Child Marriage in Islamic Law

Child marriage and sexual activity between adults and children are sanctioned by Islamic law and were practiced by Muhammad and his companions. As is the case within all contexts where sexual activity is permitted in Islam - namely, marriage and slavery - female consent is not required and the category of "rape" does not exist (even while the category of "rape" exists outside these contexts). The only restriction on sexual activity with children of any age within the contexts of marriage and slavery is that the child should not come to severe physical harm as a consequence of the encounter ("mental anguish", as such, is not considered, and consent is regardless irrelevant). Consequently, men are advised to avoid vaginal penetration with their child wives and female slaves if they are too small to endure such activity, although other forms of sexual activity with such children are permitted. "Thighing", explicitly discussed by Islamic jurists, is one such variety of alternative sexual activity that men may engage in with their child wives and female slaves if they are too small to endure penetration.

Scripture

Child marriage in the Quran

The Qur'an permits child marriage. Verse 4 of Surah 64 provides guidelines regarding divorce a wife who has not yet menstruated.

This verse is in reference to Iddat (العدة‎), which is a waiting period a female must observe before she can remarry. According to this verse, the stipulated waiting period for a divorced girl who has not yet menstruated is three months.

Muhammad's marriage to Aisha

Modern disputations regarding her age

The age of Aisha was not disputed by earlier scholars but a surge of recent scholars claim that Aisha was actually older than nine lunar years at time of the consummation of her marriage to Prophet Muhammad. They find the Sahih hadiths of her own testimony mistaken, and opt to use indirect sources and disputed dating techniques to calculate different ages. These heavily criticized research techniques have led to several conflicting ages to be proposed for Aisha at the time of consummation, including 12, 14, 15, 17, 18 and 21 years.

The polemics can be broadly categorized into these categories; discrediting Hisham ibn Urwah and the Iraqi narrators, use of non-sahih information to refute otherwise sahih hadiths, the use of secondary and indirect sources in preference of direct testimonies, the use of ‘imprecise’ dating in preference to specific dates and statements of age, as well as the use of misquoted references and oftentimes what is plainly erroneous information.

The majority of Muslim scholars agree with the sahih hadith of Aisha's young age. This has been the mainstream Muslim understanding throughout Islam's 1,400 year history, and many scholars take offense to the new claims of Muslim apologists.

Modern disputations regarding the word "consummate"

Some reject the narrations given by Aisha in which she states that she was married to Prophet Muhammad when she was six years old and that he consummated his marriage with her when she was nine lunar years of age, even while these are recorded in Bukhari's sahih ahadith collection.

These apologists will usually resort to questioning the English translation of Dr. Mushin Khan, without addressing the ahadith in their original Arabic. A reading of the relevant Bukhari ahadith makes it clear, however, that Muhammad had sexual intercourse with Aisha when she was nine years of age.

The terms used are: "udkhilath" and "bana biha", which can only mean "sexual intercourse" in the context of the ahadith. The confusion regarding this comes from a lack of understanding regarding the English phrase "consummation of marriage", an ignorance of Arabic and an a general unwillingness to admit that the prophet had sexual intercourse with a nine year old child.

Child Marriage and Muhammad's Companions

In the early 7th century, Child marriage was common. Umar, the 2^nd caliph of Islam, married Umm Kulthum when she was 10-12 years old. Some sources even say that she was five years old when Umar married her.^[1]

In the world today

Child Marriage in the Muslim World

Due to its many endorsements within Islamic scripture, child marriages are permitted by the majority of Muslim scholars (historically and today) and leaders, and in many Islamic countries it is common practice. Girls far below the age of puberty are often forcibly married to older persons (sometimes in their 50s and older) for various personal gains by the girls' guardian or with the intention to preserve family honor by helping her avoid pre-marital sex.

Pedophilic Islamic marriages are most prevalent in Pakistan and Afghanistan, followed by other countries in the Middle East and Bangladesh.^[2][3] This practice may also be prevalent to a lesser extent amongst other Muslim communities, and is on the rise among the growing Muslim populations in many non-Muslim countries, such as the United Kingdom^[4] and the United States.^[5]

In countries like Yemen, Bangladesh, Iran, and Northern Nigeria, attempts at reforming laws and banning child marriages have been opposed and stopped on the grounds that such a ban would be un-Islamic,^{[6][7][8][9][10]} and in the case of Malaysia, the growing Muslim population has effectively turned back the clock on social progress by passing new laws which allow for the practice of pedophilic marriages specifically between followers of Islam.^[11]

It is clear that Islamic Law, and Islam more generally, play an important role in the persistence of these practices

Relevant Quotations

See Also

Articles

• Sex - A hub page that leads to other articles related to Sex

Other Core Articles

Core articles contain an overview of other articles related to a specific issue:

• Islam and Apostasy
• Islam and Homosexuality
• Islam and Miracles
• Islam and Science
• Islam and Scripture
• Islam and the People of the Book
• Islam and Violence
• Islam and Women

External Links

• A Complete Guide to Pedophilia in Islam
• Photo Op: Child Brides in Afghanistan

References