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A comprehensive refutation of the accusation of paedophilia levelled at theProphet Muhammad ( peace be upon him) By Yahya SnowOf course Mohammad (pbuh) has been criticised ever since he began preaching themessage of Islam, this criticism began with his non-Muslim contemporaries in 7thcentury Arabia and extends to the modern day. The early criticism stemmed fromPagan Arabs who opposed the message that Muhammad (pbuh) preached this criticismfollows a ubiquitous trait through the dark ages, middle ages, industrialrevolution and all the way to modern times as well as post-modern times. Thecommon trait being the origination of the critique of Mohammad (pbuh) wasenveloped in a bias born out of the authors of the critique coming from anopposing religious stance and in many cases coming from an opposing evangelicalbackground. Thus throwing the critique into the arena of prejudice, therefore,from an objective stance this criticism is tinged with a bias and in the case ofthat which flows from the evangelical side we must say it is far from neutral.Of course both the early non-Muslim Arabs and the evangelical Christians of thepast and modern times have pursued a policy of open defamation of the Prophet(pbuh) and indeed they still are doing this through websites and books dedicatedto attacking Islam. The same dedication to attack other religions by theevangelical Christians does not exist. This observation is supported by thefollowing quote from the orientalist W. Montgomery Watt ’ of the world’s great mennone has been so much maligned as Mohammad’. This could well be due to thecopious number of converts to Islam from Christianity in the modern Western worldtoday. If this is the case then we must realise that their focus on Islam iscoming from an ideological and theological battlefield. This, indeed, is mybelief and the adage ‘ the first casualty of war is the truth’ comes to mind astheir charges against Mohammad are bathed in falsehoods and deceptive quotingmotivated by none other than attempting todiscredit Islam.Before delving into refuting the charge of paedophilia against the Mohammad (pbuh)lets look at a brief overview of the insults and charges thrown in the directionof Mohammad (pbuh)In the Middle Ages Mohammad (pbuh) was referred to via the derogatory termMaometics (the number of the beast, 666),Martin Luther described him as "a devil and first-born child of Satan" (1)Christian pastor Jerry Vines called him a "demon-possessed paedophile". (2)That said lets move onto dissecting their claim of paedophilia. Of course theirclaim is based on Lady Aisha’s early marriage to Mohammad (pbuh). From myexperiences in discussing this issue with those who advocate the claims I noticeas a matter of fact that their objection to the marriage in question is fracturedinto a few claims:1. The primary charge they bring is that of outright paedophilia, i.e. ‘sex with apre-pubescent girl’2. Having shown the individual that Aisha had reached puberty(i.e. claim 1 is false) their claim changes to ‘paedophilia with a young girl’3. Finally after showing claim 2 as being unfair and lacking basis they claim thatthe age difference between Lady Aisha and Mohammad (pbuh) is far too vast andclaim it to be repulsiveThe primary charge they bring is that of outright paedophilia, i.e. ‘sex with apre-pubescent girl’
 
Dealing with the first claim that Lady Aisha was ‘pre-pubescent’ when sheconsummated her marriage with Mohammed (pbuh). Their argument comes from the 4narrations (hadiths) in Al-Bukhari and 3 hadiths in Al-Muslim stating her age tobeing 9 when the marriage was consummated. It must be stated that the age isdisputed, reports regarding the age vary from 9 to age 20. The argument regardingwhether the age was 9 or not shall be discussed later on in this article. It isimperative that we maintain a methodical approach in dealing with the accusations.This claim of ’pre-pubescence’ is not that common as it is widely accepted by mostof the accusers of Muhammad (pbuh) that she had reached puberty at the time ofconsummation, to be fair the minority who do claim ‘pre-pubescence’ are theextremely ignorant and hateful ones amongst the accusers. So the vast majority ofthem, to their credit, are honest enough to admit or concede that she had reachedpuberty before any sexual contact. Having said that, the claim must still berefuted.First off, let us be clear, Lady Aisha had reached puberty. Obviously if that wasnot the case then the Pagan Arabs who vehemently opposed Muhammad (pbuh) wouldhave brought this complaint up, no records of any such claims exist. Islamic lawdoes not allow sex with a pre-pubescent girl, therefore, as Islamic Law is basedon the Quran and the teachings of Muhammad, it is known through this fact thatAisha had reached puberty. Aisha saw this union as an honour and looked back atthe marriage and her great life with Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) with great fondnessand joy (3)this obviously shows that she was in full agreement with the marriage.We must also state that the parents of Lady Aisha were in full agreement of themarriage to take place and most crucially in this regard they were in fullagreement for consummation to take place at the time it did, obviously no parentwould send their daughter for consummation in a pre-pubescent stage in her life.Colin Turner (4) highlights the fact that 7th century Arabian girls reachedadulthood at an earlier age. The Cambridge World History of Food (5) agrees withTurner and states girls in the southerly regions of Asia where the climate iswarmer were marriageable in their eighth year and gave birth in their ninth ortenth year.The period of 3 years between the engagement and consummation was clearly for LadyAisha to reach maturity, both physically and mentally. Both physical and mentalmaturation must be reached if a marriage is to be consummated, this is Islamic lawwhich is based upon the teachings of Muhammad (pbuh) and the Quran, this showsthat Aisha would have been physically mature as well as mentally mature forconsummation, i.e. she would have attained puberty. Lady Aisha even confirmedhaving reached puberty (6) but many people are unaware of this as the claim theymake of ‘pre-pubescence‘ is not a common claim hence the proof to show theirclaims to be false is not widely publicised. Karen Armstrong also confirms thatLady Aisha had reached puberty at the time of consummation in her ‘Muhammad: ABiography of the Prophet’ (7), this ’reaching of puberty’ is confirmed by greatscholars such as Dawudi, Abu Hanifa etc (8) These are facts that Christianmissionaries tend to ignore to further their agenda of maligning the character ofMohammad (pbuh), this practice of the Christians is dishonest and intended todeceive. Lady Aisha was betrothed to Mohammad at the age of 6 and then themarriage consummated at 9 according to the hadith mentioned earlier. The betrothalat an early age (6 years old) was in concordance with the custom at the time, thisis proven by the fact that Lady Aisha was previously engaged for marriage to a mannamed Jubair ibn Mut`am (9). We must also state that the parents of Lady Aishawere in full agreement of the marriage to take place and most crucially in thisregard they were in full agreement for consummation to take place at the time itdid, obviously no parent would send their daughter for consummation in a pre-pubescent stage in her life. We must also remember that the marriage was not theidea of Muhammad (pbuh) but was suggested to Mohammad by Khawalh bint Hakim (10).
 
Also, the consummation of the marriage was suggested to Mohammad (pbuh) by LadyAisha’s father, this is further proof that she had reached puberty but also showsthat there was no sexual motive within the blessed heart of Mohammad (pbuh) asneither the idea of marriage or consummation were initiated by him.(11) As a sidenote which is important, the Islamophobe brings a new element to his claim of‘pre-pubescence’ and brings forth Hadith that state that Aisha played with dollsand the Islamophobe infers from this that Aisha was below the age of puberty. Thisis an unscholarly conflation of events as the traditions that tell us that Aishaplayed with dolls do not specify when she played with the dolls therefore it wouldbe inaccurate to state that she played with dolls after or at the time of theconsummation of the marriage. The dishonest Islamophobe tries to paint the pictureof a girl playing with dolls and being forced into sex. This is not the casehistorically. The traditions of Aisha playing with dolls do not mention what ageshe was when she played with the dolls, therefore to make the Islamophobe’sjudgement would be unscholarly and deceptive. The Islamophobe also uses atradition that teaches us that Lady Aisha, when moving into live with Muhammad(pbuh), had took her dolls with her to her new home. People in the West (includingmyself) can relate to this as many girls on leaving their parents homes (whetherto university accommodation or to live with their partner) take items of emotionalvalue, dolls and teddy bears (from their childhood) are amongst these items. So,Aisha, was no different in this regard. There is no tradition stating that she wasplaying with the dolls at the time of consummation nor after this time. It wouldbe extremely unfair and even deceptive to make that claims of the Islamophobe asthere is NO evidence to support their claim that Aisha was playing with dolls atthe time of consummation. All we know is that she was married at the age of six,she had a waiting period of three years in order to attain maturity and then sheconsummated the marriage after puberty; these are the facts, to imply otherwisewould be conjecture. I will also append an online article that deals with thissubject to further your understanding (see reference number 22)The reason I include these points is to pour further cold water on their alreadydefeated ‘arguments’.So to summarise the key points proving puberty:~ Enemies of Islam at the time saw nothing wrong with the marriage which provespuberty had been reached at the time of consummation~ The parents of Lady Aisha deemed her to be ready for consummation, i.e. she hadreached puberty~ Karen Armstrong confirms puberty~ Lady Aisha confirms her attaining puberty at the time of consummation~ Well respected Islamic Scholars of the past have confirmed that puberty had beenreached and agree NO sexual contact can be had with any pre-pubescent girl~ The period of three years between marriage and consummation was for Lady Aishato attain physical maturity~ Girls of that region and time married earlier and reached maturity earlier too~ Islamic law does not allow sex with anybody who is prepubescent, as Islamic lawis based upon the words and actions of Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) as well as theQuran we realise that consummation took place after sexual maturity otherwiseIslamic law would have allowed sex with prepubescent girls.Now that the claim of ‘sex with a pre-pubescent girl’ has been refuted theaccuser goes on to change their accusation to ‘paedophilia involving a young girl’2. Having shown the individual that Aisha had reached puberty(i.e. claim 1 is false) their claim changes to ‘paedophilia with a girl who isyounger than a modern day age of consent (usually the age of 16)
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