For whatever it is worth

I have been thinking about all these folks who keep insisting on calling the Prophet Mohammad a pedophile, in order to show the hypocrisy of Islam, or at least its believers. That does seem to be the only viable explanation, otherwise why would they give a rat's ass, haaN ke naeeN?

I will be the last person to say that having sex with a 9-year old is great. No matter what some people think, I do not think that is something a 9-year old child is ready for now, or even then. But honestly folks, if we are going to constantly harp on the fact that "Mo did it with Aisha" then let us look at our own culture, and not just at Muslims. Children were promised as brides while they were still in the cradle. And yes, girls were given, even sold in marriage before they hit double digits in the lands that are now called India and Pakistan. To deny this, thus being revisionist, would be erroneous. I seriously doubt that the men who took child-brides waited to consummate their marriages.

It is one thing to be critical of a man who had sex with a nine-year old. It is a whole different thing to be critical of those who are apologists for suicide bombers and intolerant believers by using this as criteria when it comes to their belief. As a non-Muslim who grew up in a Muslim country, who sat through Islamiyat classes, I can tell you that Islam is not about what Mo did with Aisha, or with anyone else for that matter. If one was to ask does Islam encourage pedophilia, one could well ask does Christianity encourage celibacy, and anyone who reads the epistle to the Ephesians would know that it does not.

Anyone who knows me (which I cannot say for most if any of you on Chowk) would know that I would not defend any attacks that are done in the name of "deen". But if some of you who read this want to think, oh, so she thinks it's okay that the Prophet consummated his marriage with a 9-year old, I might suggest that you reread what I wrote earlier. And some of you already know this because I have written of it before, but I was almost molested as a child, and I had no clue what that man was about to do to me. Sex with a child is not something I would encourage for other children, the Prophet's wife included.

Having said that, I would like to reiterate that we in the 21st century should pause before judging a faith on the basis of who Mohammad married. Because if we are going to do that, then we should also be critical of our own culture, and practices and beliefs within that. Otherwise the so-called moral ground we stand on is shaky and full of cracks which are liable to open up and suck us in. Just my opinion, for whatever it is worth.