Prophet Muhammad's (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) Marriage to Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her)
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Response 1
Historically the age of consent has been much lower than it's been over the last century. The ANCESTORS of native Brits married girls as young as 10 years old, which was acceptable even in the 16th century (even 9 years old in the 17th century in the American colonies). These were a thousand years after Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) died.
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It’s surprising that after all the paedophile scandals in the UK, for example the singer Ian Watkin's attempted rape of a baby, mums sexually abusing their own children, Jimmy Savile, the Guernsey and North Wales child sexual abuse scandals, the sexual abuse of young boys by senior politicians and the shocking and shameful fact that 1 in 20 children in the UK have been sexually abused with over 90% by someone they knew (Radford, L. et al (2011) from NSPCC), that many Brits don’t feel ashamed to bring up the issue of a man in the 7th century consummating his MARRIAGE to a POST PUBESCENT girl (she wasn't 6 years old). Even with all the power that the Prophet had he only married ONE virgin (who had reached puberty) and ALL of his other wives were either divorcees or widows, some even 35 to 40 years old. It’s unfair to judge people in the past by today’s standards when their situation was so different to ours and they had short life expectancies.
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Michael H. Hart placed him FIRST in the ‘100 Most Influential Persons in History’ list: TWICE, and described him as, “Active as a SOCIAL REFORMER, diplomat, merchant, philosopher, orator, legislator, military leader, HUMANITARIAN, PHILANTHROPIST.” He regarded Prophet Muhammad’s reforms, giving rights to the poor, needy, women and baby girls (who used to be buried alive before he made it unlawful) very highly, especially considering that until only a few hundred years ago women in the UK were being burnt at the stake if they were suspected of being witches and children only until the last century were still being used as chimney sweeps!
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Aishah's jealousy of her (the Prophet's first wife Khadijah) was so intense that she once said in a fury, "What makes you remember one of the old women of the Quraysh with a toothless mouth of red gums who died long ago, and in whose place Allah has given you someone better than her?" The Prophet's face changed at this and he replied, "No, by Allah, Allah has not given me a better one in her place. She believed me when people belied me. She consoled me with her money when people deprived me, and from her alone I had children."
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Response 2
It is wrong to have sex with children but for most of human history sex with post pubescent females was acceptable as they were no longer considered children. If you read till the end it seems as if even the Home Office have suggested lowering the age of consent to the age of puberty again.
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Professor Richard Wortley and Professor Stephen Smallbone: "In Medieval and early modern European societies, the age of marriage remained low, with documented cases of brides as young as seven years, although marriages were typically not consummated until the girl reached puberty (Bullough 2004)...At the start of the nineteenth century in England, it was legal to have sex with a 10 year-old girl.”
From 'Age of Consent Laws' by Stephen Robertson: "...The 1860 Indian Penal Code set the age at 10 years; in 1891 the age of consent but not the age of marriage was raised to 12 years. As a result, the age of consent regulated the consummation of marriage, ensuring that it was delayed until an age when Indian girls were considered likely to have begun menstruating."
"A furious debate preceded the enactment of the 1891 law, focused in large part on whether the law violated the commitment the British government had made in 1857 not to interfere in native cultures. That Indian law set the age lower than British law reflected ideas that non-white races "matured earlier," in part because of the environments in which they originated. In the U.S., those who opposed resetting the age of consent to 16 made similar arguments about African-Americans, Mexicans, and Italian immigrants. Australian legislators even claimed that white girls living in sub-tropical climates "ripened" into women earlier than those in Europe."
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The legacy of 1885: girls and the age of sexual consent Victoria Bates | 08 September 2015 (History and Policy): "In July 2014 the Guardian cited a Home Office report that recommended lowering the age of consent in line with lower ages of puberty. The report suggested that ‘sexual behaviour with a girl over the age of 13 (the average age of puberty) is not criminal, provided that she was clearly as aware of what she was doing and its implication as might be expected of a girl of 16’. Although this report - Sexual Offences, Consent and Sentencing – was written in 1979, and is bound up with number of concerns about the influence of Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) at this time, the idea that a lower age of puberty should lead to changes in sexual consent law still lingers."
"Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell recently called in The Huffington Post for a re-examination of the consent question, arguing that ‘[t]he existing consent at 16 law was introduced over 100 years ago in a puritanical Victorian era. Since then, society has moved on to more informed and enlightened attitudes about sex. Most importantly, the average age of puberty and sexual arousal has fallen dramatically to around ten to 11. In the light of new evidence, the issue should be revisited and re-examined.’"
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Response 3
Islam allows sex (through marriage) with post pubescent females who WANT to be sexually active with THEIR CONSENT and in the case of virgins also with the consent of their guardian, who is in a better position to understand whether the female is not only sexually mature but also emotionally mature and able to handle the responsibilities that come with marriage.
Post pubescent males and females in the past and across different cultures were more mature and able to take on greater responsibilities than post pubescent males and females now, who, in the West at least, are sexually mature and want to be sexually active at even 10/11 years old but cannot handle the responsibilities that come with that.
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Under Shariah Law post pubescent females who want to be sexually active are protected first by their guardian (usually their father if he is an adult of sound mind) as he can forbid the marriage. If there is no father, then the grandfather is the guardian. If there is no grandfather then her brothers are her guardians and if there are none then the role passes to those who come next, namely the paternal uncles. If there are no paternal uncles then it passes to the sons of the paternal uncles (cousins). If none of these guardians are present, then the shar’i judge can act as her guardian.
The consent of a guardian is necessary when the post pubescent female is a virgin as she may be naive and easily deceived by someone whose intentions towards her are not honourable. Hence, post pubescent virgins who want to be sexually active can only do so within marriage and with the consent of their guardian. Sexual activity with a post pubescent female without her consent is UNLAWUL and under Shariah Law she can take the case to a Shariah judge. Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) married ONE VIRGIN (Aishah) who had reached PUBERTY with her consent and the consent of her guardian and ALL of his other 8 wives were divorcees or widows. He had the power to marry every virgin under his rule but he didn't.
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Response 4
Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her) was married to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) at the age of twenty nine after her first husband Abdullah ibn Abdul Asad died from the wounds he received while fighting at the battle of Uhud. When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) himself asked for her hand in marriage she replied, "O Messenger of Allah, I have three main characteristics: I am a woman who is extremely jealous and I am afraid that you will see something in me that will make you angry and cause Allah to punish me; I am a woman who is already advanced in age; and I am a woman who has many children."
"As for your jealousy," answered the Prophet, "I pray to Allah the Almighty to take it away from you. As for your age, I am older than you. As for your many children, they belong to Allah and His Messenger."
Please note that Umm Salama at the age of 29 years considered herself OLD. If women in their 30s today didn’t have all the latest cosmetics and gadgets to keep looking younger as well as electrical appliances to do a lot of the really physical household chores for them, then wouldn't they too be considered old?
Having children born with disabilities also increases with age and women in the past didn’t have the latest technology to detect these early on in pregnancy, hence women married younger. According to the NHS the age of a woman when she becomes pregnant (the maternal age) is the only clear factor to be identified as increasing the chance of having a baby with Down's Syndrome. For example, a woman who is:
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25 years of age has a risk of 1 in 1,250
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30 years of age has a risk of 1 in 1,000
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35 years of age has a risk of 1 in 400
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40 years of age has a risk of 1 in 100
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45 years of age has a risk of 1 in 30
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Umm Hafab
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