Someone told me that Islam allows marriage and its consummation with minor girls. The reference is Sūrah 65 verse 4. Is this correct?
No doubt, there are some commentators who make the fourth verse of Sūrah 65 as basis of their opinion that Islam has allowed marriage and its consummation with minor girls. However, in my opinion, marriage with minor girls is an issue which has not been discussed by the Qur’ān at all. It has been left to us so that we can have the liberty to adopt any of the two options according to our circumstances.
However, the verse you have quoted, in my opinion, has nothing to do with this issue. If the linguistic principles of the Arabic language are taken into consideration, the correct translation of the last part of this verse is:
And those women whose menstrual courses have not begun in spite of the fact that they have reached the age in which women normally have menses, their waiting period is three months as well. (65:4)
This translation stems from the fact that the Arabic particle used for negation in this verse is Lam (áã)and not Mā (ãÇ). The verse is generally translated by disregarding this subtle difference as:
And those women whose menstrual courses have not begun, their waiting period is three months as well. (65:4)
Consequently, it is generally construed that in this verse the Iddat (waiting period) of those divorced women (girls more so) is stated who have yet to reach the age of puberty. So the proponents of this view infer that Islam allows marriage with minor girls.