The Story of Muhammad and Aisha
Muhammad, His Child Bride, and the Implications of His Marriage to a Prepubescent Girl
Muhammad’s most (in)famous marriage was the one with Aisha. Is is sobering to to reflect on the circumstances of his marriage to her, and on what this tells us about his character and the claim that his life provides us with a ‘beautiful pattern of conduct’ (Qur’an 33:21)
Orthodox Islamic sources are unanimous on two basic facts surrounding Muhammad’s marriage to Aisha:
He married her when she was only six years old.
He consummated the marriage when she was nine, before she even had her first period.
Many Muslims are very uncomfortable with these facts and often try to claim that we should not evaluate Muhammad’s conduct in this case (which would land him in very deep legal trouble in the vast majority of the nations of the world) according to modern standards but by the standards of the Arabian Desert. In response to this, we can say that even in ancient times, most cultures would have frowned on six-year-olds entering into marriage, and on sex with nine-year-olds.
It is, furthermore, the case that we are told that Muhammad is supposed to be an ‘excellent example’ for everyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day. This statement is not limited to the Arabian Desert of the 7th century. We should, therefore, be able to follow Muhammad’s example anywhere in the world and at all times. The problem is that this part of his example will get anyone who tries to emulate him into very serious trouble, and rightly so.
Another way that some Muslims try to explain Muhammad’s behavior towards Aisha is to claim that she was not nine at all and that the marriage was between consenting adults. In doing so, they go against the clear testimony of all the Islamic sources dealing with this episode in the life of Muhammad. The sources differ about several details, but they are all unanimous on the age of Aisha when the marriage began. Here are just a few of the sound Hadiths that deal with this issue:
"Narrated Aisha: The prophet engaged me when I was a girl of six. We went to Medina and stayed at the home of Harith Kharzraj. 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 all right, 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 messenger 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 5:58:234)
"Narrated Aisha that the prophet wrote the marriage contract with her when she was six years old, and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old. Hisham said: "I have been informed that Aisha remained with the prophet for nine years (i.e., till his death)." (Sahih Bukhari 7:65)
Aisha reported: Allah’s Messenger married me when I was six years old, and I was admitted to his house at the age of nine (Sahih Muslim 2:3309)
"Aisha said, "The Apostle of Allah married me when I was seven years old." (The narrator Sulaiman said: "Or six years."). "He had intercourse with me when I was 9 years old." (Sunan Abu Dawud 2:2116)
The traditions listed above (and there are many more exactly like this) should make it clear that those who want to argue that Aisha was much older when Muhammad had intercourse with her do so not based on textual evidence, but because they feel deeply embarrassed by their prophet’s conduct in this matter.
It should be noted that there are, in addition to the clear statements about her age, also plenty of pieces of circumstantial evidence pointing to the fact that Aisha was just a little girl when Muhammad consummated his marriage with her.
It is evident that being removed from the house of her parents to live with the ‘prophet’ was deeply emotionally disturbing to Aisha, as would be expected from a child of six years of age. Aisha states that after the prophet took her: “…I got ill and my hair fell out” (Sahih Bukhari 5:58:234). This is almost certainly an indication of the extreme stress that she was subjected to, by being removed from her family home in this way. In short, this, is not the kind of reaction that you would normally expect from a grown woman who eagerly left her family to get married.
There are, furthermore, many sound Hadiths that state that Aisha was playing with her dolls in Muhammad’s house. For example: “I used to play with the dolls in the presence of the Prophet, and my girlfriends also used to play with me. When Allah's Apostle used to enter (my dwelling place) they used to hide themselves, but the Prophet would call them to join and play with me. (The playing with the dolls and similar images is forbidden, but it was allowed for 'Aisha at that time, as she was a little girl, not yet reached the age of puberty.) (Sahih Bukhari 8:73:151; Fateh-al-Bari page 143, Vol.13).
Also note that in the Hadiths quoted above Aisha states that she was sitting on a swing when Muhammad came to get her to consummate the marriage. Those who would like to claim that she was actually much older than the nine years listed in all the orthodox sources describing this event will have to explain why a grown woman would engage in acts so deeply associated with childhood as playing with dolls and sitting on swings!
The only possible conclusion that we can come to is that Muhammad had sex with a very young child. Aisha affirms this herself in a host of sound hadiths. A wide range of Muslim scholars throughout the ages affirmed this fact.
Disturbing as the details of these events are, their consequences are possibly even worse for young girls in the Muslim world. You see, the Qur’an contains a passage (Qur’an 65:4) regulating divorce from pre-pubescent girls. It is clear from the passage that the assumption is that such marriages would have been consummated. It seems that Muhammad received yet another ‘convenient revelation’ to allow this. He clearly attempted to cover his tracks by once again making sure that the Qur’an contained a provision to sanction exactly the kind of behavior that he was engaging in.
The horrific consequences of Muhammad’s example, and the resulting Qur’anic verse, on the lives of young girls would be impossible to quantify. Wherever Islamic law gains the upper hand there are immediate efforts to lower the age of consent to ridiculously low levels. This is both to ‘honor’ Qur’anic teaching, and to ensure that there is not a law on the books that would have incriminated the ‘prophet’ had it been in force during his times.
Hopefully we can all agree that Muhammad was anything but a ‘perfect example’ in this instance. Muslims will have to decide what they do with this information. It will not do at all to blame those non-Muslims who point out these parts of the Islamic tradition, and to accuse them of fabricating spurious charges against Muhammad. Everything said in this article rests on impeccable Islamic sources. Muslims will have to come to terms with the fact that their prophet is presented to them in this manner and then decide if this is indeed an example worth following.
For much more on some of the disturbing teachings and events in the Islamic traditions please see my book ‘Questioning Islam - Tough Questions and Honest Answers About the Muslim Religion’.
Kind regards,
Peter
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