Welp…I’m posting this towards the end of Ramadan, the most important Muslim holiday. If I don’t get at least one disgruntled person in the comments calling me Islamophobic or racist, I’ll be genuinely surprised. Today, I’ll be replying to a comment made by our favorite Pro-Hamas protester, D.J., who said this under my post about Rick Riordan:
“Just look at Mohammed who married a 6-year-old girl and consummated the marriage when she was 9. Just from seeing how horribly they treat people; I am disgusted by this religion and what it actually stands for.” This is something a lot of people don’t like about Islam so you’re not alone. But this was centuries ago. Girls were mature faster, they got their periods at a super early age, even boys who were like 13, would go into wars. Their mindset was very different at the time. And in France, in 1180, a girl named Agnes was the youngest person to be married, at 8 years old. So before you’re disgusted at Islam, maybe look at their religion too. Also an Italian immigrant, Francesca Carboni was forced to marry a man in his twenties who beat her so she had to escape. “In Colorado, more than 5,000 minors have married since the year 2000. In most states, the minimum age for marriage is 18, but many, including Colorado, allow for exceptions.” So before you start attacking Islam which btw everyone loves to do and I did expect that, maybe look at this first which is btw much more recent than Muhammad marrying Aisha.
This comment is absolutely ridiculous on so many levels and shows a complete lack of knowledge not only about medical facts, but also the legality of child brides (and grooms, because those existed too) both in history and today. So, let’s break down everything wrong with this comment and also check out how women and girls are treated in Islam (spoiler alert: it’s not good.)
#1: “Girls were mature faster,”
For all the guys reading this, if you don’t want to read about the menstrual cycle, feel free to skip to the next point. You’ve been warned.
This claim that girls got their periods at a younger age centuries ago is an incredibly weak argument. In the classical to medieval age, girls reached menarche anywhere from 12-15 years old. However, the age at which menarche is reached can also be affected by factors such as general health, climate, what you’re eating, etc. This has been well recorded in medical studies done soon after the Industrial Revolution, which showed that the average age of menarche had been stunted to as late as 16-17 years old due to the deterioration of living conditions. Due to the harsh climate and way of life that Aisha lived in, she probably wouldn’t have reached menarche until – at the youngest – 13-14. She absolutely would not have reached menarche when she was raped (sorry, “had the marriage consummated”) at 9-years-old. In fact, it’s only been in the past 20 years that we’ve been seeing an increase in girls starting their periods at the age of 9 or even younger, so much so that medical professionals and parents are becoming increasingly concerned.
Not only that, but while menarche does suggest the possibility of fertility, it does not mean that a girl has reached sexual maturity. She has not fully developed yet (especially if she is very young) which means that if she were to get pregnant, the likelihood of her dying or being severely injured from complications from the pregnancy or from childbirth would be greater. In the case of Aisha, because of where she lived, if she had gotten pregnant after Muhammed raped her, she probably would not have made it. But oh well, I guess the wonderful prophet of Allah just didn’t take that into consideration (and neither did the ever-merciful Allah when he commanded Muhammed to marry her, for that matter).
#2: Child Brides in Christian Countries vs. Muhammed’s
D.J. also tries to defend her point by bringing up Princess Agnes of France who, at 8 years old, married Alexios Komnenos II, who would become the Byzantine Emperor in September of 1180. However, what D.J. forgot to mention here is that Alexios was 11 when he married Agnes (William of Tyre, who recorded their wedding, got Alexios’ age wrong, originally writing that he was 13, though he was born in 1169). This marriage was also considered odd because Agnes was at least 3 years too young to wed by the standards of the time (usually weddings took place when a girl was around 11-13 or a bit older).
Another thing that D.J. fails to take into consideration (probably because they haven’t seriously picked up a history book in their life) is that fact that medieval weddings, though they often involved child brides, also had rules for the new husband about when they could consummate the marriage. The youngest you could marry a girl was about 11 or 12, but consummation of the wedding (not referring to the bedding ceremony in which the couple was symbolically put into bed by the wedding party) was not expected to take place until the girl was – at the youngest – 12, and even then, that was looked down upon because of the complications that could arise if the bride became pregnant too young. One famous example of this King John of England who married Isabella de Angoulême, who was anywhere from 11 to 12 when she married, and the world was scandalized when King John bedded her that same night.
[Author’s Note: If you want to read about the marriage of Isabella and King John, I suggest reading Here Be Dragons by critically acclaimed historical novelist Sharon Kay Penman, as well as its sequels Falls the Shadow and The Reckoning (which I’m currently reading, and it is excellent.)]
Something else to take into consideration about child brides in Christian countries is that in the medieval ages, it was common for noble families to marry off their daughters not for Christian reasons, but rather for political and economic ones. For example, if you were fighting a war and suddenly found that you were running out of funds or just needed more men, if you had a daughter, you could promise her to a rich ruler or lord or one of his sons so you could have that alliance. Did it always work? No (the marriage of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth to Princess Joanna of England (the natural daughter of King John) is a good example of this), but it was a good thing to have up your sleeve. Meanwhile, in the case of Muhammed and Aisha, it was done for religious reasons because Allah supposedly told him to marry her.
Furthermore, the actions of husbands who slept with their new wives when they were very young was something that wasn’t a trend. If one lord or king did that, people weren’t likely to see that as justification to follow suit. Meanwhile, Muhammed was a prophet who already had a massive following by the time he married Aisha. That meant that his marriage to a six-year-old girl and later consummation wasn’t just seen as a solitary thing that only he could do. It set the standard for how Muslim girls were treated for centuries and still are today. For example, in the Middle East and North Africa (in which Islam is the majority religion), there are 40 million child brides, and 700,000 girls are married off every year according to UNICEF, with the majority of these being in Sudan and Yemen, both of which are Muslim (Sudan has 90-97% Muslim population while Yemen has a 99% Muslim population). Even more telling is that fact that in modern Muslim countries, traditional Islamic scholars have opposed efforts to raise the legal age of marriage to 16-18, saying things such as:
“A nine-year-old girl has the same sexual capacities like a woman of twenty and over.” – Skeikh Mohamed Ibn Abderrahmane Al-Maghraoui
“A man can marry a girl younger than nine years of age, even if the girl is still a baby being breastfed. A man, however is prohibited from having intercourse with a girl younger than nine, other sexual acts such as foreplay, rubbing, kissing and sodomy is allowed. A man having intercourse with a girl younger than nine years of age has not committed a crime, but only an infraction, if the girl is not permanently damaged. If the girl, however, is permanently damaged, the man must provide for her all her life. But this girl will not count as one of the man’s four permanent wives. He also is not permitted to marry the girl’s sister.” – The late Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution
“According to the Shari’ah, if a girl is a minor (did not attain puberty), she may be given in marriage by her father. When she attains puberty, she has the right to maintain the marriage or discontinue the marriage. There is no age limit to be intimate with one’s wife even if she is a minor.” – Islamic Q & A Online with Mufti Ebrahim Desai, Ask-Imam, Question No. 6737
“Nigeria has many uncountable problems and none of them is early marriage. As a matter of fact early marriage (is) the solution to about half of our problems. For those who wonder if I can give my daughter(s) out in marriage at the age of 9 or 13, I tell you most honestly, I can give her out at the age of 6 if I want to and it’s not your business. This is because I am a Muslim and I follow the example of the best of mankind, Muhammad ﺻَﻠَّﻰ ﺍﻟﻠَّﻪُ ﻋَﻠَﻴْﻪِ ﻭَﺳَﻠَّﻢَ…” – Ahmed Sani Yerima, former governor and current senator of Zamfara State, Nigeria.
Another example of how Muhammed set the standard was when 58-year-old Umar ibn al-Khattab (who was the 2nd Caliph of Islam) married a girl that some sources say was as young as 5. The text says:
“‘Umar asked ‘Ali for the hand of his daughter, Umm Kulthum in marriage. ‘Ali replied that she has not yet attained the age (of maturity). ‘Umar replied, ‘By Allah, this is not true. You do not want her to marry me. If she is underage, send her to me’. Thus ‘Ali gave his daughter Umm Kulthum a dress and asked her to go to ‘Umar and tell him that her father wants to know what this dress is for. When she came to Umar and gave him the message, he grabbed her hand and forcibly pulled her towards him. ‘Umm Kulthum asked him to leave her hand, which Umar did and said, ‘You are a very mannered lady with great morals. Go and tell your father that you are very pretty and you are not what ithe said of you’. With that ‘Ali married Umm Kulthum to ‘Umar.” -Tarikh Khamees, Volume 2, p. 384 (‘Dhikr Umm Kalthum’) and Zakhair Al-Aqba, p. 168
Just from that alone, you should be able to see what a truly disgusting, awful religion Islam truly is. They are blatantly and proudly defending pedophilia.
#3: Child Brides in the U.S.
D.J. also cites from somewhere that in Colorado, 5,000 minors have gotten married since 2000, as though that also makes Muhammed’s rape of Aisha okay. Once again, D.J. fails to remember that many of these underage marriages are only allowed under certain conditions. In the case of Colorado, since 2019, you’re not allowed to marry if you’re under 16, period. If you’re 16-17, you’re allowed to marry if a juvenile court grants its approval and before issuing a marriage license, the court must appoint a guardian ad litem to investigate the minor’s circumstances, assessing their ability to handle marriage responsibilities and whether it serves their best interests. Factors considered include the minor’s maturity, financial independence, and the context of the relationship—though pregnancy alone isn’t sufficient justification. Parental consent alone isn’t enough; judicial oversight is mandatory. Common law marriage also is not recognized in Colorado if you’re under 18.
Also, if a 30-year-old man wanted to marry a 16-year-old in Colorado, while it could be possible due to these marriage laws, the 14-year-age gap would likely cause the judge to deny it, especially if coercion, harm, or exploitation are suspected in the relationship. You would also need the approval of the parents, and unless you have some absolutely awful parents, they would deny you the ability to get a marriage license as well.
Finally, 13 states have already banned underage marriages outright and others will likely follow suit. And, once again, it doesn’t set the standard, unlike Muhammed’s actions did.
#4: How Does Islam Actually Treat Women
To end this off, let’s take a look at the Quran and see how Muhammed treated women and commanded his followers to treat women. After all they have one entire chapter in the Quran dedicated to women and their rights. But I’ll let David Wood of Acts 17 Polemics explain:
If you’re still asking the question that I’ve also been asked several times about if I think women are converting to Islam out of ignorance, the answer to that question is 100% yes. Western women who have not been born into Islam are converting to it out of ignorance because they do not know what the Quran and the Hadiths actually say. I think if they knew that what they’re getting into treated women and girls this way that they would be a lot more hesitant to ever convert to this terrible religion.
Until next time,
M.J.
The Tanuki Corner 
I think women are converting to Islam out of ignorance, the answer to that question is 100% yes.
That is, the stupidist shit I’ve ever heard. People who have once hated islam have converted to it, there is not one chance that they didn’t try to find something wrong with it, and guess what is seems they didn’t cus they’re muslim now. For the people in the west, converting to islam isn’t something so simple, cus there is a sort of enmity towards it, thus they wouldn’t just be like “huh, this religion seems good enough, lemme convert” this doesn’t only apply to islam, it’s any religion T-T.
In the 1800’s (less then a 1400 years ago mind you) the age of consent in some places in the west was 10 or even 7. The values back then were not as they are now. Isabelle of France, who married Richard II of England, was six years old when they married in 1396. Saint anges was 12 or 13 when she was bethroed, she refused marriage. And guess what? She was killed. This was the socital norm back then dude. The prophet (peace be upon him) was also a good man. He treated everyone with respect and kindness but also knew when to take a stand. Aisha (RA) was also technically a female scholar, people used to come to her when they had doubts about islam, she was highly intelligent, I mean if you think about her house was basically a university and she was a teacher. People also seem to forget that his first wife was 40 years old where as he was 25, and he stayed with her until her passing, and he felt immense grief upon her death. Khadija (RA) was also a successful and esteemed business-woman.
How can you sit there and still support isreali actions 😦
They had proclaimed a cease fire and yet have still bombed after, and have you heard what trump has said? And also in one of your other blogs, you have yet to reply to my response about isreal leaving to appease the Palestinians (yes its still me :] ). I’m genuinly sad these are your veiws because we seem to have a lot in common
, I’m also in the pjo fandom, (ik you’re not there anymore but still) I’m not into it like my friend is but i have read the two first seires, I still have so much left to read. I also aspire to write a book (My friends aswell but they aren’t muslim) but my progress is super slow, I blame my procrastination. And you say you’re a young woman in high school, and well I’m also a young woman just about to enter high school in a few days.
LikeLike
Hello again,
To your first point about it being hard to convert to Islam in America because there’s enmity towards it, that is not entirely true. While, yes, America does not have the best view towards Islam (especially given the wars in the Middle East against Islamic radicals like the Taliban), the media has been doing everything in its power to make Islam look like a benign, noble religion. For example, after the horrific attacks on 9/11, the media wasn’t talking as much about how terrible it was but was rather talking about how we needed to be sensitive towards the Muslim community and avoid Islamophobia. Even today, we see this same rhetoric being pushed.
Another example of how Islam has been dumbed down for Western audiences is the movie, Hildalgo. If you pay attention to three religions being portrayed in that movie, we see that the writers made Native American animism the best religion, Islam the most noble religion, and Christianity is the worst, most vile religion. It’s subtle but it’s there and you can see it in other movies, too.
We also must take into account that many people in America have been infected with the idea that all people of color are oppressed minorities and thus, they must stand with them to avoid being seen as racist. That may also include converting to their religion, such as Islam. We’ve seen this quite a lot in the days following Oct. 7th, where many Leftists (most of them women because Leftism takes advantage of our innate sense of empathy, but that’s a topic for another time) started converting to Islam to show support for Palestine and Hamas and have been cheered on by the media for it. The problem with this is that, as I pointed out in this post, many Westerners do not know what Islam teaches and have not looked in depth into the Quran or Hadiths. And as Brother Rashid pointed out in the video I linked, the Quran in English is way different than the Quran in Arabic, making it even harder for English-speakers to know what they’re getting into.
Now to your second point about Richard II’s wife and Saint Agnes. While Richard II’s wife was six when she married him, Richard would’ve had to wait until she was 12 to consummate the marriage. However, the biggest problem with your example here is the fact that they never sexually consummated the marriage because he died three years after marrying her (Isabella of Valois – Wikipedia).
As for Saint Agnes, she lived during the time of the Roman Empire, being born in 291 to Roman nobility and raised as a Christian. Because of her Christian beliefs and devotion to religious purity, her suitors became angry and decided to kill her. It was not Christianity that called for her death, but rather paganism. (Agnes of Rome – Wikipedia)
Furthermore, though you have provided these examples of child brides in Christian countries, you still miss the point that I bring up that this was not done to be the norm, nor were they done for religious purposes. They were done for social/economic purposes. Meanwhile, Muhammed married Aisha because Allah told him to and then consummated the marriage three years later, setting an example for Muslim men throughout the world to sexually abuse girls for centuries. Sure, Aisha might’ve been a smart person, but that does not negate that this was child abuse in its worst form.
Lastly, I’ll address your second comment about Christianity, Eve and childbirth. In Gensis 3 where God tells Eve that her pain will be multiplied during childbirth, He’s not saying that childbirth is now a punishment (in fact the text implies that childbirth would’ve already been painful pre-Fall). Throughout the Bible, childbirth is seen as an awesome gift. The intense pain is a symbol of God’s judgement for the sin that Adam and Eve brought into the world.
Notice how I didn’t say “Eve,” but rather said “Adam and Eve.” Eve’s name is brought up exactly four times in the entire Bible. Meanwhile, Adam’s name is mentioned 27 times, and he’s usually referred to as the one who brought sin into the world. Why? Because while Eve was fooled into eating the fruit, Adam willfully disobeyed God and ate of it too. And he was also punished alongside Eve for his sin.
Your comment about how women giving birth are washed clean of their sins in Islam also illustrates one of the biggest differences between Islam and Christianity that I just want to touch on real quick. Islam promotes the idea of a works-based salvation, where you have to work (doing things such as praying three times a day, obeying all the commands of Allah, giving birth (if you’re a woman), etc.) to be saved. That means that your entire life, you will be working to be perfect and that’s something that you can never do. You can never know when you’ve done enough. Not even Muhammed knew if he had done enough.
Meanwhile, in Christianity, we believe that we are saved through faith alone, through grace alone, through Christ alone, so that any who have faith in Him may go to Heaven because He served as the perfect sacrifice to atone for the sins of mankind. It is not our works that save, it is not childbirth that saves, it’s faith in God’s grace through Christ that saves. And that is a much more freeing message.
LikeLike
Did you know that in Christianity child birth is a consequence? Where as in islam when women suffer through the hard ships of birth she will be rewarded in the here-after and her sins are wiped clean? Did you know in christianity the blame for the fruit was all placed upon the women, but in islam divided equally between both man and woman?
LikeLike