One argument that critics of Islam use against the current Muslims who are very different than the earliest set of Muslims is that Muslims are allowed to marry children. I did some online research and found out that this statement is based on some narrations about Prophet Mohammad’s wife, Aisha. Research actually shows that many modern scholars and Muslims differ in opinion here because of the confusion created by unreliable narrators. After sorting through so many confusing documents, I eventually found one article titled “What was Ayesha’s (ra) Age at the Time of Her Marriage?” (published by IslamAwareness.com) that shares a whole lot of verses and ahadith to reveal that Aisha was 18 or 20 at the time of marriage. Writer A Faizur Rahman published another relevant article “Hazrat Aisha was 19, not 9” in Hindustan Times; he emphasized that Islam states that the purpose of marriage is to feel peace and acceptance, which you cannot feel if the spouse is underage.
In addition, I recalled that Quran and Islam allow and encourage Muslims to seek current experts to verify verses as well as follow the laws and rulings provided by one’s country. In essence, it actually presents a challenge to the Muslims while allowing for Apostasy. As I sorted through some text today, I realized that Polygamy was the only way of surviving at the time of Prophet Mohammad. They were trying to survive harsh circumstances, such as a war, which is like a pandemic that kills lots of people. Having as many children as possible would have allowed for survival during tough circumstances—even then use of force is not allowed in Islam. The article “Restricting Polygamy” by “Women’s Islamic Initiative In Spirituality And Equality” shares this viewpoint. Another similar example of civilizations that we cannot fully relate to is the Hunter-Gatherer population.
Copyright © by Arzoo Zaheer. All Rights Reserved.
Dot's Writing Dojo 