-It was common practice at the time.
Just because pedophilia was the norm in Arab society back then (whether this is true or not, I don't know, just going with the argument), that doesn't make it right, it means they were ignorant to that which was wrong. By using moral relativists arguments, no one can critisise anything, the child sacrifices commited by the Incans cannot be critisised and has to be understood under its historical and cultural context. So should we defend what the Incans did just because it was considered acceptable to them?.
-Aisha never had anything but kind words for him.
Hitler's followers never had anything bad to say about him. Aisha, like most Muslims, was indoctrinated into Islam since birth. Muslims don't have anything bad to say about Muhammad, and don't see anything wrong with a 50+ year old man having sex with a 9 year old, massacring an entire tribe and enslaving woman and children into slavery.
-No enemy of the Prophet ever used this point against him
That's probably because they were marrying and having sex with little kids themselves, considering it was a "common practice".
-everyone, even here in the West, practiced this until surprisingly recent times
What evidence do you have?, even if we assume that this was indeed the case, it still doesn't make it right.
You cannot judge an act/practice to be moral simply on the basis on the number of people committing it, it's a bit like me saying that it's ok for me to go and steal because it's so common.
So if one finds it morally 'wrong'... how do they justify their own stance as more 'right' and not simply ethnocentric? At what age should a girl be considered 'ready' for a sexual relationship?
-these questions were put to me recently, and things got... well, messy. But before I weigh in, I'd like to hear what some others have to say.
What I find a bit puzzling, is that when Muslims are confronted with this particular episode in Muhammad's life, they quickly resort to moral relativists arguments such as understanding the marriage within the historical context. However, when it comes to issues like homosexuality, then Muslims are not so flexible in their opinions, they are absolutely against it, and that homosexuals must be punished.
So moral relativism for Muhammad having sex with a 9 year old, but moral absolutism for everything else, why such hipocracy?.
And did Muhammad come to reform society or become a victim to the backwardness of the society in which he lived in?.
Topic: Marriage to Aisha