Aisha (ra) was 19 when the Prophet ﷺ married her.

18 min readJun 7, 2023

Does the Quran prohibit or allow ‘child marriage’? Is the woman’s consent critical for a valid marriage contract?

Despite the fact that this topic happens to be very controversial, the actual explanation and solution of this problem is extremely simple.

The Quran is Absolute Truth. The Hadith are relative truth

Allah says in the Quran that it is an explanation of ALL THINGS (16:89). This hasn’t been said about the Hadith. The Quran has been called THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH. But the Hadith were NEVER called the Absolute Truth.

The Hadith are relatively true only after a due process of verification. And even after this process, they never reach the level of the Quran. This is proved by the Quran. This is even proved by the Hadith itself. We know very well how the Prophet ﷺ forbade and prohibited the recording of hadith along with the Quran.

“Do not write anything from me; whoever has written anything from me other than the Qur’an, let him erase it..”

(Narrated by Muslim, al-Zuhd wa’l-Raqaa’iq, 5326)

Why would he do that? Think about it. If he thought they were both equal why would he forbid the writing of hadith while the compilation of the Quran was taking place. The answer is simple. Its because he knew that the Quran is absolutely protected from any and every falsehood. Whereas the Hadith are not. Therefore they are not equal.

And that is why the Hadith collections were compiled some 200 years after the Prophet. Whereas the Quran was compiled BY THE PROPHET ﷺ HIMSELF. See the difference.

HIERARCHY IN KNOWLEDGE WITHIN THE ISLAMIC TRADITION

Clearly we can see that there is a hierarchy in Islamic knowledge which has been established first by the Quran itself and even by the statements of the Prophet as well as the Companions.

As Dr. Mawlana Fazlur Rahman Ansari Al-Qadri explains in his Qurānic Foundations:

“…the Qur’an is absolutely authentic, while even the best Hadith literature is only relatively authentic — namely, authentic only in a qualified manner. And, of course, every student of Islam knows all the mischief in the field of Hadith perpetrated by the forces of counter-revolution in the very early period of Muslim history, — a mischief which emerged in the form of sects and schisms, and which forged the Traditions relating to certain aspects of Islamic life and history to an extent that the confusion created thereby has continued to plague the Muslim society up to the present day.
In conclusion, it is the function of the Qur’an to sit in judgment on the Hadith, and not vice versa; thus, a basic study of Islam in the perspective of the Qur’an emerges as the fundamental necessity…”

(Quranic Foundations and Structure of Muslim Society, Vol 1, pxxviii)

INTERNALIZE THIS:

BECAUSE THE QURAN IS WAY HIGHER IN AUTHORITY AND AUTHENTICITY AS COMPARED TO THE HADITH. IT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE QURAN TO SIT IN JUDGMENT OF THE HADITH. MEANING THE QURAN WILL INFORM US WHICH HADITH IS CORRECT AND WHICH IS NOT. IT IS NOT THE PURPOSE OR PLACE OF THE HADITH TO SIT IN JUDGMENT OF THE QURAN. THE HADITH DOES NOT ENJOY THAT HIGHER STATUS ABOVE THE QURAN. NOTHING IS ABOVE THE QURAN.

Now keeping all of this in mind what is the methodology to study any subject within Islam? Are Islamic texts like novels? Are all Islamic texts on the same level of veracity and authority? NO !

Methodology to understand any subject within Islam

Step 1: Go straight to the Quran first. Not the Hadith.
When we need to study a subject, first we have to understand it from the lens of the Quran. WHEN YOU SEE A SCHOLAR GO TO A HADITH DIRECTLY WITHOUT CONSULTING THE QURAN. YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT THIS PERSON HAS NO CLUE ABOUT ISLAM.
It is utter disrespect towards the Quran if you bypass the Quran and go straight to the hadith to understand a subject. It is even more disrespectful, if you go to biological surveys or data on a subject, before consulting the Quranic take on an Islamic matter.

Step 2: Don’t take the Quran out of context. Read the Quran AS A WHOLE, NOT IN PARTS.

You cannot take an ayat of the Quran in isolation from the rest of the Quran. You have to build a ‘system of meaning’ by collecting all of the ayaat that talk about the particular subject and then only can you understand the subject correctly.[1] And isn’t that true for all books? You cannot take any line in a book in isolation from the rest of the text. You have to consider the context. But in the Quran you have to consider the entire Quran as a holistic organism where one part of it explains and complements the other. Allah Most High says the Quran is like the night sky. For a traveler to get the right direction, he has to consider all the star positions and their relations with each other. Otherwise, he will never be able to find his way. [2]

Step 3: Go to the Hadith now.

Only after establishing the correct view from the Quran can you now move to the Hadith. Only after building the ‘System of Meaning’ with regards a subject can you now move to the Hadith. It is utter ignorance and disrespect towards the Quran when you find scholars consulting the Hadith first and giving it more importance than the Quran. The Quran is the direct Speech and Attribute of Allah. How can you even think of ignoring that and still call your self a student of Islam?

Step 4: Collect all the Hadith that fit the System of Meaning derived from the Quran.

Lastly, we need to collect all the Hadith that fit and complement the meanings and conclusions that were derived from the Quran. THE PURPOSE OF THE HADITH IS NOT TO SIT IN JUDGMENT OF THE QURAN. The Quran because of being the Absolute Truth can sit in judgement over the Hadith. So most of the time we find the Hadith complementing and explaining the Quran. But sometimes (very rarely) we find a Hadith that conflicts with the Quran. What to do in that situation? What if the Hadith has entered into a Sahih Collection? In such a situation we take the guidance of the Quran and the Prophet and we side with the Quran and not with the Hadith because the Quran sits in judgment over the Hadith. The Hadith cannot sit in judgment over the Quran and overrule or override the Quranic narrative. That is disrespecting the Speech of Allah.
Now let’s move on to a classic example of this conflict between a Hadith and the Quran.

Understanding Sayyidah Aisha (ra)’s age through the Quran

If we want to study the subject of marriage (Nikah) in Islam, we need to take the right methodology. Let’s go to the Quran first. Collect all the ayaat that talk about marriage and build the ‘System of Meaning’. You will be compelled to see that WHENEVER THE QURAN MENTIONS MARRIAGE (NIKAH) IT ALWAYS RELATES IT WITH NISA (WOMEN). NEVER WITH CHILDREN (ATFAL). And we know that the Prophet (saw) was the Quran personified. He would never go against the Quran. So when we find the Hadith that says that the Prophet married Aisha (ra) when she was a 9-year-old CHILD, THAT HADITH IS IN DIRECT CONFLICT WITH THE QURAN.

All of these ayaat talk about marriage. And all of these ayaat imply marriage is to be done with women (females who have attained puberty) Meaning females who have:
1. Started their menstrual cycles
2. Developed natural feelings of attraction towards the opposite gender
3. Most importantly developed their free will and consent.

A child neither feels any sexual attraction nor has a matured free will to consent to something.

So clearly we can see the Quran does NOT define marriage as a union between a man and a child. It defines marriage or nikah to be a union between a mature man and a mature woman. Lets take one of these ayaat:

Translation: And do not marry WOMEN (NISA) that your fathers married, unless it be a thing of the past; surely that is indecent and hateful; an evil way. (4: 22)

So child marriage is out of the question according to the Quran. Whenever Nikah is mentioned it is always mentioned with Nisa (women) never with children.

The Qur’an states:

‎وَابْتَلُوا الْيَتَامَىٰ حَتَّىٰ إِذَا بَلَغُوا النِّكَاحَ فَإِنْ آنَسْتُمْ مِنْهُمْ رُشْدًا فَادْفَعُوا إِلَيْهِمْ أَمْوَالَهُمْ
And test the orphans maturity until they reach “marriageable age”. Then if you perceive in them sound judgment, release their property to them… (Qurān 4:6)

The consensus on what constitutes ‘marriageable age’ is post puberty.

The laughable argument about early menstruation in arid Medieval Arabia

Now there are some who would get absurd data on biological and evolutionary variations and Pew Research from the US to somehow prop this Hadith up and place it over the Quran by trying to prove that Aisha (ra) had reached puberty at 9 years. It shouldn’t be difficult to see how this is nothing short of disregarding the Quran when they use bizarre and irrelevant data about so called isolated cases of “variations” in menstruation to take a solitary hadith to refute and overrule the Quran. Then why do they have issues when Muslim Homosexuals use bizarre scientific “data and statistics” to prove how Homosexuality is genetic, natural and a product of Evolution? And therefore, reconcilable with the Quran?

For those of us who still have some common sense and understand that the Quran is the supreme authority in Islam, we know that a 6 year old or a 9 year old is a child. A 9 year old is not a woman. By every consideration of climatic conditions, cultural impact or evolutionary dynamics, historically and presently 9 year olds have always been children.

If you want to think that somehow girls had early menstruation at the age of 9 in the Medieval Arabia, that is a figment of your imagination. And we are not entitled to take your imaginations and conjecture (dhan) over irrefutable arguments from the Book of Allah.

What is a woman according to the Quran?

The Quran doesnt even leave it to us to define what a woman is. The Quran defines a woman for us. Read this ayat:

“Your wives are a ‘tilth’ for you….” (2:223)

Notice again the word used again is NISA ie women.
What is tilth? Cultivated land, the state of aggregation of a soil especially in relation to its ‘suitability for crop growth’. Meaning just like tillage has a potential for the growth of crops, your wives have potentiality and suitability for bearing your children. Can a child have a child? No. Only women who have undergone a biological change after menstruation have the ‘potential’ of bearing life. A child doesn’t have that capability or potential.

The woman’s consent is critical for a valid marriage

Why was child marriage so common in all pre-modern cultures? Primarily because women had no honor in society. They were treated like cattle. Their consent wasn’t deemed important, let alone necessary for a marriage to be conducted. ISLAM CAME TO CHANGE THAT. The Quran establishes the consent of the woman as BEING NECESSARY FOR A MARRIAGE CONTRACT TO BE CONSIDERED VALID.

Qur’an states:

‎يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا يَحِلُّ لَكُمْ أَنْ تَرِثُوا النِّسَاءَ كَرْهًا
O you who are committed to God, Almighty! You are forbidden to inherit WOMEN against their will, and you should not treat them with harshness… (Qurān 4:19)

Notice the word ‘Nisa’ (women) again. This verse clearly proves that in Islam it is prohibited to take women as wives against their wills. It is a fact that a girl child who has not reached puberty cannot give proper consent. The Qurān uses the word “WOMEN” so marrying children is clearly out of question according to Qurān . If you marry a 9 year old child, she hasnt developed sexual attraction towards men, neither has she developed the power to consent and take a free decision after reasoning, not does she have the potentiality to bear a child. You will literally have to force yourself on her when she wouldn’t even understand what’s happening. That is FORBIDDEN IN THE QURAN.
Its extremely disturbing that those religious Muslims who disregard the Quran and hold tightly to the 6 year age of Aisha (ra) dont seem to understand that they are implying that the Beloved Prophet ﷺ ……I dont even want to say it.

See how the consent of women is absolutely necessary for a marriage to be valid.

The Quran dismisses the 9 year old Aisha Hadith

We have clearly established from the Quran that marriage is only valid with women who have passed the age of puberty and have developed a sexual attraction towards men, have the biological potentiality to bear children and most importantly can exercise their consent freely. All of which are absent in children. So the hadith about Aisha (ra) being a 9 year old child when the Prophet married her is openly in conflict with the Quran. And we know that when a hadith directly and unambiguously conflicts with the Quran, we cannot let the Hadith dictate to the Quran and sit in judgment over the Quran. That is utter disrespect of the Quran. It is the Quran that will sit in judgment over the Hadith and we as believers have no obligation whatsoever to accept a hadith when it conflicts with the Book of Allah Most High. Hadith of 6 year old/9 year old Aisha (ra) marrying the Prophet ﷺ directly conflicts with the Quran.

And the Prophet was a walking talking Quran. Would he ever go against the Quran?

Never.

So clearly there is something severely wrong with this hadith. And in such case the Quran has the authority to dismiss this hadith as being false and directly opposed to the Quran.

When you cannot prove child marriage from the Quran. How can you talk about CHILD DIVORCE ? Analyzing 65:4

Some people bring out this ayat to support their fallacious argument of child marriage in the Quran. Because this ayat on divorce mentions ‘those who do not menstruate’ they think this is talking about children. But that is another laughable fallacious argument.
When you cannot establish child marriage, how can you assume that children can get divorced?
In order to do this you will have to first assume that the Quran allows Child marriage. Which you couldn’t prove. So you take your assumption as your premise and also as a conclusion. That’s a logical fallacy called Petitio Principii or Begging the Question.

This is how the argument looks like :
(Hidden and unproved assumption as premise): Child marriage is allowed in the Quran

(Premise 2 based on a wrong grammatical reading) 65:4 is talking about those who don’t menstruate. So Child Divorce

Conclusion: Child Marriage is in the Quran (FALSE CONCLUSION !)

The word used in this ayat is ‘Lam Yahidhna’ which means ‘those who do not menstruate and those who will not menstruate. Because in Arabic the present tense also includes the future tense. This is not talking about children. This is talking about women who for biological reasons or medical complications do not menstruate at all. It isn’t talking about children in any way. Some translators add the word ‘yet’ to their translation. But the ‘yet’ is not in the Arabic text. Another conjecture and figment of their imagination.

You are a modernist or a historical revisionist !

Nonsense ! Here is a proof that that this principle of rejecting a Hadith if it contradicted the Quran was practiced from the time of the Prophet ﷺ himself. Sayyidah Aisha (ra) herself would never accept a Hadith if it contradicted the Quran. So those people who still hold on to the Hadith despite it contradicting the Quran go against the very female jurist that they are discussing.

Here she rejects the hadith of “physically” seeing Allah in Miraj because it goes against the Quran. The Quran says, “No vision can grasp Him” (6:103)

Now check how the other companions would reject Fatimah bint Qais’ Hadith BECAUSE IT CONTRADICTED THE QURAN.

What’s important to note is that while Sayyidina Umar (ra) rejected the Hadith of Fatimah bint Qais but he still DIDN’T STOP HER FROM NARRATING IT. Primarily because they respected the opinions of female jurists. And this hadith was later taken on by famous scholars DESPITE THE HADITH GOING AGAINST THE QURAN.

So we can see, the arguments used in this article are either based on the Quran, or hadith or the companion or traditionalist scholars like Dr Mawlana Fazlur Rahman Ansari, Sheikh Imran Hosein. The famous scholar from the Indian subcontinent Allama Habib ur Rahman Kandelhlavi wrote a book in Urdu on Aisha (ra)’s age where he presented not less than TWENTY FOUR ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE HADITH OF AISHA (RA) BEING 9 YEARS OLD WHEN THE PROPHET ﷺ MARRIED HER.

And there are many more traditionalist Ulema who reject this Hadith based on their understanding of Islamic texts. Hakim Niaz Ahmad and Ruqaiyyah Maqsood have books in English on the same subject.

So are you saying Imam Bukhari was wrong?

We find some people use nonsensical emotional arguments like ‘How could the scholars who narrated this Hadith be wrong? The answer is simple. THEY ARE HUMAN BEINGS AND NOT INFALLIBLE. Only Allah doesn’t make mistakes. And therefore the Quran is the Supreme authority.

And this attitude of elevating scholarly opinions and verifications over and above God’s words is strictly criticized in the Quran.

They have taken their scholars and monks as lords besides Allāh. (9:31)

Even the scholars themselves would say “If you find our opinions going against the Book of Allah, do not accept them.”

Imam Malik would say “Truly I am only a mortal: I make mistakes (sometimes) and I am correct (sometimes). Therefore, look into my opinions: all that agrees with the Book and the Sunnah, accept it; and all that does not agree with the Book and the Sunnah, ignore it.”
{Ibn ‘Abdul Barr in Jaami’ Bayaan al-‘Ilm (2/32)

Age of Sayyidah Aisha (ra) from the Hadith

I will present four different arguments from the Ahadith now to show that this controversial hadith doesn’t just contradict the Quran. It even contradicts other ahadith.

Proof 1 : Asma being 10 years older than her.

Historically, Aisha (ra) had a sister Asma (ra) who was 10 years older than her. According to Abdur Rahman Ibn Abi Zannad: “Asma (ra)was ten years older than Ayesha.” [Siyar A’lam an-Nubala of al-Dhahabi (2/289)]

According to Ibn Kathir: ‘Asma was ten years elder to her sister Aisha

[Al-Bidayah wan Nihayah (8/371)]

Now let us look at age of Asma (ra) when she passed away:

According to Ibn Hajr Al-Asqalani: Asma (ra) lived for 100 years and she died in 73 or 74 AH

(Taqrib ut Tahdhib)

So Asma was 28 when she migrated to Medina. That means Aisha (ra) was 18 when she migrated to Medina. And she shifted to the Prophet’s ﷺ house within a year of two after the Hijrah (migration). That proves that Aisha (ra) was between 19–21 when she consummated her marriage with the Prophet ﷺ

Proof 2: Why would Khawla suggest a 6 year old mother for 6 year old children?

When Khadijah (ra) who was the Prophet’s ﷺ first wife, passed away, a woman named Khawlah came to the Prophet ﷺ and suggested that he should get married. At the time the Prophet ﷺ had young daughters around the age of 6–9 years. Now Khawlah suggested that the Prophet should get a second wife in order that his second wife would take care of his young daughters. When he asked her who he had in mind. She suggested Sauda and Aisha. Now does it make any sense to get a 6 year old child bride to “take care of children”? One would have to be very simple-minded to think that Khawla would ask the Prophet ﷺ to marry a 6 year old child to take care of other 6–9 year olds.

Proof 3: Was Aisha (ra) was unborn when she was engaged to Jubayr bin Mut’am ?

Aisha (ra)’s father Sayyidina Abu Bakr (ra) thought of migrating to Abyssinia eight-nine years before the migration to Medina took place in 622 CE. In a report he goes to Mu’tam bin Adi’s house. At that time Aisha (ra) is engaged to Mut’am’s son Jubayr bin Mut’am to talk about the future of this engagement. Remember this is 8–9 years before Hijrah to Medina. So if we take the hadith of Aisha being 9 years of age in Medina when she moved in with the Prophet ﷺ , then she wasnt even born when she was engaged to Jubayr bin Muta’am. Thats hilarious.

Proof 4: Aisha (ra) had already come of age when her parents became Muslim.

This hadith is around the time of the first migration to Abyssinia. And Aisha (ra) clearly states that she had reached puberty when her parents had become Muslim. Her parents became Muslim very early, around the time the Prophet proclaimed his prophethood. So she was born before the start of revelation. And she was atleast 12 when Sayyidina Abu Bakr (ra) thought of migrating to Abyssinia. That makes her 19–20 when she consummated her marriage with the Prophet ﷺ in Medina.

Is this historical revisionism? Are we influenced by our present cultural context?

Absolutely not. It would be historical revisionism if we had no proof from the Quran or other ahadith and we would insist on rejecting the hadith. But we have seen that the Hadith is in direct conflict with the Absolute Truth from the Quran.

If you think about it. We can actually turn this argument around and say the same thing about Medieval Muslim scholars. That they were influenced by their cultural contexts. Child marriage was common in all pre-modern cultures. So that’s why they conveniently accepted the Hadith, never finding an issue with it. Neither did medieval Christian critics. But the important question is not whether some cultures accepted it or not. The real question is WHAT DOES THE QURAN HAVE TO SAY ABOUT IT? And the Quran clearly forbids child marriage.

Why did Medieval Scholars accept the 6-year-old narrative?

The medieval scholars who readily accepted the 6 year old story did so because it was a cultural norm for all pre-modern civilizations. Child marriage was common in the Indian, Persian, Arab, Roman, Greek cultures. The reason was that women essentially had no honor and integrity in society. Their consent was not deemed important, much less necessary. So a father could even get his unborn girl married off to a man. Because the girl had no right to exercise her consent.

But the Quran was revealed to reform culture.
The Quran was not revealed to be interpreted in light of culture.

That’s why to say that since medieval scholars didn’t have a problem with this hadith, we shouldn’t too, doesn’t make sense. Maybe they were looking at it from their cultural context. But we want to look at it from the point of view of the Quran. That’s what’s important. What does the Quran have to say? Whether its acceptable or not to medieval or modern cultures is unimportant.

Last Word

We have successfully proved that the Hadith of the 6 or 9 years age of Sayyidah Aisha (ra) openly contradicts the Quran. But there are some who elevate the Hadith over the Quran and thus insult the Quran. Then there are others who elevate some bizarre biological data over the miraculous Speech of Allah and insult the Quran thereby and there are still others who elevate the opinions of scholars over the Quran thinking they are infallible and thus they insult and dishonor the Quran. There were people in the past who sacrificed their lives for the honor of the Prophet ﷺ and the Quran. And its very unfortunate that we refuse to even rethink that holding on to this Hadith necessarily entails a blatant rejection of the Quran and its multiple ayaat refuting child marriage.

All what was expected of us was to honor the Quran and treat it with due respect. But we couldnt do that much too.
And now we can understand why our Prophet ﷺ will complain about us on the Day of Judgement. He will complain to Allah how his Ummah disregarded the Quran and did not give it its due. (Disregarded the Quran, not the hadith)

The Messenger ﷺ says, ‘O my Lord, behold, my people have taken this Quran as a thing to be shunned.’ (25:30)

May Allah not make us among these unfortunate ones. Ameen.