First of all this picture is clearly a father and daughter who's age we don't know.
Second of all of Muhammad's wives were widows. His first wife was 45 years old when he was 25 years old. She was a widow. If he were after lust he could have married hundreds of virgin wives before Islam. Before Islam there was no limit to wives. Yet he chose to be married to only one wife, a widow and 45 years of age, while it was absolutely common to have 'tens of wives'. This proves that it had nothing to do with lust or sexual urges, etc...
Thirdly, Muhammad (pbuh) set the criterion by establishing that the earlier a woman can marry is when she enters past puberty.
Fourthly and lastly no one had a problem with Muhammad (pbuh) marrying her. The whole 'young girl' this that arguments are no more than say 40 years old.. MAYBE actually more like last ten years. Why? Lets take a look
Lets look at some facts:
Richard and Isabel how old were they? The king and queen of the british? She was 7 years old.
Most of Europe used to 'marry' before puberty. The English, French and German nobilities used to marry all in this age.
Shakespeare anyone? How old was Juliet and Romeo? According to her mother she should stop being 'playful' and be married with children. If I recall this phrase right, she was 12 or 13 years old? Take a guess how long it takes to make that many children and be married?
Which brings me to the last point. This whole western phenomena of sexual promiscuity and avoidance of marriage, raising the 'age of consent' etc... comes in the late 1800s only. As I've come across a few different historical studies on this subject. Girls wanted to 'have fun' and no longer cared about marriage or sanctity. This is even more true today where children male and female are raised to be consumers and into 'having fun' well into their 30s. Teens the girls 'beautify themeslves' and get spoiled, 18+ they really start engaging in sexual experimentation, drinking, clubbing, etc... The focus on marriage and family is not there. This is reality.
On the other hand women of the past and men... were raised with the mindset of how to progress in life being able to work, take on responsibilities, etc...all from a young age, being rulers, kings, queens, warriors, students/scholars, workers, etc...
Just 100 years ago according to George Mason university:
Age of Consent Laws Annotation
Information on the ages used historically in western age of consent laws is not readily available. This table has been compiled from a combination of historical and contemporary sources. By 1880, the first date chosen, many western nations had established an age of consent for the first time, typically of 12 or 13 years. By 1920, when the influence of reform campaigns that established a new link between the age of consent and prostitution had run its course, most had revised their age upward, to 14 or 15 in European nations, and 16 in the Anglo-American world. In the last decades of the 20th century, states and nations with ages below those averages amended their laws to move closer to them. In Europe that growing conformity owed much to moves toward greater European integration. Given that the rationale for the age of consent has remained essentially unchanged in its emphasis on the need to protect 'immature' children, the table highlights the shifting and various definitions of childhood employed across time and cultures. |
Source
Date compiled from the following sources: Hirschfeld, Magnus. The Homosexuality of Men and Women. Translated by Michael Lombardi-Nash. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 2000; Killias, Martin. "The Emergence of a New Taboo: The Desexualization of Youth in Western Societies Since 1800." European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research 8 (2000): 466; Odem, Mary. Delinquent Daughters: Policing and Protecting Adolescent Female Sexuality in the United States, 1885-1920. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1995; "Worldwide Ages of Consent," AVERTing HIV and Aids, www.avert.org/aofconsent.htm (accessed November 29, 2007).
Age Limit in Age of Consent Laws in Selected Countries
1880 1920 2007
Austria 14 14 14
Belgium - 16 16
Bulgaria 13 13 14
Denmark 12 12 15
England & Wales 13 16 16
Finland - 12 16
France 13 13 15
Germany 14 14 14
Greece - 12 15
Italy - 16 14
Luxembourg 15 15 16
Norway - 16 16
Portugal 12 12 14
Romania 15 15 15
Russia 10 14 16
Scotland 12 12 16
Spain 12 12 13
Sweden 15 15 15
Switzerland various 16 16
Turkey 15 15 18
Argentina - 12 13
Brazil - 16 14
Chile 20 20 18
Ecuador - 14 14
Canada 12 14 14
Australia
New South Wales 12 16 16
Queensland 12 17 16
Victoria 12 16 16
Western Australia 12 14 16
United States
Alabama 10 16 16
Alaska - 16 16
Arizona 12 18 18
Arkansas 10 16 16
California 10 18 18
Colorado 10 18 15
Connecticut 10 16 16
District of Columbia 12 16 16
Delaware 7 16 16
Florida 10 18 18
Georgia 10 14 16
Hawaii - - 16
Idaho 10 18 18
Illinois 10 16 17
Indiana 12 16 16
Iowa 10 16 16
Kansas 10 18 16
Kentucky 12 16 16
Louisiana 12 18 17
Maine 10 16 16
Maryland 10 16 16
Massachusetts 10 16 16
Michigan 10 16 16
Minnesota 10 18 16
Mississippi 10 18 16
Missouri 12 18 17
Montana 10 18 16
Nebraska 10 18 17
Nevada 12 18 16
New Hampshire 10 16 16
New Jersey 10 16 16
New Mexico 10 16 17
New York 10 18 17
North Carolina 10 16 16
North Dakota 10 18 18
Ohio 10 16 16
Oklahoma - - 16
Oregon 10 16 18
Pennsylvania 10 16 16
Rhode Island 10 16 16
South Carolina 10 16 16
South Dakota 10 18 16
Tennessee 10 18 18
Texas 10 18 17
Utah 10 18 16
Vermont 10 16 16
Virginia 12 16 18
Washington 12 18 16
West Virginia 12 16 16
Wisconsin 10 16 18
Wyoming 10 16 16
How to Cite This Source
Stephen Robertson, "Age of Consent Laws," in Children and Youth in History, Item #230, http://chnm.gmu.edu/cyh/teaching-modules/230 (accessed October 2, 2012).
So according to the above the average age of consent/marriage/sex age in america one hundred years ago was 10 years of age across america. The lowest was 7 years of age in Delaware USA.
Edit:
One more point to add. After Muhammad (pbuh) passed away, Aisha even led armies, she had the ability to say what she wanted. If Muhammad (pbuh) ever wronged her she could have said something.
She is also responsible for a huge portion of transfer of knowledge of Islam
Muhammad (pbuh) used to tell people, if you want to learn about Islam go to Aisha (pbuh) as she had an amazing ability to learn and memorize.. and not only that, but to rationalize and have understanding of the knowledge. Being Muhammad (pbuh)'s wife, she also had detailed and intimiate accounts of Muhammad (pbuh)'s wife and how he conducted himself. Thus she was responsible also for transfering much knowldge in regards to how Muslims should conduct themselves if they are to follow Muhammad (pbuh)'s example and way of living.
And finally yes, she is responsible for majority of our knowledge of Islam, many hadith (sayings) regarding Muhammad (pbuh) and his actions.
We call her the mother of the believers, as we call all the wives of the prophet (pbuh). Also she used to get jealous of Muhammad (pbuh) mentioning Khadija his first wife