They said: 'How can we talk to one who is a CHILD in the cradle?

They said: 'How can we talk to one who is a CHILD in the cradle?' He said: 'I am indeed a servant of Allah. He HAS GIVEN me Scripture and ASSIGNED me a prophet, and He has made me blessed wherever I be, and has enjoined on me Prayer and Zakat as long as I live.'" (Quran 19:29-31) Thus Jesus (AS) became prophet and received revelation and Book while he was less than two years old!

Furthermore, in few verses before, Quran mentions the case of Prophet Yahya (John), to whom Allah (SWT) said: "'O Yahya! Take hold of the Book with might,' And We gave him the appointment (of prophethood) in his CHILDHOOD." (Quran 19:12) So if a two-year old boy can become a prophet and receives revelation and Scripture, then why cannot a five-year old boy become an Imam?

The third example is Prophet Solomon (Sulayman) who was appointed by Allah the heir of his father, David (Dawud), and became the king of his community while he had not reached the age of puberty. Have you ever heard of prodigies? They are kids between the ages of four to 18 that exhibit signs of exceptional skills that are usually found in highly qualified adults only.

Here are some examples from the modern history: John Stuart Mill (1806-73), a 19th-century English philosopher and economist, advocated utilitarian reforms in his many writings and as member of Parliament. A child prodigy, Mill had mastered Greek by the age of 7 and studied economics at the age of 13. His works express his social thought with great clarity and thoroughness. (The Bettmann Archive).

The French thinker, mathematician, and scientist Blaise Pascal (1623- 62) has been credited not only with imaginative and subtle work in geometry and other branches of mathematics, but with profoundly influencing later generations of theologians and philosophers. A prodigy in mathematics, Pascal had mastered Euclid's Elements by the age of 12. Pascal invented and sold the first calculating machine (1645). Wolfgang was the greatest musical child prodigy who ever lived.

He began composing minuets at the age of 5 and symphonies at 9. Beethoven's own talent was such that at the age of 12 he was already an assistant to the organist Christian Gottlob Neefe, with whom he studied. Sarah Caldwell, born Maryville, Mo., Mar. 6, 1924, is a conductor and producer. A child prodigy in both mathematics and music, before reaching the age of ten.