Child Marriage in Islamic Law: Difference between revisions

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<metadesc>Pedophilia is permitted in the Qur'an, was practiced by Prophet Muhammad and his companions, and some Muslims today continue to commit the crime, following their prophet's example.</metadesc>'''Pedophilia''' <sup>(US)</sup> or ''paedophilia'' <sup>(UK)</sup> is the paraphilia of being sexually attracted to prepubescent or peripubescent children.<ref>[http://www.minddisorders.com/Ob-Ps/Pedophilia.html Definition and scope of Pedophilia]</ref> A person with this attraction is called a ''pedophile'' or ''paedophile''.
[[Category:Honor violence]]
 
[[Category:Child Marriage]]
Some pedophiles are sexually attracted to children only (exclusive pedophiles) whilst others are sexually attracted to both children and adults.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=46415|2=2011-06-29}} Definition of Pedophilia] - MedicineNet, April 27, 2011</ref><ref name="Mayo Clinic">Ryan C. W. Hall, MD, and Richard C. W. Hall, MD, PA, - "[http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.com/content/82/4/457.full.pdf+html?sid=80e46e23-3ba0-4fb7-a0c8-bc49932a5559 A profile of Pedophilia: Definition, Characteristics of Offenders, Recidivism, Treatment Outcomes and Forensic Issues]" - Page 459, April 2007;82(4):457-471 • www.mayoclinicproceedings.com</ref>
[[Category:Sex]]
 
__NOEDITSECTION__
In contrast to the generally accepted medical definition, the term ''pedophile'' is also used colloquially to denote significantly older adults who are sexually attracted to adolescents below the local age of consent,<ref>Ames, A. & Houston, D. A. (1990). "Legal, social, and biological definitions of pedophilia." ''Archives of Sexual Behavior''. '''19''' (4), 333-342.</ref> as well as those who have sexually abused a child.
[[ru:Ислам и педофилия‎]]
 
{{QualityScore|Lead=4|Structure=4|Content=4|Language=4|References=3}}[[File:Child marriage.jpg|thumb|Ghulan Haider, 11, married Faiz Mohammed, age 40. She hoped to become a teacher but was forced to quit her classes upon engagement. Image from the ''New York Times Magazine''.]]'''Child marriage''' '''and''' '''sexual activity between adults and children''' are sanctioned by [[Shari'ah (Islamic Law)|Islamic law]] and were practiced by [[Muhammad's Wives|Muhammad]] and his [[Sahabah|companions]]. As is the case within all contexts where sexual activity ''is'' ''permitted'' in Islam - namely, [[marriage]] and [[slavery]] - [[Islam and Women|female]] [[Rape in Islamic Law|consent is not required]] and the category of "rape" does not exist (even while the category of "rape" exists outside these contexts). The only restriction on sexual activity with children of any age within the contexts of marriage and slavery is that the child should not come to severe physical harm as a consequence of the encounter ("mental anguish", as such, is not considered, and consent is regardless irrelevant). Consequently, men are advised to avoid vaginal penetration with their child wives and female slaves if they are too small to endure such activity, although other forms of sexual activity with such children are permitted. "[[Thighing]]", explicitly discussed by Islamic jurists, is one such variety of alternative sexual activity that men may engage in with their child wives and female slaves if they are too small to endure penetration.
In contemporary law enforcement definitions, the term "pedophile" is generally used to describe those accused or convicted of the sexual abuse of a minor. Pedophilia is considered a taboo and is illegal in most societies, cultures and religions; except in the Islamic world with regards to [[Islam]].
==In scripture==
 
===Child marriage in the Quran===
==Scripture==
{{Main|Child Marriage in the Qur'an}}The Qur'an permits child marriage. Verse 4 of Surah 64 provides guidelines regarding divorce a wife who has not yet menstruated. This verse refers to the ''Iddat'' (العدة‎), which is a waiting period a female must observe before she can remarry. According to this verse, the stipulated waiting period for a divorced girl who has not yet menstruated is three months.{{Quote|{{Quran|65|4}}|And (as for) those of your women who have despaired of menstruation, if you have a doubt, their prescribed time shall be three months, '''and of those too who have not had their <i>courses</i>'''; and (as for) the pregnant women, their prescribed time is that they lay down their burden; and whoever is careful of (his duty to) Allah He will make easy for him his affair.}}
 
===Muhammad's marriage to Aisha===
The following are summaries of pages discussing Islam, in relation to pedophilia:
{{Main|Aisha's Age|3=Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Aisha}}[[Aisha]] (''‘Ā’ishah'', c. 613/614 –c. 678)<ref name="Siddiqui2">Al-Nasa'i 1997, p. 108</ref> or عائشة, (also transliterated as A'ishah, Aisyah, Ayesha, A'isha, Aishat, or Aishah) was married to [[Muhammad]] at the age of 6 or 7, and the marriage was consummated by Muhammad, then 53, at the age of 9 or 10 according to numerous [[sahih]] [[Hadith|hadiths]].<ref>Narrated Hisham's father: Khadija died three years before the Prophet (ﷺ) departed to Medina. He stayed there for two years or so and then he married `Aisha when she was a girl of six years of age, and he consumed that marriage when she was nine years old. {{Bukhari|5|58|236}}</ref><ref>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). {{Bukhari|7|62|64}}</ref><ref>'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported: Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) married me when I was six years old, and I was admitted to his house when I was nine years old. {{Muslim|8|3310}}</ref><ref>Aisha said, "The Apostle of Allah married me when I was seven years old." (The narrator Sulaiman said: "Or six years.") {{Abudawud||2116|hasan}}</ref><ref>Most sources suggest age at consummation as nine, and one that it may have been age 10; See: Denise Spellberg (1996), ''Politics, Gender, and the Islamic Past: The Legacy of 'A'isha Bint Abi Bakr'', Columbia University Press, <nowiki>ISBN 978-0231079990</nowiki>, pp. 39–40;</ref> Due to concerns about [[child marriage]] this topic is of heavy interest in modern [[Apologists|apologetic]] literature and public discourse.
===Pedophilia in the Qur'an===
{{Main|Pedophilia in the Qur'an}}
 
The Qur'an permits pedophilia. The following Qur'anic verse allows sex with pre-pubescent girls who have not yet menstruated.
 
{{Quote-text|{{Quran|65|4}}|And (as for) those of your women who have despaired of menstruation, if you have a doubt, their prescribed time shall be three months, '''and of those too who have not had their <i>courses</i>'''; and (as for) the pregnant women, their prescribed time is that they lay down their burden; and whoever is careful of (his duty to) Allah He will make easy for him his affair.}}
 
This verse is in reference to Iddat (العدة‎), which is a waiting period a female must observe before she can remarry. According to this verse, the stipulated waiting period for a divorced girl who has not yet menstruated is three months.
 
===Muhammad and Pedophilia===
{{Main|Muhammad and the Clinical Definition of Pedophilia}}
 
The most stringent clinical definition of pedophilia in the DSM-IV-TR
 
{{Quote-text|1=[http://www.psychiatryonline.com/content.aspx?aID=10307 PsychiatryOnline - Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition]|2='''A.''' Over a period of at least six months, recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving sexual activity with a prepubescent child or children (generally age 13 years or younger).
'''B.''' The person has acted on these sexual urges, or the sexual urges or fantasies caused marked distress or interpersonal difficulty.
 
'''C.''' The person is at least age 16 years and at least 5 years older than the child or children in Criterion A.
 
 
''Note: This does not include an individual in late adolescence involved in an ongoing sexual relationship with a 12- or 13-year-old.''}}


Muhammad was engaged to Aisha when she was only 6 year old and he was 51, and consummated the marriage while she was still prepubescent, aged 9 [[Islamic Lunar Calendar|lunar years]] old.<ref>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).
Marriage at a young age was not unheard of in Arabia at the time, and Aisha's marriage to Muhammad may have had a political connotation, as her father Abu Baker was an influential man in the community.<ref>Afsaruddin, Asma (2014). "ʿĀʾisha bt. Abī Bakr". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett. ''[http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/browse/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2 Encyclopaedia of Islam]'' (3 ed.). Brill Online. Retrieved 2015-01-11</ref> Abu Bakr, on his part, may have sought to further the bond of kinship between Muhammad and himself by joining their families together in marriage via Aisha. Egyptian-American Islamic scholar, Leila Ahmed, notes that Aisha's betrothal and marriage to Muhammad are presented as ordinary in Islamic literature, and may indicate that it was not unusual for children to be married to their elders in that era.<ref>Ahmed, Leila (1992). ''Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate''. Yale University Press. p. 51-54. <nowiki>ISBN 978-0300055832</nowiki>.</ref>
====Revisionary disputations on her age====
{{Main|Aisha's Age}}The age of Aisha was not disputed by earlier scholars but a surge of some modern Islamic scholars have made attempts to advance the idea that Aisha was older than nine lunar years at time of the consummation of her marriage to Prophet Muhammad. Sahih hadiths of Aisha's own testimonies are taken to be mistaken, and indirect sources and disputed dating techniques are used to calculate different ages. These diverse techniques have led to several conflicting ages to be proposed for Aisha at the time of consummation, including 12, 14, 15, 17, 18 and 21 years of age.


{{Bukhari|7|62|64|}}</ref> {{Main|Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Pedophilia|Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Aisha}}
These revisionary perspectives can be broadly categorized into five categories, including those that: (1) discredit Hisham ibn Urwah and the Iraqi narrators, (2) use non-sahih information to overturn otherwise sahih hadiths, (3) use indirect evidences in preference of direct testimonies, or (4) use ‘loose' dating and aging in preference to specific dates and statements of age. These revisionary approaches are, however, generally not accepted by mainstream Islamic establishments.
====Revisionary disputations on the word "consummate"====
{{Main|The Meaning of Consummate}}In a hadith in [[Sahih Bukhari]], Aisha says that she was married to Muhammad at the age of six and that Muhammad consummated the marriage when she reached the age of nine. The implications of this and similar hadiths have recently been contested by some modern Islamic scholars who attempt to advance the idea that the verbiage used in this hadiths does not in fact refer to sexual consummation. While such a reading has no historical/linguistic or traditional precedent, it has nonetheless achieved some popularity. However, these re-readings, like those re-readings which attempt to advance a different age for Aisha, have generally not been accepted by mainstream Islamic establishments.


===Muhammad's Companions and Pedophilia===
The terms used in the hadiths are ''udkhilath'' and ''bana biha'', and these words do not permit any meaning other than "engaged in sexual intercourse with her" in the contexts where they are used. Crucial to the facilitation of asexual re-readings of these passages are tendentious English translations (particularly those of Dr. Muhsin Khan) as well as a general and perhaps understandable unwillingness to admit that Muhammad could have slept with or [[Rape in Islamic Law|raped]] a nine year old.
{{Main|Muhammad's Companions and Pedophilia}}
===Child Marriage and Muhammad's Companions===
{{Main|Child Marriage and Muhammad's Companions|She's too young}}Due to the commonplace nature of child marriage in the 7th century (both inside and outside of Arabia), many of [[Sahabah|Muhammad's companions (sahabah)]] also engaged in child marriage. Most notable among these were [[Umar ibn Al-Khattab|Umar b. al-Khattab]] (the second [[Rashidun Caliphs|"rightly guided caliph]]"), who married Umm Kulthum when she was between 10-12 (although some sources report she was just 5<ref>"'Umar asked 'Ali for the hand of his daughter, Umm Kulthum in marriage. 'Ali replied that <nowiki>'''</nowiki>she has not yet attained the age (of maturity)<nowiki>'''</nowiki>. 'Umar replied, 'By Allah, this is not true. You do not want her to marry me. If she is underage, send her to me'. Thus 'Ali gave his daughter Umm Kulthum a dress and asked her to go to 'Umar and tell him that her father wants to know what this dress is for. When she came to Umar and gave him the message, he grabbed her hand and forcibly pulled her towards him. 'Umm Kulthum asked him to leave her hand, which Umar did and said, 'You are a very mannered lady with great morals. Go and tell your father that you are very pretty and you are not what he said of you'. With that 'Ali married Umm Kulthum to 'Umar." Tarikh Khamees, Volume 2, p. 384 ('Dhikr Umm Kalthum') and Zakhair Al-Aqba, p. 168</ref>), and [[Ali ibn Abi Talib|Ali b. Abi Talib]] (Muhammad's cousin and the fourth "rightly guided caliph"), who [[She's too young|married Fatima]] (Muhammad's daughter) at the age of 9.
==In the Muslim world today==
===Child Marriage in the Muslim World===
{{Main|Child Marriage in the Muslim World}}Due to the legality of child marriage in Islamic law, child marriages are still permitted and practiced in many Islamic countries - and where the practice is prohibited civil law, such marriages are sometimes carried out by independent Imams who allege to be loyal to the Sharia alone. In these countries, child marriages are especially common among rural populations where girls well below the age of puberty may be wed by their guardians to older men to various ends, including the preservation of the family and girls' 'honor'.


In the early 7th century was pedophilia was common. Some companions of Muhammad also engaged in pedophilia. Umar, the 2<sup>nd</sup> caliph of Islam, married Umm Kulthum when she was 10-12 years old. Some sources even say that she was five years old when Umar married her.<ref>"<nowiki>'Umar asked 'Ali for the hand of his daughter, Umm Kulthum in marriage. 'Ali replied that '''she has not yet attained the age (of maturity)'''. 'Umar replied, 'By Allah, this is not true. You do not want her to marry me. If she is underage, send her to me'. Thus 'Ali gave his daughter Umm Kulthum a dress and asked her to go to 'Umar and tell him that her father wants to know what this dress is for. When she came to Umar and gave him the message, he grabbed her hand and forcibly pulled her towards him. 'Umm Kulthum asked him to leave her hand, which Umar did and said, 'You are a very mannered lady with great morals. Go and tell your father that you are very pretty and you are not what he said of you'. With that 'Ali married Umm Kulthum to '</nowiki>Umar."
Islamic child marriages are most common Pakistan and Afghanistan, followed by countries in the Middle East and Bangladesh.<ref>[http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=1631 America Magazine: Child Marriage in Afghanistan and Pakistan, by Andrew Bushell; March 11, 2002]</ref><ref>[http://www.americansforunfpa.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=630 Americans For UNFPA: Virtual Slavery: The Practice of “Compensation Marriages” by Net Community of AfUNFPA; last retrieved Monday, 08 December 2008]</ref> This practice may also be prevalent to a lesser extent amongst other Muslim communities, and has even been observed among the Muslim populations of non-Muslim countries, such as the United Kingdom<ref name="Ten-fold rise in forced marriages in just four years2">[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1196955/Ten-fold-rise-forced-marriages-just-years.html Ten-fold rise in forced marriages in just four years] - The Daily Mail July 2, 2009</ref> and the United States.<ref>Christine Vendel - [http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/1557578.html?pageNum=2&mi_pluck_action=page_nav#Comments_Container Man charged with statutory rape in ‘marriage’ to 14-year-old girl] - The Kansas City Star, November 8, 2009</ref>


Tarikh Khamees, Volume 2, p. 384 ('Dhikr Umm Kalthum') and Zakhair Al-Aqba, p. 168</ref>
In countries including Yemen, Bangladesh, Iran, and Northern Nigeria, attempts at reforming laws and banning child marriages have been opposed and stopped on the grounds that such a ban would be un-Islamic.<ref name="TONOV2820082">{{cite web|url= http://www.wunrn.com/news/2008/11_08/11_24_08/112408_nigeria.htm|title= Nigeria Child Brides-Broken Lives |publisher= Times Online|author= |date= November 28, 2008|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wunrn.com%2Fnews%2F2008%2F11_08%2F11_24_08%2F112408_nigeria.htm&date=2013-06-15|deadurl=no}}</ref><ref name="TNTJuly2120132">{{cite web |url= http://thenigeriatoday.net/i-could-marry-off-my-six-year-old-daughter-if-i-so-wished-senator-ahmed-yerima-replies-critics/|title= I Could Marry Off My Six Year Old Daughter If I So Wished, Senator Ahmed Yerima Replies Critics|publisher= The Nigeria Today|author= |date= July 21, 2013|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fthenigeriatoday.net%2Fi-could-marry-off-my-six-year-old-daughter-if-i-so-wished-senator-ahmed-yerima-replies-critics%2F&date=2013-07-22|deadurl=no}}</ref><ref name="Weekly Blitz2">[http://www.weeklyblitz.net/1386/islamist-leader-threatens-of-waging-jihad <!-- Backup link from Jihad Watch {{Reference archive|1=http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/04/bangladesh-islamic-cleric-threatens-jihad-if-child-marriage-is-banned.html|2=2011-04-23}}  -->Islamist leader threatens of waging Jihad] - Weekly Blitz, April 20, 2011</ref><ref name="MESSAGE2">Yessir - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.abigmessage.com/child-marriage-death-of-13-year-old-bride-after-wedding.html|2=2011-10-25}} Child Marriage - Death Of 13 Year Old Bride After Wedding] - A BIG MESSAGE, April 10, 2010</ref><ref name="IRIN2">[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=88589|2=2011-10-25}} YEMEN: Deep divisions over child brides] - IRIN, March 28, 2010</ref> Malaysia has even passed new laws which explicitly allow for the practice of child marriages among Muslims on religious grounds.<ref name="World News Australia2">[{{Reference archive|1=http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/outcry-over-malaysian-child-marriages-20100804-11fey.html|2=2011-10-25}} Outcry over Malaysian child marriages] - Sydney Morning Herald, August 4, 2010</ref>
==Relevant quotations==
{{Main|Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Child Marriage}}
===Quran and tafsir===
{{Quote|1={{Quran|65|4}}|2=And those who no longer expect menstruation among your women - if you doubt, then their period is three months, '''and [also for] those who have not menstruated.''' And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth. And whoever fears Allah - He will make for him of his matter ease.}}{{quote |1=[http://www.tafsir.com/default.asp?sid=65&tid=54196 Exegesis on (Qur'an 65:4)]<BR>Tafsir Ibn Kathir |2= The `Iddah of Those in Menopause and Those Who do not have Menses Allah the Exalted clarifies the waiting period of the woman in menopause. And that is the one whose menstruation has stopped due to her older age. Her `Iddah is three months instead of the three monthly cycles for those who menstruate, which is based upon the Ayah in (Surat) Al-Baqarah. [see 2:228] '''The same for the young, who have not reached the years of menstruation.''' Their `Iddah is three months like those in menopause. This is the meaning of His saying.}}{{Quote|1=[http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=65&tAyahNo=4&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0 Qur'an 65:4]<BR>Tafsir al-Jalalayn|2= And [as for] those of your women who (read allā'ī or allā'i in both instances) no longer expect to menstruate, if you have any doubts, about their waiting period, their prescribed [waiting] period shall be three months, and [also for] '''those who have not yet menstruated, because of their young age, their period shall [also] be three months''' - both cases apply to other than those whose spouses have died; for these [latter] their period is prescribed in the verse: they shall wait by themselves for four months and ten [days] [Q. 2:234]. And those who are pregnant, their term, the conclusion of their prescribed [waiting] period if divorced or if their spouses be dead, shall be when they deliver. And whoever fears God, He will make matters ease for him, in this world and in the Hereafter.}}
===Hadiths===
{{Quote|1={{Bukhari|5|58|236}}|2=Narrated Hisham's father: Khadija died three years before the Prophet departed to Medina. He stayed there for two years or so and then '''he married 'Aisha when she was a girl of six years of age, and he consumed that marriage when she was nine years old.'''}}{{Quote|1={{Bukhari|7|62|64}}|2=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).}}
==See also==


==Association with child marriage==
*[[Aisha's Age]]


===Contemporary Pedophilic Islamic Marriages===
*[[Rape in Islamic Law]]
{{Main|Contemporary Pedophilic Islamic Marriages}}


Due to its many endorsements within Islamic scripture, child marriages are permitted by the majority of Muslim scholars and leaders, and in many Islamic countries it is common practice.
*[[She's too young]]
Girls far below the age of puberty are forcibly married to older persons  (sometimes in their 50s and later) for various personal gains by the girls' guardian or with the intention to preserve family honor by helping her avoid pre-marital sex.


Pedophilic Islamic marriages are most prevalent in Pakistan and Afghanistan, followed by other countries in the [[Middle East]] and Bangladesh.<ref>[http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=1631 America Magazine: Child Marriage in Afghanistan and Pakistan, by Andrew Bushell; March 11, 2002]</ref><ref>[http://www.americansforunfpa.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=630 Americans For UNFPA: Virtual Slavery: The Practice of “Compensation Marriages” by Net Community of AfUNFPA; last retrieved Monday, 08 December 2008]</ref> This practice may also be prevalent to a lesser extent amongst other Muslim communities, and is on the rise among the growing Muslim populations in many non-Muslim countries, such as the United Kingdom<ref name="Ten-fold rise in forced marriages in just four years">[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1196955/Ten-fold-rise-forced-marriages-just-years.html Ten-fold rise in forced marriages in just four years] - The Daily Mail July 2, 2009</ref> and the United States.<ref>Christine Vendel - [http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/1557578.html?pageNum=2&mi_pluck_action=page_nav#Comments_Container Man charged with statutory rape in ‘marriage’ to 14-year-old girl] - The Kansas City Star, November 8, 2009</ref>
==External links==


In countries like Yemen, Bangladesh, Iran, and Northern Nigeria, attempts at reforming laws and banning child marriages have been opposed and stopped on the grounds that such a ban would be un-Islamic,<ref name="TONOV282008">{{cite web|url= http://www.wunrn.com/news/2008/11_08/11_24_08/112408_nigeria.htm|title= Nigeria Child Brides-Broken Lives |publisher= Times Online|author= |date= November 28, 2008|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wunrn.com%2Fnews%2F2008%2F11_08%2F11_24_08%2F112408_nigeria.htm&date=2013-06-15|deadurl=no}}</ref><ref name="TNTJuly212013">{{cite web |url= http://thenigeriatoday.net/i-could-marry-off-my-six-year-old-daughter-if-i-so-wished-senator-ahmed-yerima-replies-critics/|title= I Could Marry Off My Six Year Old Daughter If I So Wished, Senator Ahmed Yerima Replies Critics|publisher= The Nigeria Today|author= |date= July 21, 2013|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fthenigeriatoday.net%2Fi-could-marry-off-my-six-year-old-daughter-if-i-so-wished-senator-ahmed-yerima-replies-critics%2F&date=2013-07-22|deadurl=no}}</ref><ref name="Weekly Blitz">[http://www.weeklyblitz.net/1386/islamist-leader-threatens-of-waging-jihad <!-- Backup link from Jihad Watch {{Reference archive|1=http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/04/bangladesh-islamic-cleric-threatens-jihad-if-child-marriage-is-banned.html|2=2011-04-23}}  -->Islamist leader threatens of waging Jihad] - Weekly Blitz, April 20, 2011</ref><ref name="MESSAGE">Yessir - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.abigmessage.com/child-marriage-death-of-13-year-old-bride-after-wedding.html|2=2011-10-25}} Child Marriage - Death Of 13 Year Old Bride After Wedding] - A BIG MESSAGE, April 10, 2010</ref><ref name="IRIN">[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=88589|2=2011-10-25}} YEMEN: Deep divisions over child brides] - IRIN, March 28, 2010</ref> and in the case of Malaysia, the growing Muslim population has effectively turned back the clock on social progress by passing new laws which allow for the practice of pedophilic marriages specifically between followers of Islam.<ref name="World News Australia">[{{Reference archive|1=http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/outcry-over-malaysian-child-marriages-20100804-11fey.html|2=2011-10-25}} Outcry over Malaysian child marriages] - Sydney Morning Herald, August 4, 2010</ref>
So one has to agree that whatever reasons and justification people may give for the prevalence of child marriages in Muslim-majority nations, without Islam this practice would have long been discarded as immoral and unacceptable in the modern world.
== Media and statistics ==
===Muslim Statistics on Pedophilia===
{{Main|Muslim Statistics - Children|l1=Muslim Statistics (Children)}}
This page consists of various statistics concerning Islam and children. A small sample include:
#4 out of 5 Middle-Eastern women are sexually abused between the ages of 3 and 6 by family members.
#More than half of all Yemeni girls are married before reaching the age of puberty.
#With more than 3,900 children within 6 months, Indonesia tops the UN bodies list for child trafficking cases
#2,000 child sex abuse claims in 1 year at Pakistani Islamic schools, but not even 1 successful prosecution
== Relevant Quotations ==
{{Quote|1={{Quran|65|4}}|2=And those who no longer expect menstruation among your women - if you doubt, then their period is three months, '''and [also for] those who have not menstruated.''' And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth. And whoever fears Allah - He will make for him of his matter ease.}}{{quote |1=[http://www.tafsir.com/default.asp?sid=65&tid=54196 Exegesis on (Qur'an 65:4)]<BR>Tafsir Ibn Kathir |2= The `Iddah of Those in Menopause and Those Who do not have Menses Allah the Exalted clarifies the waiting period of the woman in menopause. And that is the one whose menstruation has stopped due to her older age. Her `Iddah is three months instead of the three monthly cycles for those who menstruate, which is based upon the Ayah in (Surat) Al-Baqarah. [see 2:228] '''The same for the young, who have not reached the years of menstruation.''' Their `Iddah is three months like those in menopause. This is the meaning of His saying.}}{{Quote|1=[http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=65&tAyahNo=4&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0 Qur'an 65:4]<BR>Tafsir al-Jalalayn|2= And [as for] those of your women who (read allā'ī or allā'i in both instances) no longer expect to menstruate, if you have any doubts, about their waiting period, their prescribed [waiting] period shall be three months, and [also for] '''those who have not yet menstruated, because of their young age, their period shall [also] be three months''' - both cases apply to other than those whose spouses have died; for these [latter] their period is prescribed in the verse: they shall wait by themselves for four months and ten [days] [Q. 2:234]. And those who are pregnant, their term, the conclusion of their prescribed [waiting] period if divorced or if their spouses be dead, shall be when they deliver. And whoever fears God, He will make matters ease for him, in this world and in the Hereafter.}}{{Quote|1={{Bukhari|5|58|236}}|2=Narrated Hisham's father: Khadija died three years before the Prophet departed to Medina. He stayed there for two years or so and then '''he married 'Aisha when she was a girl of six years of age, and he consumed that marriage when she was nine years old.'''}}{{Quote|1={{Bukhari|7|62|64}}|2=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).}}<br />
==Apologetic Arguments==
===Dispute of Aisha's age===
{{Main|Aishas Age of Consummation|l1=Aisha's Age of Consummation}}
The age of Aisha was not disputed by earlier scholars but a surge of recent scholars claim that Aisha was actually older than nine lunar years at time of the consummation of her marriage to Prophet Muhammad. They find the Sahih hadiths of her own testimony mistaken, and opt to use indirect sources and disputed dating techniques to calculate different ages. These heavily criticized research techniques have led to several conflicting ages to be proposed for Aisha at the time of consummation, including 12, 14, 15, 17, 18 and 21 years.
The polemics can be broadly categorized into these categories; discrediting Hisham ibn Urwah and the Iraqi narrators, use of non-sahih information to refute otherwise sahih hadiths, the use of secondary and indirect sources in preference of direct testimonies, the use of ‘imprecise’ dating in preference to specific dates and statements of age, and the use of misquoted references and erroneous information.
The majority of Muslim scholars agree with the sahih hadith of Aisha's young age. This has been the mainstream Muslim understanding throughout Islam's 1,400 year history, and many scholars take offense to the new claims of Muslim apologists.
===The Meaning of 'Consummate'===
{{Main|The Meaning of Consummate}}
Some Muslim apologist refuse to accept the existence of narrations given by Aisha in which she states that she was married to Prophet Muhammad when she was six years old and that he consummated his marriage with her when she was nine lunar years of age, even though these are recorded in Bukhari's sahih ahadith collection.
These apologists will usually resort to questioning the English translation of Dr. Mushin Khan, without addressing the ahadith in their original Arabic. A reading of the relevant Bukhari ahadith make it clear that Muhammad had sexual intercourse with Aisha when she was nine years of age.
The terms used are: "udkhilath" and "bana biha", which can only mean "sexual intercourse" in the context of the ahadith. The confusion from Muslims regarding this comes from their lack of understanding regarding the English phrase "consummation of marriage", their ignorance of Arabic and their unwillingness to admit that their prophet had sexual intercourse with a nine year old child.
===Pedophilia and the Tu Quoque Defense===
This article refutes the claim that Joseph, the husband of Mary (the mother of Jesus Christ), was a pedophile, a popular yet erroneous tu quoque argument used to defend Prophet Muhammad's pedophilic marriage to Aisha.
Upon reading the non-canonical apocrypha, the Christian equivalent of da`if (weak) or maudu (fabricated) hadith, we find it does not say Mary married Joseph when she was aged only 12. It in fact says she was possibly 17 years of age at the time the marriage was eventually consummated, if ever (Mary's perpetual virginity, the belief that Mary remained a virgin her entire life, is an essential article of faith for the majority of the world's Christians).
The most decisive argument against the claim that Joseph was a pedophile is the fact that the same non-canonical writings which are used to gather information on Joseph and Mary's age, also confirm Mary's status as "ever virgin" (in The History of Joseph the Carpenter, Jesus says on Joseph's death "my mother, virgin undefiled").
===Miscellaneous Apologetics Used to Defend Muhammad's Actions===
{{Main|Responses to Apologetics - Muhammad and Aisha|l1=Responses to Apologetics: Muhammad and Aisha}}
This article refutes miscellaneous apologetics which may not be fully covered in our other articles, but are used by some to justify the marriage between the Islamic Prophet Muhammad and his six-year-old bride Aisha.
The 26 different excuses covered include; Muhammad can't be a pedophile because he also had sex with grown women, pedophiles prefer children but Muhammad had many adult wives and only one child-bride, at that time it was okay to have sex with 9 year-olds in Arabia, people lived shorter life spans back then, and menstruation in hot climates starts earlier than in cold ones, so girls in Arabia matured as early as nine.
<br />
==See Also==
'''Articles'''
*[[Concerns with Islam: Child Marriage]]
{{Hub4|Sex|Sex}}
{{Hub4|Children|Children}}
*[[Necrophilia in Islam]]
*
'''Other Core Articles'''
''Core articles contain an overview of other articles related to a specific issue, and serve as a starting point for anyone wishing to learn about Islam:''
*[[Islam and Apostasy]]
*[[Islam and Homosexuality]]
*[[Islam and Miracles]]
*[[Islam and Propaganda]]
*[[Islam and Science]]
*[[Islam and Scripture]]
*[[Islam and the People of the Book]]
*[[Islam and Violence]]
*[[Islam and Women]]
==External Links==
*[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4959002.ece|2=2011-06-01}} Link between child porn and Muslim terrorists discovered in police raids]
*[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.sex-in-islam.com/amar.khan/Pedophilia-in-Islam.htm|2=2011-06-01}} A Complete Guide to Pedophilia in Islam]
*[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.sex-in-islam.com/amar.khan/Pedophilia-in-Islam.htm|2=2011-06-01}} A Complete Guide to Pedophilia in Islam]
*[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5541006|2=2011-06-01}} Images of pedophilic Islamic marriages]
*[http://www.faithfreedom.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23452&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 Let's clear up all this pedophilia garbage...] ''- Forum discussion on another defence of Muhammad's marriage to a child''
'''News regarding Pedophilia among non-Muslims'''


*[http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090928/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_poland_castration Poland okays forcible castration for paedophiles] ''(9/28/2009) - related:'' [[w:Chemical castration|Chemical castration]] ''at wikipedia ''
*[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5541006|2=2011-06-01}} Photo Op: Child Brides in Afghanistan]


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Reflist|30em}}
 
[[Category:Criticism of Islam]]
[[Category:Core Articles]]
[[Category:Women]]
[[Category:Pedophilia]]
[[Category:Marriage]]
__NOEDITSECTION__
[[Category:Shariah (Islamic Law)]]
[[ru:Ислам и педофилия‎]]
[[Category:Human rights]]
[[Category:Health]]

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Ghulan Haider, 11, married Faiz Mohammed, age 40. She hoped to become a teacher but was forced to quit her classes upon engagement. Image from the New York Times Magazine.

Child marriage and sexual activity between adults and children are sanctioned by Islamic law and were practiced by Muhammad and his companions. As is the case within all contexts where sexual activity is permitted in Islam - namely, marriage and slavery - female consent is not required and the category of "rape" does not exist (even while the category of "rape" exists outside these contexts). The only restriction on sexual activity with children of any age within the contexts of marriage and slavery is that the child should not come to severe physical harm as a consequence of the encounter ("mental anguish", as such, is not considered, and consent is regardless irrelevant). Consequently, men are advised to avoid vaginal penetration with their child wives and female slaves if they are too small to endure such activity, although other forms of sexual activity with such children are permitted. "Thighing", explicitly discussed by Islamic jurists, is one such variety of alternative sexual activity that men may engage in with their child wives and female slaves if they are too small to endure penetration.

In scripture

Child marriage in the Quran

The Qur'an permits child marriage. Verse 4 of Surah 64 provides guidelines regarding divorce a wife who has not yet menstruated. This verse refers to the Iddat (العدة‎), which is a waiting period a female must observe before she can remarry. According to this verse, the stipulated waiting period for a divorced girl who has not yet menstruated is three months.

And (as for) those of your women who have despaired of menstruation, if you have a doubt, their prescribed time shall be three months, and of those too who have not had their courses; and (as for) the pregnant women, their prescribed time is that they lay down their burden; and whoever is careful of (his duty to) Allah He will make easy for him his affair.

Muhammad's marriage to Aisha

Aisha (‘Ā’ishah, c. 613/614 –c. 678)[1] or عائشة, (also transliterated as A'ishah, Aisyah, Ayesha, A'isha, Aishat, or Aishah) was married to Muhammad at the age of 6 or 7, and the marriage was consummated by Muhammad, then 53, at the age of 9 or 10 according to numerous sahih hadiths.[2][3][4][5][6] Due to concerns about child marriage this topic is of heavy interest in modern apologetic literature and public discourse.

Marriage at a young age was not unheard of in Arabia at the time, and Aisha's marriage to Muhammad may have had a political connotation, as her father Abu Baker was an influential man in the community.[7] Abu Bakr, on his part, may have sought to further the bond of kinship between Muhammad and himself by joining their families together in marriage via Aisha. Egyptian-American Islamic scholar, Leila Ahmed, notes that Aisha's betrothal and marriage to Muhammad are presented as ordinary in Islamic literature, and may indicate that it was not unusual for children to be married to their elders in that era.[8]

Revisionary disputations on her age

The age of Aisha was not disputed by earlier scholars but a surge of some modern Islamic scholars have made attempts to advance the idea that Aisha was older than nine lunar years at time of the consummation of her marriage to Prophet Muhammad. Sahih hadiths of Aisha's own testimonies are taken to be mistaken, and indirect sources and disputed dating techniques are used to calculate different ages. These diverse techniques have led to several conflicting ages to be proposed for Aisha at the time of consummation, including 12, 14, 15, 17, 18 and 21 years of age.

These revisionary perspectives can be broadly categorized into five categories, including those that: (1) discredit Hisham ibn Urwah and the Iraqi narrators, (2) use non-sahih information to overturn otherwise sahih hadiths, (3) use indirect evidences in preference of direct testimonies, or (4) use ‘loose' dating and aging in preference to specific dates and statements of age. These revisionary approaches are, however, generally not accepted by mainstream Islamic establishments.

Revisionary disputations on the word "consummate"

In a hadith in Sahih Bukhari, Aisha says that she was married to Muhammad at the age of six and that Muhammad consummated the marriage when she reached the age of nine. The implications of this and similar hadiths have recently been contested by some modern Islamic scholars who attempt to advance the idea that the verbiage used in this hadiths does not in fact refer to sexual consummation. While such a reading has no historical/linguistic or traditional precedent, it has nonetheless achieved some popularity. However, these re-readings, like those re-readings which attempt to advance a different age for Aisha, have generally not been accepted by mainstream Islamic establishments.

The terms used in the hadiths are udkhilath and bana biha, and these words do not permit any meaning other than "engaged in sexual intercourse with her" in the contexts where they are used. Crucial to the facilitation of asexual re-readings of these passages are tendentious English translations (particularly those of Dr. Muhsin Khan) as well as a general and perhaps understandable unwillingness to admit that Muhammad could have slept with or raped a nine year old.

Child Marriage and Muhammad's Companions

Due to the commonplace nature of child marriage in the 7th century (both inside and outside of Arabia), many of Muhammad's companions (sahabah) also engaged in child marriage. Most notable among these were Umar b. al-Khattab (the second "rightly guided caliph"), who married Umm Kulthum when she was between 10-12 (although some sources report she was just 5[9]), and Ali b. Abi Talib (Muhammad's cousin and the fourth "rightly guided caliph"), who married Fatima (Muhammad's daughter) at the age of 9.

In the Muslim world today

Child Marriage in the Muslim World

Due to the legality of child marriage in Islamic law, child marriages are still permitted and practiced in many Islamic countries - and where the practice is prohibited civil law, such marriages are sometimes carried out by independent Imams who allege to be loyal to the Sharia alone. In these countries, child marriages are especially common among rural populations where girls well below the age of puberty may be wed by their guardians to older men to various ends, including the preservation of the family and girls' 'honor'.

Islamic child marriages are most common Pakistan and Afghanistan, followed by countries in the Middle East and Bangladesh.[10][11] This practice may also be prevalent to a lesser extent amongst other Muslim communities, and has even been observed among the Muslim populations of non-Muslim countries, such as the United Kingdom[12] and the United States.[13]

In countries including Yemen, Bangladesh, Iran, and Northern Nigeria, attempts at reforming laws and banning child marriages have been opposed and stopped on the grounds that such a ban would be un-Islamic.[14][15][16][17][18] Malaysia has even passed new laws which explicitly allow for the practice of child marriages among Muslims on religious grounds.[19]

Relevant quotations

Quran and tafsir

And those who no longer expect menstruation among your women - if you doubt, then their period is three months, and [also for] those who have not menstruated. And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth. And whoever fears Allah - He will make for him of his matter ease.
The `Iddah of Those in Menopause and Those Who do not have Menses Allah the Exalted clarifies the waiting period of the woman in menopause. And that is the one whose menstruation has stopped due to her older age. Her `Iddah is three months instead of the three monthly cycles for those who menstruate, which is based upon the Ayah in (Surat) Al-Baqarah. [see 2:228] The same for the young, who have not reached the years of menstruation. Their `Iddah is three months like those in menopause. This is the meaning of His saying.
Exegesis on (Qur'an 65:4)
Tafsir Ibn Kathir
And [as for] those of your women who (read allā'ī or allā'i in both instances) no longer expect to menstruate, if you have any doubts, about their waiting period, their prescribed [waiting] period shall be three months, and [also for] those who have not yet menstruated, because of their young age, their period shall [also] be three months - both cases apply to other than those whose spouses have died; for these [latter] their period is prescribed in the verse: they shall wait by themselves for four months and ten [days] [Q. 2:234]. And those who are pregnant, their term, the conclusion of their prescribed [waiting] period if divorced or if their spouses be dead, shall be when they deliver. And whoever fears God, He will make matters ease for him, in this world and in the Hereafter.
Qur'an 65:4
Tafsir al-Jalalayn

Hadiths

Narrated Hisham's father: Khadija died three years before the Prophet departed to Medina. He stayed there for two years or so and then he married 'Aisha when she was a girl of six years of age, and he consumed that marriage when she was nine 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).

See also

External links

References

  1. Al-Nasa'i 1997, p. 108
  2. Narrated Hisham's father: Khadija died three years before the Prophet (ﷺ) departed to Medina. He stayed there for two years or so and then he married `Aisha when she was a girl of six years of age, and he consumed that marriage when she was nine years old. Sahih Bukhari 5:58:236
  3. 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). Sahih Bukhari 7:62:64
  4. 'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported: Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) married me when I was six years old, and I was admitted to his house when I was nine years old. Sahih Muslim 8:3310
  5. Aisha said, "The Apostle of Allah married me when I was seven years old." (The narrator Sulaiman said: "Or six years.") Sunan Abu Dawud 2116 (Ahmad Hasan Ref)
  6. Most sources suggest age at consummation as nine, and one that it may have been age 10; See: Denise Spellberg (1996), Politics, Gender, and the Islamic Past: The Legacy of 'A'isha Bint Abi Bakr, Columbia University Press, ISBN 978-0231079990, pp. 39–40;
  7. Afsaruddin, Asma (2014). "ʿĀʾisha bt. Abī Bakr". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett. Encyclopaedia of Islam (3 ed.). Brill Online. Retrieved 2015-01-11
  8. Ahmed, Leila (1992). Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate. Yale University Press. p. 51-54. ISBN 978-0300055832.
  9. "'Umar asked 'Ali for the hand of his daughter, Umm Kulthum in marriage. 'Ali replied that '''she has not yet attained the age (of maturity)'''. 'Umar replied, 'By Allah, this is not true. You do not want her to marry me. If she is underage, send her to me'. Thus 'Ali gave his daughter Umm Kulthum a dress and asked her to go to 'Umar and tell him that her father wants to know what this dress is for. When she came to Umar and gave him the message, he grabbed her hand and forcibly pulled her towards him. 'Umm Kulthum asked him to leave her hand, which Umar did and said, 'You are a very mannered lady with great morals. Go and tell your father that you are very pretty and you are not what he said of you'. With that 'Ali married Umm Kulthum to 'Umar." Tarikh Khamees, Volume 2, p. 384 ('Dhikr Umm Kalthum') and Zakhair Al-Aqba, p. 168
  10. America Magazine: Child Marriage in Afghanistan and Pakistan, by Andrew Bushell; March 11, 2002
  11. Americans For UNFPA: Virtual Slavery: The Practice of “Compensation Marriages” by Net Community of AfUNFPA; last retrieved Monday, 08 December 2008
  12. Ten-fold rise in forced marriages in just four years - The Daily Mail July 2, 2009
  13. Christine Vendel - Man charged with statutory rape in ‘marriage’ to 14-year-old girl - The Kansas City Star, November 8, 2009
  14. "Nigeria Child Brides-Broken Lives", Times Online, November 28, 2008 (archived), http://www.wunrn.com/news/2008/11_08/11_24_08/112408_nigeria.htm. 
  15. "I Could Marry Off My Six Year Old Daughter If I So Wished, Senator Ahmed Yerima Replies Critics", The Nigeria Today, July 21, 2013 (archived), http://thenigeriatoday.net/i-could-marry-off-my-six-year-old-daughter-if-i-so-wished-senator-ahmed-yerima-replies-critics/. 
  16. Islamist leader threatens of waging Jihad - Weekly Blitz, April 20, 2011
  17. Yessir - Child Marriage - Death Of 13 Year Old Bride After Wedding - A BIG MESSAGE, April 10, 2010
  18. YEMEN: Deep divisions over child brides - IRIN, March 28, 2010
  19. Outcry over Malaysian child marriages - Sydney Morning Herald, August 4, 2010