Hence, he was not a prophet. If he was
not a prophet, then Islam is false. This
is what they mean in a nutshell when
they make that claim.
Prior Commitments
Another aspect to keep in mind is the
presuppositions that are held upon
which the premises depend. The first
premise presupposes the harm principle
which holds that the actions of
individuals should only be limited to
prevent harm to other individuals.
This is built into the first premise that
pedophilia is immoral, because it is
harmful. We can grant that premise
for the sake of argument.
Challenging the Premises
To test whether the premises are true
or not, we have to take a close look
at what the words in the argument
mean and see if they truly apply.
What is a pedophile? Does this apply
to the Prophet Muhammad a? Pedophilia
is often defined as a psychiatric
disorder in which an adult or older
adolescent experiences a primary or
exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent
children. If this argument
is made, then it’s proponent would
be asserting that the reason for the
marriage with our mother ‘Aisha j
was because she was young in age. If
this claim is not proven, the argument
fails.
There Can Only Be One Reason, Right?
This assertion is a fallacy (a faulty
reasoning) called affirming the consequent.
It means that the argument assumes
the reason the Prophet a married
‘Aisha j was specifically because
he had a mental disorder and was
specifically attracted to pre-pubescent
females. Let’s look at an example. An
upright citizen finds a wallet and intends
to turn it in to the police station,
but as he picks it up someone sees him
and accuses him of theft. Both actions
(theft and picking something up to return
it) include taking someone else’s
property. However, the motivation behind
the act is the determining factor
of how it is labeled. Thus, it would be
upon the one making the argument to
prove that this mental disorder existed
in the Prophet and motivated him to
marry ‘Aisha j. The argument is rendered
false and discarded unless this
can be proven.
Inference to the Best Explanation
Abductive reasoning or inference to
the best explanation starts with an observation
or set of observations and
then seeks the simplest and most likely
conclusion. You try to let the observations
(not your conclusion) tell the
story. In order to arrive at a realistic
conclusion, the proponent of the argument
must ask questions to gather
information. If one objectively looks
at the historical reports, what result
would they arrive at? How many of
the other blessed wives of the Prophet
a were prepubescent? Why did
the Prophet a wait 3 years (until she
became mature) to consummate the
marriage? Was it the Noble Prophet
a himself that initiated the marriage
or was it someone else’s suggestion?
Did either ‘Aisha j or the Prophet a
display any traits or signs of being in
this type of abusive relationship? What
was ‘Aisha’s j opinion of the Prophet
a throughout the marriage and after
he left this world? Did she try to escape
the marriage?
‘Aisha j was arguably the only wife of
the Prophet a who was prepubescent
at the time of marriage. The fact that
they waited 3 years to consummate
the marriage is also telling. Moreover,
it wasn’t just 3 years, it was an indefinite
waiting period which could have
lasted until she was 15. You would have
to be a well-mannered and respectful
pedophile to wait that long to only lose
the thing you were most interested in
(pre-pubescence).
Reports tell us that it was a Sahabiyya
named Khaula bint Hakim j who actually
suggested the marriage to the
Prophet a and thereafter brought
it up to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr g and
Umm Ruman j. Other reports make
mention that the marriage was shown
to the Prophet in a dream.
According to the ACOG (American
college of Obstetricians and Gynecologists),
children involved in such
a relationship would likely display
adult manifestations of childhood
sexual abuse. They generally face
long lasting and devastating physical
and psychological trauma. They are
prone to emotional reactions such as
fear, shame, humiliation, guilt, and
self–blame which lead to depression
and anxiety. They exhibit symptoms
of posttraumatic stress experiencing
intrusive or recurring thoughts of the
abuse as well as nightmares or flashbacks.
They are more likely to fall into
alcoholism, prostitution and to have
more than 50 “intercourse partners”.
On the contrary, Sayyidah ‘Aisha j
was physically healthy and lived into
her sixties, doubling the average life
expectancy. She j was wise and intelligent
becoming one of the leading
scholars and narrators of Hadith. She
was involved in political affairs and
even led an army. She was assertive
and confident in confronting issues
she didn’t understand or agree with.
The relationship she had with the
Prophet a shows us the true metrics
of the marriage. They raced and joked
with each other. She (respectfully)
teased him and even expressed ghayra
(protective jealously). The Prophet a
even gave his wives a choice to null
their marriages with him. This would
have been the perfect opportunity to
escape an abusive and harmful relationship.
She did not even think about
marrying anyone else after the demise
of the Prophet a.
What about the Noble and Blessed
Prophet a? Do we find any traits of a
pedophile in him? He had many companions,
he wasn’t a loner who practiced
social avoidance. He didn’t use
drugs or drink alcohol. He did not lack
self esteem. He didn’t stalk and comwww.
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