In Defence Of The Prophet's Marriage With Hazrat Ayesha Even If She Was A Minor, According To A Hadees Report Narrated By A Single Person, That Too A Senile Old Man
By S.
Arshad, New Age Islam
13 June
2022
Even If Hazrat Aisha Was A Minor At Marriage,
Though Her Age Is Also Placed Variously Between 18 And 22, In A Number Of
Reports, The Holy Prophet's Act Was Not Against The Accepted Social Norms Of
The Era Or Quranic Principles
Main
Points:
1. Even the
rabid enemies of the Prophet among the polytheists or the Jews did not
criticise the marriage.
2. The holy
prophet's first marriage was with a two time widow fifteen years older than
him.
3. The holy
prophet did not marry any other woman for another twenty five years.
4. His second
marriage took place only after the death of the first wife.
5. His second
wife, Hazrat Sawda r.a. was five years older than him.
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The holy prophet of Islam pbuh has been
praised not only by the Muslims but also by non-Muslim historians, orientalists
and scholars of Islam because of the integrity of his character and his
disciplined life. He brought about a social and political revolution in the
Arab world in a short span of 23 years after being appointed a prophet. He
championed democracy, human rights, women's and child rights in an age when
these ideas had few takers. Since his critics and detractors did not find any
personality flaw in him, they resorted to a sneak peak in his conjugal life to
throw mud on him and portray him as a lustful man who married thirteen women
including a nine year old minor girl to satiate his lust.
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Also Read: Was Hazrat Aisha Married to the Prophet in Her
Childhood?
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While doing so, they either ignore or wilfully
hide the real motive or the social context of his marriages. The most favourite
issue with the prophet's detractors is his marriage with Hadhrat Ayesha r.a.
who at the time of Nikah was around seven years old according to a Khabr e
Wahid quoted in Bukhari and the holy prophet was around fifty one or fifty
two years old. The holy prophet is criticised for marrying a minor girl those
criticising him totally ignore the context of his other marriages.
Hadhrat Ayesha r.a. was not the prophet's
first wife. She was the third wife of the holy prophet pbuh. His first wife was
Hadhrat Khadija r.a. who was fifteen years older than him. The holy prophet
pbuh married her when he was a young man of 25 years and Hadhrat Khadija r.a.
had been widowed twice before marrying the holy prophet pbuh. Will a lustful
man of 25 years marry a widow of 45 years who had been widowed twice? Secondly,
the holy prophet pbuh did not marry any other woman during Hadhrat Khadija's
life who died in 619. The holy prophet pbuh spent the whole youth with Hadhrat Khadija
r.a. for 25 long years.
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Also Read: Hazrat Aisha’s
Controversial Age at Marriage: Nine or Nineteen?
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When
Hadhrat Khadija r.a. died, the holy prophet pbuh was fifty years old. Can a
lustful man spend his entire youth with a widow? Thirdly, the holy prophet pbuh
married a second time in 619, after the death of Hadhrat Khadija r.a. His
second wife was Hadhrat Sawda r.a. Who was Hadhrat Sawda r.a? She was a widow of 55 years when the holy
prophet pbuh was fifty years old. Hadhrat Sawda r.a. had six children wih her
first husband. She and her first husband had converted to Islam in the initial
period of Islam but had to migrate to Abyssinia with children due to unbearable
persecution at the hands of the polytheists of Makkah. But her husband died in
Abyssinia and she had to come back to Makkah with children. She had suffered
hardships and the holy prophet's companions told him about her plight. The holy
prophet pbuh had a sense of responsibility towards her because she was from the
earliest batch of Muslims who had suffered persecution and hardships for his
Deen.
Therefore,
the holy prophet pbuh married Hadhrat Sawda r.a. to provide support to her and
her six children. Since Hadhrat Sawda r.a. had grown 56 or 57 years old, one of
the holy prophet's companions suggested to him to marry Hadhrat Abu Bakr's
daughter Hadhrat Ayesha r.a. At that time she was according to a controversial
report in Bukhari about 7 years old and her marriage had been fixed with a man
named Jubayr bin Mut'im. At the holy prophet's consent, Hadhrat Ayesha's
marriage with Ibn Mut'im was cancelled and she was married to the holy prophet
pbuh. This was before migration to Madina before 622.
That
Hadhrat Ayesha's marriage at the age of seven had already been fixed and that a
companion of the holy prophet pbuh suggested to him to marry a seven year old
girl shows that marriage of older men with a seven year or nine year old girl
was an accepted social norm in the tribal society of 7th century Makkah and so
even the worst detractors of the prophet pbuh that is the polytheists did not
criticise his marriage with Hadhrat Ayesha r.a. How can we claim that the
prophet's opponents did not criticise the marriage will be explained later. The
prophet's later marriages also took place because of his sense of
responsibility towards the women of his Ummah.
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Also Read: Aisha bint Abu
Bakr: the Fascinating Woman
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His
marriage with Hadhrat Hafsa bint Umar (Second caliph's daughter). Her husband
was killed in the battle of Badr and so the holy prophet pbuh married her to
provide support. She was also the daughter of one of his senior companions.
Hadhrat Zaynab bint Khuzayma r.a. was also widowed due to her husband's
martyrdom at the battle of Uhud. And so he pbuh married her. Hadhrat Zaynab's
first husband Ubaydah bin al Harith belonged to the tribe of his great
grandfather Abdul Muttalib. This was also the cause of the prophet's marriage
with Hadhrat Zainab r.a. In fact, the battles with the polytheists of Makkah
had resulted in the martyrdom of many Muslims and therefore many Muslim women
had been widowed. The holy prophet pbuh married the war widows to encourage
other Muslims to marry those widows. One such widow was Umm Salama whose
husband Abu Salama had died due to his injuries in the battle of Uhud. Umm
Salama r.a. had reached old age. Still the holy prophet pbuh married her.
Other wives of the holy prophet pbuh were
either divorced women or war widows. It becomes clear that except Hadhrat
Ayesha r.a. all the prophet's wives were either widows or divorced women and
some of them were old, rather older than him. He married them to provide them
social security, financial support and love and affection despite his limited
resources. The motive behind the marriages was to encourage the Muslims to
marry widows and divorced women to save them from exploitation and moral vices.
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Also Read: Hazrat Aisha's Contribution In The Spread,
Propagation And Legacy Of Islam
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That the polytheists of Makkah who always
remained on the look out to find an opportunity to denigrate the prophet pbuh
did not consider his marriage with Hadhrat Ayesha r.a. an issue is evident from
the Quran. The holy Quran on many occasions mentions the allegations the
polytheists and the Jews levelled against the prophet pbuh and then repudiates
them appropriately. For example, when the disbelievers said that the prophet
pbuh was insane, or a poet or one possessed by the djinns, the Quran refutes
the allegations and defends the prophet in strongest terms. "By the grace
of your Lord, you are not insane."(Qalam: 2) "And you are truly a man
of outstanding character."(Qalam: 4) ",..should we really abandon our
gods for a mad poet? In fact he came with the Truth confirming earlier messengers.
"(As Sffat: 36-37)
When the hypocrites led by Abdullah bin Ubay
raised a finger at the modesty of Hadhrat Ayesha r.a. described in Islamic
history as the Event of Ifk, the Quran mentioned the episode and then refuted
it in strongest terms. The Quran chides the Muslims who also were carried away
by the vilification campaign led by Ubay. It announces grave torment for the
hypocrites who levelled baseless allegations against Hadhrat Ayesha r.a. and
warns Muslims not to question the piety and modesty of Hadhrat Ayesha r.a.
"If only the believing men and women had thought well of one another when
you heard this and said, 'This is clearly an outrageous slander."(Nur: 12)
"Had it not been for Allah's grace and mercy upon you in this world and in
the Hereafter you would have certainly been touched with a tremendous
punishment for what you plunged into."(Nur: 14)
"Indeed those who came up with that
outrageous slander, are a group of you. Do not think that is bad for you.
Rather it is good for you. They will be punished according to their share of
the sin. As for their mastermind, he will suffer a tremendous
punishment."(Nur: 11)
There are other examples of the defamatory
statements of the polytheists, Jews and Munafiqs (hypocrites) mentioned
in the Quran and the Quran's refutation. But the Quran does not mention any
criticism of the holy prophet's marriage with Hadhrat Ayesha r.a. at a minor
age. This means the opponents of Islam during the prophet's life did not
consider such marriages an aberration. Moreover, the Quran also mentions
married women in pre-puberty age in the region.
In surah Talaq, the Quran outlines the rules
for divorce. One rule is that the woman should be divorced in her Iddat. But
for women past the age of menstruation and the women who have not yet
menstruated the period is three months. "As for your women past rhe age
of menstruation in case you do not know, their waiting period is three months
and those who have not menstruated as well. As for those who are pregnant,
their waiting period ends with delivery."(Talaq: 4)
This verse makes it clear that even women who
have not reached puberty may be married. And this was a general practice in the
7th century Arab society. The holy prophet pbuh consummated his marriage with
Hadhrat Ayesha r.a. when she was nine or ten years old, according to this
controversial report.
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When
critics of Islam criticise the holy prophet pbuh for marrying a 7 year old
girl, they forget that they are judging the traditions of the 7th century Arab
society from the point of view of 22nd century social norms and values. Today,
the social norm is that for marriage, both man woman should be same age or the
difference of age between the bride and groom should be a few years. But even
in feudal India, older men had minor brides. And child marriages are still in
vogue in some parts of India. Therefore, criticising the holy prophet pbuh for
marrying a minor girl in a filthy language is based on malice and not on a
correct understandig of the issue, that too by those who donot consider him an
ideal.
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S.
Arshad is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-personalities/prophet-marriage-hazrat-ayesha-hadees-/d/127237
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