Why Prophet Muhammad Married Aisha When She Was Only 9?

I am living in Canada and I hear this question many times that 'Why Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) Married Aisha When She Was Only 9? ' Many people are also raising this objection on facebook and other social media networks. I want to answer it with my limited knowledge and understanding.

1. People who ask this question first of all want to establish that Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) marry Sayyidah Aisha out of his physical desires but they need to note that for first 54 years of his life he had only one wife. His only wife till 50th year of his life was Sayyida Khadija and she was a two time widowed woman, 15 years elder to him. For next four years his only wife was Sayyidah Sa’uda. So The Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) did not marry Sayyidah Aisha out of his physical desires.

2. The next objection is age of Sayyidah Aisha. People who raise this question forget that this marriage was taken place 1400 years back and they need to know culture and traditions of that time.1400 years ago it was something very common to marry young woman.

History can tell you that girls from the ages of 9 to 14 were being married in Europe, Asia, and Africa, in fact even in the United States girls at the age of 10 were also being married just more than a century ago.

Even in Indo-Pak Sub-Continent girls used to be married at 12-13 even 50-60 years ago. At that time it was a completely acceptable thing and no Muslim or even nonbeliever objected to this marriage.

The completion of the marriage was done when Sayyidah Aisha was 9 years old, not when she was 6, because Sayyidah Aisha had been through puberty by the age of 9, and in Islam a female who under-goes puberty is considered a lady and is fit for marriage.

Now a days a 9 old girl can become a mother. If you don’t believe me then see here is the proof;
The news item is from the New Straits Times, 10/3/2001.
In our world today, we still have people who marry very young girls. Why should we object to someone who married a 9-year old girl 1400 years ago, when we still practice it today? The girl above even gave birth at the age of 9!

3. These people try to show that the marriage was against the will of Sayyidah Aisha .
Sayyidah Aisha’s mother and the Muslim women back then were O.K with her marriage. It was part of the Arab custom and still is in many of the Muslim and non-Muslim countries today for girls to marry at a very young age.

Another striking thing to observe is that among hundreds of her narrations there is not even a single one showing her displeasure about this marriage. Hence, she had no problem with this relation. Infect it is manifest from several traditions that she loved the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) too much and even felt some sort of jealousy when she found others around him. Does this not prove that she was extremely happy about this marriage? So, when she herself had no problem at all then what’s the matter of concern for others?

4. Prophet Muhammad’s marriage with Aisha was 100% legal and acceptable by all laws and Divine Religions. It is important to know that girls during the Biblical and Islamic days used to be married off at young ages when they either had their first periods