Greetings,
I am closing this thread as rather strange comments are being made and some are using the discussion to push their anti-Islamic agenda. The issue of marrying at a young age is being conflated with the issue of child abuse. How odd that individuals are latching onto one or two details of Islamic teachings yet conveniently ignoring all the rest. And how perplexing that a simple issue is being twisted to insinuate errors on the part of God or His Prophet . We seek refuge in Allaah from such ignorance.
A lot of terms are being thrown around such as 'missing the point', 'red herrings' or failing to answer the question. It seems any attempt to view an Islamic issue within its context and entirety will be dismissed by such misplaced accusations.
Perhaps it's sufficient to quote a snippet of an article from 'The Guardian':
The Islamophobic depiction of Muhammad's (pbuh) marriage to Aisha as motivated by misplaced desire fits within a broader Orientalist depiction of Muhammad (pbuh) as a philanderer. This idea dates back to the crusades. According to the academic Kecia Ali: "Accusations of lust and sensuality were a regular feature of medieval attacks on the prophet's character and, by extension, on the authenticity of Islam."
[...]
Aisha's union would also have cemented Muhammad's (pbuh) longstanding friendship with her father, Abu Bakr. As was the tradition in Arabia (and still is in some parts of the world today), marriage typically served a social and political function – a way of uniting tribes, resolving feuds, caring for widows and orphans, and generally strengthening bonds in a highly unstable and changing political environment. Of the women Muhammad (pbuh) married, the majority were widows. To consider the marriages of the prophet outside of these calculations is profoundly ahistorical.
What the records are clear on is that Muhammad (pbuh) and Aisha had a loving and egalitarian relationship, which set the standard for reciprocity, tenderness and respect enjoined by the Qur'an. Insights into their relationship, such as the fact they liked to drink out of the same cup or race one another, are indicative of a deep connection which belies any misrepresentation of their relationship.
To paint Aisha as a victim is completely at odds with her persona... she went on to become one of the most prolific and distinguished scholars of her time.
A stateswoman, scholar, mufti, and judge, Aisha combined spirituality, activism and knowledge and remains a role model for many Muslim women today. The gulf between her true legacy and her depiction in Islamophobic materials is not merely historically inaccurate, it is an insult to the memory of a pioneering woman.
Those who manipulate her story to justify the abuse of young girls, and those who manipulate it in order to depict Islam as a religion that legitimises such abuse have more in common than they think. Both demonstrate a disregard for what we know about the times in which Muhammad (pbuh) lived, and for the affirmation of female autonomy which her story illustrates.
So, as members have already noticed, cherry-picking and misconstruing points to push misleading conclusions is unacceptable and a disservice to yourselves. There's plenty of previous threads (as you very well know) which detail the contextual information to help understanding this issue. May I also remind some of our Muslim members to avoid speaking about Islam without knowledge.
Thread closed.
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