:salam2:
Pickthal: And for such of your women as despair of menstruation, if ye doubt, their period (of waiting) shall be three months, along with those who have it not. And for those with child, their period shall be till they bring forth their burden. And whosoever keepeth his duty to Allah, He maketh his course easy for him. (65:4)
Yusuf Ali: Such of your women as have passed the age of monthly courses, for them the prescribed period, if ye have any doubts, is three months, and for those who have no courses (it is the same): for those who carry (life within their wombs), their period is until they deliver their burdens: and for those who fear Allah, He will make their path easy
There are several issues that needs to be looked at, lets break them down.
1. Two opinions over the word 'if ye doubt'
Tafsir Ibn Kathir as provided by brother Ibn Adam says;
(and for those who have no courses...) as for His saying;
(if you have doubt...) There are two opinions: First, is the saying of a group of the Salaf, like Mujahid, Az-Zuhri and Ibn Zayd. That is, if they see blood and there is doubt if it was menstrual blood or not. The second, is that if you do not know the ruling in this case, then know that their `Iddah is three months. This has been reported from Sa`id bin Jubayr and it is the view preferred by Ibn Jarir.
2. 'and for those who have no courses': (Prior to mensuration):
In the context of this verse prior to ‘buloogh’ refers only to ‘prior to menstruation’, since the verse speaks about those who have no courses. That could be due to three reasons;
a. They may not have menstruated as yet either because of young age.
b. Delayed menstrual discharge as it happens in the case of some women.
c. Or because of no discharge at all throughout life which, though rare, may also be the case.
When a girl has her first menstrual period, she is
generally considered as having reached ‘buloogh’ / puberty.
3a. Marriage before puberty:
3b. What constitutes puberty in Islam i.e. what are the signs of puberty.
Marriage before puberty:
Girls cannot consummate marriage before puberty. The evidence of this can be found in the other verse of the Quran and the sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
The Prophet, peace be upon him, didn’t consummate his marriage with Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, when she was six. If a marriage could be consummated at any age with a girl prior to puberty, then certainly the prophet, peace be upon him, would have consummated his marriage with Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, when she was six. He consummated his marriage with her three years later. The reason of course was that they were waiting for her to reach puberty.
What are the signs of puberty:
The generally considered sign of puberty is Mensuration. However like discussed before what if 'The mensuration is signifcantly delayed' or what if a girl losses all hope of mensuration'.
In that case there are other things which are a sign of having reached ‘majority/ puberty’ in islam. These signs are:
1. Wet dreams:
2. breasts and public hair and
3. According to many scholars the age of 15 years. (Imam Malik, May Allah be pleased with him, was one of them).
Evidence for these signs can be found in the Tafsir of verse 4: 6 by Ibn Kathir and other hadiths.
Tafsir of verse 4:6 'Tafsir Ibn Kathir'
And test the orphans [in their abilities] until they reach marriageable age. Then if you perceive in them sound judgement, release their property to them. And do not consume it excessively and quickly, [anticipating] that they will grow up. And whoever, [when acting as guardian], is self-sufficient should refrain [from taking a fee]; and whoever is poor - let him take according to what is acceptable. Then when you release their property to them, bring witnesses upon them. And sufficient is Allah as Accountant.
Allah said,
(And test orphans) meaning, test their intelligence, as Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Al-Hasan, As-Suddi and Muqatil bin Hayyan stated.
(until they reach the age of marriage), the age of puberty, according to Mujahid. The age of puberty according to the majority of scholars comes when the child has a wet dream. In his Sunan, Abu Dawud recorded that `Ali said, "I memorized these words from the Messenger of Allah ,
(There is no orphan after the age of puberty nor vowing to be silent throughout the day to the night.) In another Hadith, `A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, and other Companions said that the Prophet said,
(The pen does not record the deeds of three persons: the child until the age of puberty, the sleeping person until waking up, and the senile until sane.) Or, the age of fifteen is considered the age of adolescence.
In the Two Sahihs, it is recorded that Ibn `Umar said, "I was presented in front of the Prophet on the eve of the battle of Uhud, while I was fourteen years of age, and he did not allow me to take part in that battle. But I was presented in front of him on the eve of the battle of Al-Khandaq (The Trench) when I was fifteen years old, and he allowed me (to join that battle).'' `Umar bin `Abdul-`Aziz commented when this Hadith reached him, "This is the difference between a child and an adult.''
There is a difference of opinion over whether pubic hair is considered a sign of adulthood, and the correct opinion is that it is. The Sunnah supports this view, according to a Hadith collected by Imam Ahmad from `Atiyah Al-Qurazi who said, We were presented to the Prophet on the day of Qurizah, whoever had pubic hair was killed, whoever did not was left free to go, I was one of those who did not, so I was left free.'' The Four Sunan compilers also recorded similar to it. At-Tirmidhi said, "Hasan Sahih.'' Allah's statement,
Other Hadiths;
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 62, Number 67
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 “
To Sum up:
The consummation of marriage in islam can only occur when a girl has reached puberty. Therefore a girl who has not yet had her first menstrual period, can only consummate marriage prior to menstruation when she has reached majority/puberty trough other ways. These others ways are: having a wet dream, having already public hair, breasts or reaching the age of 15 years. The fact that a girl can consummate marriage at the onset of her puberty, does not mean that girls have to marry at this age. It’s only an option.
Other issues to consider:
Marriage at the onset of puberty, if she and her parents are sure that there would be no harm in it for her to marry and consummate her marriage, since the prophet said:
The Prophet said: “There shall be no infliction of harm on oneself or others" (Ibn Majah and Ahmad).
AND ALLAH SWT KNOWS BEST.