The Answer to the Problematic Age of Aisha (RA)
- Categories: Stories of the Companions -
The age of `A'ishah, daughter of Abu Bakr, when she married the
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is something
that has only recently become controversial. The traditional
account is that the marriage was consummated when she was nine
years old, which naturally appears strange, if not uncomfortable,
to many in a modern, western context. Hence, some recent Muslims
(of varying levels of intellectuality, motivations and scholarly
qualifications) have re-visited the sources. They have discovered
some evidence in the classical historical texts, and reinterpreted
the traditionally adduced narrations, to suggest that `A'ishah may
actually have been older (with various ages suggested). My aim, in
this brief piece, is not to analyze the arguments for and against a
young marriage age for `A'ishah, but rather to contextualize the
entire discussion with a bird's-eye view that remains intact
regardless of which view (if either) an individual chooses to
commit to.
The first (and most) important
point to note is, as indicated above, is that the controversy is a
relatively recent one. The Prophet's own contemporaries took no
issue with the Prophet's marriage to `A'ishah; it was not
problematic in their eyes. This includes both his disbeliever
antagonists and his believing followers. Certainly, his antagonists
were ever eager to discredit him, and the Qur'an itself records
details of this. They accused him of being a sorcerer, a madman or
a soothsayer. They objected to his marriage to Zaynab,
remonstrating that (according to pre-Islamic Arab culture) a man
may not marry the divorcee of his adopted son just as he may not
marry the divorcee of his biological son. Yet they did not attempt
to discredit him on the basis of his marrying a girl too young for
him. Neither in the Qur'an nor in any historical source is there
any mention of such an objection having been raised, despite the
fact that these sources do mention numerous other strategies used
by the Prophet's opponents.
So, if the Prophet's
contemporaries did not object to `A'ishah's age of marriage, then
we conclude with certainty that her age was within the norm.
Logically, this in turn implies one of two things: either it was
acceptable, in 7th century Arab culture, for older men to marry
younger girls (even as young as 9), or the reason for their
non-objection was that `A'ishah was in fact older. Once again, my
aim here is not to prove one or the other, but to put the whole
issue in perspective. The age of `A'ishah is not a central tenet of
Muslim faith, nor should it eclipse the core message and teachings
of Islam. Muslims contemplating the issue of `A'ishah's age might
find it beneficial to recall that; 'Part of the excellence of a
person's Islam is his/her leaving aside what does not pertain to
him/her.'
Non-Muslims would serve
themselves better by contemplating the Prophet's teachings of
monotheism and righteousness, and the Book he presented as God's
revelation, rather than dwelling on what is, at most, a
socio-culturally historical oddity.
The general character of the
Prophet, and his marital history, speak clearly against the notion
that he was other than upright. His first marriage, at age 25, was
to a widowed woman (Khadijah) who was 15 years his senior, and he
remained in a happy and solid monogamous marriage to her for a
quarter-century (twenty-five years), the marriage ending only with
Khadijah's death, aged 65. If we are extrapolating general lessons
from the Prophet's life, then his marriage to Khadijah is far more
relevant for paradigmatic value. It was only subsequent to that,
and often under specific circumstances (as others have discussed)
that he married other women, and all of them (other than `A'ishah)
were either widows or divorcees. Some historical sources even
record that one of the strategies his antagonists tried, to
dissuade him from his preaching, was to offer him whatever wealth
or wives he desired, but he refused this initiative.
Hence, without necessarily
putting the two possibilities (regarding `A'ishah's age) on equal
footing, and without stifling those who wish to delve deeper into
the scholarly (and sometimes non-scholarly) arguments on either
side, it is sufficient for the Muslim to defer the issue to God,
saying, "I believe whichever of the two is the truth before God."
There are many more useful and pressing issues for us to occupy
ourselves with.
The modern option of upgrading
`A'ishah's age might offer a more immediate appeal, and an 'easy'
and convenient solution, for which little further explanation or
reasoning would be necessary. Indeed, in the absence of birth
certificates, records of ages prior to the modern era can be
expected to have some margin of error. However, it is worthwhile to
look at the issue in a larger perspective, and to avoid viewing the
veritable tapestry of human culture, across space and time, through
the colored lenses of modern, western culture. A slight familiarity
with anthropology is sufficient to convince one that there has
been, and still is, remarkable variety in human cultural practices
and norms. The Catholic Encyclopedia observes about the Virgin Mary
(peace be upon her) that, "it is possible that Mary gave birth to
her Son when she was about thirteen or fourteen years of age."[1] In Shakespeare's classic play
Romeo and Juliet, Juliet was only thirteen, yet her mother tells
her that "ladies of esteem" younger than her are already
mothers.[2] According to the
"Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society,"
both Christian Canon law and European civil law considered seven
years as the age of consent, but judges in medieval England would
approve marriages based on mutual consent at ages even lower than
7.[3] As recently as the
nineteenth century, ages of consent of 13 to 14 were common in
Western countries.[4] Now, we
are responsible for acting in accordance with our conscience, and
our own societal norms may well factor into this, but it may be a
bit presumptuous to pass judgment on people of the past and future,
and those of other cultures. People in the future may well look on
some of our mores as bizarre.
The bottom
line is: God knows best
about all the details of things. And, it remains well-established
that Islam's central message is one of monotheism, decency and
morality. It is to this that our energies can be more profitably
devoted.
________________
Footnotes:
[1] http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15464b.htm,
accessed 06/11/2010
[2] Shakespeare, Romeo and
Juliet, Act I, Scene 3.
[3] http://www.faqs.org/childhood/A-Ar/Age-of-Consent.html,
accessed 06/15/2010
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_consent,
accessed 06/11/2010
Yusha
Evans
Source:
http://yushaevans.com