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Child Marriage in the Qur'an: Difference between revisions
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→This verse is only talking about adult women who don't know if they are pregnant
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===This verse is only talking about adult women who don't know if they are pregnant=== | ===This verse is only talking about adult women who don't know if they are pregnant=== | ||
Some du'aah have advanced the idea that this verse speaks only of women who do not know that they are pregnant. Yet this understanding flies in the face of the clear meaning of the text and in the face of over a thousand years of interpretive tradition. According to the tradition, the very reason 65:4 was revealed in the first place was as a clarification to an existing Quranic verse (according to the orthodox chronology). In this orthodox view, Allah had already revealed that women must wait 3 menstrual periods before they can end the 'iddah and be free to marry again. This is in Qur'an 2:228: | |||
{{quote|{{Quran|2|228}}|'''And the divorced women should keep themselves in waiting for three courses; and it is not lawful for them that they should conceal what Allah has created in their wombs''', if they believe in Allah and the last day; and their husbands have a better right to take them back in the meanwhile if they wish for reconciliation; and they have rights similar to those against them in a just manner, and the men are a degree above them, and Allah is Mighty, Wise. }} | {{quote|{{Quran|2|228}}|'''And the divorced women should keep themselves in waiting for three courses; and it is not lawful for them that they should conceal what Allah has created in their wombs''', if they believe in Allah and the last day; and their husbands have a better right to take them back in the meanwhile if they wish for reconciliation; and they have rights similar to those against them in a just manner, and the men are a degree above them, and Allah is Mighty, Wise. }} | ||
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However, after this, Muslim men went to Muhammad to ask about those who did not presently have their menses - how do they measure the 'iddah 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. | However, after this, Muslim men went to Muhammad to ask about those who did not presently have their menses - how do they measure the 'iddah 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. | ||
This claim flies in the face of many tafsir traditions around 65:4; that it is referring to the peri-menopausal and post menopausal women, the pre-pubescent girls and the pregnant women is clear from these commentaries. The women who are currently menstruating are told in Qur'an 2:228 that they must wait 3 menstrual cycles, and the interpretive tradition makes it quite clear that this verse is referring to pre-pubescent girls. | |||
That this verse was specifically intended to explain the three classes of women who had not menstruated yet is illustrated by this anecdote told by Maududi in his tafsir on this verse: | That this verse was specifically intended to explain the three classes of women who had not menstruated yet is illustrated by this anecdote told by Maududi in his tafsir on this verse: | ||
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Imam Malik relates that a person Habban by name divorced his wife during the period when she was suckling her child. A year passed on it, but she did not have the menses. Then the man died. The divorced wife laid claim to inheritance. The case came before Hadrat `Uthman. He consulted with Hadrat 'AIi and Hadrat Zaid bin Thabit, and gave the decision that the woman was an heiress. '''The argument given was that the woman was neither of those women a who might have despaired of menstruation, nor of those girls who may not have menstruated yet: therefore, up till the husband's death she was on the menses she had discharged last, and had still to pass her waiting-period.''' | Imam Malik relates that a person Habban by name divorced his wife during the period when she was suckling her child. A year passed on it, but she did not have the menses. Then the man died. The divorced wife laid claim to inheritance. The case came before Hadrat `Uthman. He consulted with Hadrat 'AIi and Hadrat Zaid bin Thabit, and gave the decision that the woman was an heiress. '''The argument given was that the woman was neither of those women a who might have despaired of menstruation, nor of those girls who may not have menstruated yet: therefore, up till the husband's death she was on the menses she had discharged last, and had still to pass her waiting-period.''' | ||
The Hanafis say that the waiting-period of the woman, who no longer menstruates, which may not be on account of menopause so that there may be no hope of her having it later will either be reckoned from the menstruation if she has it in the future, or in accordance with the age at which women generally reach menopause, and after attaining that age she will pass three months of the | The Hanafis say that the waiting-period of the woman, who no longer menstruates, which may not be on account of menopause so that there may be no hope of her having it later will either be reckoned from the menstruation if she has it in the future, or in accordance with the age at which women generally reach menopause, and after attaining that age she will pass three months of the waiting period in order to be released from the marriage bond. The same opinion is held by Imam Shafe'i. Imam Thauri and Imam Laith, and the same also is the view of Hadrat 'Umar Hadrat 'Uthman and Hadrat Zaid bin Thabit. | ||
Imam Malik has adopted the view of Hadrat 'Umar and Hadrat 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas and it is this: The woman will first pass nine months. If she does not have her menses during thin period, she will pass three months of the waiting-period like like the woman who has despaired of menstruation, Ibn al-Qasim explaining the viewpoint of Imam Malik says: The period of nine months will be reckoned from the day she became free from the previous menstrual discharge and not from the day divorce was pronounced on her. (All these have been taken from al-Jassas, Ahkam al-Qur'an and al-Kasani, Badai as-Sana`i)."}} | Imam Malik has adopted the view of Hadrat 'Umar and Hadrat 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas and it is this: The woman will first pass nine months. If she does not have her menses during thin period, she will pass three months of the waiting-period like like the woman who has despaired of menstruation, Ibn al-Qasim explaining the viewpoint of Imam Malik says: The period of nine months will be reckoned from the day she became free from the previous menstrual discharge and not from the day divorce was pronounced on her. (All these have been taken from al-Jassas, Ahkam al-Qur'an and al-Kasani, Badai as-Sana`i)."}} | ||