It makes me so furious when people attack Islam for Muhammad’s marriages and polygamy, and only name A'isha and then go on to describe her as a child bride.
Yet they’re all silent when it comes to how A'isha was able to lead battles, shape politics, and influence the development of Islam after the Prophet died.
They’re all silent when it comes to talking about his twenty-five years of monogamous marriage to Khadija bint Khuwaylid, a woman who was fifteen years older than him, his employer, and the one who proposed.
They’re all silent when it comes to Sawda bint Zam'a, who Muhammad married because she was widowed and had suffered too many hardships to remain unmarried.
They’re all silent when it comes to Hafsa bint Umar, the woman who could recite the Qur'an better than most men and whose memory influenced the version of the Qur'an we have today.
They’re all silent when it comes to Zaynab bint Khuzayama, the woman referred to as “the mother of the poor” because of all her charity work.
They’re all silent when it comes to Umm Salama, the woman Muhammad went to for advice during the Treaty of Hudaybiya, the treaty that allowed Muslims to return to Mecca.
They’re all silent when it comes to Rayhana bint Zayd, an upper class Jewish woman who taught Muhammad the traditions of the Torah.
They’re all silent when it comes to Zaynab bint Jahsh, a tempermental and slightly egotistical woman who was constantly praised by Muhammad’s other wives for her charity work and her religious devotion.
They’re all silent when it comes to Juwayriyya bint al-Harith, the woman who married Muhammad to create a political alliance that would allow one hundred enslaved families to be set free.
They’re all silent when it comes to Safiyya bint Huyyay, a Jewish noble woman whose relationship with Muhammad changed the antisemitism attitude among his followers.
They’re all silent when it comes to Umm Habiba, the woman who converted to Islam despite the protest from her polytheist father and who remained Muslim despite her (at the time) husband converting to Christianity, because she believed in Islam and refused to waive that belief.
They’re all silent when it comes to Maryam al-Cibtiya, the mother of Muhammad’s only son, Ibrahim, named after the ancestor of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, tying all three monotheistic religions together.
They’re all silent when it comes to Maymuna bint al-Harith, the woman from Mecca who proposed to Muhammad and whose marriage reconnected him to Mecca, the city Muslims face when they pray.
It’s really amazing how people can go on and on about how Islam is so misogynistic because of Muhammad’s polygamy and his marriage to A'isha while simultaneously never bothering to learn who these women even are and what amazing things they did to influence Muhammad’s life and Islam itself.
