Child Marriage in Islamic Law: Difference between revisions

The following are summaries of pages discussing Islam, in relation to pedophilia:

{{Quote-text|{{Quran|65|4}}|And (as for) those of your women who have despaired of menstruation, if you have a doubt, their prescribed time shall be three months, '''and of those too who have not had their <i>courses</i>'''; and (as for) the pregnant women, their prescribed time is that they lay down their burden; and whoever is careful of (his duty to) Allah He will make easy for him his affair.}}

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 and Pedophilia===

Muhammad was engaged to Aisha when she was only 6 year old and he was 51, and consummated the marriage while she was still prepubescent, aged 9 [[Islamic Lunar Calendar|lunar years]] old.<ref>Narrated 'Aisha: that the Prophet married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old, and then she remained with him for nine years (i.e., till his death).

 

{{Bukhari|7|62|64|}}</ref> {{Main|Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Pedophilia|Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Aisha}}

In the early 7th century was pedophilia was common. Some companions of Muhammad also engaged in pedophilia. 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.<ref>"<nowiki>'Umar asked 'Ali for the hand of his daughter, Umm Kulthum in marriage. 'Ali replied that '''she has not yet attained the age (of maturity)'''. 'Umar replied, 'By Allah, this is not true. You do not want her to marry me. If she is underage, send her to me'. Thus 'Ali gave his daughter Umm Kulthum a dress and asked her to go to 'Umar and tell him that her father wants to know what this dress is for. When she came to Umar and gave him the message, he grabbed her hand and forcibly pulled her towards him. 'Umm Kulthum asked him to leave her hand, which Umar did and said, 'You are a very mannered lady with great morals. Go and tell your father that you are very pretty and you are not what he said of you'. With that 'Ali married Umm Kulthum to '</nowiki>Umar."

Tarikh Khamees, Volume 2, p. 384 ('Dhikr Umm Kalthum') and Zakhair Al-Aqba, p. 168</ref>

==Association with child marriage==

== Relevant Quotations ==

{{Quote|1={{Quran|65|4}}|2=And those who no longer expect menstruation among your women - if you doubt, then their period is three months, '''and [also for] those who have not menstruated.''' And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth. And whoever fears Allah - He will make for him of his matter ease.}}{{quote |1=[http://www.tafsir.com/default.asp?sid=65&tid=54196 Exegesis on (Qur'an 65:4)]<BR>Tafsir Ibn Kathir |2= The `Iddah of Those in Menopause and Those Who do not have Menses Allah the Exalted clarifies the waiting period of the woman in menopause. And that is the one whose menstruation has stopped due to her older age. Her `Iddah is three months instead of the three monthly cycles for those who menstruate, which is based upon the Ayah in (Surat) Al-Baqarah. [see 2:228] '''The same for the young, who have not reached the years of menstruation.''' Their `Iddah is three months like those in menopause. This is the meaning of His saying.}}{{Quote|1=[http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=65&tAyahNo=4&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0 Qur'an 65:4]<BR>Tafsir al-Jalalayn|2= And [as for] those of your women who (read allā'ī or allā'i in both instances) no longer expect to menstruate, if you have any doubts, about their waiting period, their prescribed [waiting] period shall be three months, and [also for] '''those who have not yet menstruated, because of their young age, their period shall [also] be three months''' - both cases apply to other than those whose spouses have died; for these [latter] their period is prescribed in the verse: they shall wait by themselves for four months and ten [days] [Q. 2:234]. And those who are pregnant, their term, the conclusion of their prescribed [waiting] period if divorced or if their spouses be dead, shall be when they deliver. And whoever fears God, He will make matters ease for him, in this world and in the Hereafter.}}{{Quote|1={{Bukhari|5|58|236}}|2=Narrated Hisham's father: Khadija died three years before the Prophet departed to Medina. He stayed there for two years or so and then '''he married 'Aisha when she was a girl of six years of age, and he consumed that marriage when she was nine years old.'''}}{{Quote|1={{Bukhari|7|62|64}}|2=Narrated 'Aisha: that '''the Prophet married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old''', and then she remained with him for nine years (i.e., till his death).}}<br />

 

===Dispute of Aisha's age===

{{Main|Aishas Age of Consummation|l1=Aisha's Age of Consummation}}

 

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, and the use of misquoted references and 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.

===The Meaning of 'Consummate'===

{{Main|The Meaning of Consummate}}

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 make it clear 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 from Muslims regarding this comes from their lack of understanding regarding the English phrase "consummation of marriage", their ignorance of Arabic and their unwillingness to admit that their prophet had sexual intercourse with a nine year old child.  

===Pedophilia and the Tu Quoque Defense===

This article refutes the claim that Joseph, the husband of Mary (the mother of Jesus Christ), was a pedophile, a popular yet erroneous tu quoque argument used to defend Prophet Muhammad's pedophilic marriage to Aisha.

Upon reading the non-canonical apocrypha, the Christian equivalent of da`if (weak) or maudu (fabricated) hadith, we find it does not say Mary married Joseph when she was aged only 12. It in fact says she was possibly 17 years of age at the time the marriage was eventually consummated, if ever (Mary's perpetual virginity, the belief that Mary remained a virgin her entire life, is an essential article of faith for the majority of the world's Christians).

The most decisive argument against the claim that Joseph was a pedophile is the fact that the same non-canonical writings which are used to gather information on Joseph and Mary's age, also confirm Mary's status as "ever virgin" (in The History of Joseph the Carpenter, Jesus says on Joseph's death "my mother, virgin undefiled").

{{Main|Responses to Apologetics - Muhammad and Aisha|l1=Responses to Apologetics: Muhammad and Aisha}}

This article refutes miscellaneous apologetics which may not be fully covered in our other articles, but are used by some to justify the marriage between the Islamic Prophet Muhammad and his six-year-old bride Aisha.

The 26 different excuses covered include; Muhammad can't be a pedophile because he also had sex with grown women, pedophiles prefer children but Muhammad had many adult wives and only one child-bride, at that time it was okay to have sex with 9 year-olds in Arabia, people lived shorter life spans back then, and menstruation in hot climates starts earlier than in cold ones, so girls in Arabia matured as early as nine.

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