Marie Antoinette

Question: Was Mohammed a pedophile?

Muslim writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali has argued that “Mohammed’s marriage to six-year-old A’ishah (whose age is disputed by Muslim scholars) and his subsequent consummation of the marriage when she was nine would make him a pedophile.”

I’m not arguing with the logic of the syllogism, I’m just saying that I knew nothing about this. Any Muslims out there care to comment? If the age of six is a matter of scholarly disputation is there another more generally accepted bridal-age for A’ishah? How old do most Muslims think A’ishah was when she married Mohhamed (and let’s not forget the Marie Antoinette was 14 and Juliet 13 when they both said they did).

I wonder what the average life expectancy was back when Mohammed was alive? 25 tops? That would mean that by the time you got to ten you were decidely middle-aged.

Answer: This is from Sahih Bukhari, which is considered a strong and authentic hadith.

Volume 5, Book 58, Number 234:
Narrated Aisha:

"The Prophet engaged me when I was a girl of six (years). We went to Medina and stayed at the home of Bani-al-Harith bin Khazraj. Then I got ill and my hair fell down. Later on my hair grew (again) and my mother, Um Ruman, came to me while I was playing in a swing with some of my girl friends. She called me, and I went to her, not knowing what she wanted to do to me. She caught me by the hand and made me stand at the door of the house. I was breathless then, and when my breathing became Allright, she took some water and rubbed my face and head with it. Then she took me into the house. There in the house I saw some Ansari women who said, "Best wishes and Allah's Blessing and a good luck." Then she entrusted me to them and they prepared me (for the marriage). Unexpectedly Allah's Apostle came to me in the forenoon and my mother handed me over to him, and at that time I was a girl of nine years of age."

Muhammad was in his 50s at the time, so 9 years of age would not be middle-aged. It would still be the age of a child who was unfortunate enough to arouse a dirty old man! He had dreams about her! She was playing with dolls at his house! He was a pedophile, not a prophet.

God Bless.

Part 1: Marie Antoinette Elena Maria Vidal Interview on EWTN

Question: Where can I find biographies on the French author, Evelyne Lever?

I am doing a book report on "Marie Antoinette: The Last Queen of France" and the first paragraph needs to be all about the author, Evelyne Lever, but I am having trouble finding information about her. HELP PLEASE?!

Answer: You are right-there is very little information available on the author, except she is the French historian author of several biographies and is married to another French author:

Marie Antoinette - Teaser Trailer