Contemporary Pedophilic Islamic Marriages

From WikiIslam

The Islamic faith condones pedophilia. Therefore, contemporary pedophilic Islamic marriages are common practice around the globe.

[edit] Prevalence

In many Islamic countries, child marriages are common practice. Girls far below the age of puberty are forcibly married to older persons (sometimes in their 50s and later) for various personal gains by the girls' guardian. Pedophilic Islamic marriages are most prevalent in Pakistan and Afghanistan, followed by other countries in the middle east and Bangladesh.^[1][2] This practice may also be prevalent to a lesser extent amongst other Muslim communities, and is worryingly on the rise among the growing Muslim populations in many Western countries, such as the United Kingdom^[3] and the United States.

[edit] Justification by Muslims

[edit] Permitted in the Qur'an

Main Article: Pedophilia in the Quran

Muslims justify pedophilic marriages with tender aged girls using verses from the Qur'an, that clearly advocates this abominable practice. The Qur'an cannot be questioned by Muslims since it's not simply considered to be 'inspired' but the very words of Allah, uttered by his final messenger Muhammad. In Islam, moral relativism cannot be applied, as the Qur'an is Allah's eternal message to mankind and is as relevant today as it were when the revelations first escaped Muhammad lips.

The term "courses" mentioned above (indicated in bold italic text) is most accurately translated as "menstruation", which is the exact meaning of the Arabic word used in that context (i.e. 'Yaĥiđna يَحِضْنَ).

[edit] Permitted by Muslim Scholars and Leaders

...which puts her at the mercy of a man who could very well be a pedophile.

[edit] Committed by Muhammad

Main Article: Aisha's Age of Consummation

Another justification is that Muhammad, who is considered the Uswa Hasana (perfect example) by all Muslims, at the age of 54, also indulged in a pedophilic marriage with Aisha, a 9 year old girl.

[edit] Committed by Muhammad's companions

Main Article: Muhammad's companions and Pedophilia

Umar ibn al-Khattab, the 3rd caliph of Islam, at the age of 55 married Umm Kulthum bint Ali when she was between 10 and 12 years old. Some sources even say that she was five years old when Umar married her.

[edit] Recent Cases Around the World

[edit] Pakistan

In some cases, daughters are sold to other tribesmen by their own fathers as an alternative way of settling debt, which is usually accumulated as a result of gambling. The benefactor as a result marries his young bounty so that she may not have any excuse for returning to her native home (in the same concept as how ordinary people spend money that they acquire) ^[4].

There have also been cases, especially in Pakistan where daughters (sometimes as young as 3)^[5] have been sold to others for personal gain, usually to raise money for gambling, drinking, smoking and consuming drugs. Prices for child brides usually range from PKRs 80,000 to PKRs 200,000 (~US$ 1,340 to ~US$ 3,350). In March 2004 in Sindh province, Pakistan, a man was charged for selling his 7 year old daughter to a 35 year old man for marriage. In another rather peculiar case, a 13-year old girl, bought for PKRs 53,000 (~US$ 888) was later rejected by her buyer on the ground that the girl was not "healthy" enough, and he demanded a "healthier" girl from the seller^[6].

Another form of pedophilic marriage is linked to a tribal custom called Vani, which is a common practice in the Punjab province of Pakistan and the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. This custom is tied to blood feuds among the differing tribes and clans where the young girls are forcibly married-off in order to resolve the feuds. The Vani could be avoided if the clan of the girl agrees to pay money in lieu, called Deet. Otherwise the young bride will have to pay for the crime of her male relatives by spending the rest of her life with a rival tribesman.^[7] In early January of 2010, ten people including a Muslim cleric and the father of the girls, were arrested for participating in "a jirga that declared two girls vani" in Pakistan. The girls (ages 9 and 3) were being used to resolve a marriage dispute.^[8]

Another rather similar concept is called Badal, or revenge. This custom is strong in Pashtun society native to northern Pakistan and Afghanistan, and leads to a need for disputes to be settled quickly to avoid further bloodshed. Girls are treated as second-class citizens when they are sent to be a bride in a new family to mend ties.^[6]

Finally, we have forced conversions of minors via marriage. This is when children from minority communities, such as the Hindus' and Christians, are kidnapped, forcibly converted to Islam, and married off to one of the kidnappers. These types of marriages have seen a sharp rise in recent years, due to the general indifference among the police forces towards the plight of the non-Muslim, and laws which prevent the return of 'Muslim' children to their non-Muslim parents. As was the case for the Christian mother Sajida Masih,^[9] who's 12 year-old daughter Huma was abducted at gunpoint by Muhammad Imran on the 23rd of February, 2009. When the terrified mother reported the crime to Sadar police station in Gujranwala, the police ridiculed her, and told her there was nothing they could do as she is now a Muslim.

[edit] Bangladesh

On September 4 2009, in Barisal, Bangladesh, 75-year old moneylender Lokman Sikder was given 13-year old Akhinur in marriage, by her father, as payment for his unpaid loan of Tk 4,000. Lokman Sikder was previously known to the child as 'Lokman Nana' (grandfather).^[10]

[edit] Saudi Arabia

As recent as May 2009, A Saudi sheikh performed a wedding ceremony between a 10-year-old girl and a 26-year-old man. The reason for this? The girl's father said that he married off his daughter, as he feared she would remain a spinster.^[11]In 2008 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, another marriage between an 8 year old girl and a 58-year old-man was validated by a local court (other sources place his age at 47), and a plea by the girl's mother to nullify the marriage was rejected. The girl was apparently sold into the marriage by her father for SR 30,000 (~US$ 7,994) to ease the financial difficulty he was facing.^[12] A second attempt to have the marriage annulled was struck down by the same judge who denied the girl's mother as a witness in court because she was separated from her husband and therefore not the girl's legal guardian (under Shari'a). The judge ruled that the girl could seek a divorce when she reached puberty, and he required that the husband sign an agreement not to consummate the marriage until the girl reached puberty.^[13] In August 2009, a Saudi father returned his 10-year-old daughter to her elderly husband who was reportedly 80 years old. The girl had been hiding with her aunt for over a week until she was discovered by her father. Originally the girl's older sister was betrothed to the man, but when the elder girl chose instead to further her education, their father gave the 10-year-old to him as a replacement bride. The husband insisted that "My marriage is not against Shariah. It included the elements of acceptance and response by the father of the bride."^[14]

[edit] Yemen

In September 2009, a 12-year-old Yemeni girl who was forced into marriage died during a painful childbirth which also killed her baby.^[15] In 2008, 10-year-old Nujood Ali went to a courthouse by herself, after attempts to get help from relatives failed, and demanded a divorce, generating a landmark legal case. The judge granted the girl a permanent divorce from her 30-year-old husband who had raped and beaten Nujood on their wedding night. Her lawyer said that they were "lucky with this judge. Another judge might not have accepted her in court, and would have asked her father or brother to come instead." Had that happened, Nujood would probably still be married. However, based on the principles of Shariah law, her husband was compensated, not prosecuted. Nujood was ordered to pay him more than $200 -- a huge amount in a country where the United Nations Development Programme says 15.7 percent of the population lives on less than $1 a day. She also feels like an outcast among her relatives and friends.^[16] Just weeks after Nujood's case, 9-year-old Arwa Abdu Muhammad Ali ran away from her 35-year-old husband to a local hospital and reported that she had been beaten and sexually abused for eight months. The judge who heard her case briefly jailed the local judge who had approved the marriage contract. Arwa's husband refused to show up to court.^[17] Also in 2008, Reem, a Yemeni girl married at 12, sought a divorce from her 30-year-old husband after he choked her, bit her, dragged her by the hair, and raped her when she resisted his demands for sex. He imprisoned her in his house for 11 days during which time she tried to kill herself with a kitchen knife before being rescued by her mother.^[18] Her father had forced her into the marriage with her cousin, resorting to a gag and tying her up twice. He also threatened to kill the girl for defying him.^[19]

[edit] Indonesia

In Indonesia, a 43-year-old Muslim cleric married a 12-year-old girl in front of thousands of people in the Central Java Province in August of 2008. Not long after the marriage ceremony, police returned the girl to her parents' care. The cleric also announced his intention to marry two other girls aged 7 and 9. In March 2009, he and the girl's father were arrested. The cleric argued that he had committed no crime because he intended to wait until she reached puberty before consummating their relationship.^[20]

[edit] Iran

[edit] United Kingdom

According to 2009 government figures in the UK, forced marriages have seen a ten-fold rise in just four years. One-third of these cases involve victims aged under 18, and one-sixth under the age of 16.^[3] While it is reported to be a problem mainly concentrated within the "Asian" communities, this is usually a politically-correct term given to any sensitive issues concerning the Muslim population. This has been previously witnessed with the media handling of the 2001 "race riots" in Oldham, Bradford and Burnley. The government, and the then home secretary David Blunkett, were secretly warned by the head of the Commission for Racial Equality, Gurbux Singh, that more violence was to be expected from "Young Muslims who feel disenfranchised" living among the many "Muslim" hotspots in the UK.^[21]

[edit] United States

On the 4th of August 2009, 23 year-old Vincent Mosby paid a dowry (consisting of a watch and a ring purchased from Wal-Mart) and married a 14-year-old child in a religious ceremony held in her parents home, and attended by two other members of the Kansas City mosque the child bride's step-father belongs to. The parents say they pressured their daughter into the marriage, due to fears of her becoming sexually active with a boy her own age. Mosby was charged with statutory rape in November 2009.^[22]

[edit] Conclusion

In conclusion, one has to agree that whatever the reasons and justification that may be given by the practitioners of pedophilic Islamic marriages, the common denominator is plainly lust for children and Islam.

[edit] Images of pedophilic Islamic marriages

• Photo op: Child brides in Afghanistan

[edit] See also

• Islam and Pedophilia
• Pedophilia is advocated in the Qur'an
• Muhammad committed pedophilia
• Muhammad's companions committed pedophilia
• A Refutation of 'The Islamophobe's Glass House'
• Pedophilia Revisited
• Forced Marriage

[edit] External Links

• Child Brides - Child Marriage: What We Know - PBS, October 12, 2007
• Before She's Ready: 15 Places Girls Marry by 15 - World Vision, 2008
• Muhammad, Aisha, Islam, and Child Brides - Silas, Answering-Islam.org
• Child Marriage Fact Sheet - International Center for Research on Women

[edit] References