age of marriage in greece
in the ancient greek civilization, the time to marry was at the onset of puberty:
flacelière (59) also mentioned that girls could marry as soon as puberty hit.
(daily life in greeceat the time of pericles, http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0075-
4269(1966)86%3c250%3adligat%3e2.0.co%3b2-w , http://www.richeast.org/htwm/greeks/marriage/marriage.html )
womenintheancientworld.com says:
athenian men married out of a sense of civic duty and put off the fateful day until the age of 30 or more, at which time they married girls of half their age whose youth made them more easily controlled.
(womanintheancientworld.com, http://www.womenintheancientworld.com/women%20in%20ancient%20egypt.htm)
age of marriage in christian europe
in an article about medieval times, molloycollege’s website says:
women were marriageable right after puberty, marriage arrangements were made while they were in infancy; they were wed at the age of twelve or fourteen to men in their twenties or thirties.
(molloycollege, http://www.molloy.edu/sophia/med_ren/med_text.htm)
puberty was linked to virginity, a highly sought after quality. we read in judith m.
bennet’s book singlewomen in the european past:
as anthony molho persuasively illustrates, the cultural imperative to marry young women soon after they reached sexual maturity even prompted many florentine fathers to falsify their daughters' ages to give them more time to negotiate a favorable marriage.
(singlewomen in the european past, p.44, http://books.google.com/books?id=l6ynq4uuvz0c&pg=pa44&lpg=pa44&dq=
nobility+married+early&source=web&ots=k6cd_rpnnc&sig=rug6zifredsm fakkjpiboksd2ki)
the history at minnesotawebsite indicates that the average age of marriage just 500
years ago was only 12.7 (http://www.hist.umn.edu/~rmccaa/nahuaen3/outline.htm)
this is an average, meaning that many girls were getting married much younger than that. why then are the christians up in arms about prophet muhammad (peace be upon him) who married aisha (peace be upon her) more than 1,400 years ago?
Historical Age of Marriage in Non-Western Countries
age of marriage in egypt
in the article “marriage in ancient egypt”, we read:
marriage contracts do not generally tell the age of the parties, but we know from other documents that marriage almost always occurred after sexual adulthood.
the average age for girls to enter puberty was 12 to 13, and around 14 for boys…
we find documentation of brides being as young as 8… it was not all together uncommon for older men who had usually lost their wife to either death or divorce to marry very young "women". qenherkhepeshef, a scribe from deir el medina for example married a 12 year old girl when he was 54.
(touregypt.com, http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/marriage.htm)
age of marriage in india
jack goody is a fellow of st. john’s college in cambridge. in his book the oriental, the ancient, and the primitive, we find that girls were married off very early in indian households:
srinivas writes of the days in india when ‘pre-pubertal weddings were the rule’
(1984:11): a girl had to be married ‘before she came of age.’ the father of a girl was obliged by hindu law and by custom of the country to marry her before she attained puberty, though cohabitation was often delayed, an average of three years…
(the oriental, the ancient, and the primitive, p.208.
http://books.google.com/books?id=czqrmzo956qc&pg=pa207&lpg=pa207
&dq=age+of+marriage+ancient+japan&source=web&ots=5wgazdlo6f&sig=rvr toggfs6yteb0rks251bg-_k4#ppp1,m1)
and it is well-known that such early marriages remain prevalent in india today.
age of marriage in russia
in russia, girls were being married off during childhood just some one hundred years ago. we read:
demause (1990)[8] pointed to “child marriage [being] widespread in russia well into the nineteenth century.”
(g.u.s.: world atlas, http://www2.huberlin.
de/sexology/gesund/archiv/gus/russia.htm#_toc82813007)
age of marriage in china
in pre-industrial china, girls were married around the age of puberty, or even before the onset of puberty. we read:
prepubertal betrothal / marriage
in the period till 771 bc, menarche indicated marriageable age…in 1855, huc[10] commented that “[n]othing is more common than to arrange a marriage during the infancies of the parties, or even before their birth”… according to fei (1939:p40)[14], arrangements for marriage were made at age six or seven… the usual age for affiancing children [i.e. betrothal] was between seven and fourteen (baber, 1934:p134)[15]. for an elaborate description of the custom of infant betrothal as practised before 1911 in the conservative i-ch’ang districts, see hanyi and shryock (1950)[16]… most lolo groups marry at puberty, although “some lolos marry quite early, even at the age of four to five years” (siang-
feng ko, 1949:p491-2)[22], or are betrothed as infants (lebar et al., 1964). in general, “the age of puberty is a major juncture for youngsters of all nationalities. however, many of the minority nationalities [of china] encourage the marriage of their children before they mature, and thus follow the footsteps of the older generations”[23].
…among the turn-of-the-century taiwanese, the practice of minor marriage combined with a highly competitive marriage market drove the age of the brides downward, below puberty (ying-chang and wolf, 1995:p793)[24]
(g.u.s.: world atlas, http://www2.huberlin.
de/sexology/gesund/archiv/gus/china.htm#_toc85469111)
age of marriage in mongolia
the ancient mongols married off their daughters at a very young age. even today, it is very common to see mongol girls being wedded at the age of four or five years of age:
among the ordos mongols, children are sometimes betrothed even before birth.
this custom, called eŭndege in swie (“match-making before birth”), is thought by the mongols to be of very nacient origin. […] the actual age of marriage today [1938] varies a great deal, from four or five years to sixteen or seventeen, the average or ordinary age being fifteen (p66).
(g.u.s.: a world atlas, http://www2.huberlin.de/sexology/gesund/archiv/gus/mongolia.htm)
age of marriage in australia
the traditional aborigines similarly married their daughters off during childhood:
in traditional aboriginal society marriages are significant to the forging of alliances, and often betrothal arrangements are made when the prospective bride is very young, or possibly even unborn. a man may not marry until he has undergone a significant part of the lengthy initiation process: thus, at marriage a man will be in his twenties or even thirties. often a man’s first wife is the widow of an older man, and his subsequent wives may be much younger…
among yuwaaliyaay people, […] infant betrothal appears to have been the norm”[28]. among the aborigines of the wheelman tribe a baby girl is betrothed to a youth or man; he “grows” her, or supports her growing up (hassell, 1936:p682)[29]…calvert[32] mentions that “[…] a female child is betrothed, in her infancy, to some native of another family, necessarily very many years older than herself. he watches over her jealously, and she goes to live with him as soon as she feels inclined”.
spencer and giller ([1927, ii:p469-70) also mention betrothal of aranda girls “many years before the is born”. radcliffe-brown (1913:p184)[33] states that “marriages are arranged before children are born”. provis writes in taplin (1879:p93) of the streaky bay south aborigines that there can sometimes be seen “the incongruous spectacle of a little child betrothed to a grown man. the girl is called his kur-det-thi (future wife). they sleep together, but no sexual intercourse takes place till the girl arrives at the age of puberty”.
schürmann writes in woods (1879:p222)[34] of the port lincoln tribe that “long before a young girl arrives at maturity, she is affianced by her parents, to some friend of theirs, no matter whether young or old, married or single”. howitt (1904:p197) for the wolgal tribe reports that “a girl is promised as a mere child to some man of the proper class, he being then perhaps middle aged or even old”.
betrothal occurred when “quite young”, states bonney (1884:p129)[35]. child betrothal and marriage is noted for arnhemland (webb, 1944:p65)[36]. “a child a year old will sometimes be betrothed to an old man, and it will be his duty to protect and feed her, and (unless she is stolen by some one else) when she is old enough she becomes his wife…the yolngu practiced prenatal betrothal (money and erhhardt, 1973 / 1996:p142)[43], and, together with eventual siblings, join the husband at menarche, at age 12 or 13.
(g.u.s.: a world atlas, http://www2.huberlin.
de/sexology/gesund/archiv/gus/aboriginalaustralia.htm #_toc82729383)
age of marriage amongst native americans
the practice of marrying girls at a young age was prevalent amongst native american populations as well, as we read in an article entitled “living arrangements among native american elders”:
marriage was considered essential among all navajos with polygamy, divorce, levirate and sorarate being practiced. marriages were traditionally not based on romance but were arranged with the girls being married soon after puberty.
(living arrangements among native american elders, http://www.pop.psu.edu/general/pubs/working_papers/psu-pri/wp9605.pdf.)
we read further:
a delaware native american girl who reached puberty may have had her [marriage] union prearranged by her parents.
(weddingdetails.com, http://www.weddingdetails.com/lore/native.cfm)
the first menstrual cycle was seen by the native americans as the coming of age, and after a ceremony, the young girl was ready for marriage:
this following are accounts for the coming of age rituals of first young women followed by that of the young men. the first occurred when the girl had her first menstrual cycle… when this celebration [i.e. the coming of age] was complete, joy of being accepted as a woman remained with the young girl as well as five vertical red and black stripes painted onto her cheek. these strips would be eventually removed and when the last of them was gone the young girl would be ready for marriage.
(native americans, http://edf3.gallaudet.edu/diversity/bgg/ritesofpassage/native_american.htm)
the aztecs married their daughters off “well before the age of puberty”:
“most [aztec] girls were married (cohabiting) well before the age of puberty”
(mccaa, 2003)[3]. girls among the ancient aztec (nahua) married before age 15, and in many cases before 12 (mccaa, 1997; cf. 1996, 1994)[4]: “children became adults upon marriage, and most children above the age of 10 years were married (or widowed, separated or abandoned)”. females married very young, according to the narrative evidence from the book of tributes (cline, 1993:p31-2)[5]. quantitative analysis of these data places the average for females below the age of thirteen (g.u.s.: a world atlas, http://www2.huberlin.de/sexology/gesund/archiv/gus/aztec.htm)
the various south american tribes practiced early marriage, and this practice continued well into the 1500s.
it is sometimes referred to as a “rearing marriage”, i.e. the husband raises his wife from childhood. we read:
sumner (1906:p382) [29] cited reports that of child marriage where “girls of ten are mothers”[30]. child betrothal is reported among the guaraní of the paraná
river. “in some cases little girls were given to grown men, who lived with their child wives, probably in the house of their future parents-in-law” (métraux, 1948)[31]. child betrothal is also reported among the cainguá, but the girls were said to remain with their parents, who receive presents from their prospective sons-in-law (ibid.)…
for the samaraka, “[i]n the past, girls were formally betrothed (kiia) well before puberty, and “betrothal in the womb” was an accepted practice, while today mean age at betrothal is only a year or two below age at marriage and child betrothal is unknown” (price, 1975)[33]. among the warao, “[t]here were boys who were betrothed to little girls who had not yet reached puberty” (heinen, [1988])[34]. among the brazilian yanomamo, “[p]arents may also betroth their children while they are still infants” (early & peters, 1990)[35]. among the cuna, the premarital four-day debut ceremony is even sometimes given before puberty in the parents’ zeal to insure their daughter’s having it (stout, 1947:p34). as for the asang, “[a] girl at a very early age, between eight and nine, is betrothed to a young man, who at once takes up residence in the house of her parents, whom he assists until […] [she] is old enough to be married, when, without ceremony, they are recognized as man and wife (pim and seeman, 1869:p306-7)[36]…
the aikaná practiced betrothal in childhood, marriage took place after menarche (becker-donner, ?:p280)[38]. the same was formerly so in the makurap (p290).
the bororo practised rearing marriage (levak, 1973:p77-8)[39].
(g.u.s.: a world atlas, http://www2.huberlin.
de/sexology/gesund/archiv/gus/southamerica.htm)
age of marriage in africa
amongst the various tribes of africa, we find that the practice of marrying off girls at the age of puberty and even before that was very common.
rohlfs reported mothers of ten or twelve at fesan (cited by sumner, 1906:p382)[156]. the akan custom of “asiwa”[157] (infant betrothal) had almost become the principal form of getting married until it was abolished, in 1918, by the okyeman council[158]…
among the fanti, children could be betrothed before they were mature. the masai practiced fetal and infant betrothal. infant betrothal was further said to be practiced by the azande, and mbuti. childhood betrothal was practised among the dogon. yao girls would be betrothed as infants or small children. betrothal before birth or in early infancy was usual among the kuranko. among the ewe, children would be betrothed in childhood or before birth. among the tshi-speaking people, a girl was publicly advertised for marriage at puberty (age 11-12) by being paraded through the streets decked out in ornaments. lateral betrothals frequently took place before puberty and sometimes before birth.
among the yoruba-speaking peoples, girls of better class were almost always betrothed when children, frequently when infants, the husband in futuro being sometimes an adult, sometimes a boy. among the konkomba, a girl was betrothed to a man of more than twenty years of age, sometimes to an elder who may give her away for marriage.
among the ethiopean galla, marriages were often arranged by betrothal at a very young age. in the uganda protectorate, “[a]t any stage of its infant life a child may be betrothed to some other infant or to one many years older than itself”.
among the somali, infant betrothal may have been common in the past. among the mambwe / amambwe (zambia), betrothal was common in childhood. among the yahgan, little girls were betrothed to adult men; sometimes parents agree to unions between little boys and girls. the ila child was sometimes betrothed at age four, or even earlier. among the mouktélé (northern cameroon), children were betrothed in infancy, somewhere around age six. among the bangwa (western cameroon), a baby was betrothed at birth, or in infancy. among the bali (western cameroon), betrothal, but not marriage, of children could take place before menarche or puberty.
the fang were sometimes married before birth. koalib girls were betrothed at eight or nine years of age, and at twelve or thirteen the marriage was consummated. nuba men begin courting at age twenty and generally get betrothed to a girl child. among the azande, infant betrothal was the rule. as for the tshidi barolong (south africa), infant betrothal is practiced. among the nomadic fulani children were betrothed at ages seven to ten in the case of girls, and from three to ten in the case of boys. the shuwalbe fulani practiced infant betrothal between boy and girl. infant betrothal and adoption marriage among the mbaise igbo.
traditionally, betrothal in infancy or childhood was customary in benin kingdom and among the northern edo. in case of the igbira of northern nigeria, betrothal often took place in childhood. among the igala, betrothal could occur at age four to five. among the utonkon-effium orri, betrothal of girls occurred at birth. among the luo, child betrothal or marriage could take place. childhood betrothal was noted for the shambala. the nkundo girl could be betrothed in infancy. in tanzania, immature girls could also be betrothed, but infant betrothal occurred only in mock fashion…
among the african marutze, the children “are often affianced at an early age, and the marriage is consummated as soon as the girl arrives at maturity[162]. the negroes of the gold coast, according to bosman, often arranged for the marriage of infants directly after birth[163]; whilst among the bushmans, bechuanas, and ashantees, children are engaged when they are still in the womb, in the event of their proving to be girls[164]…
in ethiopia, marriage occurs between age 12 and 15. hausa women were married just before puberty (villages) or after (rural dwellers), to adolescents some seven years older. a tuareg girl may have been married by age seven or eight. fang children were sometimes married before birth. in pre-1900 nubia, girls were married at the age of from eight to ten years. g/wi girls were married at age 7-9, boys at about 14-15. among the kung, eight and nine-year-old brides would be married to teenaged husbands. bela would have been married before puberty. among the kabyles, a father could marry his daughter before she has reached puberty. among the igala (northern nigeria), the marriageable age was eight to ten for girls…
today[167], “very little country data exist about marriages under the age of 14, even less about those below age 10”. in ethiopia and in parts of west africa, marriage at age seven or eight is not uncommon. in kebbi state, northern nigeria, the average age of marriage for girls is just over 11 years, against a national average of 17[168]. a 1991 un population cart indicates legal ages of marriage of 9 in morocco (males, with parental consent, compared to 21 for females) and 6 for ghana (both sexes, with or without consent)[169].
(g.u.s.: a world atlas, http://www2.huberlin.
de/sexology/gesund/archiv/gus/africa.htm#_toc86519743)
in many parts of africa, girls continue to get married upon the commencement of puberty. unicef recently surveyed six african countries:
a recent study by unicef in six western african countries showed that 44 per cent of 20-24 year old women in niger were married under the age of 15. the need to follow tradition, reinforce ties among or between communities, and protect girls from out-of-wedlock pregnancy were the main reasons given.
(unicef, http://www.unicef-icdc.org/publications/pdf/digest7e.pdf)
Age of Marriage Under Hindu Law
due to the situation in kashmir, many hindus harbor ill will towards muslims. as a consequence, some of them attack prophet muhammad (peace be upon him) by accusing him of being a pedophile. yet, a quick look at the hindu religious texts is enough to refute them. in the hindu religious scripture known as the manu-smriti, we read:
gautama (18-21).— a girl should be given in marriage before puberty.
vashistha (17.70).— out of fear of the appearance of the menses, let the father marry his daughter while she still runs about naked. for if she stays in the home after the age of puberty, sin falls on the father.
bodhayana (4.1.11).— let him give his daughter, while she still goes about naked, to a man who has not broken the vow of chastity and who possesses good qualities, or even to one destitute of good qualities ; let him not keep the maiden in his house after she has reached the age of puberty.
(manu ix, 88; http://www.payer.de/dharmashastra/dharmash083.htm)
in an article entitled “child marriage in nepal”, we read:
in the ancient hindu scriptures of 400 to 100 bc, there are strict moral laws that enjoin the father to marry off his daughter at a very young age. these religious texts indicate that the best age for a girl to get married is between is 8 and 10.
it has been also mentioned that a girl should not wait for marriage more than three years after attaining puberty, and if she is not given by then in marriage by her father, the texts even instruct her to get married on her own. such religious texts (the bishnu sutra and gautam sutra) direct the father to marry his daughter within three weeks of attaining puberty, and no later.
by 200 bc, the rules for a daughter's marriage seems to have become even more strict.
the religious texts of that time contain strict moral laws that enjoined the father to marry off his daughter before she reaches puberty. sage manu of that age has categorically written in his treatise, manu smriti, that if a girl remains unmarried after reaching the puberty, the father has failed in his duty towards her.
similarly, another sage, parasara, said that the parents or guardians of a girl in who reaches puberty before marriage will definitely go to hell. such rules imposed by the "holy ones" had their effect upon the religious population, and the practice of child marriage was firmly established by 200 bc.
(child marriage in nepal, http://www.cwin.org.np/resources/issues/child_marriage.htm)
the encyclopedia of religion and ethics says:
[it was considered] sinful on the part of the [hindu] father to allow his daughter to attain puberty without being married and the girl herself fell to the condition of a sudra [i.e. low caste], marriage with whom involved degradation on the part of the husband…the smrti of manu fixes the age of husband and wife at 30 and 12 or 24 and 8 respectively; the later work of brhaspati and the didactic portion of the mahabharata give the wife’s age in these cases as 10 and 7 respectively, while yet later texts give 4 to 6 as the lower and 8 as the upper limit. there is abundant evidence that these dates were not merely theoretical.
(encyclopedia of religion and ethics, p.450, http://books.google.com/books?id=inji4fgelpyc&pg=pa523&lpg=pa523&dq =manu+ix+a+girl+should+be+given+in+marriage+before+puberty&source=web &ots=7wp3uyxj9v&sig=hn-o7gg0ya_0qtuwcveujgpqg_y#ppa522,m1)
the encyclopedia of religion and ethics says further:
we find the rule, almost universally valid in the smritis, according to which the nagnika, i.e. a girl going naked and yet immature, is the best (wife). [6] ....manu shortly afterwards (ix. 94) lays down that a man of thirty years shall marry a girl of twelve, and a man of twenty-four a girl of eight years...in baudhayana [1] it is 58
stated: "to a virtuous, pure husband the girl should be given while she is still immature; even from an unworthy man she should not be withheld if she has attained womanhood."
the strict injunction regarding marriage before the commencement of puberty gains additional force from the fact that disregard of it is represented as accompanied by evil consequences for the father. while manu is content to characterize the father as blameworthy [2] who does not give his daughter in marriage at the proper time, it is stated in vasistha: "for fear of the commencement of puberty, let the father give his daughter in marriage while she is still going about naked. for if she remains at home after the marriageable age, sin falls upon the father." [3]
...observance [of child marriage], at least among the brahmans, became essential and fundamental for orthodox hinduism.
(encyclopedia of religion and ethics, pp.522-523, http://books.google.com/books?id=inji4fgelpyc&pg=pa523&lpg=pa523&dq =manu+ix+a+girl+should+be+given+in+marriage+before+puberty&source=web &ots=7wp3uyxj9v&sig=hn-o7gg0ya_0qtuwcveujgpqg_y#ppa522,m1)
Age of Puberty
range of puberty
i have firmly established the fact that marriage at or around puberty was the norm amongst ancient (and not so ancient) civilizations. yet, perhaps an islamaphobic polemicist might argue that the average age of puberty was twelve years of age, whereas aisha (peace be upon her) was only nine or ten when she moved into prophet muhammad’s house. yet, this argument could is weakened easily. yes, the average may well have been twelve years, but surely the reader should know what the word “average” means! both mean (average) and median indicate values which are in the middle of a range of numbers. therefore, if some girls attain the age of puberty at twelve, then others are having their periods at nine and still others at fifteen.
livescience.com says:
there is a range, and this has been part of the problem of establishing the "normal" age of puberty. girls might enter full-blown puberty anytime between ages 9 and 15.
(livescience.com, http://www.livescience.com/health/070904_bad_puberty.html)
so, girls will go through “full-blown puberty” at various ages, anywhere from between nine and fifteen years of age. healthtouch.com says:
puberty usually starts between ages 8 to 13 in girls (healthtouch.com, http://www.healthtouch.com/bin/econtent_ht/cnoteshowlfts.asp?fname=07103
&title=puberty+in+girls+&cid=hthlth)
even if we look simply at menarche, we can see that the age varies greatly. a medical journal on cambridge.org says:
the variable age at menarche was normally distributed with an age range of 7–24
years.
(cambridge.org, journals.cambridge.org/production/action/cjogetfulltext?fulltextid=10260
herword.com says:
don’t be surprised if your nine-year-old daughter will have her menarche that early.
(herword.com, http://www.herword.com/healthdesk/others/changes10.28.03.html)
range of puberty varies with location
it is well-known that the average age of puberty differs from one population to another and from one race to another. it is therefore likely that while girls living in european countries tend to enter “full blown puberty” at around age twelve, whereas arabian girls living a thousand years ago most likely went through this same process at a much younger age. climate and altitude may affect the average age of puberty. it has been demonstrated in numerous studies that girls living near the equator have menarche earlier than those living farther away from it. some scientists attribute this to the warmer climate, whereas others attribute this to additional factors such as exposure to light.
herword.com says:
there was a study conducted showing that girls who live in countries close to the equator started their menstruation earlier.
(herword.com, http://www.herword.com/healthdesk/others/changes10.28.03.html)
the book women and health psychology says:
many factors have been reported to affect age at menarche and/or the regularity of menstruation—[such as] climate, altitude, race, height, weight, hereditary, stress/psychological factors, light, and nutrition.
(women and health psychology, http://books.google.com/books?id=pk9rgvrvqaec&pg=pa74&lpg=pa74&dq =menarche+climate&source=web&ots=ilfzwgfzeo&sig=8zzxn7dvhzm2hh3
cqtbh9_k-mss#ppp1,m1)
this phenomenon is not limited to menarche, but also applies to the whole of puberty. in the book women: an historical, gynecological, and anthropological compendium, we read:
the average temperature of the country or province is considered the chief factor here, not only with regard to menstruation but as regards the whole of sexual development at puberty.
(herman h. ploss, max bartels and paul bartels; woman: an historical, gynecological, and anthropological compendium, volume i, lord & bransby, 1988, p.563; http://www.biblioz.com/lp25762280577_207.html)
whether or not it is climate, latitude—or some other variable that affects menarche—is a hotly debated (and politicized) topic, but the point is that there are many factors which would contribute to an altered age of puberty. therefore, it is not at all implausible that the average age was much younger in arabia one thousand years ago. there is absolutely no way that anyone can disprove the idea that puberty began much earlier back then, since it is known that the average age fluctuates from one time to the other. in fact, the historical evidence supports our claim that the average age of puberty was much younger during the time of the prophet (peace be upon him).
just within the last one hundred years there has been a dramatic change in the average age of puberty, so one can only imagine the great change that could have taken place within the span of one thousand years! the historical literature does indeed suggest that the average age of puberty was much younger in eastern countries. the cambridge world history of food says:
albrecht von haller (1775), for example, claimed that girls in the southerly regions of asia, where the climate was warm, were marriageable in their eighth year and gave birth in their ninth or tenth year; conversely, women in arctic regions did not menstruate until age 23 or 24. this view was shared by other eighteenth-century writers, most notably j.f. freind (1738), herman boerhaave (1744), and montesquieu (1751).
(the cambridge world history of food, p.1455, http://books.google.com/books?id=tanscn0a3rcc&pg=pa1455&lpg=pa1455&
dq=average+age+of+puberty+climate&source=web&ots=mqwdfab1iy&sig=g64
wj-ppje3b0hrx8kyynrktuvxe#ppa1454,m1)
it is generally accepted that historically girls in eastern civilizations reached puberty before their european counterparts, which was one of the reasons that marriage oftentimes took place a few years earlier in the orient. the southern medical and surgical journal says:
it is allowable to infer that early marriage in oriental countries (which has generally, but without any proof, been ascribed to precocious puberty) ....
(the southern medical and surgical journal, p.41, http://books.google.com/books?id=qpwcaaaayaaj&pg=pa41&lpg=pa41&
dq=russia+puberty+marriage&source=web&ots=8yfafiqxuk&sig=6z4em89hef tlzg_zyjf_ar5ge8s)
in any case, it is altogether unnecessary to prove the point that menstruation occurred earlier in ancient arabia. we could even rely on the normal ranges provided for girls today in europe, and we find that the ranges always include nine, and aisha (peace be upon her) was either nine or ten when she moved into the prophet’s house. we do not need to establish that the average age of puberty back then was nine, but rather we merely need to demonstrate that nine years old was within the normal range of puberty, which it most certainly was and still is.
Age of Puberty in Ancient Arabia
we have provided categorical proof that such early marriages took place in all ancient (and not so ancient) civilizations, including the jewish, christian, hindu, roman, greek, russian, african, native american, mongolian, chinese, indian, egyptian, and australian civilizations, among others. but perhaps the most relevant is the seventh century arabian civilization, so here we shall cite proof that sexual maturity took place very early in the days of the prophet (peace be upon him). ustadh ayman bin khaled cited a number of examples in bassam zawadi’s article, as follows.
imam al-shafi’i said in siyar a’lam al-nubala’ (vol.10, p.91):
during my stay in yemen, i have come across girls at the age of nine whom menstruated…
imam al-bayhaqi also narrated the words of imam shafi’i in sunan al-bayhaqi al-kubra (vol.1, p.319):
i have seen in the city of sana’a a grandmother while she was twenty-one. she menstruated at the age of nine and gave birth at the age of ten.
ibn al-jawzi narrated similar stories from ibn u’qail and u’bad al-mahlby in his tahqeeq fi ahadith al-khilaf (vol.2, p.267). so the fact is that girls were sexually active at the age of nine, and they were turning into grandmothers before most people alive today would have their own children! therefore, because this was the cultural norm back then, no blame can be put on prophet muhammad (peace be upon him). it is unacceptable to judge an ancient figure based on today’s standards; we must judge him based on what was the norm back then.
Age of Marriage Under Islamic Law
Age of Marriage Under Islamic Law
marriage of immature girls in islam
islamic law (shari’ah) allows for a marriage contract (nikah) to be drafted years before the marriage itself is actually enacted. in other words, the marriage contract is drawn up, but the contract is not executed until a later date. so even though the marriage contract can be drafted, the girl will not be “handed over” to the husband until many years afterwards. in other words, a father can marry his immature daughter off to a man before she comes of age, but the husband may not consummate the marriage until after she attains maturity.
under islamic law, there are certain shuroot an-nifaadh (conditions required for the execution of the contract): for consummation of marriage, one of these conditions is that both parties are mature enough for marriage. if this condition is not met, then the marriage contract remains mauqoof (suspended) and has no actual practical effect, i.e. the consummation of marriage is delayed until the girl becomes mature enough for that. in the example of prophet muhammad (peace be upon him) and aisha (peace be upon her), the marriage contract was signed when she was immature, but only took effect until after she attained maturity. this is why aisha (peace be upon her) remained in her father’s house for three years after the marriage contract was drafted.
shaykh salih al-munajjid said:
the fact that it is permissible to marry a young girl does not mean that it is permissible to have intercourse with her; rather that should not be done until she is able for it. for this reason, the prophet (peace and blessings of allaah) delayed the consummation of his marriage to ‘aa’ishah…al-dawoodi said: ‘aa’ishah (may allaah be pleased with her) had reached physical maturity (at the time when her marriage was consummated). [sharh muslim, 9/206]
(source: http://www.islamqa.com/index.php?ref=22442&ln=eng)
islamic legal terminology is what confuses many non-muslims; they hear that abu bakr (peace be upon him) married his daughter aisha (peace be upon her) to prophet
muhammad (peace be upon him) when she was only six or seven years old; at that time, she was an immature girl. however, the marriage was not consummated until years afterwards. therefore, the reality is that the prophet (peace be upon him) was just betrothed to aisha (peace be upon her) when she was an immature girl, but the marriage was only consummated once she became a mature adult.
annulment
under islamic law, there is a concept called khiyar al-buloogh, which means “the option of puberty”. it means that while an immature daughter’s marriage can be arranged by an elder, she has the right to annul the marriage at the age of puberty if she is not compatible with her husband. ustadh ayman bin khaled stated:
[according to] tuhfat al-muhtaj and al–umm…the father has the right to have his daughter—who is pre-pubertal—married without her permission. however, in case this man is incompatible [with her], then she has the right to annul this marriage. [the] hanafi madhab, for example, says she has the choice [to annul the marriage] when she reaches puberty [khiyar al-buloogh].
(ustadh ayman bin khaled, admin of multaqa ahl al-hadeeth)
separation
annulment via khiyar al-buloogh is limited to the age of puberty. however, khula is always an option available to a female of any age, and this is a right given to women in the quran itself. the scholars differ on whether or not khula is a separation [i.e.
revocation of a marriage as if it never happened] or a divorce. maulana muhammad yousaf taibi wrote:
the scholars have also differed on the matter whether khula is a divorce or cancellation of nikah (marriage). but the fact is, whatever name you give it, its commands will remain the same.
