sam04u
Comrades, Comrades!
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2003
- Messages
- 2,867
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- Male
- HSC
- 2006
Recently a smear against the Islamic faith has been propogated throughout the Internet that Islam promotes paedophilia.
The smear is a lie and does not come from the Islamic text (the Qur'an), but rather from another set of books called hadith (or stories). The smear first began spreading in online forums as a way of slandering muslim people defending the Palestinian plight against the illegal and unjust occupation by Israel.
The smear in itself is often misinterpreted and furthermore takes the situation out of the context. The smear comes from the last prophet of Islam's last wife. Different sources state she was around the age of puberty, others that she was as young as 11 or 12 years old at the age of consumation of their marriage.
Immediately this would seem to be quite wrong by modern western standards, because it's taken out of context. In the times of Muhammad PBUH (almost 1,400 years ago) the life expectancy was about the age of 20, which is much lower then modern times. In modern times this life expectancy has almost tripled, and thus it would be natural for the age of consent to change.
There are also cultural differences to take in to perspective.
In the United States of America for instance the age of consent is 18.
In Australia and the United Kingdom the age of consent is 16.
In Canada (North America) the age of consent is 14.
In Japan the age of consent is 13. (And even 12 in certain parts of the country.)
Basically you can see how a regular Canadian or Australian could be considered a Paedophile in U.S law and culture. So you see how even in the 21st century (2007), different cultures have different ideas of what is paedophilia.
Next you have to take in to consideration that even in Australia and the U.K, less than 300 years ago the age of consent was completely different. Even in the late 1800's and early 1900's the age of consent in the U.S was 10! And how about iconic characters like Juliet and her mother? They were both around the age of 12 and 13 when they were expected to marry, due to culture.
So you see how something completely normal 1,400 years ago is taken out of context to say that Islam promotes pedophilia. Which is completely untrue and infact a smear used against muslims. I mean what is the perfect indicator of preparedness for sexual activity? 1,400 years ago it was menstruation.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20041212/ai_n12764669 [time paradox]
The smear is a lie and does not come from the Islamic text (the Qur'an), but rather from another set of books called hadith (or stories). The smear first began spreading in online forums as a way of slandering muslim people defending the Palestinian plight against the illegal and unjust occupation by Israel.
The smear in itself is often misinterpreted and furthermore takes the situation out of the context. The smear comes from the last prophet of Islam's last wife. Different sources state she was around the age of puberty, others that she was as young as 11 or 12 years old at the age of consumation of their marriage.
Immediately this would seem to be quite wrong by modern western standards, because it's taken out of context. In the times of Muhammad PBUH (almost 1,400 years ago) the life expectancy was about the age of 20, which is much lower then modern times. In modern times this life expectancy has almost tripled, and thus it would be natural for the age of consent to change.
There are also cultural differences to take in to perspective.
In the United States of America for instance the age of consent is 18.
In Australia and the United Kingdom the age of consent is 16.
In Canada (North America) the age of consent is 14.
In Japan the age of consent is 13. (And even 12 in certain parts of the country.)
Basically you can see how a regular Canadian or Australian could be considered a Paedophile in U.S law and culture. So you see how even in the 21st century (2007), different cultures have different ideas of what is paedophilia.
Next you have to take in to consideration that even in Australia and the U.K, less than 300 years ago the age of consent was completely different. Even in the late 1800's and early 1900's the age of consent in the U.S was 10! And how about iconic characters like Juliet and her mother? They were both around the age of 12 and 13 when they were expected to marry, due to culture.
So you see how something completely normal 1,400 years ago is taken out of context to say that Islam promotes pedophilia. Which is completely untrue and infact a smear used against muslims. I mean what is the perfect indicator of preparedness for sexual activity? 1,400 years ago it was menstruation.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20041212/ai_n12764669 [time paradox]
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