Al Jaddah | Saudi Arabia’s religious leader, Sheikh Abdulaziz Al Asheikh, said on national TV today morning that he did not condemn marriage with teenage girls because “Prophet Muhammad did so”, reports the Arab Times.
The Grand Mufti said the marriage of girls below the age of 15 as “permissible” because according to the Quran, the prophet Muhammad married Aisha, when she was only six years old.
After a man from the crowd asked him what was the proper age for a young girl to be married, the Grand Mufti cited the prophet as an example.
“Our Holy Prophet was divinely inspired by Allah, the most gracious the most merciful, and in his great wisdom, Muhammad found it fair to take Aisha as a bride when she was but a child. Allah bless her soul,” he told the crowd of believers.
Scholars, acknowledges that the Quran is clear about the age of marriage of Aisha with the prophet of the Islamic faith.
“It is clearly stated in the Quran that the Holy Prophet married Aisha when she was 6-years-old and consummated his marriage with her when she was 9. He was then, 54 years old”
Pedophilia is a “modern Western social construct”, warns Islamic scholar Sahid Zamir, which was spread by Western culture and does not apply to most people of the world.
“All girls do not become fit for marriage at the same age. It is a question of maturity, and in the case of Aisha, wife of Muhammad, it is clear that she was a gifted individual and that is why Allah sent Muhammad towards her to bind their destinies together,” he concludes.
There are presently no laws in place defining a minimum age of consent in Saudi Arabia.
