Why would the Swedish government issue this leaflet in the first place? Because child marriage is approved in Islam, and the Swedish government knows who the new masters of Sweden are.
“Islam has no age barrier in marriage and Muslims have no apology for those who refuse to accept this” — Ishaq Akintola, professor of Islamic Eschatology and Director of Muslim Rights Concern, Nigeria
“There is no minimum marriage age for either men or women in Islamic law. The law in many countries permits girls to marry only from the age of 18. This is arbitrary legislation, not Islamic law.” — Dr. Abd Al-Hamid Al-‘Ubeidi, Iraqi expert on Islamic law
There is no minimum age for marriage and that girls can be married “even if they are in the cradle.” — Dr. Salih bin Fawzan, prominent cleric and member of Saudi Arabia’s highest religious council
“Islam does not forbid marriage of young children.” — Pakistan’s Council of Islamic Ideology
Hadiths that Muslims consider authentic record that Muhammad’s favorite wife, Aisha, was six when Muhammad wedded her and nine when he consummated the marriage:
“The Prophet wrote the (marriage contract) with Aisha while she was six years old and consummated his marriage with her while she was nine years old and she remained with him for nine years (i.e. till his death)” (Bukhari 7.62.88).
Another tradition has Aisha herself recount the scene:
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 all right, 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. (Bukhari 5.58.234).
Muhammad was at this time fifty-four years old.
Marrying young girls was not all that unusual for its time, but because in Islam Muhammad is the supreme example of conduct (cf. Qur’an 33:21), he is considered exemplary in this unto today. And so in April 2011, the Bangladesh Mufti Fazlul Haque Amini declared that those trying to pass a law banning child marriage in that country were putting Muhammad in a bad light: “Banning child marriage will cause challenging the marriage of the holy prophet of Islam, [putting] the moral character of the prophet into controversy and challenge.” He added a threat: “Islam permits child marriage and it will not be tolerated if any ruler will ever try to touch this issue in the name of giving more rights to women.” The Mufti said that 200,000 jihadists were ready to sacrifice their lives for any law restricting child marriage.
Likewise the influential website Islamonline.com in December 2010 justified child marriage by invoking not only Muhammad’s example, but the Qur’an as well:
The Noble Qur’an has also mentioned the waiting period [i.e. for a divorced wife to remarry] for the wife who has not yet menstruated, saying: “And those who no longer expect menstruation among your women, if you doubt, then their period is three months, and [also for] those who have not menstruated” [Qur’an 65:4]. Since this is not negated later, we can take from this verse that it is permissible to have sexual intercourse with a prepubescent girl. The Qur’an is not like the books of jurisprudence which mention what the implications of things are, even if they are prohibited. It is true that the prophet entered into a marriage contract with A’isha when she was six years old, however he did not have sex with her until she was nine years old, according to al-Bukhari.
Other countries make Muhammad’s example the basis of their laws regarding the legal marriageable age for girls. Article 1041 of the Civil Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran states that girls can be engaged before the age of nine, and married at nine: “Marriage before puberty (nine full lunar years for girls) is prohibited. Marriage contracted before reaching puberty with the permission of the guardian is valid provided that the interests of the ward are duly observed.”
According to Amir Taheri in The Spirit of Allah: Khomeini and the Islamic Revolution (pp. 90-91), Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini himself married a ten-year-old girl when he was twenty-eight. Khomeini called marriage to a prepubescent girl “a divine blessing,” and advised the faithful to give their own daughters away accordingly: “Do your best to ensure that your daughters do not see their first blood in your house.” When he took power in Iran, he lowered the legal marriageable age of girls to nine, in accord with Muhammad’s example.
“The National Board of Social Affairs withdraws ‘pedophile leaflet’ – was commissioned by the government,” translated from “Socialstyrelsen drar tillbaka ‘pedofilfolder’ – togs fram på uppdrag av regeringen,” Fria Tider, March 29, 2018 (thanks to Denny):
Domestic. After the morning’s quick and very powerful reactions to the National Board of Health’s new folder “Information for you who is married to a child,” the authority now withdraws the information sheet, which in social media has been accused of being a brochure for pedophiles.
It was on Thursday morning that it was discovered that the National Board of Health and Welfare published a leaflet entitled “Adapting to adults who are married to a child”.
The folder states, among other things, that it is “inappropriate for you to live together if the child is under 15 years” because it is forbidden to have sex with children under 15 in Sweden.
Nowhere in the text is there anything about prison.
In the magazine you can also read that “The Social Service may suggest that you do not live together for a shorter or longer period.”
The National Board of Health and Welfare also writes in the magazine that: “Both the Social Service and the Migration Board will work to give the child the opportunity to express his or her own opinion, where to live and how it wants it.”
“The illustrations are insensitive, it might have been suitable for information about school start or something else neutral,” says journalist Sakine Madon to SVT, pointing out that formulations like being “inappropriate if you live together” are far too soft, because child marriage is such a serious phenomenon.
After very strong reactions, the National Board of Health has decided to withdraw the material.
“The material has raised strong reactions and many views. We pull back the material and look over it, “said Petra Rinman, Unit Manager for Knowledge Center for Single Children, in a press release.
According to the National Board of Health and Welfare, the material has been developed within the framework of a government assignment to develop and disseminate information to children who are declared married, spouses, parents and other related persons with information about current laws and practice in Sweden.
The material is said to have been developed based on existing legislation.
“Sweden does not allow anyone under the age of 18 to be married in this country. However, according to current legislation, the main rule is that a marriage valid under the law of the country in which it is concluded is to be recognized in civil law in Sweden. New legislation is currently being prepared by the government, “said Pär Ödman, Chief Legal Officer of the National Board of Health.
The proposed preparation proposes “additional restrictions” for child marriages, the National Board of Health and Welfare writes. However, not a total ban.
In social media, many responded vigorously to the folder, and claimed, among other things, that it is a brochure for pedophiles….
EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on Jihad Watch.