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Ages of Muhammads Wives at Marriage: Difference between revisions
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Ages of Muhammads Wives at Marriage (view source)
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[[File:polygamy.jpg|right|thumb||300px]] | [[File:polygamy.jpg|right|thumb||300px]] | ||
Muslim apologists claim that Prophet [[Muhammad's Wives|Muhammad’s wives]] were elderly and that he did not marry them for physical attraction. | Muslim apologists claim that Prophet [[Muhammad's Wives|Muhammad’s wives]] were elderly and that he did not [[Marriage|marry]] them for physical attraction. | ||
{{Quote|[http://www.islam4women.org/conclusions/ Islam for Women]|But all his wives were elderly ladies or widows except [Aisha and Mariyah]. If the aim had been seeking sexual pleasures, he would have done so in his youth and would have married young maidens, not aged widows.}} | {{Quote|[http://www.islam4women.org/conclusions/ Islam for Women]|But all his wives were elderly ladies or widows except [Aisha and Mariyah]. If the aim had been seeking sexual pleasures, he would have done so in his youth and would have married young maidens, not aged widows.}} | ||
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{{Quote|Thomas, B. S. (1937). ''The Arabs'', pp. 65-66. New York: Doubleday, Doran and Co., Inc.|All appear to have been elderly widows except A’isha … The elderly wives were widows of companions who had fallen in the wars, and Muhammad married them to shelter them and provide them with homes.}} | {{Quote|Thomas, B. S. (1937). ''The Arabs'', pp. 65-66. New York: Doubleday, Doran and Co., Inc.|All appear to have been elderly widows except A’isha … The elderly wives were widows of companions who had fallen in the wars, and Muhammad married them to shelter them and provide them with homes.}} | ||
What this highlights is that terms like “middle-aged” and “elderly” are subjective. They do not give precise information about how old the women were. Rather than debate what the words “middle-aged” and “elderly” ought to mean, we will consult the early Muslim sources and calculate the age of each wife on the day she | What this highlights is that terms like “middle-aged” and “elderly” are subjective. They do not give precise information about how old the women were. Rather than debate what the words “middle-aged” and “elderly” ought to mean, we will consult the early Muslim sources and calculate the age of each wife on the day she married Muhammad. | ||
===Calculate Comparative Dates=== | ===Calculate Comparative Dates=== | ||
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{{Quote|Guillaume/Ishaq 69.|The apostle was born on Monday 12 Rabi-Awwal in the Year of the Elephant.}} | {{Quote|Guillaume/Ishaq 69.|The apostle was born on Monday 12 Rabi-Awwal in the Year of the Elephant.}} | ||
This [http://www.fourmilab.ch/documents/calendar/ calendar tool] advises us that the date | This [http://www.fourmilab.ch/documents/calendar/ calendar tool] advises us that the date ''12 Rabi-Awwal 1 AH'' is equivalent to the Gregorian date ''27 September 622 AD''. But this does not give the 53-year-old Muhammad a birthdate of 27 September 569. Because the lunar year is shorter, Muhammad’s age at the time of the ''Hijra'' was only about 51½ solar years. According to the calculator, his birthdate of 12 Rabi-Awwal 53 BH is equivalent to the Gregorian date 26 April 571. | ||
Of course, the Gregorian calendar did not exist in Muhammad’s day, so reporting dates in Gregorian style is an anachronism. However, it will be convenient to compare Muhammad’s calendar with the Gregorian calendar, which is internationally the most widely accepted and used civil calendar.<ref>[http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications/astronomical-information-center/calendars Introduction to Calendars]. United States Naval Observatory. Retrieved 15 January 2009.</ref><ref>[http://astro.nmsu.edu/~lhuber/leaphist.html Calendars] by L. E. Doggett. Section 2.</ref><ref>The international standard for the representation of dates and times, ISO 8601, uses the Gregorian calendar. Section 3.2.1.</ref> | Of course, the Gregorian calendar did not exist in Muhammad’s day, so reporting dates in Gregorian style is an anachronism. However, it will be convenient to compare Muhammad’s calendar with the Gregorian calendar, which is internationally the most widely accepted and used civil calendar.<ref>[http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications/astronomical-information-center/calendars Introduction to Calendars]. United States Naval Observatory. Retrieved 15 January 2009.</ref><ref>[http://astro.nmsu.edu/~lhuber/leaphist.html Calendars] by L. E. Doggett. Section 2.</ref><ref>The international standard for the representation of dates and times, ISO 8601, uses the Gregorian calendar. Section 3.2.1.</ref> | ||
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When Muslim historians speak of “the Year of the Elephant,” they always mean the year when Muhammad was born, which fell between 15 February 571 and 3 February 572. | When Muslim historians speak of “the Year of the Elephant,” they always mean the year when Muhammad was born, which fell between 15 February 571 and 3 February 572. | ||
That Muhammad apparently arrived in [[Medina]] exactly on his birthday – 12 Rabi-Awwal which was also his death-date<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 689</ref> – suggests that his official birthday is a made-up date. In fact the early historians give numerous suggestions for birth-dates other than the 12th, which the calculator tells was in any case a Friday and not a Monday. However, since the variant birthdays for Muhammad are all in the month of Rabi-Awwal and the year “of the Elephant,” we shall assume here that Muhammad was born in April 571. | |||
A further complication is that nobody is certain that the pre-''Hijri'' year was exactly the same as the Muslim year that was standardised after the ''Hijra''. However, Muhammad complained about the custom of adding an intercalary month, which was probably a Medinan practice introduced by the Jews.<ref>See [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3920-calendar-history-of#anchor4/ “Calendar, History of”] in Funk & Wagnalls (1906). ''Jewish Encyclopaedia''. New York: Author.</ref> The fact that he abolished intercalary months<ref>{{Quran-range|9|36|37}}.</ref> suggests that no such practice had been known in Mecca and that the old Meccan year was much the same as the later Islamic year. | A further complication is that nobody is certain that the pre-''Hijri'' year was exactly the same as the Muslim year that was standardised after the ''Hijra''. However, Muhammad complained about the custom of adding an intercalary month, which was probably a Medinan practice introduced by the [[Jews]].<ref>See [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3920-calendar-history-of#anchor4/ “Calendar, History of”] in Funk & Wagnalls (1906). ''Jewish Encyclopaedia''. New York: Author.</ref> The fact that he abolished intercalary months<ref>{{Quran-range|9|36|37}}.</ref> suggests that no such practice had been known in Mecca and that the old Meccan year was much the same as the later Islamic year. | ||
==Analysis== | ==Analysis== | ||