History of Al-Tabari Volume 2 - Prophets and Patriarchs, page 11.
Erm, they're slaves, and you can have sex with them whether they like it or not... If you don't see what's wrong with that, then there's no point us talking.
I don't think you understand kids.
...
So it's alright to go ahead with it because later when she reaches a point of sufficient mental faculty to understand her situation, she can say that she didn't want to do it.
Again, if you don't see what's wrong with that...
It depends on the whether country in question uses a rough average age for maturity 14/15/16, or an higher age 17/18+ to be safe and include the maximum number of people.
I suppose that is based on how liberal the country is and whether they see greater benefit in allowing people who mature at the average age more freedom, or whether they prefer to focus on preventing abuse and using a higher age.
I doubt anyone in these countries would argue that a child under 10 is mature.
There are of course people who through diminished mental capacity are never mature, and the law in a lot countries prevents these people from entering into binding contracts (such as marriage).

errr, see the thread on Yemeni marriages somewhere.
A lot of middle eastern countries have no lower limit on marriagable age.

yeh i had that thread. and i actually didn't say nothing about age. they get married at like 15/16 +
unless u talkin bout a generation ago?
and is lower age in marriage better than guys marrying guys? or teen pregnacy???

Sorry there was no link in there
See here.

yeh i think thats stupid and cruel, but still, not ALL arabs in ALL arab countries do this.

and what is better, lower age in marriage (not 8, or 9...or 10,11,12,13,14..more like...15+) or teen pregnacy and gay marriages?

I don't know the narrations authenticity since i'm not an expert on classification of hadith. However, i'll quote you what At-Tabari says at the beginning of his book:

If a certain man gets horrified by a certain incident that we reported in our book, then let him know that it did not come from us, but we only wrote down what we received from the narrators

[Tarikh Al-Tabari, 1/8].

These narrators could be authentic, weak or even fabricators. He just compiled the narrations with chain of narrators for future scholars to classify the narration.


I just want to quote a narration which will also clarify some things in regard to the Islamic stance on racism;

The Prophet said: 'There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab, nor for a non-Arab over an Arab, nor for a fair-skinned person over a person with dark skin, nor for a dark-skinned person over a person with fair skin. Whoever is more pious and God-fearing is more deserving of honour.'(Musnad Ahmad)

http://www.islamicboard.com/userpage.php?userid=49

Sahih Al Bukhari Volume 3, Book 46, Number 720:

Narrated Abu Musa:

Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said, “He who has a slave-girl and educates and treats her nicely and then manumits (free's her) and marries her, will get a double reward.”

Didn't want to do what exactly?

Those who live in cold regions attain puberty at a much later age as compared with those living in hot regions where both male and female attain it at a quite early age. "The average temperature of the country or province," say the well-known authors of the bookWoman, "is considered the chief factor here, not only with regard to menstruation but as regards the whole of sexual development at puberty."5

Herman H. Ploss, Max Bartels and Paul Bartels, Woman, Volume I, Lord & Bransby, 1988, page 563.

This explains to us that people mature at an earlier age in hotter climates, such as Arabia, Africa etc. If this is the case - they are permitted to get married at an earlier age too. However, if there is harm in that - i.e. they aren't physically, mentally or emotionally prepared to get married - then they shouldn't get married.

I'll quote the following fatwa from Shaykh 'Abdul-'Azîz ibn Ahmad Ad-Durayhim:

As for the possible negative consequences of a man of such a mature age marrying such a young girl, it is patently obvious. The discrepancies in their capabilities, both physically and mentally, could bring about serious differences between the two of them that could lead to the failure of the marriage. This is something that has been seen and is well understood.

Therefore, I would not recommend such a marriage nor would I encourage it.

Moreover, with respect to what we have said about the legal validity of such a marriage, that refers to the validity of the contract itself. As for the effects of the marriage - such as privacy, intimacy and sexual relations - that is another matter entirely. Such things are permitted only if the girl is able to handle such a relationship without any harm whatsoever coming to. Otherwise, it is prohibited. This is because the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "There shall be no harm nor the causing of harm."

It can also be seen in the very conduct of the Prophet (peace be upon him). He did not consummate his marriage with 'A’ishah for a number of years on account of her young age.

And from the fatwâ committee supervised by Shaykh 'Abdul-Wahhâb At-Turayrî we note:

The lawfulness of consummating a marriage at such an age is contingent on the maturity of the girl and that no harm would come to her.

So if any harm would come from it, then it is unlawful i.e. harâm.


Q: So why didn't Islam prohibit such practices that are harmful?

Actually, it did. It would be impossible for Islam to have an explicit prohibition on every dangerous behavior from jumping off a scyscraper to smoking, so Islam has provided a single broad injunction to cover all instances of harm:

The Prophet Muhammad pbuh said,

لا ضرر ولا ضر

"There is to be no harming, nor reciprocating of harm." (Musnad Ahmad, authenticated by Al-Albânî)

We see through the whole life of Aisha that she was in perfect harmony throughout the marriage and did not have any negative consequences through it, she excelled in religious affairs (she was from among the top 5 narrators of Prophetic traditions), aswell as advancing in the worldly affairs in which she focused on Medicine.


Since the whole discussion is on Aisha's marriage to the Messenger of Allah, we see that she never faced any harm whatsoever - rather she just benefitted herself and millions of others throughout history. Everyone else will be judged based on their circumstances independently.




Peace.

Are you saying that the Prophet pbuh is stupid and cruel?
Obviously there are many people who see this practice for what it is, but because it is not forbidden by the quran and the prophet himself practiced it, it is open to abuse.
Do you have to choose between the two?
And yeah back on the point, gay marriage is obviously better.

Two people, who we have pretty much agreed are born the way they are, in a loving relationship, doing things that they both consent to in the privacy of their homes.
or...
Two people, one of whom is forced into marrying someone when he/she is not mentally mature enough to decide for theirself.

- Qatada -, I'll have to address most of that post later, I'm leaving work shortly. I will say one thing though from my earlier post:
The Prophet pbuh saw fit to mention the dangers of drinking water while standing up, but left sexually violating a child to your own judgement.

OMG UR IMPOSSIBLE!!!

OOOK thats like when? in the three digit years? yeh... We are in the 21st centery...NO ONE does that! they do that back in da day not now. so its normal back then NOT now.
ok then why dont people argue about gay marriages? but argue about young marriages? and dont argue about teen preganacy but argue bout young marriages?

So what you're saying is that social conventions change over time and what might be unacceptable in one time is acceptable in another, even though it isn't spelled out in the scriptures?

The prophet said we should ride camels for transportation...times change..camels are old school...cars develop...cars aint haram...cars are modern camels...
That is old school marriage... rasulallah didnt really even say to marry that young... years passed...decades passed...generation passed...that marriage is now normal marriage at normal ages...

The narration mentions that there is to be no harm caused right? Therefore, we extract from the narration that if someone is not mature enough for marriage - then they shouldn't go through it if it will cause them harm. That's sufficient as an answer. Yet if someone is mature for it, as Aisha was - like i explained above - then that is allowed.


I don't see any confusion or error in that.



If you don't want to go any further in debate, then you don't have to. If you want to continue, that's your choice.




Peace.

truemuslim - You do see where this is going, don't you?

yep.. in circles

I'll take that as a no

This thread seems to have developed into a fiqh discussion and has no resemblance to the original topic.


: