Following are excerpts from a religious program presented by Egyptian cleric Sheik Abdallah Kamal, which aired on Safa TV on January 9, 2012:
Abdallah Kamal: "I mentioned yesterday that the Prophet Muhammad married Aisha when she was six years old, and had sexual intercourse with her when she was nine years old. People might raise an eyebrow and ask how such a thing could be.
"This hadith has been taken, by people with ulterior motives, and by people who hate the Prophet Muhammad – whether Christians, Orientalists, or even some Muslims… They, however, made a great mistake, and in their efforts to defend the Prophet Muhammad – and although we think highly of them – they made a very dangerous mistake, and attributed a falsehood to Imam Al-Bukhari, and made him appear to have made a mistake.
"In an effort to ingratiate themselves upon human rights organizations, they denied that the Prophet Muhammad married Aisha, mother of the believers, at such a young age. Some of the malevolent people, like the deceiver, Zakariya [Boutrus] – and [the prophet Zakariya] has nothing to do with him – took that hadith and accused the Prophet Muhammad of being a child rapist. We say to him: Shut up. May Allah silence you, cut off your tongue, and destroy the very foundations of your being, for you are leveling accusations against the master of humanity, the beloved of God, the Messenger of the Lord of the Worlds. […]
"This [union] was decreed by Allah, and therefore, the Prophet Muhammad only married Aisha because of a decree by Allah. […]
"The marriage of Aisha, mother of the believers to the Prophet Muhammad, was not her first marriage. She was betrothed, even before that, to Jubayr ibn Mut'im. Before the Prophet Muhammad married her, Aisha was betrothed to Jubayr ibn Mut'im. […]
"The environment differs from one place to another, from one climate to another, and from one country to another. In some countries, a girl reaches puberty at the age of 8 or 9. Moreover, religious scholars have written, in the books of jurisprudence that a girl may menstruate and even give birth at the age of 9 years. She can give birth at the age of 9 years.
"Okay. So where is this cruelty and barbarism they are talking about? How can they claim that the Prophet Muhammad only cared about his desire and his lust? What is this obvious deception? […]
"In warm places, girls reach puberty at a very early age – generally at the age of 8 years. In cold places, girls' puberty is delayed until the age of 21 years – as is the case in some cold countries. […]
"Where do you stand with regard to the wedding of Joseph the Carpenter, who, as you write in your own holy books, married the Virgin Mary when she was only 12 years old and he was 90 years old? Is it not written in your books? Read your own holy scripture. Joseph the Carpenter was 90 years old, while Mary was 12 years old. Why don't you denounce this?!"
