Why child-marriage of little girls to adult men and the consequent child-sex, as pratised in Islamic societies, is vulgar and nauseating in civilized ethics?
Child Marriage
Regarding child marriage, the Wikipedia says: “Child marriage usually refers to two separate social phenomena which are practiced in some societies. The first and more widespread practice is that of marrying a young child (generally defined as below the age of fifteen) to an adult. In practice, it is almost always a young girl married to a man. The second practice is a form of arranged marriage in which the parents of two children from different families arrange a future marriage. In this practice, the individuals who become betrothed often do not meet one another until the wedding ceremony, which occurs when they are both considered to be of a marriageable age.”
In this context, it may be mentioned that, in 1882, when Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was married to Kasturba, he was 13 and Kasturba was 14.
The latter kind of child marriage, though violates some aspects of human rights, especially children’s rights, it cannot be called ugly or vulgar, since it was between two young people of equal age. In the olden days, such marriages used to take place also for political reasons. For example, the son or daughter of the royal family of a weaker power would sometimes be arranged to marry into the royal family of a stronger neighbouring power, thus preventing itself from being assimilated. Families are able to cement political and/or financial ties by having their children inter-marry. But today, due to an increase in the awareness of human rights, this tradition of child-marriage has decreased greatly or has become obsolete in progressive societies, it is considered unfair and dangerous for the children. Even though it cannot be denied that there is a good possibility that such a marriage might end up in a happy married life based on mutual love and respect between the couple.
Ugly and Vulgar Child Marriages
But when a 49-year-old Nigerian senator marries a 13-year-old girl, or a 43-year-old Indonesian cleric marries a 12-year-old girl, or a 47-year-old Saudi man marries an 8-year-old child, or a 60-year-old wealthy Arab marries 3 girls, all under the age of 16, at a single sitting (within ten minutes), there is no alternative but to label these marriages immoral, ugly, vulgar and nauseating. It is important to note that all such incidents take place in the Muslim community; and in all such incidents, the grooms have to pay fat cash to father/guardian of the child-bride as bride-price or mehr.
So, these incidents are nothing but buying and selling of child sex-slaves, or simply flesh-trade, in the name of marriage. It has been pointed out in an earlier article that this vile practice of child-marriage in Muslim societies devastates lives of little girls in many ways. Most importantly, marriages between two individuals of such unequal age and maturity can never develop in a loving and mutually respectful one, which should be central in marriage or between couples. It becomes a relationship between master and slave, and to be more accurate, between master and sex-slave. ... There is another, rather cruel and tragic, aspect to it. It is the bodily torture, not only beating as allowed by Allah, but also by forcing those little girls into sex, for which they are not physically prepared, even if we ignore their mental preparedness.
Most importantly, a sexual intercourse between the husband and wife, with such unequal age difference, is nothing but a rape and the child-wife would continue to be a victim of rape throughout her life. Her misfortune starts as soon as her father or guardian decides to sell her to a man in the name of marriage. Islamic scriptures say that, no marriage could be held without the consent of the bride. And if the girl refrains from expressing her mind, her silence should be treated as consent.
A Hadith, in this regard, says:
Narrated Abu Huraira - the Prophet said, "A matron should not be given in marriage except after consulting her; and a virgin should not be given in marriage except after her permission." The people asked, "O Allah's Apostle! How can we know her permission?" He said, "Her silence (indicates her permission)." (Sahih Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 62, Number 67)
The question naturally arises: When the Prophet married 6-year-old Ayesha, did anybody asked for her consent? Or what does marriage and consent for it actually stands for to a 6-year-old child? So, this author is convinced that her silence was taken as for her consent. However, in cases of forced marriages, even a grown-up girl is forced to give her consent to please her father, or even at dagger's point. An incident may be narrated here to understand the scary circumstances, in which such marriages take place.
The Story of Anaras Khatoon (14) and Chand Mohammad (75)
According to a report in The Times of India on October 1, 2007, a 14-year-old Muslim girl, named Anaras Khatoon, a resident of a village in the outskirts of Maldah town in West Bengal became a social outcast in her village for refusing to live with her 75-year-old husband, to whom she was forcibly married to. She and her brother Majedur Rahman, who helped her escape, are being hounded by her parents Syed Ali and Latefun Bibi, and Khatoon's husband Chand Mohammad.
Meanwhile, Anaras and Majedur filed a complaint against their parents with Maldah police saying that on September 26, they woke up Anaras at midnight, put a knife at her throat and married her off to Chand Mohammad, more than five times older than Anaras Khatoon. Her parents had to surrender in a Maldah court, but got bail on the same day. Then the nightmare of Anaras worsened.
Her parents also filed a counter case against Anaras and Majedur, and drove Majedur’s wife from home. Chand Mohammad also filed a case accusing Majedur of kidnapping his wife Anaras Khatoon. While telling the reporters her tale, Anaras broke into tears and said: “I want to return to my home and continue my studies. But there is none to help me and guide me.” She and Majedur temporarily took shelter in a shabby hut in the outskirts of another town English Bazar, and Majedur was driving rickshaw to make ends meet.
Anaras also said that she became horrified when she learned that she was being married off to a man whose youngest child was older than her, and that her father Syed Ali was a labourer working for Chand Mohammad and the villagers claimed that he had taken a hefty sum from Chand as bride-price. The nikah was performed by qazi Hossain Ali of her village as per Muslim rituals.
On the very next day, Anaras escaped Chand Mohammad’s house and went straight to a police station and lodged a complaint that her parents had kidnapped her and married her off forcibly to a 75-year-old man. Maldah SP D K Mandal came to her help and initiated a police case against her parents, Chand Mohammad and a few others including the qazi. This made her parents furious. Hounded by her parents, she fled with her brother Majedur to English Bazar with the help of a few of his friends.
The Tradition of Marrying Child-Brides to Old Men in Saudi Arabia
“A man can have sexual pleasure from a child as young as a baby. However, he should not penetrate, but sodomising the child is OK. If the man penetrates and damages the child, then he should be responsible for her subsistence throughout her life. This girl, however, does not count as one of his four permanent wives. The man will not be eligible to marry the girl's sister. …It is better for a girl to marry in such a time when she would begin menstruation at her husband's house rather than her father's home. Any father marrying his daughter so young will have a permanent place in heaven”, says "Tahrirolvasyleh" by Ayatollah Khomeini (4th volume, 1990).
This single opinion is more than enough to understand the Islamic outlook towards marrying young girls to adult men. And this uncivilized and cruel practice, based on the sacred tradition of Prophet Muhammad’s marrying 6-year-old Ayesha at the age of 52, has been set in motion to continue for eternity. One will be astonished to know that when Aisha, the daughter of Abu Bakr, Mohammad's closest friend, was about 4-5 years old, Muhammad had started dreaming of a union with her, and he wasted no time in realizing his dreams, in spite of the fact that object of his dreams was a mere child and a daughterly one. To satiate his lust for little Aisha, Muhammad took the initiative to asked for her hand when she was 6, and that too despite the fact that she was betrothed to another boy. The question remains: Is it normal for an old man, who already had over 9 wives and concubines in his harem, to dream of a union with a 4-5 year old girl?
Muslim believe that Muhammad was overly virile, his sexual relationship with Aisha is a special case, which fits his strong need for a larger latitude to satisfy his sexual urge, as is witnessed by his companions: "The Prophet used to visit all his wives in a round, during the day and night and they were eleven in number." I asked Anas, "Had the Prophet the strength for it?" Anas replied, "We used to say that the Prophet was given the strength of thirty (men)." And Sa'id said on the authority of Qatada that Anas had told him about nine wives only (not eleven)." [Bukhari.1:268]
Regarding this marriage between Muhammad and Ayesha, the Wikipedia writes: “Muhammad married Aisha, his favorite wife, when she was six or seven years old. Islamic scholars state that no age limits have been fixed by Islam for marriage. Children of the youngest age may be married or promised for marriage, "although a girl is not handed over to her husband until she is fit for marital congress". In fact, there is no age-limit for girls for marriage in Saudi Arabia. Here, a girl of a few months old may be married off to a man older than her father or grandfather.
Child Marriage in Saudi Arabia
In his article, Saudi Arabia and Why Child Marriage Is Allowed, dated July 13, 2009, Lee Jay Walker presented a comprehensive picture of child marriage in Saudi Arabia. To begin his article, Walker writes, “The nation of Saudi Arabia is in a flux because this nation is often rebuked for allowing child marriages to take place. However, for Saudi Islamic clerics they justify this on the grounds of what Mohammed did. After all, Mohammed married a child himself and for many Islamic clerics in Saudi Arabia this means that child marriage is sanctioned. Therefore, the morals of Saudi Arabian law and the concepts of Islam appear to be one of confusion?”
“On the one hand the Saudi Arabian legal system of Islamic law supports killing people for adultery and homosexuality. However, on the other hand it is deemed to be Islamic to marry a young child of 8 years of age or 9 years of age, irrespective if the male is 30 years old or 40 years old, or even older. Surely these morals are twisted?” he adds.
In fact, Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam and Prophet Muhammad, and hence, it is impossible for it to adopt a legal system that deviates from the Shariah Law, strictly based on the Koran and the holy traditions of the Prophet. “Therefore, this sets a major problem for the conservative Islamic religious leaders in Saudi Arabia because they want to govern society by the laws of Islamic Sharia Law and the Hadiths. If they support raising the age of marriage like the majority of mainly Muslim nations have done, then how does this fit in with the legal system being based on the teachings of Mohammed?” says Walker.
So, according to Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, the Koran and the Hadiths must be upheld in the legal system of the country including the harsh instructions of Allah to kill all converts from Islam and persecute all other religions. He also believes that marrying young female children is consistent with both the teachings and life of Muhammad. “It is incorrect to say that it’s not permitted in Islam to marry girls who are 15 and younger”, he adds. “In truth, if we look at the teachings of Islam, then clearly Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh is correct,” says Walker.
As a follow up of the dictates of the holy Koran, Hadiths and the holy tradition of the Prophet, the Saudi legal system, based on Shariah Law, justifies the right of an 8-year-old child to marry a man of 47, a 10-year-old child to marry an 80-year-old man, a 12-year-old girl to marry an 80-year-old man, and so on and so forth. Some of these cases will be discussed in an another article.
