Salaam Aleykom sister,
I don't know if you are still looking for information to this matter or nor but I will answer it anyways since I am a Muslim and will always tell the truth and defend Islam against any lies or misconceptions. Even though Islam is not in need of me defending it, I will still do it because I love my deen and I hate falsehood and misconceptions. I am not calling you a liar but I am talking about people who spread lies and misinformation intentionally. Now to the marriage of Prophet Muhammad (saaws) and Aiysha (ra).
There are numerous reports about the marriage of Aiysha and no one really knows the exact age but it is agreed and thought for the most part that she was 9 years old when she got married. First of all, one must know what and who can get married. In Islam and in all Semitic cultures as well, there is no specific age to get married at. The age of marriage is defined by puberty and maturity. In other words, if a person has reached puberty and wants to get married, he or she may do so, but forced marriage is not allowed. You may have been brought up in the west where the age of marriage is 18 but this is not a law sanctioned by God but it is rather a secular man made law. However, even in the west and in the U.S, this was not always the case. For example a little over a 100 years ago, the age at which a girl could get married at was 10. The state of California was the first to raise the age to 14 at the time. This was not 1000 years ago but barely a century ago.
Marriage was never and should never be defined by a specific age but it involves puberty and maturity. The age of puberty differs from case to case and from person to person. In some areas of the world and in many cases, the ageof puberty ranges between 8 and 18 for females. I am not trying t make excuses to justify the marriage but it is a fact and those who speak on this matter with criticism are doing so out of ignorance or because they are intentionally trying to use it to attack the prophet and Islam. I gurantee that this is the case for the most part.
Before I continue with the marriage of Aiysha, I like to ask you something. Don't you think it is a contradiction and absurd that a person in the west can have a "boy friend" and "girl friend" have "sex" and "fun" as a teenager but it is unlawful to get married at that age? Sex outside of marriage is not allowed in Islam but it is allowed in western cultures and other cultures. Islam is not a culture but it is the religion and way of life that the Creator of the everything has ordained for all of mankind. Furthermore, it is also important to note that there are many states where people can still get married under 18 as long as the parents sign the consent. This is usually kept quiet but this still exists in many states in the U.S.
I am a revert/convert to Islam and both my parents are christians from the Middle East. I can tell you for sure that people in my parent's culture still get married young. My grandmother was 11 the first time she got married and this wasn't 1,400 years ago but barely 75 years ago and she was Christian. In the case of Islam, a person can't be forced into marriage nor is one allowed to get married until puberty. If a female is mature and has reached puberty, she can get married if she choses so. The same goes for males as well. As for Aiysha, even if she was really 9, she chose to marry the prophet, her parents encouraged the marriage, and her father was the Prophet's(saaws) best friend and most of all she had reached puberty. The story itself is told by Aiysha (ra) and anyone who talks of this story must know that the origin of the story itself comes from the bride.
So, for those wishing to attack the prophet, keep in mind that Aiysha told the story not to attack her husband, whom she loved and never spoke badly of, but she told us to know how great of a marriage she had. Furthermore, if any enemy of the prophet Muhammad(saaws) is willing to accept Aiysha as a witness, they must also accept Islam because Aiysha proudly said "La ilaha Ila Allah, Muhammada Rasulullah". If they are unwilling to use her as a reliable source, then they should not bring up anything about her marriage because she didnt tell us the story to attack her husband.
If the marriage was so disgusting or bad, why didn't the enemies of the prophet use that in those day against him? I don't know how much you know Islam but do you know how badly the prophet and his followers were attacked, persecuted, killed, tortured and expelled even? His enemies were looking for anything to expose him and prove he was a false prophet, and would they have let such a thing go unmentioned? What about the Jews and Christians of Arabia? Why were they so silent on this? Why haven't they brought this up to attack the prophet even 200 years ago since they hate him and it was soooo "disgusting"? Could it be because this was a common practice in those days and it even was a 100 years ago in the U.S.? If it were so bad and dirty for a 9 year old, who has reached puberty to get married, would Muslims had even allowed such things to be known today? The prophet didn't allow anyone to keep secrets about him. His life was right open to everyone and he wanted it this way because he was the last prophet and messenger for all of mankind and the Quran tells us that we have a "great example" in him.
So my dear sister in Islam, if you are a Muslima, and if not then my sister in humanity, know the story first before you make a conclusion. If you are ashamed, you are obvioulsy unaware of this matter. Just because man made secular law of today states that a person has to be 18 or over to get married, that does not mean that God sanctioned that kind of law. Islam is submission to the will of God and a Muslim is one who submits to the will of God. We do not make the laws, rules and religion but God made it. We do not worship God on our own desires and terms but the way he requires us to worship Him. There is no law in Islam that says you must marry at 9, 15 or even a 100 years old for that matter. No one is saying that you have to marry an older man nor does your daughter, but I am telling you that the age of marriage is not defined by an actual age but by puberty and maturity. A person can't be forced into marriage and Aiysha (ra) was not forced but it was her own choice, her parents approved and encouraged it and she had reached puberty. There was a lot of wisdom behind the marriage whether you know it or not because Aiysha was a smart young woman and learned from the Prophet (saaws) herself. She is to this day the greatest female scholar in Islamic history and she narrarated thousands of hadiths without any mistakes.
She lived for decades after the prophet without ever speaking bad of her husband and Muslims learned so much from her about Islam. They had such a beautiful relationship, when I read the full story, as a person born and raised with western thoughts, I coul not help it but to cry. One scholar even went as far as saying if the author of Romeo and Juliet knew of this story, he would have chosen it because in the end they both live happily ever after in Paradise! There is nothing for a Muslim to be ashamed of about this marriage and those who feel ashamed are just misinformed and ignorant. This marriage was never mention in order to attack the prophet but would you like to know what happened? Recently in last few decades or so, enemies of Islam have decided to use this to attack our prophet and to make him look like a "child molester" or a "rapist" (astaghfirullah). Those kafirs who started this, and I rarely use the word kafir but I have to in this case, knew full well that this would not carry any water a 100 years ago but it does today because secularism and mankind keep changing laws and making new ones out of arrogance and I assume we are supposed to move along with it.
Well I hate to break it to those, I do not take a man to be the lawgiver but I worship God and this means obeying His laws. If He allows something, then I have no problem with it but if He does not allow something, then I will hate that thing for the sake of Allah. You do not need to be ashamed not am I trying to appologize or in anyway trying to justify the marriage because there is no need to, but I am willing to inform you of this and you can make your own decision afterwards. You do not have to marry young nor does anyone but you can if you choose so and there is nothing wrong with so long as all requirements are met. I personally don't care what a modern atheist or anyone one else thinks of the prophet but I will challenge and refute any lies against Islam with my best abilty. Any Muslim who feels ashamed is either ignorant or misinformed about marriage in history. If you like to, I can give links after links about marriage in the ancient world and even today. It may not be common today for people to marry at a young age but it was in the past and there are still rare cases around the world.
Why do you think a girl can get pregnant and she develops at an early age in many cases? If a person is not supposed to get married until after 18, why didn't God make people reach puberty only after that? Are we wise or is Allah(swt) the most wise? This is proof itself that one does not have to be 18, 19 or 21 to get married but whenever one reaches puberty. If you still disagree with me, then please explain why my non-Muslim sieblings, here in the U.S. are barely 13 years old and already so bad that my mother can't control them? They want to have intercourse from this age and my mother has to go through all kinds of pains to try to stop them. Can any of your doctors, or atheist or anyone else explain what we should do? Or is it maybe because they have reached puberty and they are only experiencing what all humans do? Now, as a Muslim I know what to do but what is a non-Muslim to do about this? They are screwed because they are worshipping other than Allah. That is what is meant by "La ilaha ila Allah". It means Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala is the law giver, king, judge and ruler of the creation. When man becomes arrogant and starts making his/her own laws and way, corruption will be high and good will be low.
I can go on and on about the high rape rate, sexual molestation and other issues facing the west and I can gurnatee you that such things do not happen to practicing and knowledged Muslims and especially when they are living their lives according to the way of Allah. Those who attack the prophet with rape or child molestation are ignorant and actually even guilty of slander. The Prophet Muhammad(saaws) did not rape anyone (astghfirullah) nor was he a pedophile or child molester because he was married. Since when is it a crime to get married or since when is it considered rape when a husband and wife sleep with one another? I encourage you to read up on the story. I will give you links so you can learn more about this beautiful marriage which was common in those days to marry young. Before I end this message, I like yoy to note something. The same people who slander our prophet are guilty of dirty crimes and sins. We see pastors committing adultery with prostitutes and others people's wives. There are thousands of priests molesting young boys and girls. Why aren't such things known amoge Muslims? It is because Islam has solutions and a Muslim is one who fully submits to the will of Allah and lives his life cautious and builds his life around Islam.
Islam is not a mere religion but it is a full way of life, a system and much more. It is the way that God has ordained for mankind and all of the prophets and even the first human beings were Muslims(those who submit to God). This includes Jesus Christ(as). No need to be ashamed but only need to do research. The prophet did not do anything illegal or against Islam. It was a lawful marriage, common in the area and time and it was only recently that the age of marriage was raised. It wasn't raised over night but step by step by human beings. If we are gonna trial our Prophet with 21st century secular man made law, can e throw everyone in jail for drinking alcohol today if it becomes banned tomorrow in the U.S.? Can we punish people for a crime that was not a crime at the time? The answer is no to all of these questions. I will give you some links to learn about Islam.
www.thedeenshow.com
www.islamtomorrow.com
www.islamicity.com
You can also learn on here as well. I hope you are not ashamed nor will you listen to kafirs who only wish to attack Islam. May God increase you knowledge and iman, may He shower His mercy and blessings on you and may He guide us all to the straight path, InshaAllah, Amin.
Ps, please do not take any offense to my reply because I was not attacking you. It is good to ask questions and seek knowledge but I hate liars and people who feed other people with propganda and misonformation out of hatred or prejudice.
..but I still have extended family there
