Child Marriage in the Qur'an: Difference between revisions

The subject of child marriage per se never arises in the Qur'an. Yet the Qur'an deals indirectly with the topic. The subject of the [['Iddah]] or "(waiting) period" of a woman is dealt with frequently in the Qu'ran. Summarized briefly, the Qur'an lays down strict rules (based largely on the women's menstruation cycles or lack thereof) for how long a woman must wait in between the end of one marriage and the beginning of another, and the purpose in the pre-modern, patriarchal societies in which the [[Shari'ah]] was codified 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 the  Qur'an in verse 33:49 states that no [['Iddah]] is prescribed for a woman who has ''not'' had intimate contact with her husband, but goes on to stipulate an [['Iddah]] for pre-pubescent girls in verse 65:4, implying that pre-pubescent girls can be divorced, with the implication that it is possible to marry them. This has been interpreted in the orthodox Sunni Muslim tradition to mean that the [[Qur'an]] supports marrying and having sex with prepubescent girls. Despite the discomfort that this causes for modern readers, the conclusion (which is drawn explicitly in sahih hadith and tafsir traditions around this and related Qur'anic verse) seems to be that the Qur'an endorses sexual intercourse (as a part of Islamic marriage) with pre-pubescent girls.  

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 '<nowiki/>''[[Iddah]]'' or '''Iddat'' (العدة‎). However, there is one exception to this requirement in Qur'an 33:49:

ياايها الذين امنوا اذا نكحتم المؤمنات ثم طلقتموهن من قبل ان تمسوهن فمالكم عليهن من عدة تعتدونهافمتعوهن وسرحوهن سراحا جميلا

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

After the mention of women who have not had their marriage consummated, the Qur'an goes further - discussing the women who need to observe the 'iddah, and the span of time required. We see in Qur'an 65.4:  

#Lastly, the women who are pregnant - their prescribed 'iddah is until they have given birth.

''Wa Al-Lā'ī Lam Yaĥiđna''  

''wa'' ( <font size="4">وَ</font> ) = and

''Al-Lā'ī'' ( <font size="4">وَاللَّائِي</font> ) = for those who

''Yaĥiđna'' ( <font size="4">يَحِضْنَ</font> ) = menstruate.  

''Yaĥiđna'' comes from the verbal root H-Y-D ( <font size="4">حيض</font> ) which means "to menstruate".  

The addition of prefix "Ya" and suffix "na" to the root "HYD" shows that the word is used in used in third person, feminine gender, plural, imperfective aspect, jussive mood.<ref>[[w:Arabic grammar|Arabic grammar]] - Wikipedia</ref>

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). <ref name="EB" /> The tensed negatives like ''lam'' ( <font size="3">لَمْ </font> ) (negation in past tense), ''lan'' ( <font size="3">لن</font> )  (negation in future tense), ''laa'' ( 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 partical lam لم conveys a meaning of a simple, negated past.  

In the verse 65:4, '''''Lam Yaĥiđna'' 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.   

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 [[w:menarche|menarche]] (first period). This implication, as seen below, was also drawn by the majors [[tafsir|tafsirs]].  

The following tafsir commentaries on the Qur'an are relatively recent in Islamic history.‘Uthaymeen died in 2001 and Maududi passed away in 1979; their commentary here shows 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.

====Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi====

Note here what 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.

{{quote |Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Uthaymeen, Majmoo’at As’ilah tahumm al-Usrah al-Muslimah, p. 61-63|Surah al-Talaaq 65:4:  

If a woman does not menstruate, either because she is very young or old and past menopause, then her ‘iddah is three months, because Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And those of your women as have passed the age of monthly courses, for them the ‘Iddah (prescribed period), if you have doubt (about their periods), is three months; '''and for those who have no courses (i.e. they are still immature)''' their ‘Iddah (prescribed period) is three months likewise.<ref>[http://www.islamqa.com/index.php?ln=eng&ds=qa&QR=12667 The ‘iddah of a woman divorced by talaaq] - Islam Q&A, Fatwa No. 12667</ref>}}

===='Ibn Kathir====

====Al-Jalalayn====

====Al-Wahidi====

{{quote |1=[http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=86&tSoraNo=65&tAyahNo=4&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0 Qur'an 65:4]<BR>Al-Wahidi, Asbab al-nuzul|2= (And for such of your women as despair of menstruation…) [65:4]. Said Muqatil: “When the verse (Women who are divorced shall wait, keeping themselves apart…), Kallad ibn al-Nu‘man ibn Qays al-Ansari said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, '''what is the waiting period of the woman who does not menstruate and the woman who has not menstruated yet?''' And what is the waiting period of the pregnant woman?’ '''And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse”.''' Abu Ishaq al-Muqri’ informed us> Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Hamdun> Makki ibn ‘Abdan> Abu’l-Azhar> Asbat ibn Muhammad> Mutarrif> Abu ‘Uthman ‘Amr ibn Salim who said: “When the waiting period for divorced and widowed women was mentioned in Surah al-Baqarah, Ubayy ibn Ka‘b said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, some women of Medina are saying: there are other women who have not been mentioned!’ He asked him: ‘And who are they?’ He said: '''Those who are too young [such that they have not started menstruating yet]''', those who are too old [whose menstruation has stopped] and those who are pregnant’. And so this verse (And for such of your women as despair of menstruation…) was revealed”.}}

====Al-Tabari====

{{Quote|Tafsir Al-Tabari, 14/142|The interpretation of the verse "And those of your women as have passed the age of monthly courses, for them the 'Iddah (prescribed period), if you have doubt (about their periods), is three months; '''and for those who have no courses (i.e. they are still immature) their 'Iddah (prescribed period) is three months likewise". He said: The same applies to the 'idaah for girls who do not menstruate because they are too young, if their husbands divorce them after consummating the marriage with them.'''}}

====Al-Zamakhshari====

===Tabrasi===

===Al-Shawkani===

===Abu-Hayyan===