Was Muhammad a Pedophile?

[Rayaan]

So if someone wanted to have sex with your daughter, would you allow it since you can't see how a person could be emotionally damaged at that age?

I think you misread that part. Fr0d0 said that he can't see how it wouldn't be emotionally damaging at that age.

That said.. I can't see how it wouldn't be seriously emotionally damaging to have an adult sexual encounter at that age. Do we know this is the case? Do we know what actually happened?

As far as I know, there are no reports which say that Aisha was emotionally or physically damaged by her husband. On the contrary, she had become a very successful person in both religious and secular spheres of her life. She didn't have any mental symptoms of those suffered by many other victims of adult sexual encounters. Therefore, I think it is more reasonable to think that Muhammad was careful and gentle with his wife, not abusive.

And yes, every single detail of this particular story may not be accurate. Some argue that Aisha was older than 9 years old when she was married (although most believe that she was 9 years old indeed).

See this: http://www.islamicity.com/articles/artic...c0811-3718

[Jaysyn]

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.

[Skipper]

He was a grown man. She was a nine year old. He was a pedophile. Simples.

[Eudaimonia]

I have not read the entire thread.. so forgive me if my response is in any way out of place..

I researched this years ago.. I have not done any current research on this.. From my admittedly foggy memory my conclusion was that I did not think there was any proof for or against her age at conception.. From my memory Aisha was promised in marriage at nine .. I do not think there is conclusive evidence of consummation thereafter.. clearly it happened but there is way too much speculation around "when"..

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.. and at the very least would mean that this type of thinking only could be useful or make sense to desert arab tribes who buried their girl babies.. It has no place in current society and "Allah" did not foresee to inform his pedophilic prophet to plan for the development of culture moving away from pedophilic justification it seems..

[Faith No More]

So if someone wanted to have sex with your daughter, would you allow it since you can't see how a person could be emotionally damaged at that age?

I think you misread that part. Fr0d0 said that he can't see how it wouldn't be emotionally damaging at that age.

Whew, for a second there I thought fr0d0 was saying it was no big deal. My apologies fr0d0.

[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).

[Violet]

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.

I suppose you've never heard of a political wedding or a wedding to seal an agreement?

It actually doesn't logically follow that if Muhammad married a child under 12, that he was a pedophile.

[Skipper]

If he did have sex with her at 9, 10, 11 etc Rayaan, would you then believe him to be a pedophile? Or would you keep defending his actions with shit like "but it may vary depending on the biological maturity of the person and how carefully it is approached"? What if I was to marry your 9 year old sister/daughter/niece? Could I expect the same apologetic stance you take for Muhammad?

[Violet]

Marriage does not equal to having sex (immediately).

Or ever. Nor does it mean that if sex occurs that it will do so more than once.

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What if I was to marry your 9 year old sister/daughter/niece? Could I expect the same apologetic stance you take for Muhammad?

If you were to marry my 9 year old niece... I should be worried for your health. She is about as violent as her mother (my elder sister) and half as violent as my younger sister. It is entirely possible that she might greatly physically harm you.

Not that it was directed at me, but I thought you should be warned anyway

[Minimalist]

Min has been CONSISTENTLY accurate on the topic of religion, including Islam.

*Borrows RevJ's pink sunglasses* Oh yeah you're right!

Hurts, eh Frods?