Title: A Further Exchange on Islam's Stance on Marriage with Minors... Question/Comments: I have read your update. It is garbage. It is full with "in my opinion"s. And that is the problem. It is reported in Bukhari that Aishah explained exactly what that verse is referring to. Allah says if you don't know ask those who know. It is people like this that is causing the problem for Muslims today especially in America. The problem is not coming from non-Muslims; it is coming from so-called Muslims. She says that it refers to the orphans who the person that is in charge of her desires to marry her but don't want to give her the same dowry as he is giving to other women. So Allah revealed the verse. Also, Allah says they ask you about the orphans. Then He says that you desire to marry them. People like this are very disturbing. You should really try to keep your opinions to yourself. They are inaccurate in this case, and shows your lack of knowledge of Islam. You are a trouble maker. Answer: If you had only read my response more carefully, you would have seen the reasoning for all the statements that I had given under the phrase "in my opinion". Although it surprises me that you gave a categorical judgment about the 'in my opinion' statements, without pointing out even one flaw in my reasoning, but obviously, you have all the right to form and express your opinion about me and my work. May Allah guide us all to the path of His liking. As far as the narrative that you have referred to is concerned, I would like to clarify that it is NOT Ayesha (ra)'s explanation of what the verse is referring to, but an explanation ASCRIBED to Ayesha . If you would kindly have a look at the chain of narrators, it would give you the idea that Bukhari did not write/memorize the words that he heard from Ayesha , but on the contrary, he says that: `abd al-`aziz ibn `abd Allah told us that Ibraheem ibn Sa`d told us that he narrated from Saalih ibn Keesaan that he narrated from Ibn Shahab who says that `urwah ibn Zubair narrated to him that he asked Ayesha ... Any one can see that Bukhari did not hear the referred narrative from Ayesha , but has actually heard it from someone, who heard it from a third person who ascribed it to yet another person who said that still another person once asked Ayesha a question regarding the referred verse to which Ayesha gave that reply which is narrated... I am sure that any person with an un-biased mind and some practical experience of human communication can appreciate that under these circumstances, it is practically impossible to say with certainty that such and such is the interpretation of Hadhrat Ayesha . What we CAN say is that such and such interpretation is ascribed to Ayesha . Under these circumstances, it is quite disturbing for me that in response to the reasoning that I presented from the Qur'an in my earlier response, my brother has criticized my point of view on the basis of a narrative ascribed to Hadhrat Ayesha (ra) which could have been misunderstood, wrongly perceived or inaccurately narrated by any ONE of the six narrators of this tradition. 'In my opinion', the Qur'an - being the Meezaan (the balance for determining right and wrong) and the Furqaan (the criterion) - holds the supreme position in the determination of the directives of God. All narratives ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh) or any of his companions deserve to be interpreted in the light of the Qur'an , rather than the other way round. Moreover, even if the referred narrative is presumed to be an accurate presentation of Hadhrat Ayesha (ra)'s saying, it does not effect my interpretation of the verse under consideration, because the narrative, in the light of the directive of the Qur'an should be interpreted to mean that if a person wants to marry an orphan girl, in his custody, he may do so - when she is of the right age - after giving her the dowry, according to the cultural norms. Nevertheless, it is more than obvious from the words used by the Qur'an , as explained in my previous letter, that the Qur'an is referring to the mother's of the orphans, although this does not mean that marrying an orphan girl, in one's custody, is prohibited. 10 th February 1999