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several attacks have been raised recently against early marriage in Islam which clearly result from ignoring
facts about premodern society and Islam or intentionally concealing them
one such claim is that the Islam's age of consent was relatively low in history
first of all early procreation was the necessity for human survival
Life span ranged from twenty to thirty years due to high death rates
even until the eighteenth century eightt children were still needed by each fertile wife just
to maintain the population
also *** attraction accompanies puberty
which genetically ranges from ages seven to thirteen in women
so whether one believes this instinct resulted from evolution or part of god's plan procreation
after puberty in history is natural and acceptable
according to the journal of psychology and human sexuality
the age of consent throughout history usually coincided with the age of puberty with the
absolute minimum at seven
both that journal and encyclopedia britannica state
at the age of consent laws were passed from roman law to the church to english common
law which states
between seven years in puberty there could be consent but not consummation until puberty
was no parental consent required from the age of twelve
this was confirmed in eighteen seventy seven by the u_s_ supreme court
even today six states in the district of columbia allows this common-law marriage
and such marriages of them constitutionally recognized in all fifty states
marriage as early as seven which was considered the age of reason
or directly after puberty was the norm for the vast majority of of all human society
even until the nineteenth century
thirteen hundred years earlier islam's minimum of nine was two years higher and also added
the protection of requiring parental consent
even after age twelve
as a result not only was Islam's age of consent high other than all premodern law
it also added the protection of requiring parental consent after age twelve
the second claim is that Islam allowed marriage at puberty in premodern times
which cause psychological harm because puberty is too young to give informed consent
the fact is that even until the eighteenth century reaching puberty made becoming an
adult in terms of maturity behavior and responsibility
as stated in the journal of social history online etymology dictionary journal of marriage
and the family
and numerous academic references
children faced the daily struggle for physical and economics survival
and while this type of environmental stress actually causes puberty at a younger age
it's proven to have also speeded psychological maturity
this maturity helped in coping with the responsibilities of early marriage in childbearing
these responsibilities were indeed valued by society
including the most important founding father of the united states Benjamin Franklin
it was only in the industrial mid eighteenth century that psychological maturity started
to delay
due to side effects that are proven to delay maturity such as increasing comforts of life
diminished parental guidance and the children remain children longer to complete their education
it's therefore ridiculous to demand late marriage in premodern society on the pretense of psychological
harm
as it would have wiped out the human race for reasons that only arise for immature adolescents today
since psychological maturity and adulthood were reached at puberty in premodern times
it's also naive to slander early marriage in history as
child *** abuse
the engagement of the child in *** activities which the child is unprepared for developmentally
and can't give informed consent
or *** the *** attraction towards pre-pubescent children
as result
early procreation was psychologically appropriate and even a valued benefit to society
the third claim is that Islam allows procreation at puberty in premodern parents which was
more dangerous to the younger mothers
this attack sites you a UNFPA study, but conceals that the study was for 2 contemporary impoverished nations
and that almost all of these deaths are preventable simply by providing
access and transportation to hospitals
the international journal of epidemiology states studies implicate poverty not maternal
age
as the real threat to maternal and infant welfare
In premodern times the high risk of childbirth due to lack of medical knowledge hygiene affected
all women regardless of age
in fact early procreation was a genetically superior treat for population growth and premodern
times for two reasons
first women who have puberty earlier have children who grow up faster and way more
second life-history theory states that in a less stable environment natural selection
will favor individuals that reproduce earlier within the population
as result early procreation was not harmful
but beneficial to newborns and genetics
the fourth claim is that Islam allows marriage at puberty in modern times which causes
*** and psychological harm
first of all it's untrue that islamic age of consent is lower in modern times compared
to other laws
for example in the u_s_ and other countries currently allow marriage well under the age
of sixteen with pregnancy or parental or court approval
seventeen Islamic countries have age of consent ranging from fifteen to eighteen years with
parental consent which was raised specifically as an implementation of islamic law
in fact because of the contemporary delay in maturity marriage at puberty today would violate
six basic islamic rules
first
"Rushd", psychological maturity, or "prudent judgement" is required before marriage
no one should harm anyone else
third
people's best interest must be observed
fourth no one should bear any burden beyond their capacity
fifth governments and guardians are intrested to act correctly
six compliance Urf
new social norms that are considered good
secondly it's untrue that islamic marital law results in more harm in modern times compared
to other laws
in fact the islamic requirement of marriage provides to every *** relationship and
its potential offspring the benefits of faithfulness emotional support mutual trust commitment
parental guidance and wide social support
in addition with a slightly lower average age of marriage islamic countries benefit
from that early marriage mentality which is proving to result in psychological maturity
at a relatively younger age
on the other hand non-islamic societies permit
and condones *** activities years before psychological maturity and the legal age of marriage
which causes devastating *** harm to level accidents such as the following current u_s_
statistics
fifty percent of child *** abuse offenders are adolescents themselves committing ***
abuse child *** child prostitution and *** using deception force or coercion
35% of all 17 year olds have been sexually abused12% of all 14 year olds have had sex "involuntarily".
"Half of all new *** infections occur among adolescents70% of 13 year olds who had sex said it was "against their will".
7% of 12 year olds have had sex90% of prostitutes were victims of child *** abuse.[
"The average age at which girls first become victims of prostitution is 12-14".
Sexually active teenagers are 3 to 8 times as likely to attempt suicide76% of unplanned teen mothers end up on welfare
countries that choose legalized prostitution as their solution like germany the netherlands
sweden and denmark
end up with increased rates of child prostitution and sex trafficking child *** ***
and even people *** sex with animals
it
in modern times the age of puberty has fallen below the age of psychological maturity ***
values have greatly degraded
and the late marriage mentality is delaying psychological maturity even further
these three trends will continue to increase the above devastating *** harm to our adolescents
in non-islamic countries
while extremely rare cases of marriage at puberty in afghanistan's countryside are exploited
to attack all Muslims
it must be noted that even islamic countries that have not yet officially raised the minimum
age of consent they have done so in practice
otherwise Islam's critics will publicise more than just a few cases from some isolated
tent villages
more importantly
even such islamic countries don't have any of the *** atrocities that are documented
at alarmingly high ratios in the same countries attacking Islam
as a result the Islam's flexible marital are provides far better protection than contemporary laws
by prohibiting *** activities prior to psychological maturity and then marriage
in conclusion
Islam responsibly channels *** instincts to marriage
with the prior condition of psychological maturity
and contrary to claims of improved morality non Islamic laws have alarmingly driven
child *** abuse and psychological harm to epidemic proportions
therefore when such attacks against islam are analyzed impartially the review of the
perfect applicability of Islam's solution from the seventh century until today indeed
utter failure of any other system to provide any protection or whatsoever to society's
youth
at best these attacks are also found to be irresponsibly superficial due to the seriousness
of this issue