Aisha's Age of Consummation
From WikiIslam
Contents
|
[edit] Pedophilia
Many critics of Islam claim Muhammad's relationship with Aisha was a pedophilic relationship, therefore Muhammad was a pedophile.
In psychiatry, the most commonly used diagnostic criteria for diagnosing psychiatric ailments are those from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders. The latest issue is DSM-IV-TR. The DSM classification is a system that classifies and defines all accepted psychiatric ailments and symptoms, with their inclusion and exclusion criteria. The following are the inclusion and exclusion criteria for pedophilia (302.2):
[edit] Pedophilia according to DSM-IV-TR
B. The person has acted on these sexual urges, or the sexual urges or fantasies caused marked distress or interpersonal difficulty.
C. The person is at least age 16 years and at least 5 years older than the child or children in Criterion A.
Pedophiliac activity may involve undressing and looking at the child or more direct physical sex acts. All these activities are psychologically harmful to the child, and some may be physically harmful. In addition, individuals with pedophilia often go to great lengths to obtain photos, films or pornographic publications that focus on sex with children.
These individuals commonly explain their activities with excuses or rationalizations that the activities have "educational value" for the child, that the child feels "sexual pleasure" from the activities or that the child was "sexually provocative." However, child psychiatrists and other child development experts maintain that children are incapable of offering informed consent to sex with an adult. Furthermore, since pedophiliac acts harm the child, psychiatrists condemn publications or organizations that seek to promote or normalize sex between adults and children."In the following article, it will be shown that Muhammad's relationship with Aisha did indeed meet all the criteria to make the diagnosis of pedophilia, and therefore Muhammad was undoubtedly a pedophile.
[edit] Was Muhammad a Pedophile?
Modern day Islamic apologists, and Islamophiles alike, will very often claim that Aisha had reached puberty by the time Muhammad married and had sexual intercourse with her. However, they never provide verifiable proof for this bold assertion. Instead, they rely on the culture and traditional practices of 7th Century Arabia as evidence of their claim. This is of course completely false, as demonstrated by the hadith and the commentary of one of Islam's most famous scholars, Imam Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar Al-'Asqalani, Commander of the Faithful in Hadith, Qadi of Egypt, and author of the celebrated commentary on Sahih Bukhari, "Fateh al-Bari."
To prove that Aisha was still pre-pubescent when Muhammad married and had sex with her, one has to understand Ibn Hajar's explanation of the permissibility of doll-playing for pre-pubescent girls in Islam. Applying this doll-playing exegesis to the ahadith of Aisha getting married or when she first had sex with Muhammad, one can effectively demonstrate that she was pre-pubescent on these occasions This evidence will be examined in the following three sections.
[edit] Only pre-pubescent girls were allowed to play with dolls
This is what the great hadith scholar, Shaykh al-Islam Imam Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar Al-'Asqalani, Commander of the Faithful in Hadith, Qadi of Egypt, had to say in regards to doll-playing and little girls:
[edit] Sahih Bukhari 8:7:151
How do we know that it was Ibn Hajar who made the above (bolded) doll-playing exegesis? We know this by the reference to Fateh-al-Bari and also due to the fact that when we look at other translations of Bukhari 8:73:151, the same message is conveyed.
[edit] Alternative Translations
[edit] One
The translator then provides some discussion on translations of various versions of this hadith before he follows up with Ibn Hajar and Fath-al-Bari:
[edit] Two
[edit] Three
Note the great similarity in the commentary of Ibn Hajar in Fateh al-Bari to all four versions of the hadith. The words are different due to the different translators but the essential message is unchanged – only little girls (i.e. before puberty) are permitted to play with dolls.
[edit] Does the phrase 'little girls' mean pre-pubescent?
How do we know that these "little girls" are pre-pubescent? This is due to Islamic customs and laws specifically stating so.
For example:
Islam clearly teaches that adulthood begins once a person has attained puberty.[1] [2] These Islamic websites provide us with the evidence, that in Islam when a girl reaches puberty, she ceases to be considered a girl and becomes a woman. Therefore, little girls must be pre-pubescent according to Islamic customs and laws.
We also have commentaries by hadith scholars that reinforce this point:
[edit] Aisha was pre-pubescent when Muhammad consummated the marriage
This hadith suggests that Muhammad had sex with Aisha in her house on her wedding day. However, was this event really on her wedding day? This is proven by the Sahih Bukhari hadith below. Note the similarity in accounts, although the Bukhari 5:58:234 hadith is more expansive on the fact that the events took place on Aisha’s wedding day:
Also note that Sahih Muslim says Aisha still had her dolls with her when she was taken to Muhammad’s house as a bride. Applying Ibn Hajar’s doll-playing exegesis from Part 1, it becomes clear that Aisha was pre-pubescent when she became a bride.
Therefore, it is abundantly clear from the hadiths, that Aisha was pre-pubescent when Muhammad first had sex with her on her wedding day.
[edit] Consummating the marriage means sexual intercourse
The following proof is slightly controversial due to the fact that Sunan Abu Dawud is not unanimously accepted by Muslims to be Sahih (authentic). However, Sunan Abu Dawud is still the third most respected collection of ahadith, and the relevant narration used here is considered Sahih by some of the most authoritative ahadith scholars, includin Shaykh Abdul Azeez al-Qaari' (Imam of Masjid Qubaa and professor of tafseer Quranic recitation at the Islamic University of Medina).
Here we see that Muhammad had sex with Aisha when she was 9 years old. Is this age confirmed by any other (Sahih) ahadith? Yes it is:
Apologists will insist that the term 'consummate the marriage' means 'nikah' , not sex. This is in spite of the Abu-Dawud hadith Vol. 2, #2116 translation that explicitly states 'intercourse' . Be that as it may, does 'consummate the marriage' mean sex? Here is proof that it does:
But how do we know that at the age of nine Aisha was still pre-pubescent? Here is the evidence from Sunan Abu-Dawud, Vol. 3, #4914 (This hadith is also repeated in Sunan Nasa’i):
Possession of Dolls By Little Girls:
Shaykh Muhammad Shams al-Haqq al-'Adheem Aabaadee, in his Sharh (explanation) of Sunan Abu-Dawud, says:
According to the generally accepted tradition, Aisha was born about eight years before Hijrah. The battle of Khaibar took place in Muharram-Safar 7 AH. The siege of Tabuk took place in Rajab 9 AH. Therefore, to be generous, I will accept the Khaibar explanation and not the later, Tabuk explanation.
It is generally accepted that Aisha was betrothed to Muhammad at the age of 6 in the year 3 BH. This is confirmed by reports that the marriage was consummated in Shawwal, which came seven months after the Prophet's hijra from Makkah to al-Medinah.So the Abu-Dawud hadith says that Aisha was still playing with dolls as late as 7 AH. That is 6 or 7 years after her marriage. Using the doll-playing exegesis of Ibn Hajar, Abu Ubaid, al-Qaadee 'Iyaad, and Shaykh Muhammad Shams al-Haqq, Aisha did not reach puberty until at least 6 to 7 years after her marriage when she would have been about 15 or 16 years old, but lets say 14 years old to be generous.
[edit] Abu-Dawud Book 41, Number 4914
Note that some apologists will try to say that this hadith is not sahih. They will use the following translation of the same hadith and highlight the phrase "the narrator is doubtful":
When the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) arrived after the expedition to Tabuk or Khaybar (the narrator is doubtful), the draught raised an end of a curtain which was hung in front of her store-room, revealing some dolls which belonged to her.
He asked: What is this? She replied: My dolls. Among them he saw a horse with wings made of rags, and asked: What is this I see among them? She replied: A horse. He asked: What is this that it has on it? She replied: Two wings. He asked: A horse with two wings? She replied: Have you not heard that Solomon had horses with wings? She said: Thereupon the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) laughed so heartily that I could see his molar teeth.
The evidence that this hadith is indeed sahih, and that the phrase "the narrator is doubtful" does not mean to imply that the hadith itself is doubtful, but the fact that the narrator was doubtful in regards to whether or not he was told it was Khaybar or Tabuk, is as follows:
[edit] Proof One
Various versions of the hadith include confirmation that it is sahih/authenticated/authentic, including one that refers to Sahih Abu-Dawud (a collection of Abu-Dawud hadiths that are deemed sahih):
This hadith is very clear that the meaning of playthings (lu‘ab) mentioned in the earlier narration does not refer to humans. [5]
Not only is the chain of narrators authentic according to Albani - but two other Islamic sources say 'authentic' or 'authenticated.'
[edit] Proof Two
The version taken from the The Muslim Woman site states that, “the narrator of the hadith was in doubt about whether he was told "Tabook or Khaibar”. That is, not in doubt about the hadith.
[edit] Proof Three
Alternative translations do not carry the word ‘doubt’:
[edit] Proof Four
Authoritative Islamic scholars still use this hadith in their judgment of Islamic laws and customs. Shaykh Abdul Azeez al-Qaari' (Imaam of Masjid Qubaa and professor of tafseer and Quranic recitation at the Islamic University of Madeenah) had this to say about image-making in al-Usrah:
How can apologists claim that the Imam of Masjid Qubaa and professor of tafseer and Quranic recitation at the Islamic University of Medina uses a hadith that is not sahih in deciding the permissibility of doll-playing among Saudi Arabian children? For by doing so, even Shaykh Abdul Azeez al-Qaari' of Saudi Arabia seems to accept that this hadith is sahih.
If using a weak hadith, a scholar must warn the reader of its weakness:
It is clear from this article that Shaykh Abdul Azeez al-Qaari' (Imaam of Masjid Qubaa and professor of tafseer and Quranic recitation at the Islamic University of Medina) did not say anything about Abu-Dawud 4914 being weak - thus it cannot be considered as such.
Please also note what the reference says at the end of the article:
[edit] Summary
- In the first section, it was shown that in Islam, doll-playing girls are pre-pubescent according to the doll-playing exegesis of Ibn Hajar and Islamic laws and customs.
- In the second section it was shown, using Ibn Hajar's doll-playing exegesis that Aisha remained a pre-pubescent child when she was married and had sexual intercourse with Muhammad.
- In the third section it was shown that Aisha remained pre-pubescent as late as 6 or 7 years after her marriage to Muhammad.
[edit] Conclusion
Does Muhammad meet all these criteria?
- Yes - Muhammad had sexual relations with a pre-pubescent child over a prolonged period - likely to have been at least 6 to 7 years.
- Yes - Muhammad had acted on his sexual urges - as demonstrated by Tabari IX:131 and various other Bukhari ahadith that state that consummation had taken place at the age of nine when it had been established that Aisha had not reached puberty until she was at least 14 years of age.
- Yes - Muhammad was 54 years old while Aisha was only 9 years old at the time of sexual intercourse.
Therefore, even according to the most stringent clinical definition of pedophilia - the DSM-IV-TR - Muhammad would be found guilty as charged.
[edit] Quotes on Muhammad relating to Pedophilia
| Ibn Warraq, former Muslim and author | "child marriages continue to be practiced, and the fact that the Prophet himself married Aisha when she was only nine and he was fifty-three encourages Muslim society to continue with this iniquitous custom."[10] | |
| | Ayaan Hirsi Ali, former Muslim, author and politician | "If the Prophet Muhammad went to bed with a nine-year-old, then according to Dutch law he is a pedophile."[11] |
| | Jerri Vines, former Southern Baptist Convention president | "Islam was founded by Muhammad, a demon-possessed pedophile who had 12 wives, and his last one was a 9-year-old girl"[12] |
| Daniela Santanchè, Italian entrepreneur and politician | "Mohammed was a polygamist and a paedophile because he had nine wives, one of whom was only nine years old, that is a historical fact"[13] | |
| Runar Søgaard, celebrity preacher and motivational speaker | Called Muhammad a "confused pedophile" and received death threats [14] |
[edit] Responses to Apologetics
- "The Quran does not say that Muhammad had sex with a 9 year old girl"
Even though that's true, Hadiths are valid sources of Islam and are accepted by the majority of Islamic scholars and cannot be ignored. The Quran permits pedophilia in verse 65:4. According to multiple sahih hadiths, as explored in this article, Muhammad was sexually attracted to a 6 year old and married her and had sex with her when she was 9.
- "Muhammad did not have sex with her."
Multiple hadiths confirm that Muhammad consummated the marriage, meaning, he had sex with her when she was 9. Also the Quran permits sex with pre-puberty females and there is no purpose of marriage if there wont be any sex between the couple. If 54 year old Muhammad didn't want to have sex with 9 year old Aisha but wanted to keep her in his house, he could easily have adopted her as his grand-daughter instead.
[edit] References
- ↑ The Young Marriage of Aishah (R)
- ↑ Marriage of Prophet (pbuh) to Aisha at Age 9-12
- ↑ http://www.themuslimwoman.com/beware/PossessionofDolls.htm
- ↑ TheMuslimWoman.com - Possession of Dolls
- ↑ Fatwa on the use of Imaes for children
- ↑ Establishing an Islamic Home
- ↑ Islamic Dawah - The obligation of Man to live with his Woman in kindness.
- ↑ Establishing an Islamic Home
- ↑ Fatwa on the use of images for children
- ↑ Ibn Warraq, Why I Am Not a Muslim, p. 320, Prometheus Books, 1995, 0879759844
- ↑ Infidel, Ayaan Hirsi Ali
- ↑ Vines calls founder of Islam a 'demon-possessed pedophile' (June 2002)
- ↑ Italy: Mohammed called a 'paedophile' in TV spat
- ↑ Norwegian preacher kindles religious strife (April 2005)
[edit] See also
- Aisha's Age of Consummation (short version)
- The meaning of "Consummate"
- Pedophilia in the Qur'an
- Islam and Pedophilia
- Contemporary Pedophilic Islamic Marriages
- Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Aisha - Islamic sources relating to Aisha
- Pedophilia Revisited
[edit] External Links
- 302.2 Pedophilia, from DSM-IV-TR
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
- Discussion on why Mohammed actually waited 3 years before consummation
- A’isha: Mohammed’s Nine-Year Old Wife
- Muhammad, Aisha, Islam, and Child Brides
- Common Muslims Arguments Refuted
- Was Muhammad a Pedophile? An Examination of Muhammad’s Relationship with a Nine-Year-Old Girl
[edit] Linking to this article
Some online editors and internet discussion boards do not link properly to this article due to the "'" in the URL. You may also use the following alternative link for this article: http://www.wikiislam.org/wiki/Muhammad_the_Pedophile
