardian could wed her to anyone even without her consent^[16].
• Some schools held that even post-pubescent girls could be compelled to marry by their fathers if they were virgins.
• According to the Hanafi school, if she is a prepubescent and also an orphan, then her guardian has the right to contract her in marriage.

Hanafis took the latter view based on their interpretation of Quran 4:3 and Quran 4:127 combined with their assumption that the term orphan was not applied to girls over the age of puberty:

For more detail see also the articles Forced Marriage and Child Marriage in Islamic Law.

The following hadith concerns guardians who wish to wed orphans in their care:

On the above basis 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 give the following understanding of a related verse, Quran 4:6:

The Arabic word “Nisaa'” does not refer to young females

Some defenders of the Qur'an, speaking in English, claim that the Qur'an only uses the word Nisaa' to refer to mature, adult women, therefore 65:4 cannot be talking about pre-pubescent females.^[17]

Critics argue that this linguistic argument does not hold water, even just on the basis of the Qur'an itself as a text. The word merely means "women/females" and can refer to mixed groups of women of various ages, as the English "female" or "women." Here are some verses that use the word "nisaa'":

In the above verses, the word "Nisaa'" is referring to female infants. The biblical original of this story, which the Qur'an relies upon and which commentary on the Qur'an confirms in this case,

The word used for daughter in Hebrew here is "bat" בַּ֥ת which is cognate with the Arabic bint/ibnah بنت/إبتة also meaning "daughter" in that language.

Moreover, the Quran used the expression “Nisaa’ orphans” to mean “female orphans”. Orphans cannot be adults which means non-adults can be included in the word Nisaa’.

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

One point of focus for modern commentators, seeking to defend the Qur'an from the charge of endorsing pedophilia, is 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.^[18]

Critics point out that the 'iddah (prescribed waiting period) for females is required after a divorce or widowing ({{Quran|2|228}), so that a child's father can be correctly identified. In addition to multiple tafsir and hadith traditions on 65:4, this is also established in Qur'an 33:49:

The tafsirs further expound on the meaning of the 'iddah according to this verse:

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 or whose menstruation is interrupted by illness

The very reason 65:4 was revealed in the first place, was as a clarification to an existing verse. The Quran had already stated 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.

Critics point out that those 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 pre-menopausal are told in Qur'an 2:228 that they must wait 3 menstrual cycles, leaving the apologetic interpretation without a clear rationale.

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.

Critics counter that 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:

Since the 'Iddah specified in Qur'an 65.4 is for a different amount of time, this situation would not seem to be the subject of 65:4.

See Also

• Child Marriage in Islamic Law
• Forced Marriage
• Child Marriage in the Muslim World

External Links

• Marriage to Minors: Surah At-Talaq (65:4) - Answering Islam
• Does the Quran Promote Pedophilia? Mohammed Hijab Says "Yes!" - David Wood

Translations

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References