Child Marriage in the Qur'an: Difference between revisions

{{quote || There is an alternative interpretation that does not involve pederasty, which is sexual activity between young girls and boys, i.e. early teenage years when menstruation may not have begun (or become regular) among girls, who are married to boys similar in age. This type of marriage was not uncommon in Semitic cultures, for example some scholars suggest that Mary (the mother of Jesus) was somewhere between the ages of twelve and fourteen when she married Joseph (although it should be noted that non-canonical gospels suggest Joseph was a mature man, possibly as old as ninety<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08504a.htm St. Joseph] - New Advent (For more on the marriage between Joseph and Mary, see [[Joseph the Pedophile]])</ref>).

Given the evidence from the Islamic texts themselves, this interpretation is not the 'most reasonable' as asserted. We have ample [[Muhammad and the Clinical Definition of Pedophilia|evidence]] that  Muhammad (who is considered the [[Uswa Hasana|uswa hasana]] - perfect example) married and had sex with a pre-pubescent Aisha, we have evidence that [[Muhammad's Companions and Pedophilia|Muhammad's companions also did it]] and that [[Child Marriage in the Muslim World|Muslims to this very day]] are marrying pre-pubescent females and having intercourse with them. In none of these cases are the husbands comparable in age to the wife. So even though this is a ''possible'' interpretation, it is by no means the ''only reason'' that Muhammad revealed this verse - as evidenced also in the tafsir's provided above. Simply put, Muhammad did not specify an 'iddah for those whom menstruation was not present, so one had to be sent regarding these 3 groups of women. Nowhere in the Qur'an or the ahadith does it discuss teenagers marrying teenagers (ie. to 'explain' this verse) and all the evidence that we have points to [much] older men marrying and having sexual relations with pre-pubescent females.