Was Muhammad a Pedophile?

[Rayaan]

The Prophet engaged me when I was a girl of six (years). We went to Medina and stayed at the home of Bani-al-Harith bin Khazraj. Then I got ill and my hair fell down. Later on my hair grew (again) and my mother, Um Ruman, came to me while I was playing in a swing with some of my girl friends. She called me, and I went to her, not knowing what she wanted to do to me. She caught me by the hand and made me stand at the door of the house. I was breathless then, and when my breathing became alright, she took some water and rubbed my face and head with it. Then she took me into the house. There in the house I saw some Ansari women who said, "Best wishes and Allah's Blessing and a good luck." Then she entrusted me to them and they prepared me (for the marriage). Unexpectedly Allah's Apostle came to me in the forenoon and my mother handed me over to him, and at that time I was a girl of nine years of age. [Sahih Bukhari: Volume 5, Book 58, Number 234]

A lot of you already heard this before - that Muhammad was a pedophile just because he married a nine-year-old girl based on the above hadith/narration.

So, I made an outline with 5 reasons on what is wrong with such an interpretation, or why this is not true:

1. The first thing to remember is that the quote above was narrated by Aisha herself. If she was saying to mean that she was a victim of child abuse (or rape, or pedophilia, or whatever you want to call it), then she would've expressed a feeling of dissatisfaction or even hatred towards Muhammad. However, that is not the case. She clearly and respectfully said that "Allah's Apostle came to me in the forenoon" as opposed to something like "A pedophile came to me in the forenoon." So based on this, one cannot justify the assertion that she was unhappy about the marriage.

2. Her marriage to the prophet was an open marriage. It was approved by her parents and relatives, and she said that her mother, Um Ruman, called her and entrusted her to a few Ansari women who then prepared her for the marriage. Then she said that the messenger of Allah came to her and she was handed over to him by her own mother. Even Aisha's father, Abu Bakr, was pleased with the marriage. He became one of Muhammad's closest and most trustworthy companions. This means that the whole process was happening within the cultural standards of that time since she was being prepared for the marriage (by her parents and others). None of these events which are mentioned in the narration indicate that this was a case of rape or child abuse.

3. In Islam, a female is considered a lady and is fit for marriage when she under-goes puberty. Therefore, it is more likely that Muhammad married Aisha after her puberty, not before. And we know that this happens to girls around the ages of 8 to 14. After puberty, a Muslim female is considered to be a woman. Therefore, that is the age of consent for marriage in Islam although Muslims can marry any time they want to (except not before a girl's puberty). However, the point which is relevant to the topic is that early marriage does not necessarily indicate pedophilia. Early marriages frequently occur in many other societies, and I'm not saying that this a good thing, but just that it is a practice that is culturally and socially sanctioned according to certain traditional sets of values.

See this article: http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/digest7e.pdf

4. In the years after the marriage, Aisha did not show any signs of physical or mental problems while living with Muhammad nor become depressed about her life (unlike many of the victims of rape and child abuse). In fact, she became a role model for many Muslim women during that time. She was known to be a respectful woman and also knowledgeable in regard to Islamic issues and she lived a happy life with her husband Muhammad. So, that's why it's not reasonable to think that Aisha would be telling us that she was raped by her husband as a child after learning about all the positive qualities that she had and especially how much they loved each other.

5. Definition of Pedophilia:

Pedophilia: A psychosexual disorder in which an adult's arousal and sexual gratification occur primarily through sexual contact with prepubescent children. The typical pedophile is unable to find satisfaction in an adult sexual relationship and may have low self-esteem, seeing sexual activity with a child as less threatening than that with an adult (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1998).

However, that cannot be justified for Muhammad since he had 10 other wives who were all 17 years or older. Furthermore, all his brides were elderly widows except Aisha and Maria (most likely to support them since they were widows). An unbiased examination of his life and his marriages to his wives clearly contradicts the notion of his lifestyle fitting that of a pedophile.

More info on Muhammad's wives: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad%27s_wives

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Now, is this really an important question (i.e. whether or not he's a pedophile)? Not that much, since what is more relevant is whether or not he was a "prophet" of Allah. But I wanted to get this out of the way first since it's an easier topic and to clear out a misconception as well. Thanks for reading.