Yes, Aisha was betrothed to Muhammad when she was six years old, but two years old? Isn’t that a bit much even for Pakistani law? Well, no. Note what Rashid Rahman says below. It’s not that she’s a minor, it’s that it’s against her will. So if someone slips a piece of candy to the little one and thereby obtains her consent to the marriage, I guess it’s ok, once the fine is paid. “Pakistanis Order Betrothal of 2-Year-Old,” from AP, with thanks to all who sent this in:
MULTAN, Pakistan – A tribal council in Pakistan has ordered the betrothal of a 2-year-old girl to a man 40 years older to punish her uncle for an alleged affair with the man’s wife, police said Monday.
The council decreed the girl must marry 42-year-old Mohammed Altaf, her uncle’s cousin, when she turns 18, police said.
Altaf, a farmer, divorced his 32-year-old wife over her alleged love affair with his 20-year-old cousin, Mohammed Akmal. Akmal, a bachelor and also a farmer, has no children.
Altaf asked tribal elders in the village of Kacha Chohan, about 215 miles west of the city of Multan in Punjab province, to convene a panchayat, or council, on Feb. 15 to arbitrate and propose a punishment. As punishment, the elders ordered the girl’s betrothal and ruled Akmal should also pay a $3,800 fine to the husband….
Police chief Maqsoodul Hassan said an investigation has been started into the case involving the 2-year-old girl, but they have made no arrests as no one had filed a complaint….
Rashid Rahman, a lawyer and Multan-based coordinator with the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, condemned the village council’s decision.
“These types of panchayats are illegal and nobody has the right to take a decision about a child’s life,” he said. “This country has its legal system and all decisions should be taken under it.”
He said that the betrothal of a minor did not itself break the law, but forcing a woman to marry against her will carried a maximum 14-year jail sentence. Underage marriage is also illegal but is only punishable by a fine.
What’s that? You don’t believe me about Muhammad and Aisha? Here it is straight from the hadith collection accepted by Muslims as most reliable:
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 58, Number 234:
Narrated Aisha:
The Prophet engaged me when I was a girl of six (years). We went to Medina and stayed at the home of Bani-al-Harith bin Khazraj. Then I got ill and my hair fell down. Later on my hair grew (again) and my 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 Allright, 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.
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 62, Number 64:
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).