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| ==The Evidence== | | ==The Evidence== |
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| ===Scientific===
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| Before we address the scriptural evidence, a few biological truths are worth noting. Apologetic claims which appeal to science can be summarised by the following argument.
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| {{Quote|[http://web.archive.org/web/20071031090648/http://www.alinaam.org.za/social/myaaisha.htm The Young Marriage of `Âishah(R)]<BR>Madrassah In'aamiyya|Women reach puberty at different ages ranging from 8-12 years old depending on genetics, race and environment. We read that
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| :There is little difference in the size of boys and girls until the age of ten, the growth spurt at puberty starts earlier in girls but lasts longer in boys.
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| We also read that
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| :The first signs of puberty occur around age 9 or 10 in girls but closer to 12 in boys.
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| Women in warmer environments reach puberty at a much earlier age than those in cold environments.
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| :The average temperature of the country or province is considered the chief factor here, not only with regard to menstruation but as regards the whole of sexual development at puberty.
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| Marriage at the early years of puberty was acceptable in 7th century Arabia as it was the social norm in all Semitic cultures from the Israelites to the Arabs and all nations in between.}}
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| In truth there is no significant climatic effect on the age at which girls reach nubility (i.e. between warm Arabia and cold Europe)<ref>Bojlen and Bentzon - "The Influence of Climate and Nutrition on Age at Menarche: A Historical Review and A Modern Hypothesis" - (1968)</ref> and the average age at menarche (first menstrual cycle), after a rise during the 19<sup>th</sup> century, has only recently began to fall. For girls in the Medieval (5<sup>th</sup> to 15<sup>th</sup> century) Middle East, the average age at menarche was between 12 to 13 years of age.
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| {{Quote|[http://www.mum.org/menarage.htm Average age at menarche in various cultures]|'''Historical Data on Age at Menarche'''
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| ''Early data''
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| Ancient Rome 12-14
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| Medieval Europe 12-14
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| Medieval Middle East 12-13
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| ''Nineteenth Century''
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| Manchester 1840s
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| :working class women 15.7
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| :upper class women 14.6
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| London 1855 (hospital patients) 15.5
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| Germany 1869 15.7
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| Scotland 1870 15.6-16.6
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| London 1880 (middle class) 15
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| U.S.A. late 19th century 12-14
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| ''Early 20th Century''
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| USA 1905 14-15.7}}
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| In an attempted [[Tu Quoque|tu-quoque]], the apologist claims "Marriage at the early years of puberty was acceptable in 7th century Arabia as it was the social norm in all Semitic cultures". With a little fact-checking you will find that in the Middle Ages, Jewish girls were traditionally married off around the age of 12-13,<ref>''[[W:Nashim|Kiddushin]]'' ([[W:tosafot|tosafot]]) 41a</ref> which was also the average age at menarche. However, this only strengthens the case against Aisha having reached her first menses when consummating her marriage to Muhammad, and it also opposes the assertion that this consummation between a 54 year old man and a 9 year old girl would have been the accepted cultural norm. In fact, in Jewish culture, a large age gap between the spouses was opposed,<ref>''[[W:Yebamot|Yebamot]]'' 44a</ref><ref>''Sanhedrin'' 76a</ref> yet the age gap between Muhammad and Aisha was a massive 45 years. As they themselves have left behind no written records, there is ''no'' evidence of pedophilic marriages being accepted among the non-Muslim Arabs of Muhammad's time. The only sources we have are Muslim sources, so to claim that such a marriage was a cultural norm among all Arabs is baseless conjecture.
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| To further justify Muhammad's marriage, the article ends with the following:
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| {{Quote|[http://web.archive.org/web/20071031090648/http://www.alinaam.org.za/social/myaaisha.htm The Young Marriage of `Âishah(R)]<BR>Madrassah In'aamiyya|Appendix: A married nine-year old in Thailand gives birth
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| A news article from The New Straits Times, Malaysia dated 10th of March, 2001 about a nine-year old girl living in northern Thailand giving birth to a baby girl. The fact that a nine-year old girl is mature enough to give birth proves the point above about girls reaching puberty earlier than men.}}
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| What they seem to ignore is that the Qur'an actually [[Pedophilia in the Qur'an|permits sex with girls]] who have not yet menstruated, a fact which is perfectly consistent with Muhammad having sex with a pre-pubescent Aisha. Instead, many apologists claim marriage and sex with a post-pubertal girl is acceptable behaviour which is validated by nature itself. What they fail to understand is that nature is not perfect, nor does it have to be for us humans who are capable of reasoning.
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| [[W:Lina Medina|Lina Medina]] (born September 27, 1933, in Ticrapo, Peru), had her menarche at age 8 months,<ref>[http://www.telegraphindia.com/1020827/asp/foreign/story_1140311.asp Six decades later, world’s youngest mother awaits aid] - The Telegraph, August 27, 2002</ref> and after giving birth to her first child at the age of 5 years and 7 months (under unknown circumstances), she is the youngest mother in history. Following the logic used by many apologists, it would mean having sex with this child when she was 8 months old is acceptable behaviour. Giving birth at 5 years hardly meant this child was "mature". To view an image of Lina, 7 and a 1/2 months into pregnancy, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lina_Medina.jpg click here].
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| The problem with hadiths is that they do not sound logical at times. In Islam, it is necessary that you can only have sexual encounters with women who go through menstruation.Some Hadiths are clearly not reliable and need to be re-evaluated. Not just topics regarding Aisha's age but a host of other topics.Aisha's age at the time of marriage is uncertain and is still debatable. There are facts that we can be certain about, example; Aisha did not have children (Malatant of Shadow's valid point about them not engaging is sex). Was happy about her marriage. Became a great Scholar of Islam and military leader, role model for women, etc.Even if she was in fact 9 years old, this marriage is still justified for the following reasons: (a) She reached the age of puberty. (b) The marriage happened 1400 ago, not today. At that time, their marriage was not considered unusual and the proof is that the enemies of Muslims at that time did not criticize this marriage. They attacked prophet Mohammad on many issues, yet they didn't criticize his marriage to Aisha.Let us analyse from the authentic sources of Islam (Quran and Hadiths) what the minimum age for marriage is for a human being. The Quran says in: | | The problem with hadiths is that they do not sound logical at times. In Islam, it is necessary that you can only have sexual encounters with women who go through menstruation.Some Hadiths are clearly not reliable and need to be re-evaluated. Not just topics regarding Aisha's age but a host of other topics.Aisha's age at the time of marriage is uncertain and is still debatable. There are facts that we can be certain about, example; Aisha did not have children (Malatant of Shadow's valid point about them not engaging is sex). Was happy about her marriage. Became a great Scholar of Islam and military leader, role model for women, etc.Even if she was in fact 9 years old, this marriage is still justified for the following reasons: (a) She reached the age of puberty. (b) The marriage happened 1400 ago, not today. At that time, their marriage was not considered unusual and the proof is that the enemies of Muslims at that time did not criticize this marriage. They attacked prophet Mohammad on many issues, yet they didn't criticize his marriage to Aisha.Let us analyse from the authentic sources of Islam (Quran and Hadiths) what the minimum age for marriage is for a human being. The Quran says in: |