The Thighing of Aisha a brief refutation (update 2016/3/10: Grammar errors fixes, and Format fix)

In a very popular accusation against the prophet that he practiced a form of an intercourse called thighing (Mufaakhathah) مفاخذة

The sources for such claim goes as follows:

Source A

(As usual, Christian apologists got this accusation from Muslim scholars, who refer to the practice in their fatwas (legal rulings by Islamic scholars). The problem is that, whenever we link to a fatwa discussing the Islamic practice of thighing, Westernized Muslims complain to the fatwa site administrators, and the administrators then remove the fatwa. Once the fatwa is removed, Westernized Muslims accuse us of inventing the issue of thighing in order to attack Muhammad!

Just so there's no denying the fact that Muslim scholars issue such rulings, here's a screenshot of a fatwa on thighing that is still available at Islam Web (though it may be taken down once this article circulates): 

But this won't convince Westernized Muslim apologists, who, despite their profound ignorance of their own sources, nevertheless believe that they know more about Islam than their scholars and jurists. They will settle for nothing less than a clear Qur'an statement declaring: "Thus saith Allah on the issue of thighing . . .," and even here they would simply reinterpret the passage! )[1]

One of the original sources which are only two comes from this site [2]

The second source is an Arabic fatwa that goes as follows:

Source B

فتوى رقم (31409) تاريخ 7 \5 \1421ه

الحمد لله وحده والصلاة والسلام على من لا نبي بعده ... وبعد:

فقد اطلعت اللجنة الدائمة للبحوث العلمية والافتاء على ما ورد الى سماحة المفتي العام من المستفتي ابو عبدالله محمد الشمري والمحال الى اللجنة من الامانة العامة لهيئة كبار العلماء برقم 1809 وتاريخ 3\5\1421ه وقد سأل المستفتي سؤالا هذا نصه:

انتشرت في الآونة الاخيرة, وبشكل كبير وخاصة في الأعراس عادة مفاخذة الأولاد الصغار, ماحكم ذلك مع العلم أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم كان قد فاخذ سيدتنا عائشة رضي الله عنها

وبعد دراسة اللجنة للاستفتاء أجابت بمايلي : ليس من هدي المسلمين على مر القرون أن يلجأن إلى استعمال هذه الوسائل الغير شرعية والتي وفدت إلى بلادنا من الافلام الخلاعية التي يرسلها الكفار وأعداء الإسلام ,أما من جهة مفاخذة رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لخطيبته عائشة فقد كانت في سن السادسة من عمرها ولا يستطيع ان يجامعها لصغر سنها لذلك كان صلى الله عليه وسلم يضع إربه بين فخذيها ويدلكه دلكا خفيفا , كما أن رسول الله يملك إربه على عكس المؤمنين

بناء على ذلك فلا يجوز التعامل بالمفاخذة لا في الأعراس ولا في المنازل ولا في المدارس, لخطرها الفاحش ولعن الله الكفار, الذين أتوا بهذه العادات الى بلادنا,

اللجنة الدائمة للبحوث العلمية والافتاء

عضو: بكر بن عبد الله ابو زيد

عضو: صالح بن فوزان الفوزان

الرئيس: عبد العزيز بن عبد الله بن محمد آل الشيخ

Translate into:

“Praise be to Allah and peace be upon the one after whom there is no [further] prophet. After the permanent committee for the scientific research and fatwas (religious decrees) reviewed the question presented to the grand Mufti Abu Abdullah Muhammad Al-Shamari, the question forwarded to the committee by the grand scholar of the committee with reference number 1809 issued on 3/8/1421(Islamic calendar). The inquirer asked the following: ‘It has become wide spread these days, and especially during weddings, the habit of mufakhathat of the children (mufakhathat literally translated means “placing between the thighs of children” which means placing the male erected penis between the thighs of a child). What is the opinion of scholars knowing full well that the prophet, the peace and prayers of Allah be upon him, also practiced the “thighing” of Aisha - the mother of believers - may Allah be pleased with her? ‘After the committee studied the issue, they gave the following reply: ‘It has not been the practice of the Muslims throughout the centuries to resort to this unlawful practice that has come to our countries from pornographic movies that the kofar (infidels) and enemies of Islam send. As for the Prophet, peace and prayers of Allah be upon him, thighing his fiancée Aisha. She was six years of age and he could not have intercourse with her due to her small age. That is why the prophet peace and prayers of Allah be upon him placed his penis between her thighs and massaged it lightly, as the apostle of Allah had control of his penis not like other believers’”

Now we have observed the only 2 available sources for such claims

Let’s start with the first one:

(Question

Asalamualaykumwarahmatullahiwabarakatahu can you explain to me the thing called "thighing" also pronounced "mufa

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

A-The term Mufaakhathah means to have foreplay with the wife in between her thighs. It is reported in one narration that when the Prophet Sallallahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) wanted to enjoy one of his wives who was in menstruation, he would put a piece of cloth on her vagina (i.e. cover it). [Ibn Maajah].

B-The author of Faydh Al-Qadeer interpreted the expression 'if he wanted to enjoy to mean having all permissible foreplay but avoiding the vagina [or the anus], like in between her thighs (i.e. Mufaakhathah). 

Allaah Knows best.)

Response:

Let us focus on part (A)

The source site hadiths called ([Ibn Maajah].)

However, if we search the alleged hadith we won’t be able to find the alleged narration [3] therefore the first claim (A) is to be dismissed and rejected since such hadith doesn't exist

Let us look at part (B)

(The author of Faydh Al-Qadeer interpreted the expression 'if he wanted to enjoy to mean having all permissible foreplay but avoiding the vagina [or the anus], like in between her thighs (i.e. Mufaakhathah).   )

The authors of the so called fatwa attempt to bring a translation of the word however their attempts are futile, according to lisan al arab the most well-known dictionary of the Arabic language[4], we see that the word (Mufaakhathah) doesn't exist in the first place[5] , so how come the most respected will known dictionary of the Arabic language doesn't acknowledge the existence of such word, the closest word to Mufaakhathah  that is found in lisan al arab goes by the name of (Yufakhthou) يُفَخِّذُ translate into (separate tribes members one by one or fukhoth by fukhoth)

That is as close in translation as it can get no other way around

Conclusion:

The first sentence A of the first source site a hadith that doesn't exist in Sunan Ibn Majah, so how come people take this seriously?

The second part attempt to translate the word but as shown according to the most authentic dictionary on the Arabic language the word doesn't exist at all, therefore the second sentence B is also refuted

Since we are done with the first source let us see the second one:

(

فتوى رقم (31409) تاريخ 7 \5 \1421ه

الحمد لله وحده والصلاة والسلام على من لا نبي بعده ... وبعد:

فقد اطلعت اللجنة الدائمة للبحوث العلمية والافتاء على ما ورد الى سماحة المفتي العام من المستفتي ابو عبدالله محمد الشمري والمحال الى اللجنة من الامانة العامة لهيئة كبار العلماء برقم 1809 وتاريخ 3\5\1421ه وقد سأل المستفتي سؤالا هذا نصه:

انتشرت في الآونة الاخيرة, وبشكل كبير وخاصة في الأعراس عادة مفاخذة الأولاد الصغار, ماحكم ذلك مع العلم أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم كان قد فاخذ سيدتنا عائشة رضي الله عنها

وبعد دراسة اللجنة للاستفتاء أجابت بمايلي : ليس من هدي المسلمين على مر القرون أن يلجأن إلى استعمال هذه الوسائل الغير شرعية والتي وفدت إلى بلادنا من الافلام الخلاعية التي يرسلها الكفار وأعداء الإسلام ,أما من جهة مفاخذة رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لخطيبته عائشة فقد كانت في سن السادسة من عمرها ولا يستطيع ان يجامعها لصغر سنها لذلك كان صلى الله عليه وسلم يضع إربه بين فخذيها ويدلكه دلكا خفيفا , كما أن رسول الله يملك إربه على عكس المؤمنين

بناء على ذلك فلا يجوز التعامل بالمفاخذة لا في الأعراس ولا في المنازل ولا في المدارس, لخطرها الفاحش ولعن الله الكفار, الذين أتوا بهذه العادات الى بلادنا,

اللجنة الدائمة للبحوث العلمية والافتاء

عضو: بكر بن عبد الله ابو زيد

عضو: صالح بن فوزان الفوزان

الرئيس: عبد العزيز بن عبد الله بن محمد آل الشيخ)

Translate into:

“Praise be to Allah and peace be upon the one after whom there is no [further] prophet. After the permanent committee for the scientific research and fatwas (religious decrees) reviewed the question presented to the grand Mufti Abu Abdullah Muhammad Al-Shamari, the question forwarded to the committee by the grand scholar of the committee with reference number 1809 issued on 3/8/1421(Islamic calendar). The inquirer asked the following:‘It has become wide spread these days, and especially during weddings, the habit of mufakhathat of the children (mufakhathat literally translated means “placing between the thighs of children” which means placing the male erected penis between the thighs of a child). What is the opinion of scholars knowing full well that the prophet, the peace and prayers of Allah be upon him, also practiced the “thighing” of Aisha - the mother of believers - may Allah be pleased with her?’After the committee studied the issue, they gave the following reply: ‘It has not been the practice of the Muslims throughout the centuries to resort to this unlawful practice that has come to our countries from pornographic movies that the kofar (infidels) and enemies of Islam send. As for the Prophet, peace and prayers of Allah be upon him, thighing his fiancée Aisha. She was six years of age and he could not have intercourse with her due to her small age. That is why the prophet peace and prayers of Allah be upon him placed his penis between her thighs and massaged it lightly, as the apostle of Allah had control of his penis not like other believers’”)

This has been floating around the internet and it comes from the following source as sited in the original Arabic text

(اللجنة الدائمة للبحوث العلمية والافتاء) translate into:

The General Presidency of Scholarly Research and ifta

Their website[6] is considered the original source for such claim, now since the so-called fatwa number is 31409 let us attempted and search it on the original source and see if it does exist, we head to advance search under the search bar >Search by Fatwa number>then type in 31409 and see the result, as expected (No Results Found)[7]

So the authenticity of the second source also seems quite fabricated, as the fatwa doesn't exist in its original source at all, but let us go deeper and investigate it with in the fatwa itself the fatwa makes the following statement:

(عائشة فقد كانت في سن السادسة من عمرها ولا يستطيع ان يجامعها لصغر سنها لذلك كان صلى الله عليه وسلم يضع إربه بين فخذيها ويدلكه دلكا خفيفا)

Translate into:

(She was six years of age and he could not have intercourse with her due to her small age. That is why the prophet peace and prayers of Allah be upon him placed his penis between her thighs and massaged it lightly,)

Let us see if this actually correct

(that the Prophet (ﷺ) married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old, and then she remained with him for nine years (i.e., till his death).)[8]

As we can see the hadith makes the claim that he engaged with her at the age of 6 then married her at age of 9 then she remained with him at age of 9

The statement from the Fatwa seems to suggest that the prophet practiced this sexual intercourse with Aisha at the Age of 6, however as we can see above the authentic hadith cited by Bukhari state that the prophet didn't consummate the marriage up until the age of 9, the fatwa seems to be contradicting the authenticated narration by Bukhari, subsequently making it unhistorical in comparison to the will respected Islamic exegesis of Bukhari

Conclusion:

It’s now safe to say the so-called fatwa has been refuted and debunked in it’s both sources that were provided, in conclusion, the so-called thighing of Aisha holds no merits no historical accuracy if it was investigated under the lens of Islamic tradition

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[1] http://www.answeringmuslims.com/2014/03/muhammad-and-thighing-of-aisha.html

[2] http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/index.php?page=showfatwa&Option=FatwaId&Id=92051

[3] http://sunnah.com/search/?q=wanted+to+enjoy+one+of+his+wives+who+was+in+menstruation%2C+he+would+put+a+piece+of+cloth+on+her+vagina+

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Manzur#Lis.C4.81n_al-.CA.BFArab

[5] http://www.baheth.info/all.jsp?term=%D9%85%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%AE%D8%B0%D8%A9

[6] http://www.alifta.net/

[7] http://www.alifta.net/Search/noresult.aspx?languagename=en&fatwasrch=true

[8] http://sunnah.com/bukhari/67/69