In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
And Allah is the Most Wise and we can neither challenge nor fully understand His wisdom. However, even if we can not fully understand all the reasons, we can still understand some of them.
The marriage of the young Aisha Radhiallah Anha to Rasool Allah sallallahu alaihi wassallum is a topic which has inspired unnecessary controversy. However, fact of the matter is, that it has become controversial both among Muslims and non-Muslims. Therefore we will take it at it's face value. Let's take certain points into consideration and then consolidate them to bring forth an answer.No individual's life has been as preserved as the life of Rasool Allah. In a time when autobiographies were not invented, we find the precise details of a man who was unlearned and could not read or write. Every single event that took place is recorded in Sahih Ahadith. What he said was hadith and what He did was Sunnah. So let it be understood that His life is not a mystery, but rather an open book.
The accusation that the Prophet was a pedophile is pure garbage. By definition, pedophile is an adult who is sexually attracted to a child or children. In his life of 63 years there has never been even a single incident in which Rasool Allah is reported to have expressed impure desires about any child. The learned scholars will confirm this fact. Therefore, He does not even fulfill the definition of a pedophile.
Furthermore, if He was attracted to children He would not have married Khadija who was a woman 15 years older than Himself. And not only did He marry her but He remained with Her until she died. If He realized his attraction to children after marrying Khadija He could've easily divorced her. But we all know He did not do that. Later on He married various other women, even at that point He could've chosen young girls. Even that is not the case. And finally even if one says that He did not realize his attraction towards children until marrying Aisha, well He could've married many other children AFTER his realization of the attraction. Even that is not the case.
Therefore, the only logical answer a person is left with is that Rasool Allah was not a pedophile and His intention of marrying Aisha was not out of lust for children. If we analyze His other marriages, the statistics show that the Prophet�s marriage to Aisha at her young age was an exception and not a norm of his other marriages.
Now that it's been proven that words such as pedophile can not be attributed to Rasool Allah, we progress to ask ourselves what was the reason He married her.
First and foremost, understand that we will never be able to fully answer this question. His marriage to Aisha was a commandment of Allah: "Nor does he say (aught) of (his own) Desire. It is no less than inspiration sent down to him" (53:3-4).
Aisha Radhi Allah Anha narrated more than 2200 Ahadith of Rasool Allah. She had an excellent memory that was unsurpassed by nobody else in that time.
Her Marriage with the prophet was a Wahi (Divine Revelation). She, herself relates from the Prophet, �He said, "I saw you in dreams three times. The angel brought you to me and you were clad in white silk. He (the angel) said that it was your consort and he (angel) showed me by opening your face. You are just like that�" Sahih Muslim, Vol.2, p.285.
Aisha was born after her parents had embraced Islam. Therefore, she was free from the defilement of polytheism right from her birth.
In her youth, she was already known for her beauty and her excellent memory, and then she came under the loving care and attention of the Prophet himself. As his wife and close companion she acquired from him knowledge and insight such as no woman has ever acquired. She was trained by the Prophet Himself and this could've only been accomplished if she was young.
Rasool Allah was towards the end of his life when He married Aisha, so the result was that Aisha lived much after the death of Rasool Allah and served as the teacher, mentor, and guide for the Ummah. This could've only been accomplished if she was young.
Aisha was also happy to be the young wife of Rasool Allah. If she was not happy she could've moved on with her life after the Prophet's death. Instead, she dedicated and devoted her life to further the mission and cause of her husband. This too proves that the marriage of Rasool Allah with Aisha was a blessing not a curse.
If marrying Aisha was such an unholy action, there would've surely been reports of dispute and unrest. When Rasool Allah made the journey of the Mairaaj and when He returned and told His followers about the journey in one night, many Muslims faced the dilemma of whether to believe the Prophet or not because this really was extra-ordinary and unlike they had ever heard or even dreamed of before. The Ahadith show us reports of an uneasy feeling between several Muslims. Another example is the revelation which gave women the right to acquire property and will and declared one-third share for the women. Some of the people came to the Prophet and tried to justify that why should the women have any share? We do the work, we do the farming and the trading and we fight wars and we do the labor, all they do is stay home so why should they receive any share? Then the Prophet replied and convinced them and they all dispersed away but the reports of this argument and unrest are recorded and preserved. So whatever happened, whether good or bad, big or small, is all a part of recorded history. So how is it that nobody challenged this marriage between Rasool Allah and Aisha Radhiallah Anha? There is something called cultural relativity.
In Indo-Pak it is considered unethical for a child (even if he is 30 years old) to talk in a loud voice in front of his elders or parents. People would not smoke or curse in front of their parents. Whereas in the west it is a common practice for people to smoke and drink in front of their parents, on the contrary they drink together. African cultures regard healthy women to be more beautiful. The healthier and fat a woman is, the more beautiful she is. Whereas in the rest of the world a thin woman of 50 Kgs is regarded as more beautiful than a woman who is 100 Kgs. This does not demonstrate that Africa is better than the rest or vice versa. It simply means that the actions and thinkings of a culture are relative to that culture and are not constant globally. This is cultural relativity.
And the last reason (this is going to require special understanding), Rasool Allah was a man who preached through not just His words but also by His example. In Islam there is no age limit of how "young" a child should be. The only limit is puberty. As soon as the child attains puberty, he/she is allowed to get married. I want you, all of you, to look around yourselves and think about where the world is headed. This is a time when nudity and shamelessness is common. You can not watch TV with your family without feeling embarased. You can not go out shopping with your family without feeling awkward. You can not go in a store without being exposed to images of women who wear clothes yet they look naked. And imagine if this is the case in Pakistan, how would the case be in Europe and America? The people who live there will be able to understand exactly what I'm talking about. You can not even walk on the street without lowering your gaze. This was not the case 20 30 50 years ago. And think about how the situation is going to be 20 30 50 years 20 30 50 years later. Islam lays a special importance on avoiding evil by lowering your gaze.
Islam lays a special importance on avoiding evil by lowering your gaze. And Rasool Allah has prescribed that the best way to avoid lust and illegal sexual relationships is to get married. Surely there will come a time when Muslim families will find it difficult to save their children from getting themselves involved in illegal relationships. That time has already come and with each passing day it becomes more and more difficult for parents to control their children and to keep them from getting influenced by the images and environment of lust.
There are countless respectable Muslim families who hold their religion dear to them and are ashamed of the thought of their sons and daughters having illegal sexual relationships. The only option left for them is to get their sons and daughters married. And in Islam there is no "18 years" or "21 years" of age requirement to get married. The child only needs to attain puberty and she can be married. So now you have a dilemma, and you have 2 options: Either you marry your son or your daughter in a young age, or you risk him/her getting involved in illegal sexual relationships. Which would you choose?
Keep in mind that "marrying young" does not mean marrying at 9 years of age. An average girl these days attains puberty at about age 12-13. Even this is a Hikmat of Allah to let Aisha attain puberty at an early age that people will run out of excuses. Otherwise we could've said today that hey Aisha attained puberty when she was 15, nowadays girls reach that puberty long before 15 so Islam does not present a practical solution. But now we are all out of excuses. Go to any american or european or hispanic website and observe the behaviour of a 15 year old girl there. She knows more about sex than we did when we were 20. Observe some of the teenage pregnancy statistics in USA alone:
Nationwide, the teenage pregnancy rate in 1999 and 2000 was 83.6 pregnancies per 1,000 for women aged 15�19. The birthrate for teenagers between 1999 and 2000 was 47.7 births per 1,000 for women aged 15�19. Teenagers� abortion rate in 2000 was 24.0 per 1,000 women aged 15�19. Overall in 2000, one-third of pregnancies among 15�19-year-olds ended in abortion.
www.guttmacher.org/pubs/state_pregnancy_trends.pdf
84 pregnancies per 1000 girls between 15-19! That means 5,016,000 pregnancies worldwide every year for girls between 15-19 years of age! In a scenario in which even ONE is TOO MUCH, we have 5,016,000 pregnancies!!! Is this problem not real enough? And is Islam not the ONLY religion which presents a practical solution? And all of this is possible because of the marriage of Rasool Allah with Aisha at such an early age. So again I repeat the question and you answer yourself:
You have a dilemma, and you have 2 options: Either you marry your daughter in her teenage years, or you risk her getting involved in illegal sexual relationships and maybe even getting pregnant out of wedlock. Which would you choose?
P.S. Pass it on to friends, family, neighbors, Muslims and Non Muslims alike. Feedback is welcome at [email protected]