Child Marriage in the Qur'an: Difference between revisions

{{quote|{{Qtt|4|6}}|

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.<ref>{{Cite web| title = Quran 65:4 – The Child Marriage Claim| author = Kaleef K. Karim| work = Discover The Truth| date = | access-date = 6 January 2022| url = https://discover-the-truth.com/2016/03/12/quran-654-the-child-marriage-claim/| quote = that the Arabic word ‘Nisa’ could also refer to ‘female children’. Let us take a look in Arabic-English dictionaries. The Arabic word ‘Nisa’ has been used 59 times in the Quran. Not once has the word ‘Nisa’ been used for a ‘child(ren)’, it has always referred to mature adult women. Dr. Rohi Baalbaki, says in Al-Mawrid: A modern Arabic-English Dictionary:}}</ref> 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'"'':

{{Quote|{{Quran|2|49}}|وَإِذْ نَجَّيْنَٰكُم مِّنْ ءَالِ فِرْعَوْنَ يَسُومُونَكُمْ سُوٓءَ ٱلْعَذَابِ يُذَبِّحُونَ أَبْنَآءَكُمْ وَيَسْتَحْيُونَ نِسَآءَكُمْ ۚ وَفِى ذَٰلِكُم بَلَآءٌ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ عَظِيمٌ

 

'''Transliteration:''' ''Waith najjaynakum min ali firawna yasoomoonakum sooa alAAathabi yuthabbihoona abnaakum wayastahyoona '''Nisa'''akum wafee thalikum balaon min rabbikum AAatheemun''<BR><BR>

{{Quote|{{Quran|7|127}}|وَقَالَ ٱلْمَلَأُ مِن قَوْمِ فِرْعَوْنَ أَتَذَرُ مُوسَىٰ وَقَوْمَهُۥ لِيُفْسِدُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَيَذَرَكَ وَءَالِهَتَكَ ۚ قَالَ سَنُقَتِّلُ أَبْنَآءَهُمْ وَنَسْتَحْىِۦ نِسَآءَهُمْ وَإِنَّا فَوْقَهُمْ قَٰهِرُونَ

 

'''Transliteration:''' ''Waqala almalao min qawmi firawna atatharu moosa waqawmahu liyufsidoo fee alardi wayatharaka waalihataka qala sanuqattilu abnaahum wanastahyee '''Nisa'''ahum wainna fawqahum qahiroona'' <BR><BR>

{{Quote|{{Quran|7|141}}|وَإِذْ أَنجَيْنَٰكُم مِّنْ ءَالِ فِرْعَوْنَ يَسُومُونَكُمْ سُوٓءَ ٱلْعَذَابِ ۖ يُقَتِّلُونَ أَبْنَآءَكُمْ وَيَسْتَحْيُونَ نِسَآءَكُمْ ۚ وَفِى ذَٰلِكُم بَلَآءٌ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ عَظِيمٌ

 

'''Transliteration:''' ''Waith anjaynakum min ali firawna yasoomoonakum sooa alAAathabi yuqattiloona abnaakum wayastahyoona '''Nisa'''akum wafee thalikum balaon min rabbikum AAatheemun''<BR><BR>

{{Quote|{{Quran|14|6}}|وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِ ٱذْكُرُوا۟ نِعْمَةَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ أَنجَىٰكُم مِّنْ ءَالِ فِرْعَوْنَ يَسُومُونَكُمْ سُوٓءَ ٱلْعَذَابِ وَيُذَبِّحُونَ أَبْنَآءَكُمْ وَيَسْتَحْيُونَ نِسَآءَكُمْ ۚ وَفِى ذَٰلِكُم بَلَآءٌ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ عَظِيمٌ

 

'''Transliteration:''' ''Waith qala moosa liqawmihi othkuroo niAAmata Allahi AAalaykum ith anjakum min ali firawna yasoomoonakum sooa alAAathabi wayuthabbihoona abnaakum wayastahyoona '''Nisa'''akum wafee thalikum balaon min rabbikum AAatheemun''<BR><BR>

{{Quote|{{Quran|40|25}}|فَلَمَّا جَآءَهُم بِٱلْحَقِّ مِنْ عِندِنَا قَالُوا۟ ٱقْتُلُوٓا۟ أَبْنَآءَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مَعَهُۥ وَٱسْتَحْيُوا۟ نِسَآءَهُمْ ۚ وَمَا كَيْدُ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ إِلَّا فِى ضَلَٰلٍ

 

'''Transliteration:''' ''Falamma jaahum bialhaqqi min AAindina qaloo oqtuloo abnaa allatheena amanoo maAAahu waistahyoo '''Nisa'''ahum wama kaydu alkafireena illa fee dalalin''<BR><BR>

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,

{{Quote|{{Quran|4|127}}|{{right|

'''Literal:''' And they ask for your opinion/clarification about the women, say: "God decreed/clarifies in them (F), and what is read/recited on you in The Book in the women orphans/minors that lose their father, those who (F) you did not give them (F) what was written/dictated to them (F), and you desire that you marry them (F), and the weakened from the children/newborns, and that you take care of to the orphans/minors that lose their father with the just/equitable; and what you make/do from goodness, so that God was/is with it knowledgeable."<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://iknowledge.islamicnature.com/quran/surah/4/lang/englishliteral/|2=2011-11-27}} 4. An-Nisa - Women (سورة النساء) - Revealed in Madinah (English: Literal)] - IslamicNature, accessed November 27, 2011</ref>}}

Here Muhammad is asked who the "Nisaa'" were, and the response delineates who they are:

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.Given the evidence from the Islamic texts themselves, this interpretation is not the 'most reasonable' as asserted. We have ample [[Aisha's Age|evidence]] that  Muhammad (who is considered the [[Uswa Hasana|uswa hasana]] - perfect example) married and had sex with a pre-pubescent Aisha, we have evidence that [[Child Marriage and Muhammad's Companions|Muhammad's companions also did it]] and that [[Child Marriage in the Muslim World|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.