The Marriage of Ayisha

The misconception that outrages most and even give many Muslims second thoughts on their religion is the Marriage of Ayisha and the Prophet Muhammed. The Prophet Muhammed married Ayisha when she was 6 and he was 50, and consummated the Marriage with Ayisha turned 9. While a huge majority of Muslims agree that this is not considered ok by any standard today, we need to look at the circumstances and the life span of many during this time.

Why was this allowed?

The first thing to consider is the Qur'an states that marriage is void unless entered into by consenting adults. During this time period it was not uncommon for puberty to be entered early on in life. It is believed that this was the case for Ayisha, this also means that she finished puberty early. This is revenant because unlike today a person was not considered an adult at a set age, but instead upon the completion of puberty. Another thing to also think about is nearly 500 years after Muhammad's marriage to Aisha, 33-year-old King John of England married 12-year-old Isabella of Angoulême.

While the initial thought of the Prophet Muhammed marrying Ayisha are instant red flags for most, we need to understand the time period and how the laws were understood at their time. Similar to how one day a 40 year old cannot legally have sex with a 17 year old, but after their birthday it is completely legal, similar rules were set at this time, but the bar was lower due to, the large misunderstanding of science and the life span of humans being shorter than today.