Was Muhammad a Pedophile?

[Rayaan]

If he did have sex with her at 9, 10, 11 etc Rayaan, would you then believe him to be a pedophile?

If he did have sex with her at that age, then I think it would be insufficient to make the judgement that he was a pedophile based on single, particular act, while ignoring the fact that his first wife, Khadija, was older than him. He remained with her for 25 years until her death without marrying anyone else.

Also, if the consummation story is true, this doesn't mean that this was considered to be a bad thing during those times. Different times can demand a different understanding of an idea such as the concept of what is or isn't "pedophilia", and whether it's a bad thing or not, especially in a modern society where sexual child abuse is something frequent and considered to be a serious crime. (See my response to Jaysyn's post as I elaborate on this).

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

I would think that you're quite a strange guy, since this is a very uncommon thing where I live, at least. (And I'm only assuming as if I have a sister for the sake of your question; I'm the eldest, and I have 3 younger brothers, the smallest being twins). BUT, I have never seen what Muhammad's nine-year-old wife was like, nor what people used to think in the sixth century about marrying a nine-year-old, so I can't compare this to a current situation in my own life to someone that I do know.

He had sex with a 10 year old girl according to the very link Rayaan so kindly provided me with.

That could be true, although I'm not sure about that since a lot of the reports about the event could be susceptible to errors. I don't know at what age the marriage was consummated or if that's even true. But, I never denied it.

Having said that, what I find the most important thing to understand is that none of Muhammad's friends or family members got angry at him for doing this (i.e. for marrying a 9-year-old), according to my knowledge, not even his freind Abu Bakr (who is Aisha's father). If it was really a bad thing, then I don't think he would want to stay friends with Muhammad anymore. So, it seems to me that such a thing was culturally acceptable. No one was saying that he did a bad thing or that he did a crime by marrying her or by having sex with her. Secondly, Muhammad had enemies during that time like the Christians, Jews, Romans, and Arabs as well, and even they didn't say that Muhammad was a pedophile (or something like that).

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Um, yes. In Caesar's case we have his own writings, the writings of other historians, the writings of his enemies plus inscriptions, decrees, coins, statues, and his very name became a synonym for "ruler."

http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/exist.html


Again, with Plato we have his own writings as well as the the mention of him by others in their writings. Socrates, alone, falls into the jesus-mohammad myth school in that all we know about him comes from the writings of Plato.

The difference between those three which you have trotted out ( yet again ) is that none of them are attempting to tell me to live my live worshiping their bullshit.

What did "mohammad" ever write?

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1. I agree with what you said about Caesar, Plato, and Socrates.
2. The same reasoning can be applied to Muhammad as well. There are mention of him by his friends, family members, caliphs/successors, and historians. Many references tracing back to single man.
3. If Muhammad didn't exist, then how did Islam start in the first place? Who did all the Muslims learn from?
4. I think it is more likely to be correct if a person says that Muhammad was not a "prophet" or "divinely inspired" than saying that he didn't exist.
5. You believe that Muhammad is a fictional character (IF you're being honest). But, I'll agree to disagree like I always do (though I can still argue about this if I want to).