I hope every one is doing fine in sha Allah.
I recently came across lots of materials prepared by the Kufar to malign Islam. One of these tactics was that Islam promotes consummation of marriage with a child/minor.
Their line of argument is basically this:
That in Islam, If divorce occurs before consummation of marriage and before the husband and wife were able to be together in privacy (khalwa), then, upon divorce, the woman does not have to observe the waiting period (idda).
Quote:
“O you who believe, when you marry believing women and then divorce them before you have touched them, then they have no obligation of any waiting period (idda) for you that you may count…†(Qur’an 33:49)
They then quote the following verse. (See below. They highlight the bold part of the verse)
Quote:
And those who no longer expect menstruation among your women - if you doubt, then their period is three months, and [also for] those who have not menstruated. And for those who are pregnant, their term is until they give birth. And whoever fears Allah - He will make for him of his matter ease.(Quran 65:4)
They infer from the above that there being a waiting period for girls who “have not yet menstruated†indicates that it is permissible to engage in sexual relations with such girls.
I read the tafsir Mariful Quran regarding this verse and came across this
"Women who do not menstruate, because they have not yet attained puberty, or because they have attained menopausal age,rule about them is forthcoming" (Page 494 English translation, Volume 8, 65,1-7)
As far as i can recall, i'd read that consummation of marriage cannot take place until the girl hits maturity, which can either be in the form of 1)menses/puberty or 2) Age of fifteen.
A fatwa regarding maturity/Baligh from Islamqa states
Quote:
There are two ways of determining buloogh (maturity/puberty).
A) Physical maturity
B) Maturity by age
According to Shariah, if a boy experiences Ihtilaam (wet dream) or has the ability to impregnate he will be regarded to be Baligh (mature). This is referred to as physical maturity. However, if a boy does not become physically mature by the age of 15, Shariah will consider him to Baligh from the age of 15.
A girl will be regarded to be Baligh (reach the age of puberty) if she experiences Haidh (menses) or she becomes pregnant. If she does not experience menses by the age of 15, she will be regarded to be Baligh and all the Laws of Shariah will apply to her. (Shaami Vol.6 Page 580 H M Saeed)
Can any of the knowledgable brothers shed some light on this verse 65:4 especially the part "and [also for] those who have not menstruated." and refute the claims of the kuffar.
May Allah reward you immensely. (Ameen)