Aisha — 9 year-old bride

Narrated 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 Allright, 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. Volume 5, Book 58, Number 234

Narrated 'Aisha: I used to play with the dolls in the presence of the Prophet, and my girl friends also used to play with me. When Allah's Apostle used to enter (my dwelling place) they used to hide themselves, but the Prophet would call them to join and play with me. (The playing with the dolls and similar images is forbidden, but it was allowed for 'Aisha at that time, as she was a little girl, not yet reached the age of puberty.) (Fateh-al-Bari page 143, Vol.13) Volume 8, Book 73, Number 151

Chapter 10: IT IS PERMISSIBLE FOR THE FATHER TO GIVE THE HAND OF HIS DAUGHTER IN MARRIAGE EVEN WHEN SHE IS NOT FULLY GROWN UP.

'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported: Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) married me when I was six years old, and I was admitted to his house at the age of nine. She further said: We went to Medina and I had an attack of fever for a month, and my hair had come down to the earlobes. Umm Ruman (my mother) came to me and I was at that time on a swing along with my playmates. She called me loudly and I went to her and I did not know what she had wanted of me. She took hold of my hand and took me to the door, and I was saying: Ha, ha (as if I was gasping), until the agitation of my heart was over. She took me to a house, where had gathered the women of the Ansar. They all blessed me and wished me good luck and said: May you have share in good. She (my mother) entrusted me to them. They washed my head and embellished me and nothing frightened me. Allah's Messenger (, may peace be upon him) came there in the morning, and I was entrusted to him. Book 8, Number 3309.

'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported: Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) married me when I was six years old, and I was admitted to his house when I was nine years old. Book 8, Number 3310

'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported that Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) married her when she was seven years old, and he was taken to his house as a bride when she was nine, and her dolls were with her; and when he (the Holy Prophet) died she was eighteen years old. Book 8, Number 3311

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin: The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) married me when I was seven or six. When we came to Medina, some women came. according to Bishr's version: Umm Ruman came to me when I was swinging. They took me, made me prepared and decorated me. I was then brought to the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him), and he took up cohabitation with me when I was nine. She halted me at the door, and I burst into laughter. Book 41, Number 4915:

Narrated AbuUsamah: The tradition mentioned above (No. 4915) has also been transmitted by AbuUsamah in a similar manner through a different chain of narrators. This version has: "With good fortune. " She (Umm Ruman) entrusted me to them. They washed my head and redressed me. No one came to me suddenly except the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) in the forenoon. So they entrusted me to him. Book 41, Number 4916:

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin: When we came to Medina, the women came to me when I was playing on the swing, and my hair were up to my ears. They brought me, prepared me, and decorated me. Then they brought me to the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) and he took up cohabitation with me, when I was nine. Book 41, Number 4917

As an older man of fifty-plus years, Muhammad married a mere child of six years old and co-habited with her when she was 9 years old. As quoted above, the most trusted collections of hadiths establish the authenticity of this oral tradition. But still, Western Muslims are embarrassed by these hadiths. Sometimes they use a Weak hadith defense to excuse Muhammad's child marriage.

At other times, they use an Arabic culture defense by claiming that no one has the right to judge Oriental culture by Occidental norms. Now, this is a strange defense to make, since Muslims frequently criticized Western culture as being morally decadent. If another culture cannot be morally evaluated, then other cultures must not be judged as morally decadent. But, this conclusion is not acceptable to Muslims, since they argue that an Islamic culture is the better culture. So, we must conclude that cultures may be evaluated morally, or that, someone is hypocritically judging others while not permitting themselves to be judged by the same standard.

However, if hypocrisy is not a good alternative, then it is concluded that cultures may be evaluated morally. In fact, it is permissible, and even desirable, to have moral discussions on cultural issues. Moral discussions on cultural issues occur in many different cultures.

So, the problem of Muhammad marrying a child cannot be defended on Eastern cultural grounds. The issue remains as to whether or not Muhammad acted rightly in marrying a six year old. Certainly, it is wrong according to the natural order of Allah's creation. In fact, many nations of the world list such behavior as a crime against nature. Thus, it is concluded that Muhammad committed a grave moral sin against the moral order of Allah's creation. And, his behavior is no example for others to follow. It is tragic to read news reports of old men marrying children in some Islamic countries, because they believe they are following the example of Muhammad who married a child. Muhammad had an interest in fondling young girls, so he criticized the lawful marriage union of two grown adults.

Narrated Jabir bin 'Abdullah: When I got married, Allah's Apostle said to me, "What type of lady have you married?" I replied, "I have married a matron' He said, "Why, don't you have a liking for the virgins and for fondling them?" Jabir also said: Allah's Apostle said, "Why didn't you marry a young girl so that you might play with her and she with you?' Sahih Al-Bukhari Volume 7, Book 62, Number 17.

In the classic history of "The Life of Muhammad" (Sirat Rasul Allah) by Ibn Ishaq, there is an account in which Muhammad expressed a marital interest in a crawling baby. This event seems to have occurred around the time of the Battle of of Badr which would have made Muhammad approximately 55 years old. He had married Ayesha two years earlier, when he was 53 years of age.

(Suhayli, ii. 79: In the riwaya of Yunus I. I. recorded that the apostle saw her (Ummu'lFadl) when she was a baby crawling before him and said, 'If she grows up and I am still alive I will marry her.' But he died before she grew up and Sufyan b. al-Aswad b. 'Abdu'l-Asad al-Makhzumi married her and she bore him Rizq and Lubab...1

So, Muhammad's interest in young girls extended beyond Ai'sha ('Ayesha). Why would anyone think that Muhammad's sexual interest in babies be "the timeless expression of the Will of Allah?" How does such a prurient desire support Muhammad's claim to be a prophet of Allah? Such a desire by an old man is contrary to nature, and it is a perversion against the moral order of Allah's universe.

An example of one of the problems of child marriages: "Sierra Leone's silent sufferers. Most commonly the head of the foetus is too large to enter the birth canal, and presses the bladder against the bony side wall of the pelvis. Crushed in that way over a period of days, the tissue dies and a hole is created. From that moment the women are never free of the trickle of urine. Fatmata's experience was as typical as it was catastrophic. She was rejected by her husband, and by her family. Regarded as unclean - and by some as jinxed - she was driven out of her village. ...

They included 15-year-old Sia Foday who was married off by her family at the age of nine and was quickly pregnant. Sia - small for her age - was only 10 when she tried to give birth and ended up incontinent. Another of the women, Aminata Kanda, said she only survived because her children collected firewood to sell and helped her tend a small garden. "Life was really horrible for me. When I was in this sickness the urine was coming non-stop... the odour of the urine is horrible... that is why even my husband wouldn't allow me to stay in his house," she says."

Yet, according to Islam, Muhammad is the perfection of humanity and the prototype of the most wonderful human conduct. He married a nine year-old and leaves an enduring legacy for old Muslim men to fulfill their carnal desires contrary to natural law and to the life-long devastation of young girls.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah, Translated by A. Guillaume, Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, (Re-issued in Karachi, Pakistan, 1967, 13th impression, 1998) 1955, p. 311. Last edited 10/23/2000

Yes, and here is a fine example of Islamo crackpot analysis of how 'Christian Fundamantalists and Neo-Cons are creating a Nazi style death cult'

The “death cult” or Super Fascism

By abid ullah jan
Published: July 17, 2005

hat made the young Muslims, raised in this society, do this? This is the question which the complicit Western media is thrusting on public mind after the recent London bombing.
Bush, Blair and their fellow war lords have a pre-conceived answer for this question: Muslims are “in the grip of a dangerous cult” of the “poisonous misinterpretation of Islam.”
Alright! Like the 9/11, let us put aside all relevant information and necessary questions and play the war lords’ game. Let us pick on Islam, Muslims and their suicidal tendency before it is confirmed that Muslim suicide bombers were responsible. Let us jump to the conclusion and discuss, why did Muslims do this, even if they didn’t.

Western public is told that Muslims do this in the name of religion. When we ask: Is it the Qur’an or Hadith that tells them to do so? We are told: “No, Islam is a great religion. They act like this because of a cult of misinterpretation.”

Alright! Lets us move forward and ask: So what exactly are Muslims misinterpreting? Is it that blowing themselves irrationally, and killing women and children and all innocent people for no reason at all is dear to Allah and He will reward Muslim with 70 virgin in heaven after their successfully blowing themselves from limb to limb?

None of the war lords can show the public any such a misinterpreted message of Islam anywhere in the alleged “Jihadi” literature, let alone in the Qur’an and Hadith. It means, the source of inspiration and motivation for violence against US, UK and Israel must be lying somewhere else.

An impartial analysis reveals that it is not some kind of inspiration due to misinterpretation of Islam, but depression and desperation as a result of the lies and double standards of those who have exploited freedom and democracy to the extent of turning it into something worse than a death cult. Cult leaders die with the rest of cult members. They don’t kill those who are not part of the cult. But the super-fascists of the our age live peacefully while putting the future of humanity at stake.

Unlike the cult phenomenon, the super-fascists prefer to live and rule the world. For realizing their totalitarian designs, they don’t mind lying, cheating and killing their own people at home as well as through sending them abroad for invasions and occupation. Killing hundreds of thousands of aliens, who do not share their religious faith, culture totalitarian ideologies, is not even as much as a pinprick for their dead conscience.

Since Islam doesn’t approve killing of innocent civilians and no sane person can ever leave all his own loved ones behind and go on a mission to kill innocent loved ones of others, it must be something far serious than the myth that these individuals are suffering from “a poverty of dignity and wealth or rage.”

The perpetrators could be Muslims. But they are definitely not inspired by religion or its misinterpretation. They are the product of a reaction to the super-fascism of their age. The unique kind of self-identity of this fascism is that it is the most civilized, advance and superior civilization. Accordingly the super fascists consider starving 1.8 million innocent people to death, half of them children, as a price worth realizing their totalitarian designs of transforming the Muslim world in their image.

The leaders of this most insidious form of fascism have repeatedly lied to the whole world and then went on to kill 128,000 people and committed the worst ever crimes against humanity without felling the slightest of shame or remorse that normal human beings feel even for making minor mistakes.

The super fascism sees only part of the reality. For example, it is easy for the leading fascists to publish an opinion piece in the New York Times to blames 1.2 billion Muslims for being raised with a supremacist concept of God,[1] after the death of 50 people in London. However, these war lords do not have any explanation for the curse of misinterpreted freedom and democracy of Bush and Blair, who have set new records of crimes against humanity.

The problem of the super fascists is that they are proud of their military might, economic power and technological advancement, yet they feel enraged when others point to their feet of clay. Socially dead and morally bankrupt, they are not accepted as moral leaders of the world.

Technology, economy and military industrial complex are not alternatives peaceful and contended human societies. Furthermore, they see an impending collapse of their capitalist order and feel scared of the rise of Islam because the long lasting infrastructure, technology and superior weaponry are neither signs of a superior civilization, nor have these factors ever kept a people on top without a superior ideology and benevolent deeds.

No matter how inferior Muslims must feel today, the decadence in the Muslim world is not because of Islam. It is because of the Muslims’ running away from living by the basic principles of Islam and the super fascists turning democracy into super-fascism. The super fascists know that living by Islam means, for example, saying no to interest-based dealings. Imagine if Muslims say a big “no” today and withdraw from the global financial system. The capitalist bubble may not last until tomorrow. This is just one aspect of how living by Islam can pull the rug from underneath the feet of super-fascism.

If no one lives by Islam, it can never be established into an alternative to super-fascism. That’s why the super-fascists’ main objective is to degrade Islam. For example, since 7/7, New York Times has run a few pieces that one could never expect from it before. Earlier General Boykin said Muslim worship “an idol.” Now Friedman tells the world, “Muslims are raised with the view that Islam is God 3.0, Christianity is God 2.0, Judaism is God 1.0, and Hinduism is God 0.0 “[2]: the same Boykin kind of war lord mentality, just expressed in different words.

The loss of dignity among Muslims is not enough to enrage Muslims to the extent of blowing innocent people around. The fear of losing the global superiority and determination to further consolidate the Fascist Word Order (FWO) is good enough to turn many into joining super-fascism: killing their own people at home to justify war abroad.

We can understand their oppressive measures at home to avoid any voices of dissent. We can understand protection of the Saudi and other gulf autocrats for ensuring cheap supply of oil. We can understand but not approve the continued support to the oppressive regime of Israel for its acting like a cop in the Middle East. But when leaders of the US and UK, who never get tired boasting their civilization and values, just indiscriminately kill more than 150,000 people and occupy two countries on the basis of pure lies, to every sane mind they have to be in the grip of a dangerous super-fascism - dangerous to their countries and to the world.

How does that happen? MSNBC’s reporter Alex Johnson writes how Bush undergo conversion to evangelicalism, which is called the “’born-again’ experience described in John 3:3, when a sinner undergoes an intense conversion during a personal interaction with the Holy Spirit, often Jesus Himself.”[3]

Bush “has often said he was pointed on the path to God after a discussion with evangelist Billy Graham in 1985.’ In Bush’s words: "Over the course of that weekend, Reverend Graham planted a mustard seed in my soul, a seed that grew over the next year. He led me to the path, and I began walking. It was the beginning of a change in my life. I had always been a 'religious' person, had regularly attended church, even taught Sunday School and served as an altar boy. But that weekend my faith took on a new meaning. It was the beginning of a new walk where I would commit my heart to Jesus Christ.”

The secret of this story is in that conversion to extremist Christianity - and so is part of the crisis in the US. The Zionists and Neo-cons complete other parts of super-fascism along with the ideas that brought about these conversions. If not stopped by other Americans, the super fascism will end up converting every person to the amalgamation of racial and civilizational supremacism, religious extremism, and hegemonic totalitarianism. It would convert the world's great country into a real cult of death.

Abid Ullah Jan is author of The End of Democracy and A war on Islam?

Notes

[1] See: FWO and the impending bloodbath, ICSSA, July 17, 2005. http://icssa.org/fwo.html

[2]Thomas Friedman, “The Poverty of Dignity and Wealth of Rage,” The New York Times, July 15, 2005.

[3] Ibid Thomas L. Friedman.
[4] Alex Johnson, “Bush — born again, or not?” MSNBC, Sept. 28, 2004

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