Source:
Shahih Muslim stated:
Book 008, Number 3311:
'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported that Allah's Apostle (may peace
be upon him) married her when she was seven years old, and he was taken to his
house as a bride when she was nine, and her dolls were with her; and when he
(the Holy Prophet) died she was eighteen years old.
Shahih Bukhari stated:
Volume 7, Book 62, Number 64:
Narrated 'Aisha:
that the Prophet married her when she was six years old and he consummated his
marriage when she was nine years old, and then she remained with him for nine
years (i.e., till his death).
Volume 7, Book 62, Number 65:
Narrated 'Aisha:
that the Prophet married 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)." what
you know of the Quran (by heart)'
My response: A'isha dinikahi umur 7 tahun, dibawanya ke rumah sebagai pengantin (disempurnakan/consummated), then how, what happened after that.....?
No information available to point out when the sexual intercourse among them was happened. Show me if you have, may be i haven't yet....
The first thing that one should be aware of is that Aishah was the third wife of the Prophet(PBUH), not the first. Prior to this, the Prophet's(PBUH) first and only wife for twenty-four years was Khadijah bint al-Khuwaylid, who was about nineteen years older than him. He married Khadijah when she was forty and he was twenty-one and stayed married only to her until her death. Just after Khadijah's death, when he was round forty-six years old, the Prophet(PBUH) married his second wife Sawdah bint Zam'ah. It was after this second marriage that the Prophet(PBUH) became betrothed to Aishah.
It should be noted about the Prophet's(PBUH) marriage to Aishah was an exceedingly happy one for both parties even the marriage was Divinely ordained:
Volume 7, Book 62, Number 15:
Narrated 'Aisha:
Allah's Apostle said (to me), "You have been shown to me twice in (my) dreams.
A man was carrying you in a silken cloth and said to me, 'This is your wife.'
I uncovered it; and behold, it was you. I said to myself, 'If this dream is
from Allah, He will cause it to come true.'
Thus like everything that the Prophet(PBUH) did, there was wisdom behind it and lessons to be learned from it. The wisdom behind such incidents provides us guidance on the basis of human morality, exposes the double standards of misguided hypocrites from other religions that criticize Islam and much more. But more on that subject below. . .
Many other Muslims should no longer be surprised by the double standard that Christians display when they criticize the conduct of Prophet Muhammad(PBUH), since we've heard it for so long. To have an atheist, agnostic - or anyone else who does not believe in a Divinely revealed basis for morality - criticize something that is "politically incorrect" by today's moral standards comes as no surprise. Such people will always find something to criticize, since they simply have a bone to pick with "religion" in general.
While it is true that Christians speak out against the "moral relativity" which is spreading amongst the increasingly secular society today, they too are unconscious victims of it. Their values do not come straight out of the Bible - in theory or in practice - regardless of what they may claim. That Christians today try to take credit for the so-called "Freedom", "Human Rights", "Democracy" and "Women's Rights" in Europe and America is nothing short of a joke.
Keeping in mind the ideas of "political correctness" and "absolute morality", in Biblical times the age at which a girl could marry was puberty. However, during the Middle Ages it was usually twelve years old. Now in most "Christian" countries it is between fourteen and sixteen years old. I live in country where some states allow partners of the same sex to legally marry, but consider an eighteen year old boy who sleeps with a sixteen year old girl a "statutory rapist".
According to Judaism, Christianity and Islam, right and wrong are ordained by Almighty God. The criticism of Muhammad's marriage to Aishah is something relatively new in that it grew up out of the values of "Post Enlightenment" Europe. Certainly, those from a Middle Eastern Semitic background would not have found anything to criticize, since nothing abnormal or immoral took place. It is"modern" Westernized Christians who began to criticize Muhammad on this point, not earlier pre-Enlightenment ones.
The Prophet Muhammad's(PBUH) marriage to Aishah, viewed both in the light of Absolute Morality and the cultural norms of his time, was not an immoral act, but was an act containing valuable lessons for generations to come. Additionally, this marriage followed the norms for all Semitic peoples, including those of Biblical times.
It is upon reaching the age of puberty that a person, man or woman, becomes legally responsible under Islamic Law. At this point, they are allowed to make their own decisions and are held accountable for their actions. It should also be mentioned that in Islam, it is unlawful to force someone to marry someone that they do not want to marry. The evidence shows that Aishah's marriage to the Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) was one which both parties and their families agreed upon. Based on the culture at that time, no one saw anything wrong with it. On the contrary, they were all happy about it.
None of the Muslim sources report that anyone from the society at that time criticized this marriage due to Aishah's young age. On the contrary, the marriage of Aishah to the Prophet(PBUH) was encouraged by Aishah's father, Abu Bakr, and was welcomed by the community at large. It is reported that women who wanted to help the Prophet(PBUH), such as Khawlah bint al-Hakîm, encouraged him to marry the young Aishah. Due to the Semitic culture in which they lived, they certainly saw nothing wrong with such a marriage.
Society's ideas of love, family and marriage are much different in the so-called "modern" and "civilized" West of today than they were in Biblical or Qur'ânic times.
Puberty = Maturity = Marriage
These points having been presented, some additional details on a few of them is worthwhile. An interesting article on the age at which people married in Biblical times is Ancient Israelite Marriage Customs,
http://www.theology.edu/marriage.htm , by Jim West, ThD - a Baptist minister. This article states that:
The wife was to be taken from within the larger family circle (usually at the outset of puberty or around the age of 13) in order to maintain the purity of the family line;
This is just one reference to the fact that the onset of puberty was considered the age at which young people could marry. That people in Biblical times married at an early age is widely endorsed. While discussing the meaning of the word 'almah, which is the Hebrew word for "young woman" or "adolescent female", Gerald Segal says:
It should be noted, however, that in biblical times females married at an early age.
In spite of its somewhat arrogant Western talk of "primitive cultures", An Overview of the World's Religions,
http://www.theology.edu/relig02.htm makes it clear that puberty is an age old symbol of adulthood:
Almost all primitive cultures pay attention to puberty and marriage rituals, although there is a general tendency to pay more attention to the puberty rites of males than of females. Because puberty and marriage symbolize the fact that children are acquiring adult roles, most primitive cultures consider the rituals surrounding these events very important. Puberty rituals are often accompanied with ceremonial circumcision or some other operation on the male genitals. Female circumcision is less common, although it occurs in several cultures. Female puberty rites are more often related to the commencement of the menstrual cycle in young girls.
Another contemporary reference relating marriage age to puberty is an article on Central Africa, which says:
. . . women marry soon after puberty.
There are many other references which should prove to any intelligent person what anthropologists and historians already know: in centuries past, people were considered ready for marriage when they reached puberty.
Even though we have established that puberty has been the historical, cultural and religious norm for indicating readiness for marriage, some may wonder at which age puberty normally takes place.
Islam has laid down no age limit for puberty for it varies with countries and races due to the climate, hereditary, physical and social conditions. Those who live in cold regions attain puberty at a much later age as compared with those living in hot regions where both male and female attain it at a quite early age. "The average temperature of the country or province," say the well-known authors of the book Woman, "is considered the chief factor here, not only with regard to menstruation but as regards the whole of sexual development at puberty.
Many will readily agree with the information above, but still might harbour reservations about whether a marriage to an older man could be happy for such a young girl. Putting aside the modern Western notions of "happiness" for a moment, the marriage of Aishah and the Prophet(PBUH) was a mutually happy and loving one as in expressed in numerous hadîth and seerah books. That happy marriages occur between people with a fairly large difference in ages is known among psychologists:
"When the differences (in ages) is great, e.g. exceeds fifteen to twenty years, the results may be happier. The marriage of an elderly (senescent) not, of course, an old (senile) man to a quite young girl, is often very successful and harmonious. The bride is immediately introduced and accustomed to moderate sexual intercourse". (Theodor H. Vandevelde, Ideal Marriage : Its Physiology and Technique, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1980, p. 243. )
More Wisdom Behind It
In his comments on the ahadith in Sahîh Muslim which mention cAishah's young marriage to the Prophet(P), cAbdul-Hamîd Siddiqî shows three other reasons for this marriage:
Aishah's marriage to the Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) at an early age allowed her to be an eyewitness to the personal details of his life and carry them on to the succeeding generations. By being both spiritually and physically near to the Prophet(PBUH), the marriage prepared 'Aishah to be an example to all Muslims, especially women, for all times. She developed into a spiritual teacher and scholar, since she was remarkably intelligent and wise. Her qualities help support the Prophet's work and further the cause of Islam. Aishah, the Mother of the Believers, was not only a model for wives and mothers, but she was also a commentator on the Qur'ân, an authority on hadîth and knowledgeable in Islamic Law. She narrated at least 2,210 ahâdîth that give Muslims valuable insights into the Final Prophet's daily life and behaviour, thus preserving the Sunnah of Muhammad(PBUH).
At that time, this marriage refuted the notion that a man could not marry the daughter of a man who he had declared to be his "brother" (even in the religious sense). Since the Prophet(P) and Abu Bakr had declared each other to be "brothers", this notion was done away with. This is demonstrated in the following hadîth:
Narrated 'Ursa: The Prophet(PBUH) asked Abu Bakr for Aishah's hand in marriage. Abu Bakr said, "But I am your brother." The Prophet(PBUH) said, "You are my brother in God's religion and His Book, but she (cAishah) is lawful for me to marry." (Sahîh al-Bukhârî, Volume 7, Book 62, Number 18)
The marriage did away with the pagan Arab superstition that it was a bad omen to be married in the month of Shawwal. They thought that the month carried this omen since the word Shawwal was derived from Shaala, which carried a bad omen. The authentic ahadith indicate that the Prophet(P) and cAishah were married in this lunar month.
Above, we established the fact that getting married at puberty was an accepted practice amongst not only today's "primitive cultures", but specifically amongst the Semitic (i.e. Hebrew, Arab, Syriac, etc.) peoples of the Middle East. In order to provide additional proof that Muhammad's(PBUH) marriage to Aishah did not raise any eyebrows at that time, I submit here quotations from two Western female scholars who have studied Islam in detail:
It is not clear just when the marriage actually took place. According to some versions, it was in the month of Shawwal of the Year 1, that is, some seven or eight months after the arrival at Medina; but, according to others, it was not until after the Battle of Badr, that is, in Shawwal of the second year of the Hijrah. In no version is there any comment made on the disparity of the ages between Mohammed and Aishah or on the tender age of the bride who, at the most, could not have been over ten years old and who was still much enamoured with her play.
The main point to note is that "no version" was any comment made on their age difference or on Aishah's young age. Why? Such an early marriage
was normal in all Semitic societies - such as the ones that Abraham(PBUH), Moses(PBUH), Jesus(PBUH) and Muhammad(PBUH) grew up in!
Another author, Karen Armstrong, has this to add:
Tabari says that she was so young that she stayed in her parents' home and the marriage was consummated there later when she had reached puberty.
It is no surprise that both of the above authors agree on the fact that the marriage of Aishah and Muhammad(PBUH) took place when the former had reached puberty and that this was normal at the time. This is no surprise, since anyone who studies the Muslim sources and Semitic culture would be forced to come to the same conclusion, since it is simply a historical fact. It should be pointed out that both of the above quoted female authors do not hesitate to misrepresent Islam (intentionally or unintentionally) in their other writings. Suffice it to say that if there was some other "damaging" information available, they would not hesitate to bring it to light.
So What's The Verdict?
Montgomery Watt, a long time scholar of Islam, had some choice words on how the West should judge Muhammad(PBUH). Years of studying Islam brought Watt to this conclusion:
The other main allegations of moral defect in Muhammad are that he was treacherous and lustful . . . Sufficient has been said above about the interpretation of these events to show that the case against Muhammad is much weaker than is sometimes thought. The discussions of these allegations, however, raises a fundamental question. How are we to judge Muhammad? By the standards of his own time and country? Or by those of the most enlightened opinion in the West today? When the sources are closely scrutinized, it is clear that those of Muhammad's actions which are disapproved by the modern West were not the object of the moral criticism of his contemporaries. They criticized some of his acts, but their motives were superstitious prejudice or fear of the consequences. If they criticized the events at Nakhlah, it was because they feared some punishment from the offended pagan gods or the worldly vengeance of the Meccans.
From Abraham(PBUH) To "Pick-And-Choose / Feel Good Religion"
Many people have this attitude in spite of the fact that Abraham is held up in their Bible as a towering example of faith. Abraham(PBUH), who was going to sacrifice his own son because Almighty God commanded it, certainly knew the basis of morality. It is clear in both the Bible and the Qur'ân that Abraham knew that whatever God commands is the right thing to do. The question "What is our basis for morality?" is an easy one for those who follow the faith of Abraham(PBUH) - and that's what Islam is. Islam is submission to the Will of Almighty God - "We hear and we obey"- the faith of our father Abraham. If it was good enough for Abraham(PBUH), Moses(PBUH), Jesus(PBUH) and Muhammad(PBUH), then it's good enough for us (moslem)!
The portion of the Bible that we want to look at begins with the Book of Numbers, Chapter 31, verses 17 and 18. Here, Moses(PBUH), following the Lord's command, orders the Israelites to kill all the Midianite male children. The order continues with the following:
". . . kill every woman who has known man by lying with him, but all the female children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves."
One can only guess how the Israelites determined who the virgins were. Most probably, they did it based on age and maturity, assuming that all of the female "children" who had not reached puberty were virgins. Keep in mind that this was done, according to the Bible, on God's command to "Avenge the Israelites on the Midianites". Later, God gives Moses(PBUH) instructions on how to divide up the booty, "whether persons, oxen, donkeys, sheeps or goats". Based on this command, "thirty-two thousand persons in all, women who had not known a man by lying with him" were divided up.
Guideposts To Be Thankful For
The Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) was a great example for all of humanity and peoples of different cultures (from "modern" Europeans to the aborigines of Australia). Not only was he a great Prophet and Messenger, but he was also a statesman, military leader, ruler, teacher, neighbor and friend. Family life was one of the most important areas where he was a great example, since he was both a husband and a father. Due to God's wisdom, His last and final prophet experienced a wide array of marriages and family situations. Due to this, he is an example for people who are monogamous, for those who are polygamous, for those wishing to marry those older than themselves and for those wondering how early someone can rightfully marry. Muhammad(PBUH) reestablished the Religion of Abraham(P) so that it would continue to the Last Day.
As Muslims, we should be thankful for these guideposts in our moral journey through life. Reflecting on them aids us in avoiding being led astray into "moral relativism". This is a very dangerous thing, since it can lead to the worst of all sins - associating others with Almighty God in worship, belief and/or Lordship. By knowing the Prophet's(PBUH) life we can see how to stay within the boundaries laid by Almighty God and stay on the Natural Religion of Islam which was made to suit the natural disposition (fitrah) of mankind. I pray that we, as Muslims, make Almighty God's limits our limits, and that we are not influenced by other societies and cultures. If it was good enough for Abraham(PBUH) and Moses(PBUH), then it's good enough for me . . .
Do you any objections? Let me know :)
Curious wrote:
apa bukti pendukung argument ini?
Don't worry about that. I just need more times to find the source..., i am rather lazy...
Dan umur berapakah ibrahim ketika dia meninggal? umur berapakah muhammad ketika dia meninggal? tahukah anda menurut kitab Genesis (Kejadian) Adam meninggal pada usia 930 tahun, Abraham meninggal pada usia175 tahun? jangan samakan "umur" yang ditulis dalam kitab-kitab perjanjian lama dengan "umur" manusia spt kita sekarang.
What the objections do you have? Tell me know...