GupShup Forums - View Single Post - T.O. Shanavas' selective quotes, re. Aisha's (r) age

Iqbal1089 · Oct 1st, 2002, 01:39 PM

ahmadjee, thank you for your comments. You've made some useful points. Abdur-Rahman Robert Squires has an important article on this topic which i read some years ago and found quite beneficial. I believe he concurs with some of things you've mentioned. Part of his analysis looks at the fact that "puberty has been the historical, cultural and religious norm for indicating readiness for marriage" and he has some valid things to say about this. You can read the article here:

The Young Marriage of 'Aishah

Do let me know what you think.

The Baker Encyclopaedia of the Bible (2/p.1407) says about Jewish marriage: "Subsequently, minimum ages (for marriage) of 13 for boys and 12 for girls were set." This may allude to the possibility that younger ages were previously permitted. I believe that according to Jewish custom the onset of menarche was at one time (not sure if it is still the case today) an acceptable indication of a girl's maturity. It would be interesting to explore this avenue further. In his super-commentary, Tuhfa al-Ahwadi, on at-Tirmidhi's (d.279H) Sunan hadith collection (which records the young age of Aisha [r]), the scholar al-Mubarakfuri (d.1353H) relates that Aisha (r) said: "When a girl reaches the age of nine, she attains womanhood."

At the time the marriage was arranged, Prophet Muhammad (s) was still in Makkah and the Muslims were living under a constant threat of persecution. If this marriage had been an outrage to the community, it would no doubt have been harmful to his cause, but there is no indication that the marriage was outside the norms of the society in which the Prophet (s) lived.

And Allah knows best.

Iqbal

Note: In his article, Robert Squires says:

"Of the four ahadith in Sahih al-Bukhari, two were narrated from 'Aishah (7:64 and 7:65), one from Abu Hisham (5:236) and one via 'Ursa (7:88)."

In fact, all these references from al-Bukhari have the same chain of transmission, namely, Hisham ibn 'Urwa from his father (Abu Hisham). The mention of 'Ursa is a mistake, it should be 'Urwa not 'Ursa.

Oct 1st, 2002, 01:39 PM	#8 (permalink)
Iqbal1089 Member Join Date: Aug 9, 2002 - 1:00 am Posts: 420	ahmadjee, thank you for your comments. You've made some useful points. Abdur-Rahman Robert Squires has an important article on this topic which i read some years ago and found quite beneficial. I believe he concurs with some of things you've mentioned. Part of his analysis looks at the fact that "puberty has been the historical, cultural and religious norm for indicating readiness for marriage" and he has some valid things to say about this. You can read the article here: The Young Marriage of 'Aishah Do let me know what you think. The Baker Encyclopaedia of the Bible (2/p.1407) says about Jewish marriage: "Subsequently, minimum ages (for marriage) of 13 for boys and 12 for girls were set." This may allude to the possibility that younger ages were previously permitted. I believe that according to Jewish custom the onset of menarche was at one time (not sure if it is still the case today) an acceptable indication of a girl's maturity. It would be interesting to explore this avenue further. In his super-commentary, Tuhfa al-Ahwadi, on at-Tirmidhi's (d.279H) Sunan hadith collection (which records the young age of Aisha [r]), the scholar al-Mubarakfuri (d.1353H) relates that Aisha (r) said: "When a girl reaches the age of nine, she attains womanhood." At the time the marriage was arranged, Prophet Muhammad (s) was still in Makkah and the Muslims were living under a constant threat of persecution. If this marriage had been an outrage to the community, it would no doubt have been harmful to his cause, but there is no indication that the marriage was outside the norms of the society in which the Prophet (s) lived. And Allah knows best. Iqbal Note: In his article, Robert Squires says: "Of the four ahadith in Sahih al-Bukhari, two were narrated from 'Aishah (7:64 and 7:65), one from Abu Hisham (5:236) and one via 'Ursa (7:88)." In fact, all these references from al-Bukhari have the same chain of transmission, namely, Hisham ibn 'Urwa from his father (Abu Hisham). The mention of 'Ursa is a mistake, it should be 'Urwa not 'Ursa.