The Islamic religion recommends early marriage -- girls under 9 years old are best!
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a good, healthy piece of advice. It enables the mature
young man who can afford it to marry the girl of his dreams and settle
down in his life's journey in a healthy manner. The Bible
similarly advises young people that, it is better to marry than to
burn in any case!
But Islam here goes beyond merely advising people to marry early. It
makes it legal and proper to entertain the marriage of
minors. This was something alien to most Arabian tribes for they did
not allow young girls to be married off. The parents
normally had to wait until the girl matured into a woman before
accepting offers of marriage.
At the beginning of Islam we find clear instances of the practice of
teen marriage. For instance, Muhammad gave his twelve year
old daughter, Fatima in marriage to his cousin Ali bin Abu Taleb. It
is true she was capable and quite mature mentally; it was
said she would be reading the Koran with one hand while grinding
barley with the other! Still her age would place her in the
category of a minor or a child, approaching adolescence.
And if Fatima was so mature, this was not the case with Aiysha,
daughter of Abu Bakr As Siddiq who was a close friend of the
Prophet and in charge of his books. When he offered her as a
legitimate wife to Muhammad she was only eight years old. He
added, jokingly "She is eight but dependable!" (Ar. Hia thaman, wa
alaihad dhaman). Yet there was another problem; it comes
as a great shock to learn that the Prophet was fifty three years old
when he married Aiysha - an age difference between them of
forty five years!!
But Muhammad was insistent on that marriage with Aiysha; he even had
planned it years before. He used to play with her and
sit her on his lap and play games with her when she was only five
years old. As soon as she was eight he could no longer wait
and married her...
And here my Muslim brother and sister I would like to ask you this
question: "Would you give your daughter in marriage to a
man the age of her grandfather?... even if she were your ugliest and
least lovable child?? Would you give away your daughter to
a man, whoever he be while she is still a child in her mother's lap?
Would you give your daughter in marriage at a time when, in
all good conscience you knew she was still too young to know what
marriage was about?. Be realistic and think with me; don't
you feel that such an act would be a crime, deserving of punishment
from God and man? I don't know your view but I, myself
see it as a great crime...
In the case of Aiysha she was still a young child, immature and
obviously ignorant of married life. To illustrate this; one evening
the Prophet was in deep conversation with Abu Bakr when Aiysha stepped
into the room. As Muhammad continued and was
long winded, she grew bored and interrupted him with the words: "be
brief." At which her father slapped her on the mouth,
causing it to bleed. The Prophet, we are told was most unhappy... This
shows that Aiysha was still a child, petted by
Muhammad. He well knew that she was immature. Therefore he overlooked
her interruption. He also permitted her to argue for
she was, among his wives the one closest to his heart. How he deserted
her though, before she was eighteen and went his way
is hard to understand. Not only that but he forbade her and his other
ex-wives from marriage all their lives. History does not tell
us much of what befell her afterwards except that we know Aiysha
stirred up many divisions among Muslims after the Prophet's
death and her father had ceased to be Caliph. She did not completely
see eye to eye with the new Caliph Ali ibn Abu Talib,
Muhammad's cousin.
I myself will never forget a terrible incident which happened to my
Muslim friend's sister there in the southern part of our
homeland. My friend had a sister who was thirteen years old. Since
they lived under a strict Islamic tribal code it was decided to
stop her schooling and marry her off because her breasts began
developing. When they searched for a youth to marry her they
were unsuccessful; no one seemed interested. Then a man came forward
and proposed marriage although he was forty five
years old, a husband of two wives and had seven grandchildren. After
consulting the sheikh, who held God's book in his hand,
she was married according to the Koran. On the night of the
consummation of the wedding the child was shocked to discover
that it was not a mere game as she had been made to believe by her
mother and aunts ... This grown man wanted from her what
she could not comprehend, let alone understand. To prove his
masculinity the man forcibly raped her. The result was that the girl
died that same night! I can still picture my friend's tears streaming
down his face as he related to me this tragedy. I found it
heart-breaking and do, even to this day whenever I remember her story.
I carry within me the indescribable hope that the day
will come when God will open a wide gap and illuminate the minds and
remove from all hearts the veil so that he can reach all
mankind with the sunshine of his love.