16. Why did the Prophet Muhammad marry a nine-year old? If she was not nine, how old was she? Muslim scholars differ about the actual age of Aisha at the time of her marriage to the Prophet Muhammad. While some reports mention that she was nine, recent research suggests that she may have actually been closer to eighteen. Whatever her age, all scholars agree that she had reached puberty at the time of her marriage, since it is prohibited in Islam to have marital relations prior to that time. It is also important to note that any discussion about age and marriage in a pre-modern era needs to be understood in the context of the culture, time, and place. 1400 years ago, it was common for both genders to marry at puberty due in part to a much shorter life span than today. Since Aisha was betrothed to another person prior to her engagement to the Prophet Muhammad, and there are no records of any objection to the first engagement, this indicates that the practice of early marriage was common at the time. This is a practice that continued until the late 19th and early 20th century in much of the world, including Europe and North America.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 17:16:18 +0000