PEDOPHILIA, AGE OF CONSENT AND MUHAMMAD-'A'ISHAH MARRIAGE

The women who was accused of calling the Prophet a pedophile

"An Austrian woman's conviction for calling the Prophet Muhammad a pedophile did not violate her freedom of speech"

- ECHR

    Some people will remember how an Austrian woman was fined for insulting Prophet Muhammad and using the word "pedophilia" while discussing Muhammad-'A'ishah marriage. Last year in 2018 CE, European Court for Human Rights maintained the lower (Austrian) court's decision. So, the word's on the street is, you are not allowed to use that word for Prophet Muhammad in EU. This blog is being written for both those who are unfamiliar with this subject and for those who have already been engaged in upteen discussions on Muhammad-'A'ishah marriage.

"Of all the world's great men, none has been so much maligned as Muhammad"

- W. M. Watt

    Let's re-examine the facts involving Muhammad-'A'ishah marriage. After that, we shall see how experts define pedophilia. 

    The Prophet - peace and blessings be upon him and his purified progeny - was born around 570/571 CE. When he was 25 years old, he married Khadijah, the daughter of Khuwaylid, fifteen years his senior, probably in 595 CE. The marriage was terminated with Khadijah's untimely death in 620 CE when she was 65 years old and her spouse, left a widower, was in the fiftieth year of his life. The lifetime of the marriage was twenty-five years. After her death, Muhammad sought more wives to maintain his household as he was the sponsor of four daughters i.e. Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Um Kulthum and Fatimah.

    His second wife was Saudah, the daughter of Zama'ah, the second woman to marry the Prophet before the Migration (622 CE). Meanwhile, he got engaged to 'A'ishah, the daughter of Abu Bakr, who was 6/7 years old at the time of her betrothal to her father's bosom friend. She was brought to his household after the Migration and there the marriage was consummated in the quarters the Prophet constructed for his two spouses. She was 9/10 years old when she began living with her first husband. Sunni hadith collection records 'A'ishah's boast that she was the only woman who married Muhammad as a virgin. She was one of his nine wives who remained married to him until he died. These are called the Mothers of the Believers and Muslims were forbidden from marrying them after the death of their Prophet.

Mosque of the Prophet, Medina (Saudi Arabia)

    Who is a pedophile? Pedophilia is a paraphilia in which an adult is sexually attracted to a per-pubescent (normally less than twelve) or a pubescent minor (normally between twelve and fifteen). Pedophilia is a mental disorder which renders a man incapable of maintaining sexual relationship with his age-partners. 

    Why did the Prophet marry 'A'ishah? Wasn't she 9 when the marriage was consummated? Muslims have been disturbed by this allegation against their Prophet since the 20th century. Some Muslims tend to deny the established fact that she was 9 years old. Others follow the path of reasoning and find out the facts I'm going to mention in the next paragraph.

    Age of consent hasn't always been the same in human history. It is 18 in most countries. It was 15 by the end of the 20th century in France. It was 12 in most American states during 1800s. It was 12 eight hundred years ago in Britain. It was 3-12 in the Jewish law and 8-12 in the Hindu law (when Sita was married to Rama, she was 6!). Romans used to marry off their daughters when they were 12 years old. So, we can behold the clear variations in the age of consent throughout the human history. Thus, it is wrong to maintain that 18 was some kind of universal age of consent, applicable of even those people who existed thousands of years ago and violating which may lead one to be labelled as a pedophile. How can you label someone who lived in the 7th century as a pedophile based on the 21st century age of consent? 9 was the age of consent in Arabia during Muhammad's days. His own daughter Fatimah was married off to Ali ibn Abi Talib when she was 9 years old. How do you think ancient people could be able to travel into the future and learn that eighteen will become the normal age of consent in 2018 CE? 

    If a non-Muslim blames the Prophet of this abominable paraphilia, a Muslim can easily present these solid facts before him.

Factual Argument:

    The Prophet married a woman fifteen years his senior when he was twenty-five years old. Pedophiles don't do that; they are sexually attracted only towards minors. He was engaged to 'A'ishah when she was 6 years old and then consummate the marriage three years later. Pedophiles don't do that; they tend to sexually assault children, not marry women and then wait for them to reach puberty. The marriage was successfully terminated when he died in 632 CE as a sixty-three year old person when 'A'ishah was 18 years old. Sunni sources show that he breathed his last while lying on her lap, the lap of a 18 year old woman. Pedophiles don't do that; they lose interest in adults. The Prophet had his only non-Khadijah child with a concubine named Mariyah the Copt who was an adult according to modern standards. Pedophiles don't do that; they have no interest in having children with an adult. So, all these factors lead us to a conclusion that there is certainly not a strong case against Muhammad-'A'ishah marriage.

    But if someone still has an inkling of doubt that the Prophet was not afflicted with this paraphilia, he may refer to my logical argument. But, before that, we have to study the brief summary of how homosexuality came to be regarded as an acceptable human sexual orientation.

    Psychologists and Psychiatrists have long believed that homosexuality was a paraphilia. But then it was revealed that homosexuality was not harmful and it was practiced by multiple animal kingdoms. It was also known that homosexuality has long been popular among ancient human beings. Thus, it was decided that heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality were three large denominations of acceptable and healthy human sexual orientation. For the record, I don't approve of homosexuality and I certainly refuse to consider it as an acceptable human sexual orientation. I am just giving an idea of how homosexuality came to be accepted as normal, hence, permitted.

    The next paragraph shall explain my logical argument against labeling Muhammad-'A'ishah marriage as an act of pedophilia.

Logical Argument:

    Now, let's return to the fact that 12 was the age of consent in Britain (around 800 years ago) and most American states (by the end of the 19th century). Thus, if marrying a 12 year old girl has always been pedophilia, we will have to believe that the majority of ancient humans were pedophiles. If the majority of humans were pedophiles, it proves that pedophilia is not a paraphilia rather an acceptable human sexual orientation. If pedophilia is not a paraphilia, then it is normal, hence, permitted. Thus, if we want to criticize Muhammad-'A'ishah marriage on the basis of pedophilia, we will have to label all ancient humans as pedophiles, and pedophilia as an acceptable choice in sexuality. But, if we refuse to tolerate pedophilia (which we all should!) and insist on treating it as a paraphilia (which it is), we'll have to show that the majority of ancient humans weren't pedophiles. In order to protect ancient humans from the charge of pedophilia, we'll have to accept the fact that 12 was the age of consent in the ancient world.

    Thus, it proves that the age of consent is a variable factor in marriage and all human cultures are not bound to accept 12 as their general age of consent. It can change in the future, it was certainly changed in the past. Age of consent changes with biological changes. Ancient people used sexually mature well before we do. So, let's not accuse the Prophet of Islam of a mental disorder which he obviously did not possess.

    If you want to further learn about Prophet Muhammad, you can read this blog which I call my best article on Banimesh.