Was Muhammad a Pedophile?

[Rayaan]

Quit mincing words. If you are attracted to pre-pubescent children, then by definition you are a pedophile. Logically it follows that if Muhammad married a child under 12 or so, then he was also a pedophile. This is especially striking since he could have had his pick of many, many adult women, but still chose a child as his first / head / main / whatever wife.

As I posted in my original post - in this article - it shows that there are societies which have a cultural custom of practicing early marriage for various reasons. I don't think that they are all pedophiles just because they married someone under 12 years. The point is that it is more of a reflection of social and cultural pressures than their natural sexual desires because such marriages are more frequent in those particular societies.

Also, unlike what you said, Aisha was not Muhammad's first wife. His first marriage was to a 40-year-old woman named Khadija, with whom he was married to for 25 years. After she died, only then he was told to marry again (suggested by Khawlah bint Hakim). Secondly, another point is that Aisha was the daughter of Abu Bakr, who was a close freind of Muhammad. So, it is sensible to think that Muhammad's marriage to Aisha was mainly influenced by the relationship that existed between the two friends (Abu Bakr and Muhammad), and to unite their families in marriage, instead of marrying a random 9-year-old who he never knew before. You'll find more info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad%27s_wives

That said, for anyone to argue that a forty something year old man having sex with a nine year old girl in marriage is okay because God bestowed blessings upon the man as "prophet" is dangerous thinking imo.

I think it is dangerous also, but it may vary depending on the biological maturity of the person and how carefully it is approached. However, I don't know if she had sex at 9, 10, 11, or older. It could be have been at any age. Marriage does not equal to having sex (immediately).