British Muslim girls being forced into marriage via internet

[happyslug]

30. As I pointed out 12 was the generally accepted age of consent to marriage till the 1800s

The Koran is the only part of Islam that is considered not to be questioned, for under Islamic Doctrine the Koran was given to Mohammad by the Archangel Gabriel directly. Thus when Mary gave birth to Jesus she felt no pain (that is in the Koran, Book of Mary NOT in the Christian bible) and that can NOT be questioned in Islam (but can be questioned among Christians).

http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/25/viewall/mary-in-islam/

Thus marrying at at 12 or age 6 is NOT in the Koran and subject to interpretation via the Hadiths, or comments about Mohammad made by people who knew him. hadiths are subject to debate and can contain errors, thus can be questioned. I should note the Haidths do NOT mention the age of consent to married so it is fully open to change.

More on the Koran and the Hadith

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadith_of_the_Quran_and_Sunnah

More on Aisha:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aisha

She wrote 2210 Hadiths, these are given great weight by the Sunni School of Islam, almost no weight among Shiites.

It is only in the 1800s that Countries and States started to raise the age of consent to marriage, mostly do to people actually marrying earlier and earlier in the 1800s. Historically most people married in their early 20s, but legally they could marry as early as age 12. The French Colonial Government actually paid a bonus for people who married before age 13 during the settlement of Canada and until Quebec fell to the English in 1759.

The US Census Bureau kept a survey on age of first marriage from 1890 til today. In 1890 the age of first marrige for both sexes iwas in the early to mid 20s. The age of First Marriage DROPPED all through the 20th century till the 1960 Census when it had dropped to 19 and 18 for men and women respectfully. 1970 saw a slight increase in age (which was within statistical error so NOT given much weight) but ages of first marriage increased after 1970s, with men catching up to when they first married in 1890 by the early 1980s and women doing the same in the early 1990s. Thus in the 1900s the age of marriage DROPPED and it is believed to have been the same situation in the 1800s (but we have no records for many states did not centralize marriage records till after 1900). It is the drop in the age of many first marriage that lead states to increasing the age of consent to marriage in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

As to Mohammad, while he married Aisha at age six and did not consummate the marriage till she was 11, that age is NOT in the Koran and as such NOT an element of Islamic Faith (and some scholars question this age for the first act of sex between the two and some scholars question if any act of sex took place). In fact Mohammad's first wife, he married when he was in his 20s and she was in her 30s (she was widow at the time of they marriage) is mentioned in the Koran but NOT any of his other wives. Mohammad NEVER took another wife as long as his first wife was alive. That relationship is considered the Ideal Islamic marriage relationship.

Mohammad's subsequent wives fell into three categories:

1. Widows of former followers who died, Mohammad clearly married them to give them a place to live. Under Islam each wife MUST have their own separate home to live in, Harems are NOT suppose to exist. Islam accepted Harems but like Christianity accepting Slavery, both were were accepted since both existed not that either was good. A Moslem Male can ONLY HAVE FOUR WIVES AT ANY ONE TIME.

2. Like Aisha, a marriage due to politics. In the case of Aisha support from her father's family in exchange for her father being in the best position to succeed Mohammad at his death.

3. A gift from a foreign country. The mother of Mohammad's son fell into this category. Her son did NOT survive to adulthood. There is a question if this woman was a wife or a concubine. There is a question as to her conversion to Islam, she was a gift from the Governor of Egypt, but she had been raised a Christian. Islamic Source say she was a gift from an unnamed Governor of Egypt to Mohammad. Most Historians believe this to be a Persian Governor, for in 618 Persia (Iran) took Egypt from the Roman Empire, the first time a foreign Army had entered Egypt since Augustus Caesar did it himself in 30 BC. Persian ruled Egypt form 618-629 AD and may have wanted to secure the southern border of Palestine (Which Persia had taken in 617) by giving a "gift" to Mohammad as he built up his forces in Arabia. At that time Present day Yemen, Aden and the rest of the south coast of the Arabian Peninsula were subject to Persian Rule:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine%E2%80%93Sasanian_War_of_602%E2%80%93628#/media/File:Byzantine_and_Sassanid_Empires_in_600_CE.png

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasanian_conquest_of_Egypt

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine%E2%80%93Sasanian_War_of_602%E2%80%93628

Some Historians consider the Palmyra invasion of 270 AD an "Foreign Invasion" other do not for Palmyra had been a part of the Roman Empire for over 200 years before that date, but do to the "Problems of the Third Centuries" the Roman Empire almost collapsed and in that struggle Palmyra become technically independent took Egypt, drive the Persian Eastward but then fell to a renewed Roman Empire in 271 AD. Palmyra abandoned Egypt when the Syria was threatened by Rome.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmyra#Hellenistic_and_Roman_periods

Back to Mohammad's Egyptian wife. Most Historians consider her a gift From a Persian Governor of Egypt, her age is NOT given but Mohammad, treated her like the rest of his wife, with the exception she she produced a child he clearly had sex with her (Scholars debate if Mohammad had sex with his other wives except for this first wife who he fathered Fatima with).

The Arab Conquest of Egypt occurred in 639 AD. Thus Roman Rule only lasted 10 years after the end of the 10 year of Persian Rule.