Of course, we should take into consideration that Arab culture in the 7th century condoned such behavior and that we should not tolerate such behavior in today's world. The problem is that many Muslims today still behave as if they live in the 7th century. Take the Muslims of The Yemen, please: there is no minimum marriage age in The Yemen, and marriages are consummated when the bride is as young as nine years old ².

"OK, OK," you say, "But Yemen is a primitive, backward country; one cannot judge Muslims by what they do in barbaric societies." I was hoping you'd bring that up: Muslims in the UK force marital rape and slavery upon girls as young as 12 ³ and do not believe they are doing anything wrong.

What I don't understand is liberals who excuse such behavior by Muslims on the grounds that "it's a cultural thing" yet are quite vocal when it comes to pedophilia by Catholic priests.

In a related manner, I would like to add pop singer to the career list of pedophiles that can also be adored and worshipped. I believe more people worship Michael Jackson than worship Allah.

Notes

(1):

Univ of Southern California, Sahih Bukhari Volume 7, Book 62, Number 64

Narrated 'Aisha:

that the Prophet married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old, and then she remained with him for nine years (i.e., till his death).

(2):

Planck's Constant, By babies will they vanquish the West

There is no minimum marriage age in the Yemen, and marriages are consummated when the bride is as young as nine years old. Before the young girl reaches the age of nine a man may engage in all kinds of nasties to the young girl as long as there is no penetration, for example, sexual acts such as foreplay, rubbing, kissing and sodomy are allowed. So when you read other bloggers calling Mohammed a paedophile you now know where this comes from.

1400 years ago, there might have been some demographic imperative demanding that young women birth early and often. But Christianity and Judaism long ago abandoned those parts of the Bible and Torah that we consider barbaric today. It is time Islam did likewise. It is not Islamic fundamentalists that pose the greatest danger to modern civilization, but moderate Muslims like those in Yemen who treat their women as cattle and fill the world with more Muslims than they can adequately care for, feed, or educate. It is the world's fastest growing religion and I say that with the same trepidation as I would mentioning a spreading disease.

(3):

Guardian, Revealed: the child brides who are forced to marry in Britain

Community marriages are held in accordance with the religious laws of many south Asian, Turkish, Middle Eastern and north African cultures. After the ceremony, the girl is moved into the home of her 'husband'. She is raped in the name of marital sex, frequently abused by her new family and allowed to attend school only if it would attract the attention of the law if she left.

...

'I've met quite a lot of young girls who were bought into this country by much older men. The youngest was a 12-year-old from Kashmir, who was bought over six years ago to marry her first cousin, a man in his late twenties.'

About a year later, the girl gave birth to a son. 'She worked in a factory in the north of England and though the whole south Asian community there knew she was married and had a son, despite being just 13, they didn't find it odd,' said Fatima.

The girl began to be abused by her husband and made several suicide attempts. 'She was desperate, she was just a child,' said Fatima. 'But I only learnt about when she had grown up enough to flee the abuse and ended up in our refuge.'

The police believe that a central problem in convincing the local community to report these marriages is the belief that they are acting in the best interests of their community.

'Parents have no fear of getting caught because they have no sense that they're doing anything wrong,' said Jim Blair, head of the Metropolitan Police's Diversity Directorate. 'Parents who force their children into marriages justify their behaviour as building stronger families and protecting cultural and religious traditions.'