Responding to a doubt about Surah At-Talaq, verse 4

 

(And those of your women who have despaired of menstruation, if you doubt, their period is three months. And those who have not menstruated and those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth. And whoever fears Allah - He will make for him of his matter ease.)

They said: This is evidence that Islam permits child marriage!!!!

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What is meant in the noble verse is (a young girl) who has not menstruated, as the scholars have said.

(And not the immature girl) as the falsifiers imagine!!!!!

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The verse indicates the validity of her marriage and divorce before menstruation.

The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, married Aisha, may God be pleased with her, when she was a young girl of six years old... and he consummated the marriage with her when she was nine years old... which indicates that it is permissible to marry a young girl according to Islamic law and that it is lawful and permissible, with no sin or blame in it.

Before that, Lady Aisha, may God be pleased with her, was engaged to Jubair bin Mut’im bin Adi (the Messenger of God was not the first to propose to her)... This is evidence that engagement and marriage at this age was not an abnormal or heretical matter in that time.... This was also the case among the Jews (the People of the Book). Huyayy bin Akhtab, the chief rabbi of the Jews, married his daughter Safiyyah - the wife of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, later - to a Jew when she was ten years old....

The best evidence that there is nothing strange or wrong with this marriage is that it is evident by reviewing the reason for the revelation of this noble verse . Ibn Kathir narrated on the authority of Ubayy ibn Ka’b who said: I said to the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): When this verse in Surat Al-Baqarah was revealed, some people from the people of Madinah said: There remains of the waiting period of women who are not mentioned in the Qur’an: young and old, those whose menstruation has ceased, and those who are pregnant. He said: Then the verse about short women was revealed: “And those of your women who have despaired of menstruation, if you are in doubt, their waiting period is three months. And those who have not menstruated.”

Which confirms that this marriage is natural, common and there is no harm in it... The Holy Quran did not create a strange law, but rather codified an acceptable custom.

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It should be noted that the marriage of a young virgin has conditions:

1- It can only be done through her guardian, who is the most concerned about his daughter and her interests.

2- It is not permissible to have intercourse with her unless she becomes fit for intercourse and able to tolerate it
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The marriage contract of a minor girl is permissible even if she is at the age of breastfeeding or childhood (if there is no legal impediment to that, such as lineage or breastfeeding) .... The evidence for this is the Almighty’s saying: (And those who have not menstruated and those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth) At-Talaq : 4. The evidence here is that: (The waiting period is only for a marriage followed by a divorce)

As for fully enjoying the little girl, it is of course reprehensible and forbidden by Sharia.... It is not permissible for the girl’s guardian to allow her husband to have intercourse with her unless she reaches a point where she can tolerate intercourse.... If she cannot tolerate it, then both the guardian and the husband must give her time until she can tolerate it, in a way that does not harm her
. Here, the husband is not obligated to provide for her unless she is allowed to do so
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It is permissible for an adult man to marry a young girl who has not yet reached puberty.... The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) married Aisha (may Allaah be pleased with her) when he was over fifty years old when she was six years old, and he consummated the marriage with her when she was nine, as in the two Saheehs and others.... Also, in the words of Allaah the Most High: (And those of your women who have despaired of menstruation, if you doubt, their waiting period is three months. And those who have not menstruated and those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth. And whoever fears Allaah - He will make for him a way out)... This indicates that a young girl (who has not yet menstruated) can marry and be divorced, and her waiting period will then be Three months... If an adult man marries a young girl, he is permitted to enjoy her in all types of enjoyment permitted by Islamic law... As for intercourse with her, he should not have intercourse with her until she is able to tolerate intercourse, as was previously explained.

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Islamic scholars have agreed that it is permissible to have intercourse with a young girl before menstruation, as long as she is able to do so.

* Al-Nawawi said: ((As for the time of the wedding of the young married girl and consummation of the marriage with her: If the husband and guardian agree on something that does not harm the young girl, it is to be acted upon. But if they disagree, Ahmad and Abu Ubaid said: A girl of nine years is to be forced to do that, but not others. Malik, Al-Shafi’i and Abu Hanifa said: The limit for that is that she is able to have intercourse, and that differs according to their differences, and it is not determined by age. This is the correct view. There is no specification or prohibition in the hadith of Aisha for someone who is able to do it before nine, nor permission for someone who is not able to do it after reaching nine.))

* Ibn Qudamah said in Al-Mughni: ((The possibility of intercourse with a young girl is based on her condition and her ability to tolerate it. This was stated by Al-Qadi. He mentioned that they differ, as she may be young and fit, or old and not fit. Ahmad alone stated that it is nine years old, so he said in the narration of Abu Al-Harith regarding the young girl whose husband asks for her: If she reaches nine years old, she is given to him, and they do not have the right to detain her after nine))

* Al-Qadi said: ((This, in my opinion, is not a specification, but he mentioned it because it is most likely that a girl of nine can be enjoyed, so when she is not fit for intercourse, her family is not obligated to hand her over to him, even if he mentioned that he will nurse her and raise her and has someone to serve her, because he does not have the right to enjoy her, and she is not his place, and he is not safe from the evil of his soul until he has intercourse with her, so he deflowers her or kills her. If her family asks to give her to him, and he refuses, then he has the right to do so, and he is not obligated to pay her expenses; because he is not able to fulfill his right from her))

It seems that our scholars meant by intercourse with a young girl: (the girl who has not yet menstruated, even if the symptoms of puberty have affected her) .... So (the attainment of menstruation) is not a measure of the girl’s readiness for marriage, because what matters is her suitability for intercourse.

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This famous sterile suspicion results from mixing things without understanding:

1- Confusion between menstruation and puberty

2- Confusion between young age and childhood

3- Confusion between marriage and consummation

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(A) - Confusion between menstruation and puberty

It is medically proven that the first menstruation begins approximately two years after the onset of puberty.

The first menstruation, known as menarche , occurs between the ages of nine and fifteen,
while the signs of puberty in girls occur before that and are as follows:

1- Change in voice and its softness and increase in body length
2- Roundness of body curves, so that the angles of the body take gentle turns with the smoothness of the skin due to the selective deposition of subcutaneous fat
3- Breast growth under the influence of the estrogen hormone and the appearance of hair in the armpit and pubic areas
4- The presence of some psychological tendencies such as shyness, isolation and inclination towards the opposite sex
5- Rapid growth of the uterus, vagina and other sexual organs
6- The appearance of the first menstruation

Menstruation is (the last sign of puberty)... and not (what determines its beginning)!!!!

It is scientifically known that a girl often matures physically and sexually even before reaching menstruation. There is no relationship between this and that... because menstruation means her fertility and readiness to give birth, nothing more.

A girl may mature and desire sex regardless of whether she reaches menstruation...and she may continue to desire sex even after menstruation stops.

The age of puberty for girls varies according to the environment and time.... The age of puberty for girls in hot regions is approximately between 8-12 years.

If a girl got married at this age (even if she had not reached menstruation), there would be no problem.

Perhaps this confusion and problem resulted from measuring the puberty of a boy, who is not suitable and cannot be married before that... by the puberty of a girl, which is nothing more than (evidence of her ability to bear children) and not for practicing married life!!!

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(b) - Confusion between young age and childhood

In short....

A child is someone who has not reached puberty and has not shown signs of puberty, whether male or female.

Every child is a youngster... but not every youngster is a child.

The measure of young age is: (age group or number of years)

As for childhood, its measure is: (puberty)

Therefore, we do not find in the books of interpretation and jurisprudence the term (child marriage)... rather we find (marriage of a young virgin).

The Quranic wording is very precise, as it says: “and those who have not menstruated”… because even though it is permissible for the father (or guardian) to marry off his daughter when she is young, he cannot marry her off to him until she becomes fit for intercourse (after she has passed the stage of childhood).

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(c) - Confusion between marriage and consummation

Marriage is a written contract, which we call “the marriage contract” or “the book of the marriage contract.”

As for consummation, it is the actual practice of full marital rights (sexual intercourse).

A man may divorce his wife before consummating the marriage.

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If we consider the direct meaning of the word in the verse “ and those who have not menstruated ,” then this is not limited to young girls only
, as there are women who have reached puberty but have not menstruated, and this could be in more than one way....

Note that the verse did not say “ and those who have not menstruated ,” but rather said “ and those who have not menstruated ,” and this implies that she is a woman who has not menstruated since the time of her divorce, whether she had been accustomed to menstruating before that or not , but her physical condition at the time of her marriage met the conditions of marriage and consummation, especially in terms of physical ability. The talk here is about the divorce of a woman who has been consummated with, meaning that there is evidence and proof for this and it has more than one meaning:

* The evidence and proof that she is divorced after consummation is that a woman who is divorced before consummation does not have a waiting period in principle, and this is stated explicitly in the verse regarding a woman who is divorced before consummation: “ There is no waiting period for you to count for them. ” * The meaning is that she has already married and consummated the marriage, and this means that she has fulfilled all the conditions of a valid, legitimate marriage, including physical ability for the third time. The verse speaks about the waiting period of a woman who has been divorced from a valid marriage that fulfills the conditions, and not about the conditions of marriage. The objection of the objector is the conditions of marriage and consummation , and they are very far removed from this verse, and there is no room for discussion about them here, and its evidence is well-known and widely available, and it is limited to women who are physically able to marry in addition to the rest of the conditions. As for those who have not menstruated, they are not limited to young women who meet the conditions of marriage only, but they include many others, including: * A wife who has hormonal health reasons that prevent her from menstruating and she got married but did not menstruate. It is possible that she used to menstruate before and then got sick and her menstruation stopped, or perhaps she did not menstruate from the beginning despite reaching puberty before marriage and her physical ability to have intercourse. These are included in those who have not menstruated. If she is divorced, how will her waiting period be calculated? * A wife who was already menstruating but her menstruation stopped due to breastfeeding, for example. It is known that many women stop menstruating during the breastfeeding period or some of that period as a result of the weakness of the uterus due to breastfeeding hormones, so how will her waiting period be calculated if she is divorced during that period?!!! * There is even a wife who does not have a hormonal deficiency, illness or breastfeeding, and a social sciences professor at a college in Cairo told her story, and the sequence of her story was as follows: She got married after reaching puberty, but before she saw her first menstruation. That is, during the two years preceding her first menstruation. As soon as she got married, she became pregnant before her first menstruation and did not menstruate. After giving birth, she breastfed without menstruation naturally. After breastfeeding and before her first menstruation, she became pregnant again and did not menstruate either. The condition of the second pregnancy, in terms of menstruation and breastfeeding after it, was the same as the condition of the first pregnancy. She continued to be pregnant and breastfed until she reached menopause. This is a woman who was completely feminine and pubertal and not sick. She lived and died without menstruating. Indeed, the title of the lecture was "She lived and died without menstruating."






















This is a rare and completely unconventional case... But how could the legislation have dealt with it if she had been divorced?

Haven't you noticed, dear reader, that the absence of this verse in the legislation leads to a clear legislative vacuum?

This verse is one of the miracles of Islamic legislation, as it completed the legislation of the waiting period for divorce, such that it did not leave even a single case in the entire history of humanity without a codification of the waiting period for the divorced woman.