Lightrays, I have always believed that Muhammad should be judged according to his time and context and to describe him as a paedophile is as inappropriate as it is to judge many of our great grandfathers as paedophiles for marrying brides who were under 16 (a quite acceptable practice only a few generations ago.)
The problem is that it undermines the belief that Muhammad was a role model for all mankind until the end of time.
There are some problems with this explanation, imo.
First, there's a
huge difference between women under 16 & women under 10.
Most, 14,15 year olds have reached puberty, infact, even if 13, 14,15 year old girls aren't married off by their parents, they often date boys, have boyfriends out of their own free will. At 13 or a couple of years older, girls are also quite a bit more mature physically than at under 10, at these years,
every year makes a significant difference in a girl's physical & emotional maturity.
Second, even if our great grandfathers did marry women younger than 16, did they marry women with such huge age gaps? Aisha was only 8 years 9 months old, Mo was 54, thats' more than a 45 year age gap, Aisha was born when Muhammad was already in his middle ages, nay, according to the life expectancies of the era, Muhammad was already an old man when his future bride was born.
When our great grandfathers married 13 or 14 year old brides, they were often 17 or 18 themselves. This isn't a pedophilic practice, at worst its a child marriage.
Third & most important, how many of our great grandfathers fantasised & had wet dreams about their friend's very little(ie 6 year old daughter) & then decided to act on such fantasies & wet dreams to take advantage of the superior position they hold over their friend's mind to ask for his daughter's hand?
Muhammad had such a wet dream regarding Aisha before he asked her father for her hand.
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 87, Number 140:
Narrated ‘Aisha:
Allah’s Apostle said to me, “You were shown to me twice (in my wet dream) before I married you. I saw an angel carrying you in a silken piece of cloth, and I said to him, ‘Uncover (her),’ and behold, it was you. I said (to myself), ‘If this is from Allah, then it must happen.’ Then you were shown to me, the angel carrying you in a silken piece of cloth, and I said (to him), ‘Uncover (her), and behold, it was you. I said (to myself), ‘If this is from Allah, then it must happen.’ ”
Aisha was Mo's buddy Abu Bakr's little girl & he must have seen her in real life, so that he recognized her in his dream. Muhammad promptly went to her Daddy & asked for her hand. He was initially hesitant as they had a brotherhood pact, which made Aisha Mo's niece, but Mo managed to convince him, again taking advantage of his position as a
Prophet, which Abu Bakr believed him to be.
I know, different times have different morals, but even if 300 years ago, an ancestor of mine had a wet dream about his buddy's less than 10 year old girl when he was very old, then took advantage of his friend's gullibility to convince him that it was his duty to get his little girl married to my ancestor, I'd consider such an ancestor as someone having pedophilic tendencies, not simply living by the values of his time.
Topic: About your videos