11 Marriage To Prepubescent Girls In Early Islam
Can Modern Islam Reform Its Old Shariah Laws?
by James M. Arlandson, Ph.D.
This series on Islamic shariah law is intended for educators, legislators, city council members, lawyers, judges, government bureaucrats, journalists, think tank fellows, TV and radio talk show hosts, and anyone else who occupies positions of authority and influence. They initiate the national dialogue and shape the flow of the conversation. They are the policy and decision makers. They implement school curricula.
They have listened to the critics of shariah and
have concluded the critics are exaggerating; they may even be “Islamophobic.”
Islam is a world religion, after all, so it deserves respect.
On the other hand, the intellectual elites have
heard disturbing reports out of the Islamic world. Surely the critics cannot be
all wrong, all the time, can they? The elites therefore have a private, gnawing
doubt that there is something wrong with shariah. No, they tell themselves; it
is being hijacked by extremists.
The elites thus have a “mental tennis match” in
their heads, as their thoughts go back and forth, from doubt to relief; there
is nothing wrong with shariah or there is something wrong with it, as it
relates to the modern world.
The topic of this article is an example; it is
very delicate, so we have to be as factual and objective as we humans can be.
The elites may have heard that Muhammad married
a little girl. Is this only a false rumor spread by the critics of shariah who
suffer from “Islamophobia”?
The Ayatollah Khomeini married a girl of ten
years old, and encouraged other men to do likewise, saying that fathers should
give their daughters away before their first period:
. . . the Ayatollah himself married a ten-year-old
girl when he was twenty-eight? Did she [the Khomeini supporter] know that
Khomeini called marriage to a girl before her first menstrual period “a
divine blessing,” and advised the faithful: “Do your best to ensure that
your daughters do not see their first blood in your house”?[1]
Why would this devout Muslim do such a thing?
Did he stray from original Islamic ideals?
Here is an abbreviated Table of Contents:
THE QURAN
THE HADITH
CLASSICAL LAW
MODERN ISLAM
CONCLUSION
THE QURAN
In the context of divorcing wives, Quran 65:1 and 4 says:
1 O Prophet, when you (and the believers)
divorce women, divorce them for their prescribed waiting-period and count the
waiting-period accurately… 4 And
if you are in doubt about those of your women who have despaired of menstruation,
(you should know that) their waiting period is three months, and the same applies to those who have not
menstruated as yet. As for pregnant women, their period ends when they
have delivered their burden.
[2]…
(Quran 65:1, 4)
Another translation repeats the same idea with
slightly different wording:
1 Prophet, when any of you intend to divorce women, do so at a time
when their prescribed waiting period can properly start, and calculate the
period carefully… 4 If you are in doubt, the period of waiting will be three
months for those women who have ceased menstruating and for those who have not
[yet] menstruated; the waiting period of those who are pregnant will be until
they deliver their burden.[3] …
(Quran 65:1, 4)
These verses deal with divorce
and a waiting period, to ensure that the divorced woman is not carrying the
ex-husband’s child. If he is in doubt about his postmenopausal or prepubescent
ex-wife, the husband should wait and calculate accurately. Logically, to
divorce a prepubescent girl, she had to have been married. And logically if
there is doubt about pregnancy, she had to have had sex while being so young.
However, the fear of pregnancy
indicates that the man and girl are not sure when she reached puberty; the
transition from prepuberty to puberty is in doubt.
Whatever the case, the text
implies the girl was having sex, while she was prepubescent. Classical Islamic
law (see below) adds its own permission to have sex with these girls. Aisha,
Muhammad’s favorite bride, had not yet reached puberty when he married her (see
the hadith, next).[4]
But it should be noted that the
verse does not command such
marriages; it does not even directly permit
them. Rather, it assumes that they
existed and does nothing to stop it. These nuanced differences are important
because modern Muslims will use them to try to stop the old custom (see below).
THE HADITH
The hadith are the reports, narrations or traditions about the words and deeds of Muhammad and his companions outside of the Quran. The Quran and hadith are the two foundations of classical Islamic law and much of Islamic laws today. Please see the article titled, “What Is Shariah?” in this series, for more information.
The following hadith says that Muhammad pursued an important girl
named Aisha when she was six years old. He had a dream about her.
Narrated Aisha: Allah’s Apostle said (to
me), “You were shown to me in a dream. An angel brought you to me, wrapped
in a piece of silken cloth, and said to me, ‘This is your wife.’ I removed the
piece of cloth from your face, and there you were. I said to myself. ‘If it is
from Allah, then it will surely be.'”[5]
In the next hadith, Abu Bakr is Muhammad’s
right-hand companion and the father of little Aisha. Muhammad asks him
permission to marry his daughter.
The
Prophet asked Abu Bakr for Aisha’s hand in marriage. Abu Bakr said, “But I
am your brother.” The Prophet said, “You are my brother in Allah’s
religion and His Book, but she (Aisha) is lawful for me to marry.”
[6]
Thus, Abu Bakr hesitates to give his daughter
away because he believes that he is the brother of Muhammad — they are both
mature men, after all. The Islamic prophet clarifies for him that they are
spiritual brothers, not blood brothers, so Abu Bakr’s little girl is lawful for
Muhammad to marry.
Aisha was Muhammad’s only virginal wife. The
others were married before. This hadith has Aisha asking about this in a
metaphor; where would you let your camels graze, on a tree that had been grazed
before or one that had been touched?
Narrated Aisha: I said, “O Allah’s
Apostle! Suppose you landed in a valley where there is a tree of which
something has been eaten and then you found trees of which nothing has been
eaten, of which tree would you let your camel graze?” He said, “(I
will let my camel graze) of the one of which nothing has been eaten before.”
(The sub-narrator added: Aisha meant that Allah’s Apostle had not married a
virgin besides herself.)[7]
The next hadith says that a father can give away
his daughter, but she must consent, so this gives her a little control.
Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said,
“A matron should not be given in marriage except after consulting her; and
a virgin should not be given in marriage except after her permission.” The
people asked, “O Allah’s Apostle! How can we know her permission?” He
said, “Her silence (indicates her permission).”
[8]
Yet it is difficult to believe that she had much
control, since she was so young. Custom can be stronger than that hadith, for
in the Islamic world a little girl would not dare defy her father. Islamic law,
outlined below, has a way to resolve the girl’s seeming power that might be in
conflict with her father’s power.
Aisha’s ages at engagement and marriage and
consummation is revealed. Muhammad, incidentally, was about 51-53 years old:
Narrated Aisha: that the Prophet married
her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was
nine years old, and then she remained with him for nine years (i.e., till his
death).
[9]
Further, Aisha recounts in the following hadith
concerning the moments leading up to the first sexual encounter. She was
playing on her swing set with her girlfriends when she got the call.
… [M]y mother, Um Ruman, came to me while I
was playing in a swing with some of my girl friends. She called me, and I went
to her, not knowing what she wanted to do to me. She caught me by the hand and
made me stand at the door of the house. I was breathless then, and when my
breathing became all right, she took some water and rubbed my face and head
with it. Then she took me into the house. There in the house I saw some Ansari
women who said, “Best wishes and Allah’s Blessing and a good luck.”
Then she entrusted me to them and they prepared me (for the 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.[10]
That hadith’s image comes across clearly. A
little girl is playing on her swing set with her girlfriends. Her mother comes
out and calls to her. The little girl dashes to where her mother is standing.
Running is natural for a child. She is out of breath. She regains her breath.
Her mother washes her face — as all mothers do to their playful children.
Little Aisha probably got the dirt from too much play. Some female
“handlers” get her ready for the wedding. Then the little girl’s
mother hands her over to elder Muhammad.
In this passage, we learn that Muhammad and
Aisha got married in the morning (forenoon). Nothing surprised her but her new
husband.
Narrated Aisha: When the Prophet married
me, my mother came to me and made me enter the house (of the Prophet) and
nothing surprised me but the coming of Allah’s Apostle to me in the forenoon.[11]
These next two hadith need to be combined. The
first one says Aisha took her dolls with her to Muhammad’s house, when she was
a bride.
Aisha… reported that Allah’s Apostle…
married her when she was seven years old, and he was taken to his house as a
bride when she was nine, and her dolls were with her; and when he (the Holy
Prophet) died she was eighteen years old.[12]
And this one says Aisha used to play with dolls
when she was with Muhammad. Normally, they are forbidden, except when a girl
had not yet reached the age of puberty.
Narrated Aisha: I used to play with the dolls in the
presence of the Prophet, and my girlfriends also used to play with me. When
Allah’s Apostle used to enter (my dwelling place) they used to hide themselves,
but the Prophet would call them to join and play with me. (The playing with the
dolls and similar images is forbidden, but it was allowed for ‘Aisha at that
time, as she was a little girl, not yet reached the age of puberty.)[13]
So it is clear from those last two hadith that
Aisha had not reached puberty when she married Muhammad.
Muhammad endorses marrying virgins for the
extra-thrill it gives a grown man.
Narrated
Jabir bin Abdullah: When I got married, Allah’s Apostle said to me, “What
type of lady have you married?” I replied, “I have married a
matron.” He said, “Why, don’t you have a liking for the virgins and
for fondling them?” Jabir also said: Allah’s Apostle said, “˜Why didn’t you
marry a young girl so that you might play with her and she with you?”[14]
Next, Aisha says that Muhammad shielded her
while she watched some Ethiopians playing in the courtyard of the mosque in
Medina. The translator adds the parenthetical note that she had not yet reached
puberty. The shielding of Aisha indicates the control a husband exerted over
his girl-bride.
Narrated Aisha: The Prophet was screening
me with his Rida (garment covering the upper part of the body) while I was
looking at the Ethiopians who were playing in the courtyard of the mosque. (I
continued watching) till I was satisfied. So you may deduce from this event how
a little girl (who has not reached the age of puberty) who is eager to enjoy
amusement should be treated in this respect.[15]
Aisha finally reached puberty. She describes how
Muhammad and she would have ill-timed sexual encounters, taking baths together.
He used to fondle her:
Narrated
Aisha: The Prophet and I used to take a bath from a single pot while we were junub
[major ritual impurity]. During the menses, he used to order me to put on an izar
(dress worn below the waist) and used to fondle me. While in itikaf
[seclusion while fasting in a mosque], he used to bring his head near me and I
would wash it while I used to be in my periods (menses).[16]
For the record, Aisha never bore her husband any
children.
CLASSICAL LAW
This body of law is based on the
Quran and hadith. Jurists searched through both of them and the rulings of
their colleagues to come up with more laws. Please see the article in the
series, “What is Shariah?” for more information.
Ibn Rushd (d. 1198) notes in his
study of all the schools of law that existed up to his time that the father can
compel his virgin daughter to marry, and it is binding on her. This is based on
the hadith, which he quotes in his summary, showing how important the
traditions or narrations are for Islamic law.
They [the jurists] agreed that the father can compel his minor son to
marry and also his minor virgin daughter, and he may not seek her permission,
as it has been established that “the Messenger of Allah… married Aisha
when she was a girl of six or seven and consummated the marriage with her when
she was nine, through a marriage contracted with Abu Bakr.”[17]…
It is not clear whether the girls were
prepubescent in this case.
Ibn Rushd discusses whether the girl can give
her consent. He writes:
Permission in marriage is of two types. It takes place for men and
deflowered women by means of words and for consulted virgin women through their
silence, that is, their consent; rejection, however, is by words. There is no
dispute about this, as a whole, except what is narrated from the followers of
al-Shafi’i that the permission of the virgin is by words, when the person
giving her away in marriage (her guardian) is other than the father or the
grandfather. The majority inclined towards permission through silence because
of what is established from the Prophet… that “the deflowered woman has
a greater right over herself than her guardian (wali), but the virgin is to be asked about herself and
her silence is her permission.”[18]
The key word is “consulted.” If the father
consults his virgin daughter, then she can consent to the marriage or not.
Evidently, the opposite is also true. If he does not consult her, then his
command to marry her off to whomever he likes is binding.
The previous two excerpts, taken together, imply
that the girls is really young.
Misri (d. 1368), representing the Shafi”i school
of law, clarifies the matter about prepubescent girls:
(1) The only guardians who may compel their charge to marry are a
virgin bride’s father or father’s father, compel meaning to marry her to
a suitable match… without her consent. (2) Those who may not compel her are
not entitled to marry her to someone unless she accepts and gives her
permission. Whenever the bride is a virgin, the father or father’s father may
marry her to someone without her permission, though it is recommended to ask
her permission if she has reached puberty. A virgin’s silence is considered as
permission.[19]
So it seems the girl has a small room to maneuver,
if her father gives it to her. Fortunately, we do not need to agree or disagree
with Misri’s solution, because that is not the main topic of this article. It
is clear, however, that a prepubescent girl may possibly be given away in
marriage, and that is the main point.
The next ruling confirms it:
A guardian may not marry his prepubescent daughter to someone for less
than the amount typically received as marriage payment by similar
brides… If he does… the amount
stipulated is void and the amount typically received is paid instead.[20]…
That ruling does not say the guardian may not
marry off his prepubescent daughter, period. Rather, he may not do so if
certain conditions are not met. But he can marry her off if those conditions
are met.
MODERN ISLAM: CAN IT REFORM ITS OLD SHARIAH LAWS?
A moderate reinterprets an unpleasant Quranic
verse and calls for the reform of Islam, while a traditionalist believes Islam,
revealed in the Quran and presented in the authentic hadith, is fine the way it
and defends it. Usually, religious leaders are selected in this section, but
sometimes a Muslim who is in the public eye is included too.
Traditional
Views
Sayyid Abul A”La Maududi (d. 1979) was an
Indo-Pakistani scholar who tried to impose shariah law on his country through
his political party called Jamaat-i-Islami. He represents the traditionalist outlook
on the Quran, traditions, and shariah. It is his ilk that wishes to impose them
on society today, so we need to analyze his interpretations. He interprets the
plain meaning of 65:4, which permits marriage and sex with prepubescent girls:
Therefore,
making mention of the waiting-period for girls who have not yet menstruated,
clearly proves that it is not only permissible to give away the girl at this
age but it is permissible for the
husband to consummate marriage with her. Now, obviously no Muslim has
the right to forbid a thing which the Quran has held as permissible.[21]
Thus, Maududi rebukes Muslims who deny that the
verse is valid. At least he is being consistent with the Quran and the
traditions (hadith).
And Maududi’s view of Islam is indeed practiced
in certain corners of the Islamic world — maybe not because his word is law,
but because they share common values and interpretations.
In Yemen, one ten-year-old girl, ironically
named Ayesha (Aisha), was married off to a fifty-year-old man:
… [I]t was discovered that a
ten-year-old girl Ayesha had been married off to a 50-year-old man. The
journalists were told by her sister Fatima that “little Ayesha screamed when
she saw the man she was to marry.”[22]
It is not known to us whether the girls was
prepubescent or had reached puberty, but either way, she was really young.
Another traditional interpreter of Islam is Abu
Ameenah Bilal Philips. He explains Muhammad’s marriage to Aisha:
Islaam stipulates that a girl or boy married before puberty will
not live with their spouse until they have attained puberty. Furthermore, they
have the right to cancel or proceed with the marriage when they reach puberty.
Aa”ishah was seven when she was married off to the Prophet… and
she came to live with him when she reached puberty at nine.
Women abused as children usually have difficult times coping as
adults. They are often unstable and psychologically handicapped. “˜Aa”ishah [Aisha]
became the leading female scholar of her time and conveyed to the next
generation an enormous body of Islaamic law. She was known to be the fourth
most prolific narrator of the Prophetic traditions of all of the Prophet’s
followers.[23]
Aisha may have been a productive narrator of
hadith, but she never did bear her husband any children. Also, recall that
Quran 65:1 and 4 says that girls were prepubescent or they were possibly
transitioning from prepuberty to puberty; in either case, they were having sex.
So it is not as clear as Bilal Philips says that men in original Islam waited
until the girls reached puberty before marriage and sex. No word from him about
how this was a cultural custom back then, which must be left in the past,
though he implies in his full answer that cultures have different customs.
The Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America (AMJA)
is made up of religious scholars, most of whom have their doctorates in Islamic
law or other Islamic subjects; they are qualified to write fatwas (religious
rulings or opinions). Their website uses the write-in Question and Answer
format.
One writer asks about a male’s marriage to an
older woman. The religious scholar replies:
Marriage
for both genders has no minimum age. Consummating marriage has no minimum age
in Islam too. However, allowing a couple to consummate their marriage is
stipulated on their psychological and physical ability. This rule could
be proven by the juristic maxim (Permissibility is the default rule unless
otherwise proven).
However,
the cultural norms and traditions are to be taken into consideration as well.
So, if it is a socially unacceptable practice for a 15 year old boy to
marry a 35 year old woman, such a marriage could be prevented (but not
prohibited) by the Muslim authority, especially when there are serious
consequences for such a marriage, like taking advantage of the other party and
financially abusing him/her.[24]
Can Islam conform to the cultural norms of the
progressive world today?
In another question, the writer asks about Quran
65:4, directly:
In
the tafsirs (exegesis) of ayah (verse) 4 of sura (chapter) 65, it is said that
the waiting period for a divorced woman who has not gotten her period is the
same as that of an adult woman. Does this mean that Islam allows marrying
non-adult girls who have not yet reached the age of menstruation? If so, how
come, if they are still children? Being children means they are incapable of
consenting to or rejecting marriage, which is a condition for the marriage of a
virgin according to the Prophet (pbuh)? In addition, at this age, they are not
fit for any sexual practices, which may harm their psychological development.
Please clarify.
The scholar’s reply is quoted at length:
The
verse from Surat al-Talaq [Quran 65:4] speaks of the `iddah, or waiting period,
of a woman who has not yet reached the age of first menses [puberty] as it
speaks of the `iddah of a woman who has lost hope of her menses returning
[menopause] in order to fully cover every detail of the issue of `iddah in the
Book of Allah (Mighty & Majestic). This verse does not, however, address the
details of what is lawful and unlawful in marriage. Rather, it discusses the
`iddah (the post-divorce period during which a woman must wait before she may
marry again), were such a marriage to have occurred in the first place. The
permissibility of marrying girls who have not yet experienced their first
menses cannot be established solely on the basis of this verse. It is the same
as if one said that fasting is invalidated by drinking water and by drinking
alcohol; no one can derive from that the permissibility of drinking alcohol.
Likewise, if you were to say that the fast is invalidated by zina (unlawful
sexual intercourse), but it is not invalidated by theft, you cannot derive from
this the prohibition of zina and the permissibility of stealing. That is because
the statement is about that which invalidates the fast, not about what types of
beverages or actions are lawful and which ones are unlawful. Think about it.
Even in the laws of this country, you see details concerning the rights of
pregnant girls who are under the age of legal majority and about providing
medical care and social services to girls like that without it being understood
from this that it is okay for minors to get married legally.
From
another perspective, Allah (Glorious & Exalted) has said (interpretation of
the meaning): {And try orphans (as to their maturity) until they
reach the age of marriage”¦}[Surat al-Nisa” 4:6] In this verse there is an
indication that orphans are not eligible for marriage in general, and an orphan
is someone whose father has died before he or she reaches the age of puberty.
However,
it remains for you to know that marriages like this were common in the
pre-Islamic society. A young girl used to be betrothed and married by the
permission of her wali (marital guardian). Then Islam came and approved of this
within the context of security precautions, the foremost of which was that the
girl controls her situation when she reaches the age of legal majority. So, if
after reaching puberty, she decides to renounce his marriage, she has the right
to do so, and no one can overturn her decision in matters like this.
Another
of these security precautions is that conjugal relations are dependent upon her
ability to handle that. Scholars like Imam Malik, Imam al-Shafi`i and Abu
Hanifah have clearly stated that no woman is to be made to have sex unless she
can endure it, and women differ in this according to their natural range of
differences; it is not determined by a specific age. Once a girl has reached
maturity, as we have mentioned, she may continue in this marriage or reject it.
There
is still one more issue which is that the ruler has the right to restrict some
things that are permissible for the sake of the common good or if these lawful
things are being abused, and the prohibition of marrying young girls may fall
into this category, if, in some societies, this is a means of taking advantage
of them or of unjustly depriving them of their rights. Most personal status law
in Muslim countries has done this – raising the legal age of marriage – but it
does not hear marital claims in unofficial marriage cases . . . which do not
take place under the auspices of the law unless there is a paternity case.
Should a ruler issue a restriction of this sort, it would be binding by virtue
of his general judgment.[25]
In the first paragraph the AMJA scholar says the
“permissibility” of marrying prepubescent girls cannot be established from
Quran 65:4. Evidently he requires some clear declaration that it is
“permissible.” Fair enough. Nonetheless, the verse still assumes it was done and does not issue a clear command against it.
It is revealing that the scholar does not quote any traditions (see the Hadith
section, above).
Further, the scholar says in the third paragraph
that prepubescent girls have the right to renounce their marriage once they
reach puberty. This means that Islam, if it really did improve the plight of
prepubescent girls in pre-Islamic Arabia (as the scholar believes), still did
not forbid marriage to prepubescent girls.[26]
And thus we can wonder how far Islamic improvement went. But at least he is
taking the Quran in its historical context, and that brings us to the next
point.
He goes on to say that no woman (i.e. a girl)
should be made to have sex if she cannot endure it. She can still reject the
marriage. So this modern scholar, though following the old shariah jurists,
improves on the original Islam of Quran 65:4, which had, he believes, improved
pre-Islamic culture. This shows that Islam can maybe progress from one generation
to the next.
This progressive interpretation is confirmed in
the last paragraph of the scholar’s reply, which says a ruler can intervene and
stop the assumed or permissible (as opposed to an obligatory) practice of
marrying prepubescent girls, if abuses take place.
And so this AMJA scholar concedes that modern
societies can improve on original Islam and classical laws. This give all of us
hope that Islam can progress (or be made to progress), so it can fit in the world
today.
This is the section on traditionalist views. But
we take a moment to state that young girls are at risk.
The International Women’s Health Coalition
reports what is likely to happen to girls under fourteen:
Girls
who are married young are also more vulnerable to sexually transmitted
infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS. For example, in Kisumu, Kenya, HIV
infection rates are nearly 33 percent among married girls ages 15 – 19,
compared with 22 percent among unmarried, sexually-active girls of the same
age.
· Girls’
physiological vulnerability due to the small size, inelasticity, and lack of
lubrication of the vagina and cervix is compounded by their exposure to
frequent, unprotected, and sometimes forced sexual intercourse within marriage;
lack of information about STIs, including HIV; and inability to negotiate their
own protection.
· Throughout
countries of Africa and Latin America, more than 80 percent of adolescent
girls ages 15 – 19 who report having unprotected sex in the previous week are
married.
· The
average age gap between young brides and the men they marry reaches eight to
ten years or more in some countries. The older the husband, the more
likely it is that he has had multiple sexual partners and may be HIV-positive.[27]
Progress?[28]
UNICEF reports of a ten-year-old Yemeni girl who asked for a divorce and got it.
SANA”A,
Yemen, 24 July 2009 — Defying child marriage was unheard of in Yemen until
Nojoud Ali, 10, went to court in Sana”a and asked for divorce. Ending what she
described as a “nightmare married life,” the court granted her a divorce from
her 30-year-old husband.[29]
However, Yemen still allows girls to marry
before seventeen, because religious scholars serving on the Islamic Sharia
Codification Committee rejected it.
…
A bill passed in parliament in February 2009 setting the minimum age for
marriage at 17 was rejected by the Islamic Sharia Codification Committee which
said it was un-Islamic, according to local women’s rights organizations.
So, for now, there is no law protecting children against early marriages in
Yemen.
“I don’t call it marriage, but rape,” said Shada Mohammed Nasser, a lawyer at
the High Court in Sanaa. She has represented several child bride divorce cases
in court, but admits she has lost most of them. Only a handful of child brides
have successfully managed to divorce their husbands.[30]
Haider Ala Hamoudi is an Assistant Professor of
Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He explains how Islam is
coping with shariah and child brides. Muslims who move to the West,
specifically the USA, want nothing to do with it, by his estimation.
. . . Go to Islamists in Iraq, in Baghdad, folks I know pretty
well after two years in the country, and ask them if a girl can be married off
at nine in theory, and more or less you get a long, apologetic, highly
conditional yes. Where in Yemen key obstacles to child marriage (like a
father’s consent) are sort of waved away, in an urban society, even among the
pious, every obstacle is stated and emphasized, including the puberty
option.
What is more, if you ask that same Islamist if he will marry off his daughter
at nine, he might well shoot you for being so disrespectful. That does
NOT mean he is happy with current Iraqi law and its marriage age at 18, he’s
not a secularist, he wants religious rules to govern family affairs, but at the
same time, his own urban society wouldn’t have that mean much. It might
mean a great deal elsewhere in the country, it might well be devastating to
girls in the countryside (though not clear given how much child marriage
happens out there extralegally anyway) but to him, this facet of the shari’a
won’t matter. In that whole part of Iraqi society, it won’t matter,
the conditions would never sanction such a marriage.
Move over to the U.S., and the whole traditional doctrine starts to
crumble. Muslims don’t even want to hear the possibility of child
marriage, and adopt liberal positions that are out of the mainstream to justify
their own conclusions, from the ideas of folks like Fazlur Rahman and Fatima
Mernissi, that it is not Islamically sanctioned period.
So in family law, and on child marriage in particular, does doctrine matter to
help perpetuate the practice? Sure, but not in isolation. Legal
doctrine, Muslim or American, should never be viewed in isolation, at
least if you’re trying to understand the world as it actually exists.[31]
Malaysia is predominantly Muslim. A 2006 law
says about the minimum age to marry:
No marriage may be
solemnized under this Act where either the man is under the age of eighteen or
the woman is under the age of sixteen, except where the Syariah [shariah] Judge
has granted his permission in writing in certain circumstances.[32]
It is not specified what the circumstances are allows
a judge to grant marriage to a girl under seventeen. Permission from her father,
who may be an ultraconservative Muslim who follows the Quran and hadith to the
letter?
To wrap up this section on modern Islam, these
quotations will seem outdated in a few years. But they still reveal that old
Islam has problems relating to the modern world. If Islam is not reformed and
updated, then we will always have troubles between it and other religions and
nations. Readers are encouraged to look up more blogs and articles, on their
own.
CONCLUSION
We can learn at least five things from the ideas
laid out in this article.
First, seventh-century Arabia was patriarchal,
so it stands to reason that the Quran would reflect its surrounding culture.
Muhammad fit into his own historical context. Thus it does no good to call a
seventh-century Arab a pedophile, as an Austrian woman did.[33] Names like that lurch over into cultural insensitivity. He had
only one virginal wife; the others had been married before. So he was not
seeking prepubescent girls at every chance he got, though we should recall that
his favorite wife was Aisha.
Second, however, the Austrian court upheld the
blasphemy law and fined the woman for using the term. This punishment is wrong.
Though it may be insensitive to use provocative and strong words, the speaker
should not be punished by a court of law. Free speech must win the day.
Third, devout Muslims believe that the Quran is
universal and is good for all of humanity at all times, since Allah sent it
down through Gabriel to his prophet. So why wouldn’t traditional Islamic
societies endorse child marriages as being universal and timeless? However, this
outlook is when cross-cultural troubles begin. In progressive societies we
should never give up our values for the sake of this belief about the Quran’s
universality when it is obvious that the sacred text has absorbed an archaic
and outdated practice. What had been practiced back then should not be brought
forward to the modern world.
Fourth, many Muslim nations have reasonable
legal ages to marry, though tribal customs sometimes follow the old ways.
Nonetheless, these new and modern laws demonstrate that Islam can be reformed,
and the seventh-century ways can be left behind in the past. Can moderate
Muslim laws lead all of their people out of the past? Can Muslim leaders ignore
other outdated aspects of the Quran, hadith, and shariah, like cutting off the
hand of a thief, stoning an adulterer to death, or a quick divorce by the
husband’s spoken words alone?
Fifth, we should never allow a secret subculture
to fester among us, as it does in many cultures around the globe, which permit child
marriages. Modern laws forbid it, and they should be maintained. But sometimes
Islam apologists lay down the trump card of cultural insensitivity or
“Islamophobia” against progressive values and fight to get a separate law or
special status passed just for them. If their custom allows child brides, then
we must respect it, because cultural diversity and sensitivity require us. In
reply, however, sometimes an old custom is just plain wrong by today”s
standards. We should not compromise our values for fear of offending a small
group. Sometimes the small group needs to catch up to the rest of the world and
submit to us, rather than our submitting to it. The scholar at AMJA, quoted
extensively above, concedes that modern society can stop the practice if it
harms people. It does.
We all sense intuitively that child marriages
are wrong. It is time to give reasons for our intuition and “gut reaction.”
Here are our progressive values: life liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness. We have progressed, and this progress has trained
out sensibilities. We live by those standards.
Therefore we know that childhood marriages are
wrong because they deprive the girls of a high-quality of life when they get
older. Their young lives have not evolved sufficiently to decide on such
important matters. Having sex so young ruins their physical health as well.
Children should not risk pregnancy.
We know that childhood marriages are wrong
because they deprive girls of the liberty each of us deserve as we grow older,
so we can freely chart our own course of life. Older “husbands” have too much
control. They foreshorten and short-circuit the girls” future of freedom.
Finally, such marriages are wrong because they
do not allow girls to pursue happiness as they define it after they mature.
Girls must grow up and accumulate enough reason, prudence, and wisdom to look
at life from a wider perspective.
Clear statements of our values are not
“Islamophobic” when they disagree with old and outdated Islamic values.
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness must
be maintained as today”s universal values, even if this means leaving behind
the Quran about many social issues. Since those three values are universal, we
can say confidently and without fear of cultural arrogance or the false
accusation of “Islamophobia” that all societies around the globe that adopt the
three values will improve.[34]
[1] Robert Spencer, “Khomeini in Dearborn,” Nov 17, 2004, Frontpagemag.com.
[2] Sayyid Abul A”La Maududi, the Meaning of the Quran, vol. 5, 4th
ed. trans. Ch. Muhammad Akbar, ed. A. A. Kamal, (Lahore, Pakistan: Islamic
Publications, 2003), 599 and 617. Chapter 65. The parenthetical
comments are his. His translation and commentary are available
online at englishtafsir.com.
[3] M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Quran, 2nd ed., (New York: Oxford UP, 2010). The
bracketed word is his. These verses are searchable online in other translations
at www.quranbrowser.com.
[4] Sam Shamoun, “Quran Contradiction: the Age of Marriage,” answering-islam.org, quotes classical commentators
that say prepubescent girls are in view in Quran 65:4.
[5] Bukhari, Marriage, 007.062.057, with small mechanical
adjustments. The parenthetical comments are the translator’s. Cf. ibid.
007.062.015.
[6] Idem, Marriage, 007.062.018.
[7] Ibid. 007.062.014, with slight mechanical edits. The
parenthetical comments are the translator’s.
[8] Ibid. 007.062.067.
[9] Ibid. Marriage, 007.062.064.
The parenthetical comments are the translator’s. Here are parallel hadith
passages showing Aisha’s age at her engagement and marriage: 007.062.065,
007.062.088.
[10] Idem, Merits of Helpers in Medina, 005.058.234.
The bracketed insertion is mine; the parenthetical comments are the
translator’s.
[11] Idem, Marriage 007.062.090. The parenthetical
insertion is the translator’s.
[12] Muslim, Marriage, 8.3311. The parenthetical insertion
is the translator’s.
[13] Bukhari, Good Manners, 008.073.151, with minor
editorial adjustments. The parenthetical insertion is the translator’s.
[14] Idem, Marriage, 007.062.017; cf.
Representation, 003.038.504, and Military Expeditions, 005.059.382
[15] Ibid. Marriage, 007.062.163, with slight mechanical
adjustments. The parenthetical comments are the translator’s. Cf. 007.062.118.
[16] Idem, Menses, 001.006.298, with slight mechanical
adjustments. The parenthetical comments are the translator’s. Mine are in
brackets.
[17] Ibn Rushd, The
Distinguished Jurist’s Primer, vol. 2, trans. Imran
Ahsan Khan Nyazee, (Center for Muslim Contribution to Civilization, Reading,
UK: Garnet, 1994-1996), 6.
[18] Ibid. 3.
[19] Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri, Reliance of the
Traveler: A Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law, rev. ed., trans. Nuh Ha
Mim Keller, (Beltsville, Maryland: Amana, 1994), 522, emphasis original.
[20] Ibid. 533.
[22] “The Secret World of the Child Bride: Heartbreaking
Pictures of the Girls as Young as Five Who Are Married Off to Middle-Aged Men, June 9, 2011, Dailymail.co.uk.
[23] Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips,
“Difficult Dawah Questions,” Dawah: Invite to God, with mechanical
adjustments and a bracketed insertion.
[24] Main Khalid Al-Qudah, “What Age Can Males Marry Females?” Question ID or fatwa no. 83059 amjaonline.com , November 8, 2010.
[25] Salah Al-Sawy, “Marrying Prepubescent Girls,” Question ID or fatwa no. 78001, amjaonline.com, February 26, 2009. My brackets are
the first one only; all the other ones and the parenthetical comments belong to
Al-Sawy. The bold font is his too.
[26] For a counter view that Islam did not improve on its
original surrounding culture, see this article .
[28] For the minimum marriage age in various countries and
US states, see the Wikipedia article “Marriageable Age.” See also “The
Minimum Age for Marriage,” the
Right to Education. Many of the
countries are Islamic, and they improve on original Islam.
[29] Naseem Ur-Rehman, “A Brave Young Girl Who Defied Child Marriage Laws
Brings Change to Yemen,” July 24,
2009, UNICEF.org. Readers are encouraged to research the sad topic of child
brides, by typing in those two key words into a search engine. The number of
such marriages seems not to have diminished.
[30] “No Laws Protecting Children against Early Marriages,” Women Living under Muslim Laws, February 22, 2010.
[31] Haider Ala Hamoudi, “Child Marriage and Shariah,” Islamic Laws in Our Times, blog article,
muslimlawprof.org, June 30, 2008.
[32] 2006 Family Laws Act, Act 303, Section 8, p. 14, my bracketed insertion.
[33] Recall that in Part One in this series we discussed a
young Austrian mother who gave a speech before a political party and criticized
Islam’s treatment of women, calling Muhammad a pedophile. The court fined her
480 Euros. See Nina Shea, “Austrian Court Upholds Islam’s Blasphemy Rules,” National
Review Online, February 15, 2011.
[34] This series does not contrast Islam and Christianity.
But readers may be curious about it. We have already seen how early Islam
treats the issue of marrying girls. For the biblical view, see this article here.
James M. Arlandson has written a book: Women, Class, and Society in Early Christianity. He has recently completed a series on The Sword in Early Christianity and Islam.