Refuting the Claim that Prophet Muhammad was a Pedophile

The Islamaphobe’s Glass House

Refuting the Claim that Prophet Muhammad was a Pedophile



Ibn al-Hashimi

Disclaimer
In this book, I will address Islamaphobes. A great many of these Islamaphobes identify
themselves as Jews and Christians. However, I recognize that these Islamaphobes only
make up a small percentage of the Jews and Christians overall. Although the
Islamaphobes may well be the loudest voices amongst the Jews and Christians in the
West, I recognize that they are only self-appointed leaders of the faith, and they do not
represent the vast majority of well-meaning Jews and Christians. The Quran, while it
does criticize some Jews and Christians (as well as some Muslims), nevertheless
recognizes that not all Jews and Christians are alike. The Quran declares:
Not all of them are alike: Of the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) are a
portion that stand for the right. They rehearse the Signs of God all night long, and
they prostrate themselves in adoration. They believe in God and the Last Day;
they enjoin what is right, and forbid what is wrong; and they strive with one
another in hastening to good works. They are in the ranks of the righteous.
(Quran, 3:113-114)
In the process of defending my religion against Jewish and Christian Islamaphobes, I
pray that I do not offend well-meaning Jews and Christians in the process. I apologize in
advance for any unintended harshness on my part. In the words of Saladin:
Victory is changing the hearts of your opponents by gentleness and kindness.
Any good that I bring is from God Most High; only the faults are mine.
Ibn al-Hashimi

Age of Marriage Under Christian Law

We have shown how the Jewish Encyclopedia says that under Jewish Law girls can
marry at the age of twelve or even younger than that; let us now see what the Catholic
Encyclopedia says of Christian laws with regards to marriage. The Catholic
Encyclopedia says:
The marriageable age is fourteen full years in males and twelve full years in
females, under penalty of nullity (unless natural puberty supplies the want of
years [i.e. if puberty occurs before the age of twelve])… The canonical age holds
in England, Spain, Portugal, Greece (Ionian Isles excepted, where it is sixteen and
fourteen), and as regards Catholics even in Austria. While in some parts of the
United States the canonical marriage age of fourteen and twelve still prevails, in
others it has been enlarged by statutes.
(Catholic Encyclopedia, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01206c.htm)
Elsewhere, the Catholic Encyclopedia says:
By the common law, the age at which minors were capable of marrying, known as
the age of consent, was fixed at fourteen years for males and twelve years for
females. Marriages under the age of seven years for both were void, but between
seven and the age of consent [14 for males, 12 for females] the parties could
contract an imperfect marriage, which was voidable but not necessarily void.
(Catholic Encyclopedia, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09691b.htm)
Although twelve was the general guideline, Christian fathers were allowed to marry their
daughters off even before that. We read:
Medieval Christianity continued to maintain the age of twelve as a minimal age
for females to enter into marriage. However, even this low age limit was not
absolute. Using natural law logic, Catholic authorities argued that the decisive
factor which determined a child's readiness for marriage and sexual relations was
the onset of puberty, and not necessarily age as such. According to one Catholic
scholar, “If it could be satisfactorily proved that puberty . . . was actually attained
by the boy before the completion of his fourteenth year, or by the girl before the
completion of her twelfth year, then . . . the party could enter upon a valid
marriage.” [1]
(Mark E. Pietrzyk, http://www.internationalorder.org/scandal_response.html)
Similar to Jewish Law, Christian Law differentiated between the minimum age of
marriage and the absolute minimum age of marriage. Twelve years old was the
minimum age of marriage, called the age of consent; in other words, a girl had to be
twelve years old before should could arrange her own marriage. But the absolute
minimum age of marriage was in fact seven years of age, during which time her father
could arrange her marriage without her permission. In the Journal of Psychology and
Human Sexuality, we read:
Age of Consent: A Historical Overview
Age of Consent throughout history has usually coincided with the age of
puberty although at sometimes it has been as early as seven…The Roman
tradition served as the base for Christian Europe as well as the Christian Church
itself which generally, essentially based upon biological development, set it at
12 or 14 but continued to set the absolute minimum at seven. In the past
century there has been a tendency to raise the age of consent but the reasons for
the change have not always been clear and the issue has been further complicated
by the reluctance of many contemporary historians to recognize what the actual
age of consent in the past has been. This failure has distorted the importance of
biology on age of consent in the past.
(Age of Consent: A Historical Overview

http://www.haworthpress.com/store/Ar...XH16E3FKBF7Q9P
3MKLPC82LUJNKC41U5&ID=87429)

Saint Thomas Aquinas, considered by Catholics to be the greatest theologian of all time,
wrote in The Summa Theologica:
If the parties are betrothed by another person [i.e. the father] before they reach the
age of puberty, either of them or both can demur; wherefore in that case the
betrothal does not take effect, so that neither does any affinity result therefrom.
Hence a betrothal made between certain persons by some other takes effect, in so
far as those between whom the betrothal is arranged do not demur when they
reach the proper age, whence they are understood to consent to what others have
done.
(The Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas,
http://www.newadvent.org/summa/5043.htm)
In other words, pre-pubertal marriages arranged by the father are recognized by the
Church. Once the girl reaches puberty, she has the option of nullifying the marriage.
However, there is a big catch to this: if the man has sex with the pre-pubertal girl, then
she can no longer nullify the marriage. Catholic popes argued that even if marriage took
place before twelve years of age and before puberty, then such a marriage would still be
binding by the law. We read:
Sexual intercourse which took place before marital age limits or puberty was not
necessarily illicit or sinful. On the contrary, some popes ruled that intercourse
below the age of twelve/fourteen had the effect of sealing a marriage contract, as
long as such intercourse took place after the age of discretion, which was seven.
[2] Once intercourse had taken place, the marriage could not be annulled.
(Mark E. Pietrzyk, http://www.internationalorder.org/scandal_response.html)
This is a very important point, and shatters the glass house that the Christians live in.
The popes—who, due to the backing of the Holy Ghost, are considered infallible when
they issue such religious edicts—ruled that a girl could be married off after the age of
[2] Rush, 32-34. 17
The Islamaphobe’s Glass House Hashimi
seven, before the age of consent. In other words, she could be married

seven, before the age of consent. In other words, she could be married against her will.
If the husband had sex with her (even against her will), then this sealed the marriage and
the girl could not annul the marriage. In the twelfth century, Pope Alexander III ruled:
If a girl of tender age is betrothed and delivered to her husband, and afterwards
desires to marry a different man, her petition is not to be granted if her husband
swears that he has had carnal knowledge of her even at the early age of eleven or
twelve. [3]
The Christian scholars ruled that even if a seven year old girl had sex before reaching the
age of puberty, the fact that she had sex proves that she was mature enough to be married.
In other words, the minimum criteria to marry a girl is that a man can have sex with her.
When a man wants to marry a young girl, all he has to do is marry her and then have sex
with her. In a very circular logic, the sex he had with her will validate his marriage and
prevent an annulment. Christian Law therefore dictates that it does not matter how young
a girl is, or whether or not she has attained the age of puberty; all that truly matters is that
her husband can penetrate her and have sex. Once he does this, nobody can oppose or
annul the marriage.
C. Yandell writes in “Carpe Corpus: Time and Gender in Early Modern France”:
In canon law, puberty normally determines marriageable age, although the
minimum age for marriage is seven years, "the age of reason", when a child is
deemed capable of consent. The lawyer Estienne Pasquier notes that the Digest
compiled by Justinian specifies fourteen years for men, twelve for women, but, he
adds, if one is capable of carnal cohabitation before this age, marriage is
permitted.
(Carpe Corpus: Time and Gender in Early Modern France, by Cathy Yandell
p.37,
http://books.google.com/books?id=YXs...A37&lpg=PA37&d
q

---

[3] Quoted in John Fulton, The Laws of Marriage (New York: E. and J.B. Young, 1883), 112. 18
The Islamaphobe’s Glass House Hashimi

=noblewomen+married+early&source=web&ots=q6KGHQigfa&sig=0Pv9 5S0Z7
pBtjVz9GZHbuWc53ho#PPP1,M1)
We read further:
Thus even for very young partners, the act of intercourse bound the two of them
together for life. As one Catholic scholar has written, “carnal relations between
the parties seemed to indicate sufficient maturity and made up for the defect of
years.” [4] Sexual intercourse below the age of discretion (seven) was not a crime,
but merely “invalid,” and thus, inconsequential, as under Jewish law. [5]
Parents arranged marriages for their pre-pubescent children during the Middle
Ages for a variety of dynastic, economic, and cultural reasons. [6] Such marriages
were usually consummated at the age of twelve. Although physicians warned of
the dangers of impregnating very young girls and implored husbands to wait until
the wife reached the age of at least fourteen, such warnings usually went
unheeded, and the Catholic Church continued to bless marital bonds with twelveyear-
old girls. [7]
Although technically the consent of the child was necessary for a marriage to take
place, the child was usually not in a position to challenge his or her parents and
resist an unwanted union. This led to a number of abuses which went
unchallenged by the Church. In 1526, the Dutch scholar Erasmus complained,
“It is no uncommon case, especially in France, for a girl of scarce ten
years to be married and a mother next year. . . . It seems portentous, and
yet we sometimes see it, especially in Britain and Italy, that a tender child

is married to a septuagenarian [i.e. a man in his seventies]. . . . Yet Church
laws do not rescind such nuptials” [8]
In later centuries, some Christian commentators would denounce sexual relations
with young girls as being equivalent to rape. In the sixteenth century, canonist
Egidio Bossi argued for this interpretation on the grounds that a child could
hardly be considered as being in a position to give consent. However, he
recommended that the age of consent be fixed at only six or seven years of age.
[9]
At the Council of Trent in the sixteenth century, there was some discussion
among the Church leadership about possibly raising the age for marriage.
Cardinal Charles De Guise of Lorraine, France, advocated raising the age of
marriage for women to twenty and for men to twenty-five. The bishop of Cordia,
Spain, argued for the ages of twenty for women and twenty-two for men.
However, the majority of those on the Council were opposed to raising the age for
marriage on the grounds that adolescents would be tempted to commit fornication
unless they were permitted to marry. The conservatives prevailed: the age limit
remained at twelve for females and fourteen for males. [10]
(Mark E. Pietrzyk, http://www.internationalorder.org/scandal_response.html)
In a paper published at a symposium on Byzantine Studies, we read:
Baptism, usually at birth, was the fundamental rite of incorporation into the body
of Christ and the Church…Betrothal, sometimes as early as the age of five,
marked another stage in the child’s social incorporation.
(Byzantine Studies: 2006 Spring Symposium,
http://www.doaks.org/byz_2006_symposium_abstracts.html )




Aisha (peace be upon her) was around the age of puberty when she married. Christians
criticize the Prophet’s marriage to her on the grounds that she was too young. Yet,
Christian Law not only allowed girls to marry at the age of puberty, but rather it was
encouraged by the Church to marry at this young age. In an article entitled “The Practice
and Theory of Marriage in Roman North Africa”, we read:
Other canons require that lectors, upon reaching puberty, should either marry or
take vows of celibacy.
(The Practice and Theory of Marriage in Roman North Africa,
http://people.vanderbilt.edu/~james....huntermar.html)
In the article entitled “Marriage: Laws and Customs”, we read:
Legal Age for Marriage
Roman law gave the minimum age for marriage as that of puberty which was 14
for boys and 12 for girls; these remained the legal age for marriage until the late
19th Century in Britain…There is however evidence that child marriages were
reasonably common in North West England in the 16th century…
(Marriage: Laws and Customs, http://www.isle-ofman.
com/manxnotebook/famhist/genealgy/marr.htm)
In an article entitled “Law, Sex, and Christian Society in Medieval Europe”, we read:
Ordinary people who chose not to devote their lives to ascetic observances were
often advised that their best defense against the ever present urge to copulate was
to marry early. For this reason, St. Chrysostom warned parents to see to it that
their children married soon after they reached the age of puberty.
(Law, Sex, and Christian Society in Medieval Europe,
http://www.pinn.net/~sunshine/book-sum/medevl1.html)

When girls neared the approximate age of puberty, they were considered marriage
material. These pre-pubescent and pubescent girls were routinely married off to men
who were the same age as their grandfathers. We read:
Christian canon law followed Roman law in setting the minimum age of marriage
at twelve for females and fourteen for males. The logic behind these marital age
limits was that these were the approximate ages of puberty for both genders,
indicating readiness for procreation. In ancient Rome, among both pagans and
Christians, marriage at an early age was frequent. Betrothals often occurred even
before puberty, although the consummation of marriage through intercourse
usually did not take place until after the girl’s first menstruation. Very often, the
age of discrepancy of marriage partners was great. According to one historian,
“the matching of a man with a woman young enough to be his daughter or even
granddaughter was generally accepted.” [11]
(Mark E. Pietrzyk, http://www.internationalorder.org/scandal_response.html)
[

Age of Marriage Under Jewish Law

The Jewish website, Jewfaq.org, says:
The minimum age for marriage under Jewish law is 13 for boys, 12 for girls;
however, the kiddushin [betrothal] can take place before that, and often did in
medieval times.


(JewFaq.org, http://www.jewfaq.org/marriage.htm)


The age of twelve approximates the commencement of puberty. According to Jewish
Law, marriage at this age is not just allowed, but rather it is actively encouraged and
fathers are advised to quickly wed their pubescent daughters. We read:
One passage that would echo long and loud for Ashkenazic Jews throughout the
Middle Ages held that a man who marries off his sons and daughters near the
period of puberty (samukh le-firkan) will receive the scriptural blessing: “you
shall know that your tent is in peace” (Job 5:24), 101 evidently understood to
mean that if one’s children were married, they would not succumb to sexual
temptation” (Biale, 1997:p49-50)[95]


(G.U.S.: A World Reference Atlas, http://www2.rz.huberlin.
de/sexology/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/MIDDLEEASTOLD.HTM)


So Jewish Law allows men to marry twelve year olds, whom today would be considered
“child brides”. But the plot thickens! Even the age limit of twelve is not absolute.
Rather, twelve years old is merely the age at which a girl can herself decide to get
married. Before that, however, her father can have her married off, without her
permission.

We read from the website of the Special Rapporteur to the United Nations:
According to Jewish religious law (halacha), which in Israel confers validity on
the marriage of Jews conducted within its borders, it is possible to marry a young

girl of any age, but the girl herself may decide to marry only when she has
reached the age of 12 and a half.


(U.N. representative, http://www.right-to-education.org/co...ge/israel.html)
The authoritative Jewish website, AskMoses.com, says:
What is the minimum age of marriage according to Jewish law?
by Rabbi Naftali Silberberg


…In ancient (and not so ancient) times however, marriage was often-times
celebrated at a rather young age. Although we do not follow this dictum,
technically speaking, a girl may be betrothed the moment she is born, and married
at the age of three. [Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer 37:1.] A boy may betroth and
marry at the age of thirteen. [Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer 43:1]


(AskMoses.com, http://www.askmoses.com/article.html?h=573&o=2488)
The Talmud recommends that a daughter be given in marriage at around the age of
twelve (i.e. the commencement of puberty), but Jewish fathers were historically allowed
to marry their daughters off even before that age. Surprisingly, the wife could be as
young as three years old. According to Jewish Law, such marriages were officially
sealed by the man having sex with the baby. We read:


In the ancient world, Jewish law seemed to require an act of intercourse for a
betrothal to be recognised. The Mishnah said: "A girl three years old and one
day may be betrothed by intercourse […]" (Mishnah, Nid. V. 4). Maimonides
(A. D. 1180) states: "If she is three years and one day old she may be betrothed by
an act of intercourse, with the consent of her father. If she is less than that, and her
father has her betrothed by an act of intercourse, she is not betrothed"


([1972:p18][78]). Edwardes (1967a:p168)[79]: "The early-marriage tradition of
Israel found acceptance in Christendom, whose precocious children bedded and




wedded at or even before puberty...At the time of St. Paul, girls were married
at puberty or a little before.


(G.U.S.: A World Reference Atlas, http://www2.rz.huberlin.
de/sexology/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/MIDDLEEASTOLD.HTM)
Although twelve was set as the recommended age, Jewish fathers were marrying their
daughters off well before that. We read:
Although the Talmud recommended that a daughter be given in marriage when
na'rah, between the ages of twelve and twelve and a half, a father could marry her
off well before that time…16th century Jewish history reveals a prevalence of girl
"child" marriage, many of whom were between 12 and 14 years of age (Lamdan,
1996)[86]


The early marriage age may be attributed to several factors: an attempt to prevent
the temptation of sexual relations before marriage; the effort to arrange the best
possible match both socially and economically; the insecurity of diaspora
Jews during the age of expulsions from Spain and Ottoman expansion, moving
them to establish ties that would assure the children's financial future; and the
desire to raise a new generation of Jews as quickly as possible to assure the
continuity of their people.


(G.U.S.: A World Reference Atlas, http://www2.rz.huberlin.
de/sexology/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/MIDDLEEASTOLD.HTM)
According to many Jewish scholars, a girl should be married off as soon as she hits
puberty and no later. The Jewish Encyclopedia says:


Age for Marriage


The first positive commandment of the Bible, according to rabbinic interpretation
(Maimonides, "Minyan ha-Miẓwot," 212), is that concerning the propagation of
the human species (Gen. i. 28). It is thus considered the duty of every Israelite to

marry as early in life as possible…Some urge that children should marry as
soon as they reach the age of puberty.
(Jewish Encyclopedia,
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/vi...er=M&artid=216)
In the journal entitled Women in Judaism, we find that Jews were still marrying at the age
of puberty up until World War I:


A Daughter’s Coming of Age


In earlier days, girls got married at the age of nine…[following the] custom
of marrying daughters at age eight to ten…if the maiden does not get married
until the age of fifteen she has no hope of marriage, because she would be
considered an old maid…At the end of the nineteenth century, despite these
regulations, families still married their daughters at the age of twelve and
thirteen…On the eve of World War I, the situation changed somewhat for the
better when the legal age for marriage was raised to fifteen.
(Women in Judaism: A Multidisciplinary Journal,


http://www.utoronto.ca/wjudaism/jour...2/sehayek.html)


Jewish girls “got married at the age of nine”, a practice which continued up until “the eve
of World War I”. Why then are the Jews criticizing Prophet Muhammad (peace e upon
him) for marrying Aisha (peace be upon her) at the age of nine? Is this not hypocrisy? Is
this not a case of living in a glass house and throwing stones? Why is it that Christian
adversaries condemn Muslims but say nothing at all to their Jewish counterparts?
To conclude, we close with the words of Mark E. Pietrzyk:


According to the Talmud, the recommended age for marriage is sometime after
twelve for females, and thirteen for males. Marriage below these ages was
generally frowned upon. However, a father was allowed to betroth his daughter
to another man at an earlier age, and sexual intercourse was regarded as a valid


means of sealing a betrothal. The age limit for betrothal through sexual
intercourse was shockingly low. According to the Talmud, “A girl of the age of
three years and one day may be betrothed by intercourse.”
(Mark E. Pietrzyk, http://www.internationalorder.org/scandal_response.html)

Historical Age of Marriage in Western Countries

Age of Marriage During Biblical Times


It is ironic that Christian missionaries attack Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) for
his marrying Aisha (peace be upon her) at such a young age, but we find that this was the
normal age of marriage during Biblical times. Theology.edu, a website maintained by a
reputable Christian ministry, clearly mentions in an article entitled “Ancient Israelite
Marriage Customs” that the age of marriage was around the age of puberty:
The wife was to be taken from within the larger family circle (usually at the outset
of puberty or around the age of 13) in order to maintain the purity of the family
line.
(Jim West, ThD; http://www.theology.edu/marriage.htm)


In the book entitled Life in Biblical Israel, a Christian priest writes:
It is safe to assume the bride was considerably younger than the groom, and
childbearing would have begun shortly after puberty.
(Life in Biblical Israel, p.58,


http://books.google.com.pk/books?id=...+biblical+isra
el&pg=PP1&ots=k_Uryl4rgv&sig=gbiH8WI_FNKI7tA9nMra9m3LcLo&pre v=ht
tp://www.google.com.pk/search?hl=en&q=Life+in+Biblical+Israel+&btnG=Goo
gle+Search&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail#PPR2,M1)


In the book Ancient Jewish Epitaphs, we read:


For Jewish women—as for women in antiquity generally—marriage was often
entered into early. We do not have many inscriptions recording the age at which
women were married, but the few who record it mention ages ranging from 12...
(Ancient Jewish Epitaphs, p.103-104,


http://books.google.com/books?id=F54...DFd8#PPA103,M1)

Age of Marriage in Rome



According to About.com:


In Ancient Rome…young girls were often married off when they were between
the ages of twelve and fourteen.


(About.com, http://marriage.about.com/cs/teenmar...enmarriage.htm)


In the book entitled The Age of Marriage in Ancient Rome, we read:


Traditionally in pre-modern societies, AAFM [age at first marriage] for girls
corresponded with the visible onset of puberty. In these early societies, high
mortality rates demanded an offsetting high-birth rate. As a result, younger
marriages were required to facilitate population growth.


(The Age of Marriage in Ancient Rome,


http://osdir.com/ml/education.publications.bryn-mawr-classical-review/2006-
05/msg00028.html)


In a scholarly article about the Roman Empire, we read that marriage would oftentimes
precede the onset of puberty:


Durry (1955a/b/c, 1956)[48] had argued that Roman girls were married before
puberty, that puberty was not important in fixing the age of marriage, and that
such early marriages were consummated before puberty…
Taking into consideration epigraphic and literary material, Hopkins concludes
that "[w]hether pre-pubertal or not, girl's age at marriage was by our
standards very young and marriages were generally immediately
consummated" …


At least one author believed that a girl "should be married and deflowered as soon
as she reaches puberty (i.e., the socially determined age of puberty)… "

Psychohistorians[66] cite Rouselle (1988:p33) in arguing that Roman
misconceptions about the hymen "could only be the result of girls being
deflowered before puberty", being lawfully married before puberty.
(Janssen, D.F.; Oct 2002. G.U.S.. Volume I: World Reference Atlas. Interim
Report. Amsterdam, The Netherlands, http://www2.huberlin.
de/sexology/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/HISTORYCHHS.HTM#_Toc26337
172)


In the article “The Age of Roman Girls at Marriage”, we read:


In fact menarche (onset of menses) was not always a pre-condition of marriage;


nevertheless marriages were usually consummated immediately…they (prepubertal
marriages) were not exceptional and were condoned.
(The Age of Roman Girls at Marriage, http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0032-
4728%28196503%2918%3A3%3C309%3ATAORGA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-
Q&size=LARGE&origin=JSTOR-enlargePage)
The age of seven was in vogue:


Around AD 530, and at least as far back as the reign of Augustus, the legal
minimum age of marriage for girls was 12 and for boys 14 (Hopkins,
p313n22)…At least for the aristocracy, early ages are frequently mentioned.
Betrothal could take place within a poorly defined period before this age; at least
it must be assumed that a minimum legal age of seven was in vogue
(p313n23)[49] … Plutarche (historian, philosopher), and Soranus (doctor,
practising at Rome), both Greeks, implied that early marriage (12 or before) and
defloration would occur…
(Janssen, D.F.; Oct 2002. G.U.S.. Volume I: World Reference Atlas. Interim
Report. Amsterdam, The Netherlands,
http://www2.huberlin.

de/sexology/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/HISTORYCHHS.HTM#_Toc26337
172)


The great Roman leader Augustus fixed the minimum age of marriage at ten years old:


Roman children of the aristocracy married youngest (Hopkins, 1965:316ff;
1983[57]:p94; Weaver, 1986:p156)[58]. Roman marriage arrangements usually
began with a betrothal, which was possible before age ten[59], at least in the case
of the aristocracy, or when political gains were in vogue (Balsdon, p87,
275n18)[60]. Augustus (AD 9) had fixed the minimum age at ten (Rawson,
1986:p21)[61]…


(Janssen, D.F.; Oct 2002. G.U.S.. Volume I: World Reference Atlas. Interim
Report. Amsterdam, The Netherlands, http://www2.huberlin.
de/sexology/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/HISTORYCHHS.HTM#_Toc26337
172)

Age of Marriage in Greece


In the Ancient Greek civilization, the time to marry was at the onset of puberty:
Flacelière (59) also mentioned that girls could marry as soon as puberty hit.


(Daily Life in Greece at the Time of Pericles, http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0075-
4269(1966)86%3C250%3ADLIGAT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-W ,
http://www.richeast.org/htwm/Greeks/.../marriage.html )


WomenInTheAncientWorld.com says:
Athenian men married out of a sense of civic duty and put off the fateful day until
the age of 30 or more, at which time they married girls of half their age whose
youth made them more easily controlled.
(WomanInTheAncientWorld.com,


http://www.womenintheancientworld.co...ent%20egypt.ht
m)

---

Age of Marriage in Christian Europe



In an article about Medieval times, Molloy College’s website says:
Women were marriageable right after puberty, marriage arrangements were made
while they were in infancy; they were wed at the age of twelve or fourteen to men
in their twenties or thirties.


(Molloy College, http://www.molloy.edu/sophia/med_ren/med_text.htm)
Puberty was linked to virginity, a highly sought after quality. We read in Judith M.
Bennet’s book Singlewomen in the European Past:


As Anthony Molho persuasively illustrates, the cultural imperative to marry
young women soon after they reached sexual maturity even prompted many
Florentine fathers to falsify their daughters' ages to give them more time to
negotiate a favorable marriage.


(Singlewomen in the European Past, p.44,


http://books.google.com/books?id=l6Y...4&lpg=PA44&dq=
nobility+married+early&source=web&ots=K6CD_RPNNC&sig=rug6ZIF REdsm
FAKkjPIboKsd2KI)


The History at Minnesota website indicates that the average age of marriage just 500
years ago was only 12.7 (http://www.hist.umn.edu/~rmccaa/NAHUAEN3/outline.htm)
This is an average, meaning that many girls were getting married much younger than that.
Why then are the Christians up in arms about Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
who married Aisha (peace be upon her) more than 1,400 years ago?

Christian Saints


We have already clearly established that Jewish and Christian Law allowed for girls to be
married off at such a young age. We have also shown that such marriages were not only
allowed, but encouraged; they were in fact the norm. Yet perhaps a Christian polemicist
would argue that the matter is not about what the masses did but what the leaders did;
after all, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was the leader of the Muslims, not just
any follower. To refute this point, we first point to the Christian popes who sanctioned
such early marriages and actively encouraged them. But to further weaken their spurious
argument, we will cite the example of numerous Christian saints who married young
girls. Therefore, if the Christians attack Prophet Muhammad, then let them first throw
stones at their own revered heroes. Let us begin:


1. Saint Augustine: Saint Augustine, who is credited with having formulated Christian
theology, betrothed himself to a ten year old girl, and this was when he was thirty-one
years of age. He waited two years for her body to mature, after which she moved into
Saint Augustine’s at the age of twelve. How is it then that the Christians attack Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) for marrying Aisha (peace be upon her) when she was
nine or ten, when their venerated Saint Augustine himself betrothed a ten year old girl?
We read:

One such example of betrothal between a mature male and young girl is that of St.
Augustine (354-439 A.D.). At the age of thirty-one, Augustine betrothed himself
to a ten-year-old girl.


(Mark E. Pietrzyk, http://www.internationalorder.org/scandal_response.html)


2. Saint Agnes: Another very famous Christian figure in history, Saint Agnes—who is
known as the patron saint of chastity—fielded marriage proposals when she was younger
than twelve years old. Yet suddenly the Christians turn their noses up when we Muslims
say that Aisha (peace be upon her) fielded marriage proposals at a similar age. Domestic-
Church.com says:
Saint Agnes' name means chaste or pure in Greek and lamb or victim in Latin.
She has always been regarded by the Church as a special patroness of purity.
Agnes was martyred early in the persecution of Diocletian, who began his
persecution of Christians in March of 303. She was only twelve or thirteen years
old at the time of her death (accounts differ). Even at that young age, her wealth
and beauty had attracted the attention of the young noblemen of Rome, who
competed with each other for her hand in marriage.
(Domestic-Church.com, http://www.domesticchurch.
com/CONTENT.DCC/19980101/SAINTS/STAGNES.HTM)


3. Saint Hedwig of Andechs: Saint Hedwig is revered by the Christians as the patron
saint of orphans. She was married off at the age of twelve to Henry I of Silesia.


4. Saint Rita of Cascia: She is considered by Christians to be the patron saint of
hopeless causes, and was betrothed at the age of twelve to a man named Paola Mancini.


5. Saint Mary of Jesus Crucified: She was betrothed at the age of thirteen.


6. Saint Elizabeth of Portugal, patron of the Third Order of St. Francis, was married off
at the age of twelve.


7. Saint Joseph, the supposed foster father of Jesus, was in his nineties when he married


the twelve year old Mary. Some claim that Joseph was in his thirties—and not his
nineties—but the fact remains that he was a grown man who married a twelve year old.
And there are many other examples from amongst the venerated Christian saints…

Christian Kings, Royals, and Nobles


The Christian royals were marrying girls as young as nine, according to an article written
by Professor Lynda Garland of the University of New England:


Child brides, whether Byzantines or foreign princesses, were the norm rather than
the exception, especially from the late twelfth century. Irene Ducaena, wife of
Alexius I Comnenus, was twelve at her marriage, and empress before she was
fifteen; the Byzantine princess Theodora, Manuel's niece, was in her thirteenth
year when she married Baldwin III of Jerusalem; and Margaret-Maria of Hungary
married Isaac II Angelus at the age of nine.
(Professor Lynda Garland of University of New England, http://www.romanemperors.
org/aggiefran.htm)


It should be noted that these Christian kings, royals, and nobles married with the blessing
and sanction of the Church. As such, the countless examples that we will provide serve
as a strong proof against the Christians and their insincere criticisms of Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him). In this article, we will only provide a few of the many
examples, as follows:


1. King Richard II, at the age of thirty, married a French princess named Isabella who
was only seven years old at the time.


2. Duchess of Milan, Bianca of Savoy, was married off at the age of thirteen.


3. Theodora Comnena was married off at the age of thirteen to King Baldwin III, who
was more than double her age.


4. King Adronikos I Komnenos, the valiant Christian leader of the Byzantine Empire,
married the twelve year old Agnes of France when he was sixty-four years old.


5. King Denis of Portugal married the twelve year old Saint Elizabeth of Portugal.

6. Girolamo Riario, Lord of Imola and Forli, married the nine year old Caterina
Sforza.


7. Jeanne III of Navarre was wed at the age of thirteen.


8. Giovanni Sforza married the thirteen year old Lucrezia Borgia.


9. King Haakon VI of Norway married the ten year old Queen Margaret.


10. Count Agness of Essex was betrothed at the age of only three years old and
married off at the age of twelve to a man who was almost fifty years of age.


11. Prince Edward of Wales married the French king’s daughter, Isabella, who was
only seven years old.


12. Romanos II married Bertha (renamed Eudokia), the daughter of the King of Italy,
when she was only four years old!


13. Stephen Milutin, the Kral of Serbia, married Simonis, the daughter of Emperor
Andronikos II, when she was only five years old. At the time of the marriage, Stephen
Milutin was fifty years old.


14. Edward I married the nine year old Eleanor of Castile.


15. Richard of Shrewsbury, King Edward IV’s son, married the five year old Anne
Mowbray of Norfolk.


16. Mary Stewart married Henry VIII when she was only six.
And there are many other examples…


Perhaps a Christian polemicist would argue that these Christian royals were individuals
and do not represent Christianity. Yet, this argument is weakened when we take into
account that no royal marriage was validated without the consent and approval of the

Christian Church! Papal consent was a prerequisite of the time. To illustrate this, we can
look at the example of the marriage of Prince Edward to the young Isabella:
Given that twelve was the canonical age for marriage, and that in 1298 the
Pope had stipulated that she should marry Prince Edward as soon as she
reached that age, these dates are viable. In the same document of June 1298, the
Pope describes Isabella as being 'under seven years', which places her birth at any
time from 1291 onwards. Furthermore, the Treaty of Montreuil (June 1299)
provided for Isabella's betrothal and marriage to take place when she reached the
respective canonical ages of seven and twelve. So she must have reached seven
before May 1303, and twelve before January 1308.
(Isabella,
http://bookshop.blackwell.co.uk/jsp/...es/choice/extr
act_isabella.jsp)


It is safe to say that if Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had been Christian, then
the Church itself would have sanctioned his marriage to Aisha (peace be upon her)! But
because the Prophet (peace be upon him) is Muslim, the Church instead has levied
allegations of “pedophilia” against him! This is the two-faced nature of the Crusader
bigots.