Some people accuse Prophet Muhammad to be a pedophile, and others defend that strongly.
The purpose of this piece of writing is to let you reach the answer yourself, so in order to do that you have to ask yourself some questions:
- What’s the definition of pedophile?
- What’s the appropriate age for a woman to be ready for marriage?
- What’s the reason behind Prophet Muhammad choosing Aisha at this very young age to be his wife?
- Was she mistreated with him or abused by any means?
Pedophilia
Sex or sexual activity with children who have not reached puberty.
Mentioned in: Sexual Perversions
Now I want you to notice the word “children” and the fact that it’s done with a child who hasn’t reached the puberty yet !
Children: meaning that the adult does that with more than one child, so it’s a habit to him. And that was not proven in the history of life of Prophet Muhammad.
Now the second point, is that Aisha actually reached puberty when she was married to the prophet.
So combining both points, the definition is far away from prophet Muhammad.
The fact that it’s a sexual relation is excluded in the case of prophet Muhammad as he did “marry” Aisha –may God be pleased with her-
There are consequences on the fact that it was a marriage not a sexual relation including rights like spending money from the prophet’s side on his wife, protecting her against in harm, providing her with shelter and medical care, inherence, and many more.
Does this appear to you like an adult abusing a child?
What’s The Appropriate Age For A Woman To Be Ready For Marriage?
Do you know that the age of a legal sexual relation in Europe varies from 12 -18
Argantania 13
Austria&Brazil 14
Denemark 15
Source: http://chartsbin.com/view/hxj
Child Brides In Byzantine Empire:
http://www.roman-emperors.org/aggiefran.htm Visit this link to see how common were the child brides in the Byzantine Empire. This article clearly states;”Child brides, whether Byzantines or foreign princesses, were the norm rather than the exception, especially from the late twelfth century”.
Actually there isn’t any scientific fact supporting putting a specific age for such a relation.
In Islam there’s only one fact controlling this, which perfectly makes sense. It’s the puberty.
God has made the womb of each woman ready to receive a baby when she reaches puberty. She is ready to get married without any harm to her body. And that’s what happened with Aisha may God be pleased with her.
A 9-year Old Thai Girl Gave Birth:
A 9 old girl can become a mother. If you don’t believe me then here is the proof; The news item is from the New Straits Times, 10/3/2001. > In our world today, we still have people who marry very young girls. Why should we object to someone who married a 9-year old girl 1400 years ago, when we still practice it today? The girl above even gave birth at the age of 9!
She Was Fit For Marriage:
As to the Holy Prophet’s marriage with Sayyidah Aisha, something people will notice is that the completion of the marriage was done when Sayyidah Aisha was 9 years old, not when she was 6, and there is a reason for that. The reason why this happened is because Sayyidah Aisha had been through puberty by the age of 9, and in Islam a female who under-goes puberty is considered a lady and is fit for marriage. If we read the hadiths, we find that right before Sayyidah Aisha got married off to the Holy Prophet that she was sick and not feeling too well:
Narrated Sayyidah Aisha:
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 all right, 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}
So as we can see, Sayyidah Aisha got ill and her body was going through some changes, indicating that she was going through her puberty.
It Was Absolutely Legal:
Prophet Muhammad’s marriage with Aisha was 100% legal and acceptable by all laws and Divine Religions. It is important to know that girls during the Biblical and Islamic days used to be married off at young ages when they either had their first periods,. In other words, when they turn into “women”, then they get married off. It was quite different for men on the other hand, because physical power and the ability of living an independent life had always been and will always be a mandatory requirement for men to have in life. So men waited much longer than women in terms of getting married. The guy had to develop both his body and mind before he was ready for marriage. That is why you see girls as young as 9 or 10 were married to men as old as 30 or even older.
What Are The Reasons Behind Prophet Muhammad Choosing Aisha At This Very Young Age To Be His Wife?
- It was a divine inspiration: before describing the rationale behind this married relation, let it be known that the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) married Sayyida Aisha not of his own desire rather it was a Divine inspiration. Read the following Hadith; Narrated ‘Aisha: That the Prophet said to her, “You have been shown to me twice in my dream. I saw you pictured on a piece of silk and some-one said (to me). ‘This is your wife.’ When I uncovered the picture, I saw that it was yours. I said, ‘If this is from Allah, it will be done.” {Bukhari :: Volume 5 :: Book 58 :: Hadith 235}
- It was not out of his physical desires: The Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) did not marry Sayyidah Aisha out of his physical desires. One need to note that for first 54 years of his life he had only one wife. His only wife till 50th year of his life was Sayyida Khadija. He spent his entire youth with her and she was a two time widowed woman, 15 years elder to him. For next four years his only wife was Sayyidah Sa’uda.
- Great Wisdom behind this marriage: Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) marriage with Sayyidah Aisha at that age was indeed a great blessings for all the Muslims ever since. Most of the matters related to cleanliness, married relationship and other household issues have been cleared due to her narrations. She lived a long time after the death of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) and continued to teach the Ummah about matters of daily routine and great importance. Arwa Bin Zubair says, “I did not find anyone more proficient (than Aisha ) in the knowledge of the Holy Quran, the Commandments of Halal (lawful) and Haram (prohibited), Ilmul-Ansab and Arabic poetry. That is why, even senior companions of the Prophet used to consult Aisha in resolving intricate issues”. (Jala-ul-Afham by Ibn Qaiyem and Ibn Sa’ad, Vol.2, p.26) Also see this; Abu Musa al-Ashari says: “Never had we (the companions) any difficulty for the solution of which we approached Aisha and did not get some useful information from her”. (Sirat-I-Aisha, on the authority of Trimidhi, pg. 163)
Was She Mistreated With Him Or Abused By Any Means?
It’s known that any child who faced any kind of sexual abuse suffers through out his life. The thing that may reach to suicide, but on the contrary Aisha my God be pleased with her and Prophet Muhammad lived a beautiful love story, and they both enjoyed their lives together.
Sayyida Aisha Never Showed Her Displeasure:
Another striking thing to observe is that among hundreds of her narrations there is not even a single one showing her displeasure about this marriage. Hence, she had no problem with this relation. In fact it is manifest from several traditions that she loved the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) too much and even felt some sort of jealousy when she found others around him. Does this not prove that she was extremely happy about this marriage? So, when she herself had no problem at all then what’s the matter of concern for others?
Look at the love of prophet Muhammad peace be upon him to her
Narrated Amr bin Al-As:
I came to the Prophet SAW and said, “Who is the most beloved person to you?” He said, “Aisha.” I asked, “Among the men?” He said, “Her father.” I said, “Who then?” He said, “Then Umar bin Al-Khattab.” He then named other men [Bukhari].
He Died In Her Arms:
The love between the prophet- peace be upon him- and Aisha may Allah be pleased with her was so strong that he had his last breath in her arms.
Narrated Aisha: During his sickness, Allah’s Apostle SAW was asking repeatedly, “Where am I today? Where will I be tomorrow?” And I was waiting for the day of my turn (impatiently). Then, when my turn came, Allah took his soul away (in my lap) between my chest and arms and he was buried in my house. [Bukhari]
Some Shocking Facts:
- Engagement with Jubair bin Mutim: It ought also be noted that Sayyidah Aisha ( RA) was engaged to Jubayr son of Mut’im before Prophet Muhammed (Peace be upon him. This indicates the age of marriage and engagement in Prophet’s time. However, the engagement was later nullified by Jubayr’s parents due to Abu Bakr (RA) embracing Islam. Doesn’t this indicate there was nothing bad in marrying a 9 year girl at that time? She must have been even younger when she was engaged to Jubair 7-Sayyidah A
- Her parents never objected: Sayyidah Aisha’s mother and the Muslim women back then were OK with her marriage. It was part of the Arab custom and still is in many of the Muslim and non-Muslim countries today for girls to marry at a very young age. When a girl’s body starts showing up (her breasts and her height and physical size), then she would be ready for marriage.
- Muslims never concealed it: Had there been any bad thinking regarding this marriage in minds of the people at that time. Muslims would have tried their best to conceal at that time. But they didn’t .
After all these information, do you still think that prophet Muhammad was a pedophile?
Was He A Pedophile?
Written by: Ahd Shahin
