Ayatollah – don’t Khomeini closer!

We know Muhammad married a six-year-old girl, and that he consummated his marriage with her when she was just nine and he was in his mid-fifties. The koran also tells us that Muhammad is the main man – an “excellent example of conduct”, which means muslims must always look to Muhammad for guidance by imitating him. In other words, you don’t have to dig very deep if you want to know why adult muslim males marry very young girls: Muhammad is Islam’s best example, and he did it, so it’s ok for other muslims to do it.

Now you might think that the child bride thing is a primitive practice confined to under-developed regions and non-Western cultures. But you’d be wrong, because according to a report in the The Sunday Telegraph: “British children as young as nine are being forced into marriage by their families”.

We should of course applaud The Sunday Telegraph for reporting this matter, but why did they have to dress it up in the way they did? For example, nowhere in the article do The Sunday Telegraph use the word ‘muslim’ or ‘Islamic’. I mean, instead, of ‘muslim children’ they say “British children”, and instead of ‘muslim families’ or ‘Islamic families’, we get “families”, which isn’t very helpful. Let’s face it, the native non-muslim British population are not forcing their young children into marriage.

Another problem with the report is the headline. Have a look again at what The Sunday Telegraph have done. Here’s their headline… “Nine-year-old Midlands girl rescued from forced marriage”. The first point to note is that the girl is described as a “Midlands girl”. Oh, yeah? Not a muslim girl in a muslim family, just a Midlands girl, eh? Like it could have been any Midlands girl, even a girl belonging to a family of Buddhists? Ha!

The headline then goes on to say that this “Midlands girl” (ha ha) was “…rescued from a forced marriage”. And indeed she was. But wouldn’t it have been more accurate to simply say “rescued from marriage” rather than “rescued from forced marriage”? Or do The Sunday Telegraph think that a nine-year-old girl can get married as long as it’s not against her will?

Anyway, as far as child brides and all that is concerned, let’s be fair and give Ayatollah Khomeini the final word. After all he was a muslim holy man – a leading cleric – and felt by many to be a saint…

“A man can marry a girl younger than nine years of age, even if the girl is still a baby being breastfed. A man, however is prohibited from having intercourse with a girl younger than nine, other sexual acts such as foreplay, rubbing, kissing and sodomy is allowed. A man having intercourse with a girl younger than nine years of age has not committed a crime, but only an infraction, if the girl is not permanently damaged. If the girl, however, is permanently damaged, the man must provide for her all her life. But this girl will not count as one of the man’s four permanent wives. He also is not permitted to marry the girl’s sister” (Ayatollah Khomeini, “Tahrir ol vasyleh”, Volume 4, Darol Elm, Qom, Iran, 1990).