I did take a look at Muhammad's marriage with Aisha. Google showed me pages of controversy one way or the other. Apparently "Western™" scholars accept the marriage was consummated when she was 9 (according to Wikipedia, Muhammad and links from that page). The basis for it seems to be several hadith, where the translation into English gives variously "consummated", "cohabited with", "took into his house", depending on the hadith. The source is therefore oral tradition.
There is no evidence that this marriage was considered abnormal or wrong in the culture of the Semitic peoples of the time, yet it serves as an talking point (Muhammad the paedophile) for Islam-bashers. When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind
I am not sure how people manage to justify ignoring the present and long for the "good old days".
Many fundamentalist Muslims, Christians, and Jews are heavily into it - each seeking to create a past that never existed.
The US is into it. I wonder if Regan was the desire to re-live the 1950's? The current doctrine "Century for a New America" seems to me to recycle "Manifest Destiny" - even as the US undergoes economic decline. (Are those some violins I hear?)
Whether it be nationalism or religion, this desire to re-live the imaginary past seems to be a very bloody fantasy.
yet it serves as an talking point (Muhammad the paedophile) for Islam-bashers
And the racists feed off of those who seek to relive the past, if they are not actually the same people. We are for Justice and Mercy, and Truth and Peace, and true Freedom. Edward Burroughs 1659
Islam does deal very frankly with issues of (intramarital, heterosexual) sexuality, and so it is not at all unusual for people to seek and receive fatawa regarding specific sex acts. But this one is clearly an Islamophobic invention.
Regarding Aisha, she's actually a fascinating character, and my anecdotal impression from conversations with (Sunni) friends about her is that there is considerable modern discomfort about the age issue. Some would just rather not think about it, but other responses range from "STFU you Eurocentric bastards, it was normal behavior at the time" to "actually she was probably older than 9, no matter what the Qur'an says."
I will note that early marriage is not unusual in tribal and pre-industrial societies (including historically in Europe), and we can see artifacts of that even in modern laws in some places. This indicates that girls as young as 13 can get married in New Hampshire with parental consent; it's 12 for girls in "traditional" marriages in South Africa; it's 14 in Paraguay and Venezuela, 15 in Thailand.... and 9 in Yemen. Actually, there is a fair amount of inconsistency in the Islamic countries -- in Morroco it's 18, Algeria it's 21 for men and 18 for women, in Egypt (as in much of the so-called "West") it's 18 for men and 16 for women, while in other places the ages go down to 9 or 13. In Jordan, a court must consent to any marriage of a girl under 18 to a man more than 20 years older than she is. (!!) In Iran, a girl of 13 doesn't need her parents' consent, nor does a girl of 14 in Madagascar. Apparently in Spain, you can marry at 16 with parental consent, but (this surprised me) the "age of consent" for sexual activity is 13.
But I digress. There is some very interesting context regarding Aisha and Muhammad's other wives in Nine Parts of Desire by Geraldine Brooks. I was surprised to find the chapter reproduced in full online, although that version oddly renders Abu Bakr's name as "Abu Bake." (Spellcheckers gone wild?) Interesting reading.
Note that the Shia are not particular fans of Aisha; the tension between her and Muhammad's daughter Fatima (who married his cousin Ali) are related to the roots of the Sunni-Shia schism.
Juliet Capulet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shakespeare's Juliet was very young; her father states that she "hath not seen the change of fourteen years" (1.2.9). In many cultures and time periods, women did and do marry and bear children at such a young age. But in Shakespeare's England, most women were at least 21 before they did so. Romeo and Juliet is a play about Italian families. The average English playgoer in Shakespeare's audience had never met an Italian person, and it was commonly thought that they were quite exotic, the Italian male passionate and emotional, and the Italian female precocious and quite ready to become a mother by thirteen. Lady Capulet had given birth to Juliet by the time she had reached Juliet's age: "I was your mother much upon these years that you are now a maid" (1.3.74-75). The play celebrates youth while pointing out its impulsiveness, passion, and idealism, qualities which contribute to the tragedy. The adolescent infatuation of the lovers become elevated to the status of sacred love.
Apparently it wasn't until 1989 that the protection of "honour" was replaced with "sexual freedom" in the Spanish Criminal Code. We have met the enemy, and he is us — Pogo
