From WikiIslam
Muhammad married Aisha when she was six years old, and had sexual intercourse with her when she was nine. This fact has been recorded many times in Sahih hadith. In addition, the following verse in the Qur'an explicitly allows Pedophilia:
And (as for) those of your women who have despaired of menstruation, if you have a doubt, their prescribed time shall be three months,
and of those too who have not had their courses; and (as for) the pregnant women, their prescribed time is that they lay down their burden; and whoever is careful of (his duty to) Allah He will make easy for him his affair.
"The prescribed time" is the duration a Muslim female has to wait before marrying again. In this verse, the Qur'an is talking about the length of this period here, stating that it should be three months, whether she is young (before having any menstruation at all) or old ( after reaching menopause). The above translation of the verse masks the real meaning so the verse has to be studied in Arabic. Also, the real meaning of this verse is explicitly endorsed by Tafsirs as we will see below.
[edit] Detailed analysis of the verse in Arabic
The Quran says in Arabic:
واللائي لم يحضن" فعدتهن ثلاثة أشهر
"and those who never had menses" (because they are underage)
Quran 65:4
Source: Tafsir from al-islam.com
The transliteration of the verse and the meaning of each portion of the verse is given below:
Wa Al-Lā'ī Lam Yaĥiđna
wa ( وَ ) = and
Al-Lā'ī ( وَاللَّائِي ) = for those who
Lam ( لَمْ ) = did not (negation in past tense) [1]
Yaĥiđna ( يَحِضْنَ ) = menstruate.
Yaĥiđna comes from the verbal root H-Y-D ( حيض ) which means "to menstruate".
The addition of prefix "Ya" and suffix "na" to the root "HYD" shows that the word is used in used in third person, feminine gender, plural, imperfective aspect.[2]
The imperfective aspect, by itself lacks any tense feature. [1] The tensed negatives like lam ( لَمْ ) (negation in past tense), lan ( لن ) (negation in future tense), laa ( لَ ) (negation in present tense) combined with imperfectives decide the tense in this case.
Thus lam Yadrus = He did not study.
In the verse 65:4, Lam Yaĥiđna = 'those who did not menstruate'.
Further the imperfective verb in the context of lam ( لَمْ ) (past tensed negatives) is in the Jussive mood. [1] From Wikipedia:
The mood is similar to the cohortative mood, in that it expresses plea, insistence, imploring, self-encouragement, wish, desire, intent, command, purpose or consequence. In some languages, the two are distinguished in that cohortative occurs in the first person and the jussive in the second or third. It is found in Arabic, where it is called the مجزوم, majzum. The rules governing the jussive in Arabic are somewhat complex.
[3]
Conclusion:
- It is clear the verse 65:4 is given as a command to be followed (Jussive mood).
- The verse itself refers to those women who did not menstruate(in all of past time until the present time), which can include children or girls before puberty or attainment of menarche (first period).
Therefore, the exact translation of this portion of Qur'an 65:4 is "Not menstruated yet" ( لَمْ يَحِضْنَ ). In Arabic, the menstruating process is called HAIDH ( حيض ). It is possible to turn this noun into its verb form. Like we do it with menstruation, "menstruate" is YAHIDH ( يَحِض ). But it is LAM ( لَمْ ) that appears before YAHIDH and the NA ( نَ ) associated with YAHIDH and this puts Islamic apologists in a quandary because it cannot have any other meaning than “Not menstruated yet”. This is the appropriate English translation.
[edit] Tafsir from Ibn Kathir
To clear up any doubts about the actual translation of the verse, Tafsir.com provides a summed up translated tafsir of the original tafsir from Ibn Kathir:
The `Iddah of Those in Menopause and Those Who do not have Menses
Allah the Exalted clarifies the waiting period of the woman in menopause. And that is the one whose menstruation has stopped due to her older age. Her `Iddah is three months instead of the three monthly cycles for those who menstruate, which is based upon the Ayah in (Surat) Al-Baqarah. [see 2:228] The same for the young, who have not reached the years of menstruation. Their `Iddah is three months like those in menopause. This is the meaning of His saying.
Source: Tafsir.com
So 65:4 is talking about the divorce status of those who are too young to have menstruation, and that simply means that according to Quran 65:4, it is acceptable to have sex with a female who has not reached puberty. To confirm this again in a different way, the following is the Sahih hadith explaining the verse by Muhammad himself:
واللائي لم يحضن , فجعل عدتها ثلاثة أشهر قبل البلوغ ) أي فدل على أن نكاحها قبل البلوغ جائز
"and those who never had menses, their prescribed period is three months before puberty, which indicates that giving her into marriage before puberty is permissible."
Source: Hadith in Arabic from Al-Islam.com
Therefore, in Quran Allah has allowed sex with females who have not yet reached puberty and thus, Quran allows pedophilia.
[edit] Other Tafsirs
Besides the explanation of the verse in Ibn Kathir's tafsir which was quoted above, the real meaning of the verse can be confirmed in various other Tafsirs of the Quran as well:
And [as for] those of your women who (read allā'ī or allā'i in both instances) no longer expect to menstruate, if you have any doubts, about their waiting period, their prescribed [waiting] period shall be three months, and [also for]
those who have not yet menstruated, because of their young age, their period shall [also] be three months - both cases apply to other than those whose spouses have died; for these [latter] their period is prescribed in the verse: they shall wait by themselves for four months and ten [days] [Q. 2:234]. And those who are pregnant, their term, the conclusion of their prescribed [waiting] period if divorced or if their spouses be dead, shall be when they deliver. And whoever fears God, He will make matters ease for him, in this world and in the Hereafter.
Tafsir Al-Jalalyn
(And for such of your women as despair of menstruation) because of old age, (if ye doubt) about their waiting period, (their period (of waiting) shall be three months) upon which another man asked: “O Messenger of Allah!
What about the waiting period of those who do not have menstruation because they are too young?” (along with those who have it not) because of young age, their waiting period is three months. Another man asked: “what is the waiting period for those women who are pregnant?” (And for those with child) i.e. those who are pregnant, (their period) their waiting period (shall be till they bring forth their burden) their child. (And whosoever keepeth his duty to Allah) and whoever fears Allah regarding what he commands him, (He maketh his course easy for him) He makes his matter easy; and it is also said this means: He will help him to worship Him well.
Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs
"Therefore, making mention of the waiting-period for
girls who have not yet menstruated, clearly proves that it is not only permissible to give away the girl at this age but it is permissible for the husband to consummate marriage with her. Now, obviously no Muslim has the right to forbid a thing which the Qur’an has held as permissible." (Maududi, volume 5, p. 620, note 13, emphasis added)
Tafsir from Maududi
The interpretation of the verse "And those of your women as have passed the age of monthly courses, for them the 'Iddah (prescribed period), if you have doubt (about their periods), is three months;
and for those who have no courses [(i.e. they are still immature) their 'Iddah (prescribed period) is three months likewise". He said: The same applies to the 'idaah for girls who do not menstruate because they are too young, if their husbands divorce them after consummating the marriage with them. Tafsir Al-Tabari, 14/142
[edit] Evidence from Imam Bukhari
Here are a few quotes from Imam Bukhari in his book of Tafsir and hadith collections:
Mujahid said that "if you have any doubt" (65:4) means if you do not know whether she menstruates or not. Those who do not longer menstruate and
those who have not yet menstruated, their 'idda is three months.
Bukhari CCCLXXXIV - The Tafsir of Surat at-Talaq
Giving one’s young children in marriage (is permissible) by virtue of the Statement of Allah: ‘And for those who have courses’ (i.e. they are still immature) (Sura 65:4) And the ‘Iddat [waiting period for a woman before lawful sexual intercourse]
for the girl before puberty is three months (in the above Verse).
Bukhari (Chapter 39)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Elabbas Benmamoun, Arabic morphology: The central role of the imperfective, Lingua 108 (1999) 175-201
- ↑ Arabic grammar - Wikipedia
- ↑ Jussive - Wikipedia
[edit] External Links
These links show that girls as young as 3 have been able to menstruate. This does not mean it is acceptable to have sex with them:
