Muhammad Married A 9-Year-Old Lady Ayesha Because Messenger of God Said So

Is it true that Muhammad married a child bride by the name of Ayesha when he was 53 and she was 9 years old? If so, how do Muslims justify this from their “exemplary” Prophet? The well-established, but not altogether agreed upon, tradition of Lady Ayesha’s age at the time of marrying Prophet Muhammad comes from a hadith in one of the most authentic collections – Sahih al-Bukhari in which Ayesha, herself, states: “The Messenger of God married me when I was six, and consummated the marriage with me when I was nine.”

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Of all the criticism that Islam has endured since it appeared on the scene as a new religion fourteen centuries ago, the marriage of Muhammad to Ayesha was not one of them until fairly recently. Muslim apologists, those who defend the Islamic tradition, would argue that a reason for the absence of such criticism is that marriage and age are so historically and culturally contextual. So, for example, it means something very different to be 9 years old in a society in which life expectancy is short as opposed to long life expectancies in the modern West. In reality, the idea of young girls marrying and even conceiving was quite common in the medieval period. In Christianity, for example, it is commonly accepted that Lady Mary was between 12-14 years of age when she was married to Joseph and when she conceived Jesus of virgin birth. So, the Prophet’s marriage to Ayesha was nothing out of the ordinary for the time in which this marriage took place. Insisting on 21st century (Western) ideas on morality and marriage, which evolved in their own right, for a very different time and place is an ahistorical approach.

Furthermore, the argument goes, there was a great wisdom in the Prophet marrying Ayesha at such a young age. By every historical account, Ayesha grew up to be a very intelligent woman with a sharp memory and was quite bold in asserting herself during and after the Prophet’s life as a scholar, opinionated community leader and diplomat (far from anything you would expect from a supposedly oppressed child bride). According to the same hadith collection, Ayesha was only 18 years old when the Prophet died. She knew the Prophet inside-out, sharing an intimate space and home with him for 9 years and being at his side during major events. As such, Ayesha’s recollection of the Prophet’s Way (sunnah) was considered to be among the most reliable. Much of the authenticated hadith collection in Sunni Islam comes from the narratives of Ayesha, including some of the most intimate affairs of home life. In Sunni Islam it is often said that “one-third of the Shari’ah [sacred law] comes from Ayesha.” After the Prophet’s passing, Ayesha was considered one of the most important early scholars of the developing Islamic tradition until her death four decades later.

Another Muslim response to this question comes from the revisionists – those who engage in the scholarship of critical historical analysis, including aspects of the Prophet’s life [seerah], with other – perhaps lesser known – traditions or new findings. The argument of the revisionists is that despite the authentic hadith, there are other hadith from Ayesha herself in which she recollects an incident from the Prophet’s life which would indicate that she was, in fact, significantly older than 9 years old. In addition, reliable historians in the tradition from the earliest period record Ayesha as being 10 years younger than her sister, Lady Asma, who is recorded as being 28 years of age at the time of the epic migration from Mecca to Medina (hijra) which would make Ayesha around 15 at the time of her marriage and around 19 at the time her marriage was consummated.

In any case, it important to know that when Muslims look to the sunnah they have the example of the Prophet marrying women who were significantly older than himself and widowed as well. And, when it comes to the sacred law (Shari’ah) not everything the Prophet did is taken as precedence for doing. Rather, those who interpret the sacred law [fuqaha] and its application for every age and place have long ago established that culture and custom [urf] has significant weight. As such, many Muslim countries of, at least on paper, banned child-marriages not in defiance of the sunnah or shari’ah, but rather in accordance with its principles and maxims.

Writing about Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, the Orientalist scholar W Montgomery Watt wrote: “Of all the world’s great men, none has been so much maligned as Muhammad.” His quote seems all the more poignant in light of the Islamophobic film Innocence of Muslims, which has sparked riots from Yemen to Libya and which, among other slanders, depicts Muhammad as a paedophile.

This claim is a recurring one among critics of Islam, so its foundation deserves close scrutiny.

Critics allege that Aisha was just six years old when she was betrothed to Muhammad, himself in his 50s, and only nine when the marriage was consummated. They base this on a saying attributed to Aisha herself (Sahih Bukhari volume 5, book 58, number 234), and the debate on this issue is further complicated by the fact that some Muslims believe this to be a historically accurate account. Although most Muslims would not consider marrying off their nine-year-old daughters, those who accept this saying argue that since the Qur’an states that marriage is void unless entered into by consenting adults, Aisha must have entered puberty early.

They point out that, in seventh-century Arabia, adulthood was defined as the onset of puberty. (This much is true, and was also the case in Europe: five centuries after Muhammad’s marriage to Aisha, 33-year-old King John of England married 12-year-old Isabella of Angoulême.) Interestingly, of the many criticisms of Muhammad made at the time by his opponents, none focused on Aisha’s age at marriage.

According to this perspective, Aisha may have been young, but she was not younger than was the norm at the time. Other Muslims doubt the very idea that Aisha was six at the time of marriage, referring to historians who have questioned the reliability of Aisha’s age as given in the saying. In a society without a birth registry and where people did not celebrate birthdays, most people estimated their own age and that of others. Aisha would have been no different. What’s more, Aisha had already been engaged to someone else before she married Muhammad, suggesting she had already been mature enough by the standards of her society to consider marriage for a while. It seems difficult to reconcile this with her being six.

In addition, some modern Muslim scholars have more recently cast doubt on the veracity of the saying, or hadith, used to assert Aisha’s young age. In Islam, the hadith literature (sayings of the prophet) is considered secondary to the Qur’an. While the Qur’an is considered to be the verbatim word of God, the hadiths were transmitted over time through a rigorous but not infallible methodology. Taking all known accounts and records of Aisha’s age at marriage, estimates of her age range from nine to 19.

Because of this, it is impossible to know with any certainty how old Aisha was. What we do know is what the Qur’an says about marriage: that it is valid only between consenting adults, and that a woman has the right to choose her own spouse. As the living embodiment of Islam, Muhammad’s actions reflect the Qur’an’s teachings on marriage, even if the actions of some Muslim regimes and individuals do not.

Sadly, in many countries, the imperatives motivating the marriage of young girls are typically economic. In others, they are political. The fact that Iran and Saudi Arabia have both sought to use the saying concerning Aisha’s age as a justification for lowering the legal age of marriage tells us a great deal about the patriarchal and oppressive nature of those regimes, and nothing about Muhammad, or the essential nature of Islam. The stridency of those who lend credence to these literalist interpretations by concurring with their warped view of Islam does not help those Muslims who seek to challenge these aberrations.

The Islamophobic depiction of Muhammad’s marriage to Aisha as motivated by misplaced desire fits within a broader Orientalist depiction of Muhammad 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.”

Since the early Christians heralded Christ as a model of celibate virtue, Muhammad – who had married several times – was deemed to be driven by sinful lust. This portrayal ignored the fact that before his marriage to Aisha, Muhammad had been married to Khadija, a powerful businesswoman 15 years his senior, for 25 years. When she died, he was devastated and friends encouraged him to remarry. A female acquaintance suggested Aisha, a bright and vivacious character.

Aisha’s union would also have cemented Muhammad’s 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 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 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 was certainly no wallflower. During a controversial battle in Muslim history, she emerged riding a camel to lead the troops. She was known for her assertive temperament and mischievous sense of humour – with Muhammad sometimes bearing the brunt of the jokes. During his lifetime, he established her authority by telling Muslims to consult her in his absence; after his death, she went on to be 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 lived, and for the affirmation of female autonomy which her story illustrates.

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Distinguishing Qur’an, hadith and sunnah
The Qur’an is the primary religious text of Islam. Muslims consider the Qur’an to be the precise, unchanged Word of God and God’s final testament to humanity. The Qur’an was conveyed to the Prophet Muhammad via the arch angel Gabriel, who then conveyed it purely without adulteration to the masses. It has been preserved since through memorization, recitation and in the written form. This is what Muslims believe about the Qur’an.

The hadith (pl., ahadith) are formal narrations or reports of the doings and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad based on the memory of his closest family and companions. Hadith are the second most important source of religious guidance for Muslims and often studied alongside the Qur’an. the hadith include what the Prophet Muhammad did, what he said, and what he gave tacit approval to by watching his Companions do or say something without correcting it.

The Prophet was not only a messenger conveying God’s message, but also a model to be followed in spiritual and ethical life from the manners of praying, eating and talking to the ethics of business, marriage and war. The Prophet is not considered divine or worthy of worship in anyway. It is his example that is exemplary for Muslims who seek to apply the Qur’an. He is referred to as “the walking Qur’an.”
The sunnah is the normative and collective understanding of the Prophet’s Way. The sunnah is not determined by individual hadith (reports), but rather by the collective body of ahadith and then further interpretation and explanation of religious scholars who determine the sunnah from these reports.

Muslims seek to follow the sunnah, not individual hadith on their own.
What Makes a Hadith?
Each individual hadith contains three parts: first, a chain of oral transmission (isnad) linking the hadith back to the Prophet; second, the actual report of what the Prophet said or did (matn); third, the collection of hadith that the hadith is found in.

The chain of transmission contains the names of the family members or companions of the Prophet who conveyed the hadith to others. The names of hadith transmitters are well known and extensive biographies were written about these people. The more reliable (meaning of sound character and intellect) people there are in a chain the greater the authenticity of the hadith.
Hadith conveyed just by one person (such as an intimate companion or one of the wives of the Prophet) may still be considered authentic depending on content and context of the hadith.

Hadith that have people in the chain of narration who are of questionable reputation or intellect are given a lower degree of authenticity, but may still be considered reliable because of the strength of others in the chain.

The content of the hadith is analyzed by hadith scholars to ensure that it does not wildly contradict the Qur’an – the first religious source – or other established and reliable hadith or what is by consensus a confirmed sunnah.
When the chain and content have a serious enough flaw then the hadith is considered to be fabricated. Hadith were, historically, often fabricated by ill-intentioned politicians who sought an upper hand or even well-intentioned but misguided individuals who sought to put the Prophet’s stamp of approval on their spiritual or ethical saying or teaching.

It is in part due to the presence of fabricated hadith that scholars developed such a sophisticated method of carefully classifying hadith.

In the ninth century CE, about 200 years after the passing of the Prophet, some Muslim scholars devoted their lives to searching out accounts of the Prophet Muhammad and compiling only the most rigorously authenticatable accounts.
For example, the hadith collections Sahih al-Bukhari compiled by Muhammad al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim compiled by Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj are two of the most highly respected and most often cited collections. Bukhari and Muslim sifted through tens of thousands of narrations, deeming only a fraction of those narrations sound enough to include in their collections. In Sunni Islam there are 4 other (6 total) canonical hadith collections with other reliable collections as well. Shia Islam has its own collection of hadith, many of which concur with Sunni collections and many others that are different.

Hadith in Muslim Daily Life
Muslims will often read hadith on a regular basis as a devotional practice to be connected to the Prophet and his traditions. Hadith serve as great reminders of how to live Islam both internally as well externally.

Many Muslims will also memorize hadith so that the sayings and traditions are internalized and become part of one’s consciousness.

Hadith such as “Smiling is charity” or “Love for your brother what you love for yourself” also serve as popular sayings in Muslim cultures. Some hadith such as “God has 99 Names and whomsoever acquires them enters paradise,” are often found in pieces of calligraphy or other art forms to decorate Muslim homes, businesses and Mosques.

The Five Foundational Pillars of Islam
The heart of Islam is found in the Oneness of God. Part of this belief is knowing fully well that although one may not physically see God with their eyes, God can be “seen” with the heart and God always sees us. Thus, the faith of a Muslim is encompasses beliefs, devotional acts, and spiritual beauty.

The devotional acts can best be summarized with the five foundational pillars, through which Muslims are able to manifest their faith both inwardly and outwardly.

The Prophet Muhammad taught Muslims in an authentic tradition (hadith), “Islam is built upon five [pillars]: to bear witness that there is no god except the One God and to bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God; to establish prayer; to pay the almsgiving; to fast in the month of Ramadan; and to go on the great pilgrimage to the House [of God].”
Shahadah – Testimony of Faith
The shahadah is a statement of conviction in the heart proclaimed on the tongue by a believer bearing witness to the reality of one God and accepting Muhammad as the final Messenger of God:

“I testify that there is no god except the One God and I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God.”

The testimony serves as a formal entrance into the religion as it emphasizes the central message of Islam which is to worship and serve God alone following in the footsteps of Muhammad as the confirming, clarifying and culminating Messenger of God. The statement is also recited in the daily formal prayers (salah) and invoked frequently as a spiritual invocation.

The idea of testifying or bearing witness indicates that the shahadah is not so much simply a belief as it is an active and constant devotion in which the intellect, heart and limbs are all involved in realizing and actualizing the testimony of faith.

Salah – Establishing Prayer
To manifest the testimony of faith, Muslims are required to perform a structured and formalized prayer five times throughout the day: fajr (dawn prayer), duhr (midday prayer), asr (afternoon prayer), maghrib (sunset prayer), and isha (night prayer). The established timings, based on the position of the sun, are meant to continuously remind Muslims throughout the day that their primary purpose in life is to worship and serve God – meaning to live a life devoted to fulfilling the teachings of God. Through salah, Muslims leave their worldly matters behind for a short period of time to thank and praise God throughout the day.

Muslims approach their prayers in a clean, ritualistic state of purification facing the direction of the Holy Kabah, which represents the (symbolic) House of God in Mecca, and perform a series of meditative postures while reciting portions of the Quran and other spiritual invocations that praise God and ask of God. Salah represents the physical act of submitting oneself to God with every limb of the body involved in the worship. It is the way Muslims maintain their connection to the Divine. Since it is encouraged for believers to come together to offer salah in congregation it is also a way of connecting hearts and creating social cohesion.

It should be noted that there are two other ways Muslims pray to God outside of salah that are less formal: Dhikr – spiritual invocations that can be recited just about anytime and anywhere – and Dua’ – asking God for spiritual and material blessings for this world and the hereafter. Both can and are done individually as well as collectively.

Zakat – Almsgiving
In the Islamic tradition, personal connection to God is not only manifested through intimate worship but also through service and helping fellow human beings. Through the commandment of zakat, or almsgiving, Muslims are required to give a portion of their wealth to the poor and needy every year. The pillar serves as a reminder that believers are morally responsible to share their God-given wealth and fortune to help others. The payment of zakat is also a means of purifying one’s own wealth and increasing spiritual blessings in life.

While zakat is a required pillar of Islam, everyday charity is strongly encouraged in the Qur’an and in the life example of the Prophet Muhammad. Charity in Islam need not be monetary; it can come in many forms such as giving one’s time or skills or energy to a good cause. The Prophet Muhammad said that “smiling is charity.” Everyday charity is not only for fellow human beings but for all of God’s creation such as feeding animals or taking care of the environment.

Sawm – Fasting
Islam also emphasizes the importance of taking care of oneself and soul. Muslims are granted such an opportunity during the Islamic month of Ramadan – the 9th month of the Islamic lunar calendar in which the Prophet Muhammad received his first revelation from the Holy Qur’an. The Qur’an serves as the primary guide and moral compass for Muslims and the month of Ramadan encourages reflection and appreciation of the revelation.

Muslims are commanded to engage in the spiritual discipline of fasting, where one refrains from eating, drinking, or sexual relations from sunrise to sunset every day for the twenty-nine or thirty days of Ramadan. While the commandment refers to physical refrainment, the primary purpose of fasting as noted in the Quran is to increase one’s level of God-consciousness. The month is meant to be a time for believers to engage in introspection as a God’s devotee, striving towards betterment in the attainment of virtues such as patience, kindness, or speaking well of others.

It is encouraged to prepare for the daily fast by eating a pre-dawn meal, known as suhoor, before the sun rises and the fast begins. The fast is concluded at the time of sunset, traditionally breaking the fast with an iftar meal. The end of Ramadan is commemorated with a sacred celebration of completing the fast, known as Eid al-Fitr, where Muslims gather to perform a special prayer in the morning and celebrate the rest of the day with loved ones, exchanging gifts and greetings of peace.

Hajj – Holy Pilgrimage to Mecca
Muslims are required to visit the holy city of Mecca to perform the great pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime if they are physically and financially able to do so. The pilgrimage consists of a series of rituals performed in different sacred locations throughout Mecca that remind them of the footsteps of Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael and their devotion to God. Muslims begin their pilgrimage by purifying their intentions, entering the city in a clean state, and don simple clothing that does not distinguish them from any other individual. This condition symbolizes that the believer is only worthy based on their faith and status with God as opposed to physical appearance, socioeconomic status, family linage, or ethnicity.

The pilgrimage is meant to celebrate the oneness of God as well as the oneness of humanity – all believers perform the same sacred rituals in the same kind of apparel. Today, you will see around 3 million Muslims come for the great pilgrimage every year from every corner of the world. The diversity that is seen at the Hajj is truly remarkable. The Hajj has been often described as the largest annual gathering of human beings.

Oftentimes the discourse on women in Islam employs terms such as “oppression” or “subjugation” or “inferiority.” There are certainly Muslim societies in which the rights of women are suppressed and the struggle for a just society is real. As you read below, many problems facing women in these regions are a result of political interests, politicization of religion, and cultural and patriarchal customs instead of religious doctrine.
When the religion of Islam was introduced in the Arabian peninsula, women were granted many rights that were unheard of at the time in other parts of the world. Among those rights included the right for women to inherit wealth, own property, choose her own spouse, retain her own family name after marriage, and the right to divorce.

As these rights were introduced, early Islamic history also showcased a presence of strong female figures. Khadjiah was the Prophet Muhammad’s first wife and an incredibly successful businesswoman - she also happened to be the first convert to Islam following the Prophet’s message.

Sumayya, a member of the early Meccan community of believers, was tortured and killed for refusing to renounce her conversion to Islam, marking her as the first martyr of faith.

Nusayba was a warrior. During the Battle of Uhud, in which the Muslim Medinan community was battling the opponents of Mecca, Nusayba was assisting the warriors on the battlefield and providing them with water. As the battle seemed to indicate a defeat for the Muslims, with armies in disarray, Nusayba was seen arming herself with a sword and shield, defending the Prophet Muhammad from his enemies.

Fatima, the Prophet’s beloved daughter, served as a spiritual model for believers and to this day Muslims turn to her example as an inspiration for mysticism and sainthood.

The primary preserver of the first physical copy of the Quran, compiled after the passing away of the Prophet Muhammad, was one of his wives – Hafsa.

Ayesha, another wife of the Prophet Muhammad, was one of the first scholars of Islam. After the Prophet’s passing, the Muslim community sought to learn about the Prophet and his teachings through his wife who would share many stories and traditions. Ayesha was one of the primary contributors to the collection of prophetic narrations (hadith).

Following the legacy of Ayesha, Muslim women contributed significantly to Islamic scholarship especially in the first few centuries. Biographies of over 8,000 female scholars have been compiled by Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadawi of Oxford University.
Muslim women were notable contributors in the philanthropic realm as well. For example, in the year 859, Fatima al-Fahry founded the University of Al-Qarawayn in Morroco which is considered to be the oldest running university in the world.

Throughout the centuries until present day, Muslim women are pioneering figures and leaders in fields such as medicine, politics, arts and education throughout the world. Since 2000 four Muslim women have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Qur’an and Women
According to the Qur’an, women like men come from one living soul (nafsin wahida) (Qur’an 4:1). Women are a complement, not a competition, to men (Qur’an 9:71-72). A woman is not defined by any social role such as mother or wife – a woman is first and foremost seen by God as a believer. The Quran espouses spiritual and ethical equality between men and women:

“For the men and women who are devoted to God - the believing men and believing women, the obedient men and obedient women, the truthful men and truthful women, the steadfast men and steadfast women, the humble me and humble women, the charitable men and charitable women, the fasting men and fasting women, the chaste men and chaste women, the men who remember God often and the women who remember God often - God has prepared forgiveness and a great reward.” [Qur’an 33:35]

The Qur’an offers some remarkable stories of inspirational women in the Qur’an. The mother of humanity, Eve (known as Hawa in Arabic), is depicted as a person who was on a journey with Adam in learning what human consciousness and free will is. Eve is not blamed at all for tempting Adam to eat from the forbidden tree – the blame is entirely on Satan who tempts them both. Eve is not punished any more than Adam in having to experience the consequences of disobeying divine will. The Qur’an indicates that both Adam and Eve, together, turn in repentance to God and are both equally forgiven and given redemption through the promise of revelation.

In the story of the Children of Israel and the making of Prophet Moses, the mother of Moses is shown to have great faith and courage when she listened to divinely inspired words to put baby Moses in a basket in the river. The sister of Moses is wise and intelligent to follow the basket and to suggest to the Pharaoh’s wife that she adopt the child. The wife of Pharaoh is described as a woman of faith who opposes the tyranny of her husband and prays to God against him.

In the story of the king and Prophet Solomon, the Qur’an tells us about the Queen of Sheba, by the name of Bilquis according to Islamic tradition, who rejects the counsel to go to war with Solomon’s kingdom and instead chooses to offer a gift and diplomacy. When, the queen is brought to Solomon’s court and shown clear signs then she is humble and wise enough to submit to God despite the political opposition.

Lady Mary, the mother of Jesus, has an entire chapter (Qur’an 19) dedicated to her. She is put forth as God’s chosen one to be held up as a model of faith and devotion for all peoples. Her story is told more extensively in the Qur’an than it is even in the Bible.

Inheritance
In confronting issues of inheritance, questions often arise in regard to the following verses:

Men shall have a share in what their parents and closest relatives leave, and women shall have a share in what their parents and closest relatives leave, whether the legacy be small or large: this is ordained by God. [4:7]

Concerning your children, God commands you that a son should have the equivalent share of two daughters. If there are only daughters, two or more should share two-thirds of the inheritance, if one, she should have half. Parents inherit a sixth each if the deceased leaves children; if he leaves no children and his parents are his sole heirs, his mother has a third, unless he has brothers, in which case she has a sixth. [In all cases, the distribution comes] after payment of any bequests or debts. You cannot know which of your parents or your children is more beneficial to you: this is a law from God, and He is all knowing, all wise. [4:11]

At first glance, the verses above seem to suggest inequality between men and women. When the verses were revealed in the Prophet’s time, it was a revolutionary moment for women to be receiving any sum of inheritance. In Islam, men are tasked with the role of being the primary financial maintainers and supporters of women and their households:

Men should take good care of their women, with [the bounties] God has given to some more than others and with what they spend out of their own money [4:34]

Thus, men have more religiously-mandated financial obligations than women. The larger sum of inheritance for men is meant to facilitate for this financial obligation with ease. It is important to note however that in Islamic jurisprudence, in the case that a woman is the primary breadwinner of the family, a judge may very well rule that she receives a larger inheritance. As with any Islamic ruling, laws pertaining to inheritance, are applied by judges who consider individual contexts.

Witness Testimony
Another source of controversy surrounds the subject of witness testimony. A verse in the Qur’an suggests that in the case that two men cannot serve as witnesses, then one man and two women should be called upon to testify:

...Call in two men as witnesses. If two men are not there, then call one man and two women out of those you approve as witnesses, so that if one of the two women should forget the other can remind her. [2:282]

The verse above is referring to a specific context for application - in the event of business transactions or trade. It is not a general ruling about witnessing. Historically, women were not as involved as men in the sphere of commerce. By requiring two women to serve as witnesses, this verse was simply acknowledging that reality.

Another explanation that Muslims give is that requiring two women witnesses may have been a way of encouraging an increase in women’s participation in business and trade by having them support one another against a patriarchal society where women’s testimonies may not be considered of much value or validity.

Polygamy in Islam
Under certain circumstance, the practice of polygamy is permitted. Islam did not invent the age-old tradition of men marrying multiple women. Rather, it regulated the practice to a limit of four wives. Polygamy is only mentioned once in the Qur’an:

...you may marry whichever [other] women seem good to you – two, three, or four. If you fear that you cannot be equitable [to them], then marry one. [4:3]

Thus, polygamy is only permitted under the condition that all wives are to be treated equally and with fairness – a near impossible task. Women also cannot be forced into a polygamous relationship. A wife certainly has the freedom to establish a clause in her marriage contract stating that the husband cannot engage in this practice without her consent.

Polygamy is neither obligatory nor recommended in Islam; it is merely allowed in certain situations. The purpose of allowing such a practice was not designed to please the lusts of men, but was, rather, regarded more as a piece of “social legislation.” In societies where women outnumber men, especially in those where warfare is common and male casualties are frequent, the allowance of multiple wives provided a practical solution for the caretaking of women and children who were left widowed and orphaned.

Polygamy also ensured that if a man wanted to engage in sexual relations with a woman, he then has the obligation of caring for the woman and her family rather than engaging in secret affairs or having mistresses toward whom there is no legal responsibility.

Hijab
The donning of the hijab, or modest Muslim covering, is most often associated with the wearing of a headscarf. While there are certainly some who are forced by their own governments or families to wear the veil or full body veil, most Muslim women are free to choose.

One of the main reasons women choose to cover themselves is to express their devotion to God. They believe it to be a dignified act that they embrace with honor and pride.

Many women explain that the hijab is an expression of their understanding of feminism. In seeking to liberate themselves from the worldly gaze, these women would rather that their character or intellect be the focus in society rather than their bodies.

The question of slavery in Islam has recently gained prominence in public debates due to the cruel and unjustified actions of insurgent groups such as ISIS and Boko Haram. It has therefore become important, now more than ever, to establish a firm understanding of this issue among Muslims and our neighbors.
It must first be said that, while the presence of insurgent groups make this conversation imperative, knowledge of slavery in Islam is and has always been an important matter in the history of human rights. Thus, we do not confine our conversation or the importance of this issue to our present context. We nevertheless understand the need for a clear understanding of slavery in Islam given the realities of today.

When the Qur’an was revealed, slavery was a world-wide established reality, with previous legal and moral systems holding quite harsh rulings on the treatment of slaves. Through the revelation of the Qur’an, Muslims believe that God establishes a new system with an emancipatory leaning. In other words, the Qur’an promotes a moral norm whereby the emancipation of slaves is highly encouraged.

Even as there is no single Qur’an verse that calls for the abolition of slavery, many scholars today argue that gradual abolition was the intent of the verses surrounding slavery. One of the strongest proofs of this is in Chapter 90 of the Qur’an, where God gives believers a choice between two paths. The righteous will travel on the steep path and the unrighteous will travel on the other. God asks believers, “what will make you know what the steep path is? It is the freeing of a slave” (90:12-13). This verse strongly suggests that it is incumbent on the righteous to free slaves. If in a society of slaves, every believer is encouraged to free slaves, then eventually, it is presumed, the slaves of the world would disappear. Other verses encourage the manumission of slaves such as verse 2:177, which is one among the many verses which establishes the manumission of slaves as a possible means of performing zakat, or charity.

Throughout history, there are an overwhelming number of cases where Muslims purchased the freedom of slaves who they themselves did not own. The most famous case of this was the manumission of Bilal, one of the first people to embrace Islam. Bilal, a black Muslim, is today remembered foremost as the first muezzin in Islam. The word muezzin describes a person who makes the call to prayer, and it is one of the most honorable stations that a person can reach in the establishment of the five daily prayers. Bilal, a former slave, made the call to prayer on top of the Ka’ba, the holiest site in Islam. This suggests that, not only is the manumission of slaves encouraged in Islam, but that allowing and aiding former slaves in the attainment of high social positions is an established aspect of Islam’s prophetic tradition.

Furthermore, the Qur’an makes the manumission of a slave the only possible atonement for the commitment of some sins such as the breaking of an oath. This directly implies that the goodness in manumitting a slave overcomes the evil in something like breaking an oath. There is clearly, then, a high moral status attached to the manumission of slaves. In Islam, the manumission of slaves is not only a noble deed, but also one that is highly encouraged, and at times, required.

While there are verses in the Qur’an that deal with the relations between slaves and masters, such as the permission of relations between male masters and female slaves, there is a host of rulings that come from this kind of relationship.

First, if the female becomes pregnant, her child is free and she becomes free upon the master’s death. Second, the female has the right to claim the paternity of the father, even if he denies it. These rulings are in direct opposition to what was the mainstream order at the time in which the Qur’an was revealed and for centuries after (up to the 19th century). These rulings gave enslaved women a host of liberties that were only granted with the revelation of the Qur’an.

Finally, according to prophetic tradition, even beating a slave is strongly prohibited, and so a heinous crime such as the rape of a slave is completely unthinkable as a justifiable element of Islamic Law. With this said, it is important once again to remind the reader that the Qur’anic vision was for the impermanence of slavery, such that eventually, these kinds of power relationships would be abolished.

Some might rightly wonder whether the ‘emancipatory intent’ of the Qur’an that we suggest is simply a minority opinion. Thankfully, that is far from the case. In a 2014 letter addressed to the leader and fighters of ISIS, hundreds of prominent Muslim scholars around the world wrote the following: “No scholar or Islam disputes that one of Islam’s aims is to abolish slavery…For over a century, Muslims, and indeed the entire world, have been united in the prohibition and criminalization of slavery, which was a milestone in human history when it was finally achieved…After a century of Muslim consensus on the probation of slaver, you have boiled this…You have resuscitated something that the Shari’ah has worked tirelessly to undo and has been considered forbidden by consensus for over a century. Indeed, all the Muslim countries in the world are signatories of anti-slavery conventions.” The strength of this statement and its signatories suggests that there is no room for the re-introduction of enslaving practices according to some of the most prominent Muslim scholars.

Muslims ought to free slaves, but can they take slaves?

The overwhelming number of verses in the Qur’an relating to slaves are about their manumission. Only one verse in the Qu’ran briefly mentions the capturing of slaves in the context of ‘justified’ war. In this verse, God commands Muslims to subdue the combatants, and after, choose either “generosity or ransom” (47:4). That is, the Muslims ought to either let the combatants be free or ransom them out one by one as a means of applying political pressure.

Ultimately, however, the idea would not be to take the combatants in as permanent slaves, unless there was no other place for the combatants to return to (i.e if they had been conquered and would be better taken care of within the established Muslim communities). As for the trade of persons, this is not mentioned in the Qur’an. Rather, the perpetuation of a slave trade seems to have had socio-economic motivations rather than religious ones.

Scholar Bernard K. Freamon writes, “…the Prophet Muhammad actually condemned the capture and sale of free persons. After his death, however, the demands of empire caused jurists to look the other way, ignoring the immorality of what was essentially an illegal trade, and permitting their patrons to get rich on the traffic in human beings” (p. 273-274). Here is where morality and practice have historically parted ways, and it is beyond the scope of this article to offer a response to that history.

Ultimately, it is important to note that there is a consensus among scholars against the perpetuation of slavery and against its reappearance in the present day.

ISIS is waging an effective campaign to recruit followers and warriors to its ideology and battlefield—a battlefield that increasingly includes Europe and America, from Paris to California—with devastating consequences.
Many Muslims, often the main victims of ISIS and frustrated at how the group has tried to speak for Islam, are self-motivated to repudiate the Islam of ISIS and to articulate their own understanding of the faith.

There are, of course, many psychological, sociological and political factors for why ISIS is able to take advantage of very real and palatable anger on the ground—from oppressive and dysfunctional dictatorships in parts of the Middle East and imperial military misadventures by Western powers to the weakening of the Islamic scholarly tradition in the modern era and the marginalization of frustrated Muslim youth in too many societies. But ISIS has undeniably cloaked its ideology and ambitions with Islamic lure using selective sacred texts and decontextualized religious rulings to recruit vulnerable Muslims to its cause.

Here are five reasons why ISIS is misguided from an Islamic perspective.

1. When ISIS employs passages from the Qur’an, it completely ignores premises and contexts.
For example, ISIS uses passages such as “kill them wherever you find them” (9:5) to justify attacking civilians, including Muslims who don’t fall in line. In reality, when the Qur’an justifies fighting—as it does for the first time in passage 22:39-41, according to commentators of the Qur’an—it is strictly on the premise of self-defense, preventing exile and defending people from religious persecution.

Other passages that permit or encourage fighting must be read with this premise otherwise they can be misread to allow just about anything. The problem with ISIS’ selective reading of the Qur’an is that it ends up ignoring constant refrains including “incline toward peace” (8:61), do not transgress the limits of what is right (2:191), maintain peaceful relations with those who intend no harm (4:90), honor treaties (9:4) and give asylum to peaceful non-combatants (9:6).

In other passages the Qur’an calls on its adherents to ignore aggression (25:63), to repel evil with good (41:34), and to forgive wrongs (3:134). Similarly, the Qur’an tells Muslims to live righteously and justly with peaceful people of other faiths (5:5 and 60:8 for example). Most important, ISIS’ interpretation of the Qur’an goes against the general ethic and ethos of the scripture’s message, found in numerous passages, that commands righteous believers to stand for justice, refrain from anger, free the slaves, feed the poor and needy, and be constant in kindness and compassion, among many other virtues.

We should aspire to the guiding and enduring values of the Qur’an during times of war and times of peace. I would encourage everyone to read and refer to The Study Qur’an to gain more insight on the Qur’anic message and how it has been interpreted through the centuries.

2. When ISIS invokes the model of Prophet Muhammad, it either mischaracterizes the received traditions or looks to an exceptional circumstance rather than the general rule.
ISIS’ waging so-called jihad against fellow Muslims and waging war without any established legitimacy as a group is contrary to the prophet’s way. And, in the conduct of war, ISIS has made a mockery of the rules of fighting that were clearly established by the first Caliph Abu Bakr based on the Prophet Muhammad’s teachings that Muslim armies were forbidden from even cutting down fruit-bearing trees let alone killing innocents.

In some respects, such as the treatment of prisoners, the extremist group has willfully and obviously violated the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, who treated prisoners kindly and excused them regularly. And, like the group’s reading of the Qur’an, ISIS’ interpretation of the prophetic model defies the standard observance of mercy that Muslims have always taken to be the defining characteristic of the Prophet Muhammad’s teachings and path. Even in the legitimate battles that the prophet led, he chose to be merciful toward his enemies on the battlefield and even in victory.

Determining the lessons of Muhammad requires a detailed, systematic and wholesome interpretation of the texts in context. For further reading, I would suggest Muhammad: His Character and Beauty by Shaykh Yusuf Nabahani and Misquoting Muhammad by Jonathan Brown.

3. The way that ISIS interprets and applies the Shari’ah is an absurd re-imagination of how Islamic Law was applied historically.
Islamic Law is not about harsh penal codes and restricting people’s natural freedoms, as ISIS seems to conceive of it. Rather, Islamic Law, according to the earliest scholars of the tradition, is about facilitating benefit and removing harm by preserving religion, life, intellect, family, wealth and human dignity—its six agreed-upon higher objectives.

The advancement that Muslims have made in everything from science and medicine to art and architecture points to a dynamic understanding of law that facilitated human flourishing—not one that suppressed freedom and creativity. Women historically were not forced to cover head-to-toe nor were they largely confined to their homes. In fact, they played very important roles in society as teachers and philanthropists and held professional roles during much of Muslim history. Similarly, ISIS’ notion of how non-Muslims should be inhumanely treated under their twisted version of Shari’ah stands in stark contrast to the way non-Muslims lived, and at times even sought refuge, under Muslim rule.

In typical ISIS fashion, there is a willful ignorance of the fact that there is an entire intellectual tradition that methodically debates and discusses the Shari’ah—it is not a black-and-white code imposed without due consideration of culture and context. Does anyone really believe that ISIS style Shari’ah is going to revive Islam’s place in the world as they claim? For more reflections, read Noah Feldman’s The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State.

4. ISIS’ use of violence to instill fear in anyone who stand in its way is a completely repudiated tactic.
It has been consistently condemned by every major school of Islamic thought since the first violent extremist movement emerged in early Islam in the form of the Khawarij. Those who engaged in creating fear and instability in society were dealt with very strongly and seen as perpetrators of the worst of crimes under Islamic Law.

This is partly why every major school of Islamic thought has publicly and consistently condemned ISIS. How then could this ideological movement claim to even possibly unite Muslims under its made-up caliphate? I would recommend reading Sherman Jackson’s Domestic Terrorism in the Islamic Legal Tradition; an Open Letter to Al-Baghdadi, endorsed by hundreds of prominent Muslim scholars; Shaykh Muhammad Afifi’s fatwa Defending the Transgressed by Censuring the Reckless Against Killing Civilians; Refuting ISIS: A Rebuttal of Its Religious and Ideological Foundations by Shaykh Muhammad Al-Yaqoubi; and Muslim Leaders Refute ISIS Ideology.

5. Much of ISIS’ lure is built on an apocalyptic vision for the end of times that is based on a few select prophecies.
Muslims have historically never based their actions on these prophecies, and some would seem to warn us against the rise of ISIS if anything. To build a movement that is aspiring to bring about the end of times is largely foreign to Muslim intellectual thought and ethical consideration. Instead, Muslims largely heed the prophet’s advice that states if you are planting a seed in the ground and the end of times comes upon you, “continue planting the seed.” In other words, turn to God and do good in the world—leave the future of the world in God’s Hands.

For centuries, jihad has been associated in the Christian West with conquest and nowadays with terrorism. It evokes the same feeling that Muslims and Jews have when they hear the word Crusade.
But, jihad is not conquest or terrorism or holy war.

Jihad is an Arabic word that simply means struggle. In its religious context, it means sacred struggle for God. In the Islamic tradition, there are over 70 types of jihad – the greatest one, according to a tradition from the Prophet Muhammad, being the struggle against one’s own ego and vices. As such, night vigil prayers, which are recommended for spiritual development, are known as tahajud – a word that shares the same root as jihad.
Jihad also has a social application – the struggle to enjoin good and oppose wrong; the struggle for social and economic justice. So, the effort to fight poverty and its root causes, for example, is jihad.

In the Islamic tradition there is also an intellectual jihad – the struggle of the mind and the pen to determine what is good and to promote that good in society. As such, the word for independent juristic reasoning is ijtihad – another word that is shares the same root as jihad.

One of the forms of jihad is undoubtedly also fighting in God’s cause. It is referred to specifically in the Qur’an as qital. This type of jihad is not desired. From time to time, to defend the lives, rights and property of Muslims and humanity at large, fighting might be necessary. But the Qur’an states that when your enemies turn toward peace, that Muslims too should embrace peace (8:61).

The Qur’an in chapter 22:41 – the foundational passage on the permissibility of fighting – clearly states that qital is a defensive measure to protect people from tyranny and oppression. Qital is an organized state function. Vigilantism has no Islamic basis. This type of Jihad must be conducted carefully and ethically, similar to the Just War Theory in Christian ethics.

In chapter 2, verse 90 the Qur’an clearly states that even when qital is permissible, its conduct must not transgress sacred bounds. All passages in the Qur’an about qital must be read and understood in their textual and historical context. If this is not done, erroneous and dangerous interpretations emerge.

Some of the sacred bounds governing qital from the very earliest period include a prohibition against killing any innocents, especially women and children and monks and priests in their monasteries; It also prohibits cutting down fruit bearing trees or poisoning the wells of enemies or killing livestock for reasons other than for food.

Terrorism and vigilante violence in the name of jihad is a bastardization of the religion.

Islam is not, historically or constitutionally (through the Qur’an and hadith), a pacifist religion. But, a preference for peace, diplomacy, treaties and ethical war are all clearly established in scripture and in historical precedence.

Soon after the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632, Islam quickly gathered steam and grew into an empire with a flourishing civilization – one of the greatest in human history. This empire of faith grew, like any other empire and civilization, partly through conquests. Commerce and conversions played a major role too as Muslims traveled from region to region.

What did not happen, for the most part, is forced conversion. When Muslims conquered lands they largely allowed for people of other religions to freely practice their faith. So, even though Muslims ruled over India for several centuries, for example, the majority remains Hindu to this day. In other places like Egypt, for example, Muslims only became the majority after two or three centuries after conquest. So, while jihad – historically speaking – as fighting in God’s way was employed by Muslims to expand the borders of Islam’s civilization, it did not result in forced conversions as is often wrongly perceived in the West.

Every age has a different sacred struggle. Many Muslims see the jihad of today to be the struggle of the intellect and pen as well as the struggle to reform Muslim societies. Many Muslims who are involved in social justice efforts, humanitarian relief and anti-war movements do so with the larger spirit of jihad as a sacred struggle for God as a guiding motivation.

In the West, the word Shari’ah often evokes images of an archaic law that punishes adultery and theft and other wrongdoings with a harsh penal code. These perceptions have been informed by centuries old propaganda that are found even today in cartoons like Aladdin. Recently in the U.S. there’s been an effort to ban Shari’ah law for fear that it may threaten the American way of life. But, a more objective assessment of Shari’ah tells another story.
Meaning of Shari’ah
The word in Arabic literally means “pathway” and historically, even before the coming of Islam, referred to a pathway to a water well. In Muslim conceptions, the Shari’ah is the path to God.

The path offers guidance on how to live according to God’s teachings and preferences. It is the totality of Islam’s legal and ethical vision for human beings and societies living under God’s gaze.

The constitutional sources of the Shari’ah are what Muslims consider to be the divinely revealed Qur’an and the divinely inspired Sunnah or Way of the Prophet Muhammad.

The Shari’ah, as Muslims have understood it through the ages, is not a legal code found in a book.
Rather, the Shari’ah is a living tradition that is interpreted by fallible human beings through the ages and further interpreted by every successive generation. This ever evolving intellectual and spiritual exercise to determine the pathway to God is known as fiqh – which literally means human understanding and refers to Islamic jurisprudence. The specialists or scholars of fiqh are known as fuqaha or jurists.

The Shari’ah Applied
The jurists have determined that there are aspects of the Shari’ah that are fixed for every time and place (such as the religious duty to pray 5 times a day or the prohibition of eating pork) with some exceptions.

Other aspects of the Shari’ah are changeable according to context (such as specific rules governing business transactions or diplomacy between Muslims and others).

Most aspects of Shari’ah are applied by an individual and governed by God-consciousness (such as fasting in the month of Ramadan) or certain informal social standards (such as appropriate ways of dressing).

Few aspects of Shari’ah are enforceable by governing legal authorities. Today, Muslim societies govern their affairs and apply the Shari’ah in very different ways. Laws in Muslim societies are not determined by Islamic jurisprudence alone. There are local customs that predate Islam and remains of colonialist laws that are mixed in with local interpretations of Shari’ah.

There are certain aspects of Shari’ah (such as punishments for wrongdoings) that cannot be applied without state sanctioned authority and, therefore, do not apply in the lands where Muslims do not govern.

Local communities have wide leeway in their interpretation of the Shari’ah given that Islam is a decentralized religion.

Debating Shari’ah
Fiqh, by its very nature as human interpretation, is largely open to rigorous discussion and debate.

In the few circumstances where there is consensus (ijma’) (such as the prohibition of consuming all intoxicants) it becomes part of judicial precedence in later times.

Usually the discourse leads to difference (ikhtilaf) – agreeing to disagree. Over the centuries these differences became more formalized into different schools of fiqh.

Muslims largely follow the school of their local country or community or religious teacher.

Objectives of Shari’ah & Penal Codes
The Shari’ah, according to the jurists, is primarily concerned with protecting and promoting six basic individual and social values: life, intellect, religion, wealth, family, and dignity.

Every ethical or legal prescription or prohibition in the Shari’ah goes back to these. When jurists determine that a particular religious directive contravenes one of these six values then the directive may be suspended or reformed.

The Shari’ah’s penal code (huddud), which is a very minor aspect of Shari’ah, is interpreted by judges who are given wide flexibility in Islamic jurisprudence to determine punishments based on scripture, yes, but also other principles and maxims including innocent until proven guilty and insistence on mercy. In Islamic history the penal codes were rarely applied. More often reasons for leniency were found and applied.

To conclude, the Shari’ah – like other religious ethical-legal traditions such as Hallakah in Judaism or Canon Law in the Catholic Church, are a set of obligations, encouragements, permissions, discouragements, prohibitions, principles and maxims that come together to guide individual Muslims and communities of believers toward the pathway of God as interpreted not only by scholars but by the ever evolving worldwide Muslim community.

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