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[IsmailaGodHasHeard]

Ladies and gentlemen, I am going to address a rumor about Islam. This rumor is very nasty, and it needs to be put to rest. If at any time the Muslim community get offended, I will have the deleted. Okay, it is time to address the rumor. The rumor is that the Muslim Prophet Muhammad married Aisha when she was six years old and consummated that marriage when Aisha was nine years old. By modern definitions, this would make him a pedophile. Wait! Before you attack, please read the rest of the story. I want you to know that I have found this to be untrue. The rumor is spread by misinformation from both Christians, and some Muslims, thus feeding anti-muslim, and anti-arab hate. It is time for people to know the truth and put an end to the hate. Evidence for what I am saying can be found by clicking on the link. I really encourage you to reazd this article and know the truth, and again, if any Muslims get offended by this, say the word and I will have it taken down. I only seek to put and end to the hate. Thank you for listening. God bless.
Did Prophet Muhammad really marry a 9 year old? This is a lie spread about Our Beloved Prophet!

 

[Photonic]

It's not really a lie.

Aisha - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

More specifically;

Aisha stayed in her parents' home for several years until she joined Muhammad and the marriage was consummated.[5][7][8][10][11][12] Most of the sources indicate that she was nine years old at the time, with the single exception of al-Tabari, who records that she was ten.[7]

 

[K.Venugopal]

It was permitted by his society at that time and he did it. Different societies had permitted different things at different times, like father-daughter marriages or one woman many husbands etc. Many of today's societies permit same sex marriages while they were taboo previously. We can't predict what norms future societies would have.

 

[Breathe]

She was probably nine.

"By modern definitions", there's the problem. It isn't modern. Our great great grandparents probably married about 14 years old, still. One must also remember that the life expectancy in the world at that time was still quite low. Living past 40 was an achievement until very recently [Wiki link here].

I have seen some discussions that interpret her age not to be her physical age, but her "years as a Muslim", though, and that her age was probably closer to 18.

 

[Valjean]

See this in historical context. Consider the marriage customs of the other cultures of the world at this time.

 

[kepha31]

See this in historical context. Consider the marriage customs of the other cultures of the world at this time.

Wise words. The marraige customs of the time of Mary and Joseph are found in the
Protoevangelium of James predating the birth of Mohammed by some 400 years. I am not saying the customs are the same, I am saying the customs are different from ours.
A condensed version of the P of J is here:
Mary: Ever Virgin

 

[YmirGF]

It was 1400+ years ago. Why is this a big deal now?

That said, I didn't find it to be a terribly impressive article.

 

[asa120]

thank you very much
soo what if she is yang she was e woman
mohamed the messenger of god marry 11 woman all muslim wemen won to marry him and all muslim man wont to be related to him so thy ask him for marriage of there daughters

 

[Gaura Priya]

And then I think of Mother Mary... who got pregnant at 13... the last thing I ever want a 13 year old in this age is to get pregnant!! O_O

 

[kepha31]

Too bad they didn't have birth certificates. Then we wouldn't have to speculate on the age of The Blessed Virgin Mom and Aisha.

 

[IsmailaGodHasHeard]

It's not really a lie.

Aisha - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

More specifically;

I disagree with Wikipedia on this.

 

[Riverwolf]

I disagree with Wikipedia on this.

How come?

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Even if he did, different times and cultures have had different views on age and sexuality. What we would find a very appalling, disturbing, immoral, and traumatic today was very much the norm in ancient Greece, as it was considered necessary for proper and healthy development for a boy to have an older male teacher, who was considered caring of his pupil if he had sexual intercourse with the boy. There are also cultures where older women teach younger boys how to pleasure a woman, with plenty of practice, so he will know how to keep his wife happy when he gets married.

 

[Father Heathen]

I find it disturbing that some people would actually suggest that the rape of a child is actually okay as long as it's a social norm, which totally ignores the actual effect of an action, which is what it should truly be judged by. Why then do we pretend care about oppression and abuse, such as a state executing homosexuals, or human trafficking and sexual slavery, etc. when they're often accepted social norms in parts of the world?
Also, if a man is supposedly holy and acts upon god's will, then shouldn't their standards be righteous, just and supersede the social norms of primitive savages, maybe?

 

[Riverwolf]

I find it disturbing that some people would actually suggest that the rape of a child is actually okay as long as it's a social norm.

Rape? Where does rape play into this? As far as I can tell, the consummation was entirely consensual.

Also, if a man is supposedly holy and acts upon god's will, then shouldn't their standards be righteous, just and supersede the social norms of primitive savages, maybe?

We're all primitive savages in comparison to whatever civilization shows up 1500 years from now.

 

[Father Heathen]

Rape? Where does rape play into this? As far as I can tell, the consummation was entirely consensual.

So you would see nothing wrong with a grown man heading down to the playground to trade candy in exchange for sexual favors from kindergartners? It's "consensual" after all.

We're all primitive savages in comparison to whatever civilization shows up 1500 years from now.

And the contempt they will have for our abuses and exploitations will be entirely understandable.

 

[Riverwolf]

So you would see nothing wrong with a grown man heading down to the playground to trade candy in exchange for sexual favors from kindergartners? It's "consensual" after all.

What year is it?

And the contempt they will have for our abuses and exploitations will be entirely understandable.

So we're all evil barbarians, then. Nothing in humanity that's good. :sarcastic

 

[Badran]

Articles such as this one make historical arguments that it would actually be impossible for him to have married her when she was nine. I don't have the knowledge to state facts regarding the matter, and i hope everybody else does the same. Unless the person making the claim can produce historical evidence or addresses these historical arguments that renders the first claim an impossibility in anyway, i can't see how can anyone claim that its not a lie or that he did marry her at that age.

In other words, quoting wikipedia won't cut it simply because wikipedia is not inaccurate, they're simply giving the historical account, but they haven't addressed the arguments (which possibly are based on facts) that are aimed at that account.

All that said, i also agree that if he did marry her at that age, and had sex with her, it wouldn't have been okay at all. The second part however is a huge question of its own. Whether or not he had sex with her once they were married, IF he married her at nine or ten.

EDIT: Regarding the last part, i forgot to add that in case someone accepts that he did have sex with her at nine, arguments are made that back then growing up and maturity were different form today. I don't have information to verify that or dismiss it, but until i can verify it i don't accept the possiblity that he did marry her and have sex with her at nine as something that would be okay.

 

[Father Heathen]

What year is it?

Entirely irrelevant; and that's precisely my point. Year or culture doesn't magically change the impact that sexual abuse/exploitation has upon a child emotionally and psychologically.

So we're all evil barbarians, then. Nothing in humanity that's good. :sarcastic

Princess, please. It takes some rather wacky leaps to misconstrue what I said into that.

 

[Riverwolf]

Entirely irrelevant; and that's precisely my point. Year or culture doesn't magically change the impact that sexual abuse/exploitation has upon a child emotionally and psychologically.

You're right. However, there's no indication of such a thing, here. Your candy analogy is false, because that's not what's going on here. What's going on here is a simple marriage.

If we are to call Mohammad a pedophile for this, then we are to call virtually every man throughout history a pedophile for the exact same thing. Since we're demonizing Mohammad for this, and thus discounting everything he did because of this (or rather, it seems to be the case; correct me if it is not), then we are to discount everything any man ever did in history, since the vast majority of them married very young girls.

Princess, please. It takes some rather wacky leaps to misconstrue what I said into that.

Indeed. I apologize; I started getting a bit upset.

The point is, however, that all societies are barbaric by the standards of other societies.