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. ------ 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. ----------------------------------------------------------- Also Read: Was Hazrat Aisha Married to the Prophet in Her Childhood? ----------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------- Also Read: Hazrat Aisha’s Controversial Age at Marriage: Nine or Nineteen? ----------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------- Also Read: Aisha bint Abu Bakr: the Fascinating Woman ----------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Also Read: Hazrat Aisha's Contribution In The Spread, Propagation And Legacy Of Islam ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Also Read: Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati And Other Islamophobes' Attack On Islamic Prophet’s Marital Life Will Cease Only When Muslims Change Their Own Belief About Hazrat Aisha’s Very Young Marriage ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----- S. Arshad is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com. URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-personalities/prophet-marriage-hazrat-ayesha-hadees-/d/127237 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism