This is soo goot.thanks for the god read. --- amy jallow <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Thought this would make an interesting read, during > this month of Ramadan. > > Amy > > > > Author: AbdurRahman R. Squires > > > The marriage of the Prophet Muhammad to 'Aishah > bint Abu Bakr when she was at quite a young age has > been the focus of quite a bit of criticism in the > West. Unfortunately, in this Neo-Colonialist Age of > smart bombs, MTV, CNN and the Big Mac, some of > those who profess to be Muslims have themselves > become critics. Many Muslims, faced with the > juggernaut of allegedly "universal" Western liberal > values that have permeated almost everyone around > them, sheepishly avoid discussion of such > "embarrassing" Islamic issues. It is a keenly true > observation that even though the European powers > have pulled their colonial armies out of Muslim > lands and granted them "independence", an even worse > plague continues. This curse is "Colonialism of the > Mind" and it is more dangerous since it is much more > subtle. Insha'llah, this article will be a > contribution to making both Muslims and non-Muslims > aware of not only the objective facts regarding the > Prophet's marriage to 'Aishah, but how to > understand it in light of Islam and life in the > "modern" world. > Regrettably, for those of us trying to spread the > truth of Islam in the West, we often have to agree > with the Orientalist W. Montgomery Watt when he > wrote: "Of all the world's great men none has been > so much maligned as Muhammad."1 But here, for a > change, were are dealing with something that is an > authentic part of Islamic history, not an apocryphal > or fabricated event that Westerners have been duped > into believing is authentic, such as the so-called > "Satanic Verses" incident. That a man in his > fifties would marry such a young girl—especially a > man who is supposed to be a living example of > piety—is not only difficult for many "modern" > Westerners to come to terms with, but it has even > gone so far as to stir up disgusting "sexual > misconduct" charges amongst them. In the face of > such criticism, Muslims have not always reacted > well. In the past century, when so many Muslims > were so "Westoxicated" and ready to monkey Europeans > in almost anything, the usual reaction was to deny > the > sources that reported the alleged "embarrassing > problem". To Muslim "modernists", who argued that > ONLY a legal ruling found in the Qur'an was > Islamically valid, brushing aside this aspect of the > Prophet's life was rather easy. They simply denied > that it had occurred and attacked the sources which > reported it. Fortunately for Muslims, the > apologetics of these "Uncle Toms of Islam" has faded > into the periphery to a large extent. However, > there are still many Muslims out there who try to > get around what they see as a problem by ignoring > authentic Islamic sources while claiming to be > followers of the Ahl as-Sunnah. (which basically > means "orthodox Sunni" Muslims, for those unfamiliar > Islamic terminology). Many other Muslims possibly > wonder whether the story is authentic and how to > understand it if it is. > > > --------------------------------- > THE ISLAMIC EVIDENCE OF 'AISHAH'S AGE > --------------------------------- > > Due to the apparent ignorance of many Muslims, > possibly due to reading "modernist" apologetic > literature like that mentioned above, a look at what > the authentic sources of Islam say about the age at > which 'Aishah married the Prophet is in order. > This way, before we move on to an analysis of the > facts, we will first establish what the authentic > Islamic facts are. At this point, it should be > mentioned that it is absolutely pointless from an > Islamic standpoint to say that the age of 'Aishah is > "not found in the Qur'an", since the textual sources > of Islam are made up of BOTH the Qur'an and the > Sunnah - and the Qur'an tells us that. For those > wanting (or needing) to learn more about the status > of the Sunnah in Islam, please read An Introduction > to the Sunnah and/or The Sunnah and Its Position in > Islamic Law. Now in regards to what the authentic > Islamic sources actually say, it may come as a > disappointment to some "modern" and "cultured" > Muslims that there are four ahadith in Saheeh > al-Bukhari and three ahadith in Saheeh Muslim which > clearly state that 'Aishah was "nine years old" at > the time that her marriage was consummated with the > Prophet . These ahadith, with only slight > variation, read as follows: 'Aishah, may God be > pleased with her, narrated that the Prophet was > betrothed (zawaj) to her when she was six years old > and he consummated (nikah) his marriage when she was > nine years old, and then she remained with him for > nine years. (Saheeh al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 62, > Number 64)Of the four ahadith in Saheeh al-Bukhari, > two were narrated from 'Aishah (7:64 and 7:65), one > from Abu Hishaam (5:236) and one via 'Ursa (7:88). > All three of the ahadith in Saheeh Muslim have > 'Aishah as a narrator. Additionally, all of the > ahadith in both books agree that the marriage > betrothal contract took place when 'Aishah was "six > years old", but was not consummated until she was > "nine years old". Additionally, a hadeeth with > basically the same text (matn) is reported > in Sunan Abu Dawood. Needless to say, this > evidence is—Islamically speaking—overwhelmingly > strong and Muslims who deny it do so only by > sacrificing their intellectual honesty, pure faith > or both. > This evidence having been established, there doesn't > seem much room for debate about 'Aishah's age > amongst believing Muslims. Until someone proves that > in the Arabic language "nine years old" means > something other than "nine years old", then we > should all be firm in our belief that she was "nine > years old" (as if there's a reason or need to > believe otherwise!?!). In spite of these facts, > there are still some Muslim authors that have > somehow (?) managed to push 'Aishah's age out to as > far as "fourteen or fifteen years old" at the time > of her marriage to the Prophet . It should come as > no surprise, however, that none of them ever offer > any proof, evidence or references for their > opinions. This can be said with the utmost > confidence, since certainly none of them can produce > sources more authentic than the hadeeth collections > of Imams al-Bukhari and Muslim! Based on the > research that I've done, I feel that there is a > common source for those who claim that 'Aishah's age > was "fourteen > or fifteen years old" at the time of the marriage. > This source is "The Biographies of Prominent > Muslims" which is published in book form, on CD-ROM > and is posted in several places on the Internet. > Just another example of why going to the sources is > important . . . > > > --------------------------------- > THE PROPHET'S MARRIAGES IN PERSPECTIVE > --------------------------------- > > To put all of this in perspective—hopefully without > undue apologetics—the first thing that one should be > aware of is that 'Aishah was the third wife of the > Prophet , not the first. Prior to this, the > Prophet's 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—which might > be called the years of a male's "sexual prime"—and > stayed married ONLY to her until her death. Just > after Khadijah's death, when he was round forty-six > years old, the Prophet married his second wife > Sawdah bint Zam'ah. It was after this second > marriage that the Prophet became betrothed to > 'Aishah, may God be pleased with her. She was the > daughter of Abu Bakr, one of the Prophet's closest > friends and devoted followers. Abu Bakr, may God be > pleased with him, was one of the earliest converts > to Islam and hoped to solidify the deep love that > existed between himself and the Prophet > by uniting their families in marriage. The > betrothal of Abu Bakr's daughter 'Aishah to Muhammad > , took place in the eleventh year of Muhammad's > prophethood, which was about a year after he had > married Sawdah bint Zam'ah and before he made his > hijra (migration) to al-Madinah (Yathrib). As > mentioned above, the marriage with 'Aishah bint Abu > Bakr was consummated in Shawwal, which came seven > months after the Prophet's hijra from Makkah to > al-Medinah. At the time of his marriage to > ''Aishah, the Prophet was over fifty years old. > It should be noted that the Prophet's marriage to > 'Aishah was an exceedingly happy one for both > parties, as the hadeeth literature attests. > 'Aishah, may God be please with her, was his > favourite wife and the only virgin that he ever > married. After emigrating to al-Madinah, Muhammad > married numerous other wives, eventually totalling > fifteen in his lifetime. Even though we do not > have time to go into the details of each one of them > here, each of these marriages was done either for > political reasons, to strengthen the ties of kinship > or to help a woman in need. Quite a few of the > wives were widows, older women or had been abandoned > and thus were in need of a home. Additionally, it > should be mentioned that the same collection of > Muslim hadeeth literature that tells us that 'Aishah > was === message truncated === __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤