Prophet Muhammad's Marriage with our Mother Aisha: Clearing the Misconceptions
1400 years ago it was not abnormal to marry a girl or boy as soon as they hit puberty, not like they had to go to college get a degree and find a job or live together before marriage. It was a normal marriage and we don’t have any problems at all. Also it’s a secondary data reference (not words of God or prophet which in nature might not be perfect) so many scholars differ from her age being 9 to 18 years but neither would bother a Muslim. Wait until I show you some Bible prophets and their bride’s marriage ages read the whole post please.
To be fair with you, i will assume with the age ''9'' and proceed with my answer to prove that even if it was ''Nine it was Fine'' (that rhymed well lol)
Important Notes before proceeding:
- Prophet Muhammad's First wife was Khadija (RA). One need to note that for first 54 years of his life he had only one wife. His only wife till 50th year of his life was Sayyida Khadija. He spent his entire youth with her and she was a two time widowed woman, 15 years elder to him.
- Average age of death was at that time was 40-60
- By 20-30 people were considered old
- Definition of child: a young human being below the age of puberty or below the legal age of majority.
- Median of the marriage age increased only recently after socialism and westernization was established, look at the charts of the changing marriage age around the world. Even Gandhi married at 12
- Child brides as young as 8 were common, not exceptions, among the Byzantine emperors and nobility.
- The minimum age for marriage in the US-State of Delaware in year 1895 was 7. Yes, SEVEN .
- Virgin Mary was as young as 11 when she got pregnant with Jesus Christ, peace be upon both of them.
-Prophet Mohamed's other wife Sawdah bint Zam`ah was an old-aged widow who possessed no particular appealing qualities. This adds to our certainty that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, had many great lofty aims behind his marriages.
- Aisha was a daughter of the President's dearest man. If it had any issue, Abubakar (RA), her father would have objected.
When our grandparents got married, it was a different time. Women married young because they didn't really have a lot of other options because they had no financial responsibilities.
They were not considered young girls, and rather they were considered young women back then. It is a historic fact that girls from the ages of 9 to 14 were being married in Europe, Asia, and Africa, in fact even in the United States girls at the age of 10 were also being married just more than a century ago.
Yet with these facts no historian claims that all these people were sick perverts, historians would call anyone who made such a claim to be arrogant and very stupid who has no grasp or understanding of history.
Even in Indo-Pak Sub-Continent girls use to be married at 12-13 even 50-60 years ago. And those ‘girls’ in fact raised much better families. There were less family problems then. A simple analyses of the divorce rate then and now would certainly make it clear.
The reason no one objected to the Prophet’s marriage was:
1. People used to have very short life-spans in Arabia. They used to live between 40 to 60 years maximum. So it was only normal and natural for girls to be married off at ages 9 or 10 or similar.
2. Marriage for young girls was widely practiced among Arabs back then, and even today in many non-Muslim and Muslim countries
Now that we have a basic historical and demographic idea lets look into specific evidence proving this was a normal
Aisha's Engagement before Prophet Mohamed with Jubair bin Mutim:
It ought also be noted that Sayyidah Aisha ( RA) was engaged to Jubayr son of Mut’im before Prophet Muhammed (Peace be upon him). This indicates the age of marriage and engagement in Prophet’s time. However, the engagement was later nullified by Jubayr parents due to Abu Bakr (RA), Asha's Father embracing Islam. The fact that `Aisha, before the Prophet proposed to her, was being pursued by Jubair ibn Mut`am, indicates that she was mature enough for marriage
Unexpectedly Allah’s Apostle came to me in the forenoon and my mother handed me over to him, and at that time I was a girl of nine years of age.” {Sahih Bukhari Volume 5, Book 58, Number 234}
Sayyida Aisha never showed her displeasure:
Another striking thing to observe is that among hundreds of her narrations there is not even a single one showing her displeasure about this marriage. Hence, she had no problem with this relation. Infact it is manifest from several traditions that she loved the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) too much and even felt some sort of jealousy when she found others around him. Does this not prove that she was extremely happy about this marriage? So, when she herself had no problem at all then what’s the matter of concern for others?
It was absolutely legal:
Prophet Muhammad’s marriage with Aisha was 100% legal and acceptable by all laws and Divine Religions. It is important to know that girls during the Biblical and Islamic days used to be married off at young ages when they either had their first periods, or their breasts start showing off. In other words, when they turn into “women” biologically, then they get married off. It was quite different for men on the other hand, because physical power and the ability of living an independent life had always been and will always be a mandatory requirement for men to have in life. So men waited much longer than women in terms of getting married. The guy had to develop both his body and mind before he was ready for marriage due to the financial and leadership responsibilities. That is why you see girls as young as 9 or 10 were married to men as old as 30 or even older. The culture back then and in many of the world countries today (NON-MUSLIM ONES TOO) is quite different than what you live in today.
Aisha Ra is a symbol of women’s rights and leadership:
Also this marriage is one of the reasons why today we Muslims have over 2000 hadiths related to Aisha RA, her being young she was able to preserve many hadith and pass it to the next generation so it’s believed this marriage was also based on preserving the religion.
Her 10 years of marriage were of the life of a fully dedicated disciple, trainee and scholarly student in the noble Prophetic school. She was the source of knowledge for almost every Companion. She was of the main sources for revealing knowledge and information of the private life of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). She was a big celebrity in politics and the best example of generosity.
Arwa Bin Zubair says, “I did not find anyone more proficient (than Aisha ) in the knowledge of the Holy Quran, the Commandments of Halal (lawful) and Haram (prohibited), Ilmul-Ansab and Arabic poetry. That is why, even senior companions of the Prophet used to consult Aisha in resolving intricate issues”. (Jala-ul-Afham by Ibn Qaiyem and Ibn Sa’ad, Vol.2, p.26)
Also see this;
Abu Musa al-Ashari says: “Never had we (the companions) any difficulty for the solution of which we approached Aisha and did not get some useful information from her”. (Sirat-I-Aisha, on the authority of Tirmidhi, pg. 163)
There was always wisdom and lofty aims behind all his marriages:
Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) marriage with Sayidah Aisha at that age was indeed a great blessings for all the Muslims ever since. Most of the matters related to cleanliness, married relationship and other household issues have been cleared due to her narrations. She lived a long time after the death of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) and continued to teach the Ummah about matters of daily routine and great importance.
Regarding divine wisdom behind Aisha ra marriage:
In this Hadith, its narrated that the Prophet said to her, “You have been shown to me twice in my dream. I saw you pictured on a piece of silk and someone said (to me). ‘This is your wife.’ When I uncovered the picture, I saw that it was yours. I said, ‘If this is from Allah, it will be done.” {Bukhari :: Volume 5 :: Book 58 :: Hadith 235}
The Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) did not marry Sayyidah Aisha out of his physical desires. One need to note that for first 54 years of his life he had only one wife. His only wife till 50th year of his life was Sayyida Khadija. He spent his entire youth with her and she was a two time widowed woman, 15 years elder to him. For next four years his only wife was Sayyidah Sa’uda.
Also Prophets wife Sawdah bint Zam`ah was an old-aged widow who possessed no particular appealing qualities. This adds to our certainty that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, had many great lofty aims behind his marriages. Also, when Khawlah bint Hakim suggested to him to marry`Aisha, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, thought thoroughly whether to accept or to refuse. He took into consideration his relation with Abu Bakr father of Aisha Ra.
The Prophet’s love for `Aisha was a sign of his love for her father. On being asked about the dearest person to his heart, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned `Aisha. Then, on being asked about the dearest man to him and he (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned her father, Abu Bakr.
Prophets marriages to strengthen Sociopolitical and tribal alliance:
As for the purpose of this marriage, it was also for socio political reason. The Prophet’s main concern was the future of Islam. He was interested in strengthening Muslims by all bonds.
This also explains the reason why he married the daughter of `Umar, his Second Successor. It was by his marriage to Juwayriyyah that he gained the support for Islam of the whole clan of Bani Al-Mustaliq and their allied tribes. It was through his marriage to Safiyyah that he neutralized a great section of the hostile Jews of Arabia.
By accepting Mariya, the Copt from Egypt, as his wife, he formed a political alliance with a king of great magnitude. So his marriage to `Aisha could never be of anything save cementing his relation with Abu Bakr, `Aisha’s father.
Once again just to remind the fact that `Aisha, before the Prophet proposed to her, was being pursued by Jubair ibn Mut`am, indicates that she was mature enough for marriage, according to the prevailing tradition at that time, if not, the Quraish people, who would never waste any chance to insult the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would have found this marriage as a golden opportunity to pour on him rain of insults. Rather they found nothing wrong in this engagement, and they received the news of the Prophet’s proposal for `Aisha as something usual, and even, expected.
No evidence of physical relationship with Aisha at age of 9:
"Did Muhammad pbuh have sex with Aisha ra when she was nine years old?". And the answer to that is as far as we can ascertain, a big endless question mark. We simply don't know.
The sources on Aisha is the Hadith, which are texts collected about Muhammad pbuh after his death. although they are not words by God or a prophet, but they are generally seen to be quite trustworthy because we Muslims respect the companions of our prophet, but they are at best second-hand accounts.
These sources agree on that Muhammad pbuh and Aisha ra was engaged when she was 6 years old. But they can be separated according to who is the original source. Many of them attribute themselves to Aisha herself. She consistently says that she moved into Muhammad's household at the age of 9. No quote attributed to her says that the marriage was consummated at that (or any other) time.
Other quotes do say that it was consummated when she was nine. But the question then is how they know? Reasonably only Muhammad pbuh and Aisha ra knew. And the question also arises to what "consummated" means. In western tradition the marriage is consummated when you have intercourse. I can't find any source that says what word is used in the Arabic originals, so I don't know if the implications are the same.
Also, Aisha Ra never had any children. But she used her position as Muhammad’s wife to wield power after his death, claiming to be his favorite wife in some of the quotes above. With her youth combined with the fact that she had no children, it might have been that people claimed that their marriage had never been consummated in an effort to minimize her influence. In that case of course other trustworthy people would have to step up and say that it was consummated. And since the culture at this time had no qualms about marriages to children, they didn't claim that it was consummated when she was 18 (at which point Muhammad was dying anyway) but more realistically that it was consummated when she joined Muhammad's household. And today people then go "Ugh, child molester!" as a result.
But in the end, the only sources we have are third-hand sources saying that the marriage was consummated when she was nine, although we don't know exactly what that means, and we can't be sure what happened, because only Aisha and Muhammad pbuh knew for sure, and they didn't say.
Heat climate Research:
On a side note In addition to all demographic, political and socio-cultural evidence that proves this as a normal marriage, for those who are ''still'' not convinced there is also significant evidence of girls age of hitting puberty quicker in hot climate, in a time where Air Conditioning did not exist we can conclude that this was even more evident through these researches.
I came across different scientific publications that appear to confirm children, particularly girls, reach puberty quicker in hot climates.
• Age of Puberty in Tropics
http://www.bmj.com/content/1/4645/85?tab=citation
• Eruption of Permanent Dentition and Menarche of American Children Living in the Tropics
http://www.jstor.org/stable/41448764...n_tab_contents
• Menarche and Menstrual Type
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...678.x/abstract
• Age at Menarche: Genetic and Environmental Influences
http://wurtmanlab.mit.edu/static/pdf/97.pdf
Bible and its child (could be biologically adults) marriages:
Where do you stand with regard to the wedding of Joseph the Carpenter, who, as you write in your own holy books, married the Virgin Mary when she was only 12 years old and he was 90 years old?
Is it not written in your books? Read your own holy scripture. Joseph the Carpenter was 90 years old, while Mary was 12 years old. Why don't you denounce this?!
If someone thinks that a Prophet of God should not have a very young wife, then he/she should also reject Abraham as God’s Prophet. If he cannot accept a 50-year-old Prophet of God having a 9-year-old wife (though there are hadith that say its 9-18), then he should also not accept an 86-year- old Prophet of God who slept with a young maiden of his own wife without marrying her, as the Bible says (see Genesis 16:1-16).
He should then reject all the Prophets who came in the line of Prophet Abraham, including Jesus. He should also reject the whole Bible, Old and New Testament, because they both praise Abraham as a great person.
We, as Muslims, of course, honor Prophet Ibrahim (peace and blessings be upon him) and respect his marriage to Hajar (may Allah be pleased with her). She was the honored mother of Prophet Isma'il (peace and blessings be upon him and upon all the Prophets of God)."
Have you read the Old Testament? Two daughters raping their dad after getting drunk? Remember Samson who went to a harlot? Also now do you know the ages when some bible prophets married?
At last but not least, she was not a child but biologically an Adult when she married
(Research done by brother Talibilm09 and Sister CandyApple)
Another Few Sahih Hadith that Proves Aysha (raa) reached Puberty in Mecca itself also already at the time of Emigration to Abbysinia (Ethopia) which happened about 614 CE ie only about 3 -4 years after Prophet received his first revelations
BUKHARI Book #37, Hadith #494 Bukhari
Narrated Aisha: (wife of the Prophet) Since I reached the age when I could remember things, I have seen my parents worshipping according to the right faith of Islam. Not a single day passed but Allah's Apostle visited us both in the morning and in the evening. When the Muslims were persecuted, Abu Bakr set out for Ethiopia as an emigrant. When he reached a place called Bark-al-Ghimad, he met IBN Ad-Daghna, the chief............
and another hadith :Bukhari :: Book 5 :: Volume 58 :: Hadith 245 gives near by similar details and another hadith her Father Abu Bakr (ra) says he accepted Islam with his whole family and if Aysha (ra) was an infant- new born she would not be in a position to accept islam untill she was atleast 7 years to know what Religion is
BUKHARI BOOK #8, Hadith #465
Narrated 'Aisha: (the wife of the Prophet) I had seen my parents following Islam since I attained the age of puberty. Not a day passed but the Prophet visited us, both in the mornings and evenings. My father Abii Bakr thought of building a mosque in the courtyard of his house and he did so. He used to pray and recite the Qur'an in it. The pagan women and their children used to stand by him and look at him with surprise. Abu Bakr was a Softhearted person and could not help weeping while reciting the quran. The chiefs of the Quraish pagans became afraid of that (i.e. that their children and women might be affected by the recitation of quran)."
At it was a Norm those ages to marry young and what else one can do when there is no schooling in desert other than having a family as seen from Bible Joseph (90) marries Mary at 12 years though from above narrations we are sure she was around 16-18 when she lived together with the Prophet and we Muslims like to risk all since we believe the Nobility of our Prophet and hence we do not argue or frustrated when the islamaphobes cheatingly accuse of Phedopile while they do know it means a person who likes under puberty kids (see Dict) but Prophet's wives were mostly widows and Aysha (ra) even in the worst SCENARIO was a woman ( after puberty ) to live with Prophet.
Also according to other indications:
''Firstly I'd like to say I have no issues because A'isha herself says her menstruation had started before marriage was consummated. That would make her a young woman, despite another report saying she was 9 yrs of age.
Now, as for the historical evidence, she was easily 15-22years at the time of marraige.''
A) A'isha says she accepted Islam when islam came along (she would need to be of an understanding age If she was to accept it, say 5-6years old?) Ten years later she is married, and some time later marraige is consummated.that would make her atleast 16-18yrs.
B) A'isha says her elder sister was ten yrs older than her and at the time of migration her sister was 24yrs. That would make A'isha 14 years at the time of migration
C) during the battle of Badr no one under 15yrs was allowed in the war zone yet A'isha was running around aiding wounded soldiers, which would make her atleast 15 yrs and not 11 if the story of the 9yr old is to be accepted
Also note some people say that 6/16 9/19 sound similar in Arabic and perhaps it was a slip of a tongue.
Least of all her period had started, least of all she looked like a fully grown young woman and NOT like a child.
Conclusion:
First of all as i mentioned before its based on ‘’hadith’’ which are not divine but collection of historical second or third hand accounts, Then comes the contradicting hadiths itself that indicate the age could be either as small as 9 or as much as 18. Even if we sided with the age ‘’9’’ (there is no doubt she hit puberty) history, culture, laws of the time, weather, wisdom behind the marriage, biblical marriages and many other reasons proves that it’s absolutely normal.
People have been criticizing Prophet since his time and until the 20th century not a single person saw this to be an issue at all, but since westernization people are born into societies that do not accept marriage after biological puberty due to the increase in responsibilities such as finding jobs, education, both genders getting equal financial responsibilities and also many other demographical shifts. Let’s be mature and accept this in its true context.
If we take all these out of context there wont be a single religion on earth that would make sense, Do not compare any precious religions based on modern secular western mindsets that would someday even lead you into accepting homosexuality, bestiality and many other unholy thoughts. Today people mock at the Bible and Quran for hating homosexuals, having younger marriages etc. Tomorrow there will be even worse claims but the ones who are strong in faith will always resist and defend
Thanks for the read, feel free to throw all whats hiding in your mind we are ready to answer
References
http://www.letmeturnthetables.com/20...isha-when.html
http://www.onislam.net/english/ask-a...any-wives.html
https://islamgreatreligion.wordpress...he-was-only-9/
http://discover-the-truth.com/2013/0...rican-history/
1400 years ago it was not abnormal to marry a girl or boy as soon as they hit puberty, not like they had to go to college get a degree and find a job or live together before marriage. It was a normal marriage and we don’t have any problems at all. Also it’s a secondary data reference (not words of God or prophet which in nature might not be perfect) so many scholars differ from her age being 9 to 18 years but neither would bother a Muslim. Wait until I show you some Bible prophets and their bride’s marriage ages read the whole post please.
To be fair with you, i will assume with the age ''9'' and proceed with my answer to prove that even if it was ''Nine it was Fine'' (that rhymed well lol)
Important Notes before proceeding:
- Prophet Muhammad's First wife was Khadija (RA). One need to note that for first 54 years of his life he had only one wife. His only wife till 50th year of his life was Sayyida Khadija. He spent his entire youth with her and she was a two time widowed woman, 15 years elder to him.
- Average age of death was at that time was 40-60
- By 20-30 people were considered old
- Definition of child: a young human being below the age of puberty or below the legal age of majority.
- Median of the marriage age increased only recently after socialism and westernization was established, look at the charts of the changing marriage age around the world. Even Gandhi married at 12
- Child brides as young as 8 were common, not exceptions, among the Byzantine emperors and nobility.
- The minimum age for marriage in the US-State of Delaware in year 1895 was 7. Yes, SEVEN .
- Virgin Mary was as young as 11 when she got pregnant with Jesus Christ, peace be upon both of them.
-Prophet Mohamed's other wife Sawdah bint Zam`ah was an old-aged widow who possessed no particular appealing qualities. This adds to our certainty that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, had many great lofty aims behind his marriages.
- Aisha was a daughter of the President's dearest man. If it had any issue, Abubakar (RA), her father would have objected.
When our grandparents got married, it was a different time. Women married young because they didn't really have a lot of other options because they had no financial responsibilities.
They were not considered young girls, and rather they were considered young women back then. It is a historic fact that girls from the ages of 9 to 14 were being married in Europe, Asia, and Africa, in fact even in the United States girls at the age of 10 were also being married just more than a century ago.
Yet with these facts no historian claims that all these people were sick perverts, historians would call anyone who made such a claim to be arrogant and very stupid who has no grasp or understanding of history.
Even in Indo-Pak Sub-Continent girls use to be married at 12-13 even 50-60 years ago. And those ‘girls’ in fact raised much better families. There were less family problems then. A simple analyses of the divorce rate then and now would certainly make it clear.
The reason no one objected to the Prophet’s marriage was:
1. People used to have very short life-spans in Arabia. They used to live between 40 to 60 years maximum. So it was only normal and natural for girls to be married off at ages 9 or 10 or similar.
2. Marriage for young girls was widely practiced among Arabs back then, and even today in many non-Muslim and Muslim countries
Now that we have a basic historical and demographic idea lets look into specific evidence proving this was a normal
Aisha's Engagement before Prophet Mohamed with Jubair bin Mutim:
It ought also be noted that Sayyidah Aisha ( RA) was engaged to Jubayr son of Mut’im before Prophet Muhammed (Peace be upon him). This indicates the age of marriage and engagement in Prophet’s time. However, the engagement was later nullified by Jubayr parents due to Abu Bakr (RA), Asha's Father embracing Islam. The fact that `Aisha, before the Prophet proposed to her, was being pursued by Jubair ibn Mut`am, indicates that she was mature enough for marriage
Unexpectedly Allah’s Apostle came to me in the forenoon and my mother handed me over to him, and at that time I was a girl of nine years of age.” {Sahih Bukhari Volume 5, Book 58, Number 234}
Sayyida Aisha never showed her displeasure:
Another striking thing to observe is that among hundreds of her narrations there is not even a single one showing her displeasure about this marriage. Hence, she had no problem with this relation. Infact it is manifest from several traditions that she loved the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) too much and even felt some sort of jealousy when she found others around him. Does this not prove that she was extremely happy about this marriage? So, when she herself had no problem at all then what’s the matter of concern for others?
It was absolutely legal:
Prophet Muhammad’s marriage with Aisha was 100% legal and acceptable by all laws and Divine Religions. It is important to know that girls during the Biblical and Islamic days used to be married off at young ages when they either had their first periods, or their breasts start showing off. In other words, when they turn into “women” biologically, then they get married off. It was quite different for men on the other hand, because physical power and the ability of living an independent life had always been and will always be a mandatory requirement for men to have in life. So men waited much longer than women in terms of getting married. The guy had to develop both his body and mind before he was ready for marriage due to the financial and leadership responsibilities. That is why you see girls as young as 9 or 10 were married to men as old as 30 or even older. The culture back then and in many of the world countries today (NON-MUSLIM ONES TOO) is quite different than what you live in today.
Aisha Ra is a symbol of women’s rights and leadership:
Also this marriage is one of the reasons why today we Muslims have over 2000 hadiths related to Aisha RA, her being young she was able to preserve many hadith and pass it to the next generation so it’s believed this marriage was also based on preserving the religion.
Her 10 years of marriage were of the life of a fully dedicated disciple, trainee and scholarly student in the noble Prophetic school. She was the source of knowledge for almost every Companion. She was of the main sources for revealing knowledge and information of the private life of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). She was a big celebrity in politics and the best example of generosity.
Arwa Bin Zubair says, “I did not find anyone more proficient (than Aisha ) in the knowledge of the Holy Quran, the Commandments of Halal (lawful) and Haram (prohibited), Ilmul-Ansab and Arabic poetry. That is why, even senior companions of the Prophet used to consult Aisha in resolving intricate issues”. (Jala-ul-Afham by Ibn Qaiyem and Ibn Sa’ad, Vol.2, p.26)
Also see this;
Abu Musa al-Ashari says: “Never had we (the companions) any difficulty for the solution of which we approached Aisha and did not get some useful information from her”. (Sirat-I-Aisha, on the authority of Tirmidhi, pg. 163)
There was always wisdom and lofty aims behind all his marriages:
Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) marriage with Sayidah Aisha at that age was indeed a great blessings for all the Muslims ever since. Most of the matters related to cleanliness, married relationship and other household issues have been cleared due to her narrations. She lived a long time after the death of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) and continued to teach the Ummah about matters of daily routine and great importance.
Regarding divine wisdom behind Aisha ra marriage:
In this Hadith, its narrated that the Prophet said to her, “You have been shown to me twice in my dream. I saw you pictured on a piece of silk and someone said (to me). ‘This is your wife.’ When I uncovered the picture, I saw that it was yours. I said, ‘If this is from Allah, it will be done.” {Bukhari :: Volume 5 :: Book 58 :: Hadith 235}
The Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) did not marry Sayyidah Aisha out of his physical desires. One need to note that for first 54 years of his life he had only one wife. His only wife till 50th year of his life was Sayyida Khadija. He spent his entire youth with her and she was a two time widowed woman, 15 years elder to him. For next four years his only wife was Sayyidah Sa’uda.
Also Prophets wife Sawdah bint Zam`ah was an old-aged widow who possessed no particular appealing qualities. This adds to our certainty that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, had many great lofty aims behind his marriages. Also, when Khawlah bint Hakim suggested to him to marry`Aisha, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, thought thoroughly whether to accept or to refuse. He took into consideration his relation with Abu Bakr father of Aisha Ra.
The Prophet’s love for `Aisha was a sign of his love for her father. On being asked about the dearest person to his heart, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned `Aisha. Then, on being asked about the dearest man to him and he (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned her father, Abu Bakr.
Prophets marriages to strengthen Sociopolitical and tribal alliance:
As for the purpose of this marriage, it was also for socio political reason. The Prophet’s main concern was the future of Islam. He was interested in strengthening Muslims by all bonds.
This also explains the reason why he married the daughter of `Umar, his Second Successor. It was by his marriage to Juwayriyyah that he gained the support for Islam of the whole clan of Bani Al-Mustaliq and their allied tribes. It was through his marriage to Safiyyah that he neutralized a great section of the hostile Jews of Arabia.
By accepting Mariya, the Copt from Egypt, as his wife, he formed a political alliance with a king of great magnitude. So his marriage to `Aisha could never be of anything save cementing his relation with Abu Bakr, `Aisha’s father.
Once again just to remind the fact that `Aisha, before the Prophet proposed to her, was being pursued by Jubair ibn Mut`am, indicates that she was mature enough for marriage, according to the prevailing tradition at that time, if not, the Quraish people, who would never waste any chance to insult the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would have found this marriage as a golden opportunity to pour on him rain of insults. Rather they found nothing wrong in this engagement, and they received the news of the Prophet’s proposal for `Aisha as something usual, and even, expected.
No evidence of physical relationship with Aisha at age of 9:
"Did Muhammad pbuh have sex with Aisha ra when she was nine years old?". And the answer to that is as far as we can ascertain, a big endless question mark. We simply don't know.
The sources on Aisha is the Hadith, which are texts collected about Muhammad pbuh after his death. although they are not words by God or a prophet, but they are generally seen to be quite trustworthy because we Muslims respect the companions of our prophet, but they are at best second-hand accounts.
These sources agree on that Muhammad pbuh and Aisha ra was engaged when she was 6 years old. But they can be separated according to who is the original source. Many of them attribute themselves to Aisha herself. She consistently says that she moved into Muhammad's household at the age of 9. No quote attributed to her says that the marriage was consummated at that (or any other) time.
Other quotes do say that it was consummated when she was nine. But the question then is how they know? Reasonably only Muhammad pbuh and Aisha ra knew. And the question also arises to what "consummated" means. In western tradition the marriage is consummated when you have intercourse. I can't find any source that says what word is used in the Arabic originals, so I don't know if the implications are the same.
Also, Aisha Ra never had any children. But she used her position as Muhammad’s wife to wield power after his death, claiming to be his favorite wife in some of the quotes above. With her youth combined with the fact that she had no children, it might have been that people claimed that their marriage had never been consummated in an effort to minimize her influence. In that case of course other trustworthy people would have to step up and say that it was consummated. And since the culture at this time had no qualms about marriages to children, they didn't claim that it was consummated when she was 18 (at which point Muhammad was dying anyway) but more realistically that it was consummated when she joined Muhammad's household. And today people then go "Ugh, child molester!" as a result.
But in the end, the only sources we have are third-hand sources saying that the marriage was consummated when she was nine, although we don't know exactly what that means, and we can't be sure what happened, because only Aisha and Muhammad pbuh knew for sure, and they didn't say.
Heat climate Research:
On a side note In addition to all demographic, political and socio-cultural evidence that proves this as a normal marriage, for those who are ''still'' not convinced there is also significant evidence of girls age of hitting puberty quicker in hot climate, in a time where Air Conditioning did not exist we can conclude that this was even more evident through these researches.
I came across different scientific publications that appear to confirm children, particularly girls, reach puberty quicker in hot climates.
• Age of Puberty in Tropics
http://www.bmj.com/content/1/4645/85?tab=citation
• Eruption of Permanent Dentition and Menarche of American Children Living in the Tropics
http://www.jstor.org/stable/41448764...n_tab_contents
• Menarche and Menstrual Type
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...678.x/abstract
• Age at Menarche: Genetic and Environmental Influences
http://wurtmanlab.mit.edu/static/pdf/97.pdf
Bible and its child (could be biologically adults) marriages:
Where do you stand with regard to the wedding of Joseph the Carpenter, who, as you write in your own holy books, married the Virgin Mary when she was only 12 years old and he was 90 years old?
Is it not written in your books? Read your own holy scripture. Joseph the Carpenter was 90 years old, while Mary was 12 years old. Why don't you denounce this?!
If someone thinks that a Prophet of God should not have a very young wife, then he/she should also reject Abraham as God’s Prophet. If he cannot accept a 50-year-old Prophet of God having a 9-year-old wife (though there are hadith that say its 9-18), then he should also not accept an 86-year- old Prophet of God who slept with a young maiden of his own wife without marrying her, as the Bible says (see Genesis 16:1-16).
He should then reject all the Prophets who came in the line of Prophet Abraham, including Jesus. He should also reject the whole Bible, Old and New Testament, because they both praise Abraham as a great person.
We, as Muslims, of course, honor Prophet Ibrahim (peace and blessings be upon him) and respect his marriage to Hajar (may Allah be pleased with her). She was the honored mother of Prophet Isma'il (peace and blessings be upon him and upon all the Prophets of God)."
Have you read the Old Testament? Two daughters raping their dad after getting drunk? Remember Samson who went to a harlot? Also now do you know the ages when some bible prophets married?
At last but not least, she was not a child but biologically an Adult when she married
(Research done by brother Talibilm09 and Sister CandyApple)
Another Few Sahih Hadith that Proves Aysha (raa) reached Puberty in Mecca itself also already at the time of Emigration to Abbysinia (Ethopia) which happened about 614 CE ie only about 3 -4 years after Prophet received his first revelations
BUKHARI Book #37, Hadith #494 Bukhari
Narrated Aisha: (wife of the Prophet) Since I reached the age when I could remember things, I have seen my parents worshipping according to the right faith of Islam. Not a single day passed but Allah's Apostle visited us both in the morning and in the evening. When the Muslims were persecuted, Abu Bakr set out for Ethiopia as an emigrant. When he reached a place called Bark-al-Ghimad, he met IBN Ad-Daghna, the chief............
and another hadith :Bukhari :: Book 5 :: Volume 58 :: Hadith 245 gives near by similar details and another hadith her Father Abu Bakr (ra) says he accepted Islam with his whole family and if Aysha (ra) was an infant- new born she would not be in a position to accept islam untill she was atleast 7 years to know what Religion is
BUKHARI BOOK #8, Hadith #465
Narrated 'Aisha: (the wife of the Prophet) I had seen my parents following Islam since I attained the age of puberty. Not a day passed but the Prophet visited us, both in the mornings and evenings. My father Abii Bakr thought of building a mosque in the courtyard of his house and he did so. He used to pray and recite the Qur'an in it. The pagan women and their children used to stand by him and look at him with surprise. Abu Bakr was a Softhearted person and could not help weeping while reciting the quran. The chiefs of the Quraish pagans became afraid of that (i.e. that their children and women might be affected by the recitation of quran)."
At it was a Norm those ages to marry young and what else one can do when there is no schooling in desert other than having a family as seen from Bible Joseph (90) marries Mary at 12 years though from above narrations we are sure she was around 16-18 when she lived together with the Prophet and we Muslims like to risk all since we believe the Nobility of our Prophet and hence we do not argue or frustrated when the islamaphobes cheatingly accuse of Phedopile while they do know it means a person who likes under puberty kids (see Dict) but Prophet's wives were mostly widows and Aysha (ra) even in the worst SCENARIO was a woman ( after puberty ) to live with Prophet.
Also according to other indications:
''Firstly I'd like to say I have no issues because A'isha herself says her menstruation had started before marriage was consummated. That would make her a young woman, despite another report saying she was 9 yrs of age.
Now, as for the historical evidence, she was easily 15-22years at the time of marraige.''
A) A'isha says she accepted Islam when islam came along (she would need to be of an understanding age If she was to accept it, say 5-6years old?) Ten years later she is married, and some time later marraige is consummated.that would make her atleast 16-18yrs.
B) A'isha says her elder sister was ten yrs older than her and at the time of migration her sister was 24yrs. That would make A'isha 14 years at the time of migration
C) during the battle of Badr no one under 15yrs was allowed in the war zone yet A'isha was running around aiding wounded soldiers, which would make her atleast 15 yrs and not 11 if the story of the 9yr old is to be accepted
Also note some people say that 6/16 9/19 sound similar in Arabic and perhaps it was a slip of a tongue.
Least of all her period had started, least of all she looked like a fully grown young woman and NOT like a child.
Conclusion:
First of all as i mentioned before its based on ‘’hadith’’ which are not divine but collection of historical second or third hand accounts, Then comes the contradicting hadiths itself that indicate the age could be either as small as 9 or as much as 18. Even if we sided with the age ‘’9’’ (there is no doubt she hit puberty) history, culture, laws of the time, weather, wisdom behind the marriage, biblical marriages and many other reasons proves that it’s absolutely normal.
People have been criticizing Prophet since his time and until the 20th century not a single person saw this to be an issue at all, but since westernization people are born into societies that do not accept marriage after biological puberty due to the increase in responsibilities such as finding jobs, education, both genders getting equal financial responsibilities and also many other demographical shifts. Let’s be mature and accept this in its true context.
If we take all these out of context there wont be a single religion on earth that would make sense, Do not compare any precious religions based on modern secular western mindsets that would someday even lead you into accepting homosexuality, bestiality and many other unholy thoughts. Today people mock at the Bible and Quran for hating homosexuals, having younger marriages etc. Tomorrow there will be even worse claims but the ones who are strong in faith will always resist and defend
Thanks for the read, feel free to throw all whats hiding in your mind we are ready to answer
References
http://www.letmeturnthetables.com/20...isha-when.html
http://www.onislam.net/english/ask-a...any-wives.html
https://islamgreatreligion.wordpress...he-was-only-9/
http://discover-the-truth.com/2013/0...rican-history/
