Jewish and Christian Prophets



1. Abraham: When the ignorant Christians condemn Prophet Muhammad (peace be
upon him) for marrying a young girl fifty years younger than him, they are actually
attacking the Prophets in their Bible as well. Do they not recall the story of Prophet
Abraham (peace be upon him) who, according to the Bible, slept with Hagar (peace be
upon her) who was sixty or seventy younger than him? If the Christians have an issue
with Prophet Muhammad being in his fifties, do they not say anything when Prophet
Abraham was in his eighties? We read:


Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband
to be his wife. He (Abram) slept with Hagar, and she conceived…So Hagar bore
Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. Abram
was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.


(Genesis, Chapter 16, verses 1–4, 15–16, NIV)


2. David: We read in the Bible that King David lay beside a young virgin, by which was
meant a girl who had just attained the age of puberty. We read:


When King David was old and well advanced in years, he could not keep warm
even when they put covers over him. So his servants said to him, ‘Let us look for
a young virgin to attend the king and take care of him. She can lie beside him so
that our lord the king may keep warm.’ Then they searched throughout Israel for a
beautiful girl and found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king.


(1 Kings, Chapter 1, verses 1–4, NIV)


3. Isaac: According to the Judeo-Christian tradition, Prophet Isaac (peace be upon him)
was forty years old when he married Rebecca (Rivka) who was only three years old at
the time! And it should be remembered that Prophet Isaac is considered by the Jews to
be one of the most important of Prophets, and Rebecca is one of the four matriarchs of
the Jews. What is interesting to note is that just like there are some defeatist Muslims

who deny that Aisha was nine years old when she was married, there are also some
defeatist Jews who deny that Rebecca was three years old when she was married. We
refer the reader to the following defeatist website made by contemporary Jews who seek
to deny what their classical scholars say on the matter:
http://www.jewishlegends.com/displayExp.php?rumor=122
In this article, the Jewish writers admit that they are taught in Jewish schools that
Rebecca was three years old when she was married:


We all came home from school saying that Rivka was three years old when
she got married, and most of us had a hard time believing it. Our teachers
explained that people in those days matured faster, so 3 years old then was not
what 3 years old is now. What they did not tell us (probably because they did not
know), is that there is another opinion that says that she was 14.
(JewishLegends.com,


http://www.jewishlegends.com/displayExp.php?rumor=122)


How oddly similar is this claim made by these Jewish defeatists (“another opinion that
says she was 14”) to the claim made by some Muslim defeatists who claim that “another
opinion says that Aisha was nineteen years of age.” Jewish apologists further the
following argument:


Rivka, shortly before her marriage (Bereishit 24:16), is called NA’ARAH, which
refers to a girl of at least 12 years of age!
(JewishLegends.com,
http://www.jewishlegends.com/displayExp.php?rumor=122)


Muslim apologists use a strikingly similar argument. We cite the example of
Understanding-Islam.com, a Muslim website that takes unorthodox opinions:
All those who know the Arabic language, are aware that the word "bikr" in the
Arabic language is not used for an immature nine-year old girl. The correct word


for a young playful girl, as stated earlier is "Jariyah". "Bikr" on the other hand, is
used for an unmarried lady, and obviously a nine year old is not a "lady".
(Understanding-Islam, http://understandingislam.
com/related/text.asp?type=question&qid=375)


Both sites (Jewish and Muslim) engage in some simplistic mathematical arguments in
order to find discrepancies in dating. In fact, both groups use similar methodology to
question the historicity of these early marriages. What is not similar, however, is the
amount of ink wasted attacking Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) on the one
hand and on the other hand the silence on Prophet Isaac’s marriage to the three year old
Rebecca. The Zionists lead the charge in the attacks against Prophet Muhammad (peace
be upon him), so should we now expose their hypocrisy? If they argue that their classical
scholars were wrong for saying that the forty year old Prophet Isaac married a three year
old, then logic and fairness dictate that the Muslims are also absolved because they too
have defeatists who simply deny that Aisha was nine at the time of marriage!
4. Jesus: And if the Christians wish to stick a spear in our hearts by attacking Prophet
Muhammad, then what of Prophet Jesus’s mother Mary (peace be upon her) who was
only twelve years old when she was betrothed to the ninety year old Saint Joseph? The
Catholic Encyclopedia says:

the Christian East still accepts the idea that Saint Joseph was in his eighties and that Mary
was twelve. An Eastern Orthodox website says:
An Elderly Joseph


The New Testament Apocrypha speak of Joseph as an elderly man, a widower
with adult children, who was quite reluctant to be included among those from
among whom a protector for Mary would be chosen. Although the Apocrypha
were not included in the canon of Scripture their importance is great and much in
evidence in the liturgical texts of some of the great Feasts.
However the Gospels too give evidence for an elderly Joseph. For example he is
no longer mentioned after Jesus' trip to the temple as an adolescent. Note also
that as Jesus was dying upon the Cross He asked John to look after His mother.
That would have been unnecessary - and even insulting to Joseph had he been
alive. But as an elderly man he would have reposed well before Jesus' crucifixion
at the age of 32-33. Mary, however, would only have been in her middle age…
The Christian East's picture of Joseph as a courageous, faithful, God-centred
elderly widower rings true. It also tells us that "old people" are quite capable of
being chosen for and embarking upon extraordinary adventures in which they
obtain remarkable success by God's mercy and provision.
This picture may not be very attractive - particularly in a youth-fixated culture
such as ours in which "old" has become a pejoritive expression. One can
understand the appeal of the youthful Joseph. But truth may have an attraction
all its own.
(Ukrainian-Orthodoxy,
http://www.unicorne.org/orthodoxy/ar...s_a/joseph.htm)


Therefore, if the Christian West seeks to damn the Muslims for our belief in an elderly
Prophet who married a young virgin, then let them cast the first stone against their own

The priests announced through Judea that they wished to find in the tribe of Juda
a respectable man to espouse Mary, then twelve to fourteen years of age. Joseph,
who was at the time ninety years old, went up to Jerusalem among the candidates.
(Catholic Encyclopedia, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08504a.htm)
According to the “Oxford Dictionary Bible” commentary, Mary was twelve years old
when she became pregnant. As for the age of Saint Joseph, the traditional opinion was
that he was a ninety year old widower at the time. It has only been very recently that
suddenly the defeatists have sought to deny this, claiming that Joseph was “only” in his
thirties. Whether or not Joseph was in his thirties or nineties is largely inconsequential,
since the fact is that he was a grown man who married a twelve year old girl. In any case,

brothers in the East first. In any case, even if we accept the claim that Saint Joseph was
in his thirties when he was betrothed to Mary (peace be upon her), does this change the
fact that Mary was twelve years old?
The priest of Saint Mary’s Catholic Church said: “Mary’s husband is believed to be
around 36. Mary was only 13 when she married Joseph. When she first was arranged
with Joseph, she was between 7 to 9 years old.” So even the Western Christians believe
that a grown man well into his thirties married a young girl and impregnated her. If the
Christians of today are shocked at Aisha’s age, then should they not be equally shocked
by the age of Mary? But we find that they are hypocritical in their attitude towards the
Muslims, and we know this is only because the people hate to accept the Truth, and we
recognize that all the Prophets were maligned and criticized by the disbelieving people.
God will deal with them just like God dealt with all those who maligned the Prophets.