Short answer
No. The verse permits no marriage and names no age. It sets the waiting period after divorce for wives who have no monthly cycle to count. Its Arabic words mean "those who have not menstruated". They have no word for "young" and no word for "yet". The women it covers include grown women whose periods never came, which doctors call primary amenorrhea. Jurists of all four main schools of Islamic law applied the verse to such women. Most classical commentators also counted young girls. A waiting period follows only a consummated marriage, but the verse says only how long the wife waits, not when consummation is allowed. Classical Islamic law forbade consummation until a wife could bear it without harm. And the Prophet (ﷺ) annulled a marriage a father forced on his grown daughter. Today the law of each country sets the age of marriage, and Muslims keep the law wherever they live, as the Qur'an binds them to their agreements (17:34).
Full explanation
What the verse is about
Surat al-Talaq is the Qur'an's chapter on divorce. It opens by telling the Prophet (ﷺ) to count the waiting period, the 'idda. This shows whether a divorced wife is carrying her former husband's child before she may marry again. The ordinary rule is three monthly periods. Verse 4 answers the question of how to count them when a wife has none. It covers a wife whose periods have ended, are in doubt, or never came, and a wife who is pregnant. It sets a rule for women who are already wives. It commands no marriage and recommends none.
“O Prophet! When ye do divorce women, divorce them at their prescribed periods, and count (accurately), their prescribed periods: And fear Allah your Lord: and turn them not out of their houses, nor shall they (themselves) leave, except in case they are guilty of some open lewdness, those are limits set by Allah: and any who transgresses the limits of Allah, does verily wrong his (own) soul: thou knowest not if perchance Allah will bring about thereafter some new situation.”
“Divorced women shall wait concerning themselves for three monthly periods. Nor is it lawful for them to hide what Allah Hath created in their wombs, if they have faith in Allah and the Last Day. And their husbands have the better right to take them back in that period, if they wish for reconciliation. And women shall have rights similar to the rights against them, according to what is equitable; but men have a degree (of advantage) over them. And Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise.”
“Such of your women as have passed the age of monthly courses, for them the prescribed period, if ye have any doubts, is three months, and for those who have no courses (it is the same): for those who carry (life within their wombs), their period is until they deliver their burdens: and for those who fear Allah, He will make their path easy.”
What the words say
The Arabic behind "those who have no courses" is three words: wa-alla'i lam yahidna, "and those who have not menstruated". There is no word in them for "young", "immature" or "yet". Some translations add such words in brackets, but those are the translators' words. Arabic has its own word for "not yet", lamma, and the Qur'an uses it elsewhere, as in "not yet has Faith entered your hearts". It does not use it here. The verse states one fact about a woman. It gives no reason and no age.
“Such of your women as have passed the age of monthly courses, for them the prescribed period, if ye have any doubts, is three months, and for those who have no courses (it is the same): for those who carry (life within their wombs), their period is until they deliver their burdens: and for those who fear Allah, He will make their path easy.”
“The desert Arabs say, "We believe." Say, "Ye have no faith; but ye (only) say, 'We have submitted our wills to Allah,' For not yet has Faith entered your hearts. But if ye obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not belittle aught of your deeds: for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."”
Who "have not menstruated"
Doctors speak of primary amenorrhea. This is when a girl older than 15 has gone through the other changes of puberty, but her periods have not begun. About 1 in 4,500 girls is born with MRKH syndrome, a condition that affects the womb, and never menstruates. About 1 in 2,000 is born with Turner syndrome, a genetic condition. Many girls with Turner syndrome do not go through puberty without hormone treatment. The verse's plain words cover every one of these women, though in the seventh century no one could have named most of these conditions.
Defines primary amenorrhea as a girl who has not yet started her monthly periods although she has gone through the other normal changes of puberty and is older than 15.
Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome leaves the uterus and vagina underdeveloped or absent, so affected women do not have menstrual periods. It affects about 1 in 4,500 female newborns.
Turner syndrome occurs in about 1 in 2,000 female newborns. Many of those affected do not go through puberty unless they receive hormone therapy.
How the jurists applied it
The classical jurists (experts in Islamic law) applied the verse to grown women too. Ibn Qudamah, of the Hanbali school, rules on a woman past the usual age who has never menstruated. She waits three months, as one of "those who have not menstruated". He records the same view for Abu Hanifa, Malik and al-Shafi'i, the founders of the other schools. The Hanafi al-Kasani names the woman who never menstruated though she is neither young nor old. Ibn Hazm names the woman who does not menstruate because of how she was made. In modern times, al-Sa'di names young girls and also adult women who have never menstruated.
On a woman who has reached the age by which women normally menstruate and still has not menstruated, Ibn Qudamah, a Hanbali jurist, rules that her waiting period is three months, because she is one of "those who have not menstruated". He records that this is also the view of Abu Hanifa, Malik and al-Shafi'i.
The Hanafi jurist al-Kasani lists the women whose waiting period is counted in months, and among them names the woman who has never menstruated at all although she is neither young nor old.
Includes among the women who wait three months the woman who does not menstruate because of her constitution, that is, the way she was made.
Explains "those who have not menstruated" as covering young girls and also adult women who have never menstruated at all.
The charge
Critics, Christian and secular, set this verse beside the marriage of Aisha. They argue that it gives a waiting period to girls who have not menstruated. They add that the Qur'an sets no waiting period for a wife divorced before intercourse. So, they say, the verse assumes consummation with girls before puberty. They also point out that most classical commentators counted young girls among "those who have not menstruated". Ibn Kathir is one of them. Al-Bukhari also cites the verse in a chapter heading of his Sahih, on a man giving his young children in marriage.
“Such of your women as have passed the age of monthly courses, for them the prescribed period, if ye have any doubts, is three months, and for those who have no courses (it is the same): for those who carry (life within their wombs), their period is until they deliver their burdens: and for those who fear Allah, He will make their path easy.”
“O ye who believe! When ye marry believing women, and then divorce them before ye have touched them, no period of 'Iddat have ye to count in respect of them: so give them a present. And set them free in a handsome manner.”
Reads "those who have not menstruated" as including young girls who have not yet reached the age of menstruation, whose waiting period after divorce is three months, the same as for women past menstruation.
Al-Bukhari heads a chapter of his Book of Marriage with a man giving his young children in marriage, and cites 65:4 in the heading, taking the three-month waiting period to apply before puberty.
The rule on consummation
Whether any marriage may be consummated is decided by a separate rule. Al-Nawawi gives the ruling of Malik, al-Shafi'i and Abu Hanifa: a wife is handed over only when she is able to bear intercourse. This differs from girl to girl and is not fixed by an age. Ibn Qudamah adds that a family need not hand over a wife who is not fit for it, even on the husband's promise. He adds that even a grown wife who fears injury may refuse him. A verse about waiting periods cannot override that law, and it does not try to. Today the law of each country sets the age of marriage, and Muslims keep the law wherever they live, as the Qur'an binds them to their agreements (17:34).
Gives the ruling of Malik, al-Shafi'i and Abu Hanifa that the time for a wife to be handed over to her husband is when she is able to bear intercourse. This differs from girl to girl and is not fixed by an age, and al-Nawawi calls it the correct view.
Citing the Hanbali judge Abu Ya'la, Ibn Qudamah rules that if a wife is not fit for intercourse her family need not hand her over to her husband, even if he promises to care for her, because he may harm her. Even a grown wife who fears injury from her husband may refuse him.
“Come not nigh to the orphan's property except to improve it, until he attains the age of full strength; and fulfil (every) engagement, for (every) engagement will be enquired into (on the Day of Reckoning).”
Raised the minimum age of marriage in England and Wales from sixteen to eighteen, in force from 27 February 2023, and made it an offence to cause anyone under eighteen to enter a marriage, including a religious ceremony that is not legally binding.
Consent and maturity
The Qur'an speaks of orphans reaching "the age of marriage", a stage of growing up. It tells guardians to hand over their property only once they show sound judgment. The Prophet (ﷺ) required a woman's consent to her marriage. A father once married off his grown daughter against her will. The Prophet (ﷺ) declared the marriage invalid.
“Make trial of orphans until they reach the age of marriage; if then ye find sound judgment in them, release their property to them; but consume it not wastefully, nor in haste against their growing up. If the guardian is well-off, Let him claim no remuneration, but if he is poor, let him have for himself what is just and reasonable. When ye release their property to them, take witnesses in their presence: But all-sufficient is Allah in taking account.”
Abu Huraira reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said a woman who has been married before is not to be married again without being consulted, and a virgin is not to be married without her permission.
Khansa bint Khidam, who had been married before, reports that her father married her off against her wishes, so she went to the Prophet (ﷺ), and he declared the marriage invalid.
The Bible's law of divorce
The divorce law in Deuteronomy says a divorced wife may go and be another man's wife. The text sets no waiting period before she remarries. It makes no provision for a child she may be carrying. It says nothing of her age. No verse of the Bible sets a minimum age of marriage. And the Catholic Church's own law still lets a girl marry validly at fourteen.
“When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife.”
The Catholic Church's law sets the minimum age for a valid marriage at sixteen for a man and fourteen for a woman.
Qur'an 65:4: what the verse says, and what it does not
- The words: the Arabic is three words, wa-alla'i lam yahidna, meaning those who have not menstruated. There is no word in them for “young” or “yet”. Arabic has its own word for “not yet”, lamma, and the verse does not use it.
- The subject: the verse sets the waiting period after divorce for wives who have no monthly cycle to count. It commands no marriage, recommends none, and names no age.
- Grown women: the women it covers include grown women whose periods never began, which doctors call primary amenorrhea. About 1 girl in 4,500 is born with MRKH syndrome and never menstruates.
- The Bible: Deuteronomy lets a divorced wife become another man's wife with no waiting period, no provision for a child she may be carrying, and no word on her age. The Catholic Church's law still lets a girl marry at fourteen.
Step by step
Qur'an 65:4 — Surat al-Talaq (Divorce), verse 4
“Such of your women as have passed the age of monthly courses, for them the prescribed period, if ye have any doubts, is three months, and for those who have no courses (it is the same): for those who carry (life within their wombs), their period is until they deliver their burdens: and for those who fear Allah, He will make their path easy.”
Cited for
"Those who have not menstruated" means young girls, so the Qur'an provides for divorcing child brides.
The response
The Arabic has no word for young or yet. Jurists of all four schools applied the words to grown women whose periods never came, and medicine confirms that such women exist.
Where it lands — The words describe a fact about a woman, not an age, and they cover adult women.
Qur'an 33:49 — Surat al-Ahzab (The Clans), verse 49
“O ye who believe! When ye marry believing women, and then divorce them before ye have touched them, no period of 'Iddat have ye to count in respect of them: so give them a present. And set them free in a handsome manner.”
Cited for
There is no waiting period without intercourse, so the verse assumes consummation with girls too young to menstruate.
The response
The verse sets a waiting period for any consummated wife with no cycle to count. Whether consummation may happen at all is a separate rule. The classical jurists held that it may not happen until the wife can bear it without harm. Today Muslims also keep the minimum age of marriage set by the law of the country they live in (17:34).
Where it lands — A rule about waiting periods does not permit what Islamic law forbids.
Perspectives
The critic's reading
Qur'an 65:4 gives a waiting period to girls who have not menstruated. A waiting period only follows intercourse. So, critics say, the Qur'an allows consummated marriage with girls before puberty.
Qur'an 65:4 gives a waiting period of three months to divorced women who have not menstruated.
Rebuttal
Grant that the verse gives three months to women who have not menstruated. The Arabic has no word for young or yet. Jurists of all four schools applied it to grown women whose periods never came, and medicine confirms that such women exist.
The Qur'an sets no waiting period for a wife divorced before intercourse.
Rebuttal
Grant that 33:49 sets none, so a waiting period follows only a consummated marriage. Whether a marriage could be consummated was a separate rule of the classical law: not until the wife could bear it without harm. Today the law of each country also sets an age of marriage, and Muslims keep it wherever they live (17:34).
The verse therefore permits consummation with girls who have not reached puberty.
Rebuttal
Grant that Ibn Kathir and most commentators counted young girls among "those who have not menstruated". A waiting period only says how long a divorced wife waits; it makes lawful nothing that came before it. Whether consummation was allowed was judged by a separate law: not until a wife could bear it without harm.
The Islamic perspective
The verse is a law of mercy and precision for divorced wives with no cycle to count. It names no age and encourages no marriage. It sits within a law, taught by the Prophet (ﷺ) and the jurists, that forbids a husband to touch a wife who cannot bear it.
The Arabic says "those who have not menstruated", with no word for young or yet. Arabic has a word for "not yet" that the Qur'an uses elsewhere.
The verse sets the waiting period after divorce; it does not say who may marry.
Some grown women never menstruate, through conditions such as primary amenorrhea, MRKH syndrome and Turner syndrome.
Jurists of the four schools applied the verse to grown women who have never menstruated. So did others, such as Ibn Hazm.
Classical Islamic law forbade consummation until a wife could bear it without harm. Today Muslims also keep the minimum age of marriage set by the law of the country they live in (17:34).
The Prophet (ﷺ) required a woman's consent to her marriage and annulled a marriage forced on a woman.
The Bible's divorce law sets no waiting period and no age.
Catholic canon law sets the minimum age of marriage for a woman at fourteen.