Politics And Religion Don't Mix

Fact: Sahih al-Bukhari (volume 5, book 58, number 234), a Hadith, quotes Aisha, one of their prophets wives herself as stating: “The Messenger of God married me when I was six, and consummated the marriage with me when I was nine.”

Nupur Sharma - Then BJP Spokesperson

.... with seems pretty straight forward, and is accepted by many Muslims around the world, hence the areas where child brides are still taken.

Muslims, who defend this 'Islamic tradition', have argued that there was a reason for the absence criticism for this marriage until recently, which is that marriage and age are so historically and culturally contextual, and that what would be considered illegal now, was not in many parts of their world until very recently. 

Also, in fact the Quran states that a Muslim marriage is void unless entered into by consenting adults (adults are those who have entered puberty), and that as some accounts state that Aisha had already been engaged to someone else, before she later married the prophet, this suggests that she must have already been mature enough by the standards of her society, to be able consider marriage for quite a while. Therefore it seems difficult to reconcile this, with her being aged 'six'.

Critical historical analysis by some Muslim scholars, have also tried to refute Aisha's recollection of her age events by pointing to various anomalies in her accounts, that suggest for events to tie in, she must in fact have been older, maybe as old as 15 when she married. This in a society where records of birth weren't kept. 

In medieval Europe, Christians were allowed to marry from puberty onwards, generally seen at the time as age 12 for women and 14 for men. Parental consent was not required. Similarly Christian tradition held that the Lady Mary, was aged between 12-14 years of age when she was married to Joseph, and had the virgin birth. 

So insisting on 21st century (Western) ideas on morality and marriage, which evolved in their own right, for a very different time and place is an historically incorrect approach. However in 2022 in Iran, Mona Heydari, 17, who had been forced to marry her cousin Sajjad Heydari, when she was aged just 12, and who had a 3 year old child, was murdered by him in a so called 'honour killing' .... so child marriages are still being carried out in backward areas, justified by the Quran's interpretation of adulthood at puberty (the legal age for marriage in Iran is still just 13 for girls), despite claims that the practise has died out.

But in India, in the increasingly polarised politics of religion in India, such subtleties of context are not recognised. On a TV show live debate, Nupur Sharmathe BJP spokesperson said, “They (Muslims) should be told to shut up and stop insulting our (Hindu) religion. Otherwise, we are also capable of hitting them where it hurts. They may call it a fountain [a disputed Mosque / Temple site], as much as they want, but the reality is that even the Supreme Court ordered immediate protection of the area…” 

She then went on to make even more comments targeting Muslims asking, “Claims made in the Quran about your flying horses… that the earth is flat …should I make fun of it?” But the bit that caused the controversy was when she stated that the Prophet Mohammed, had married and had sex with a child.

Cue, predictable outrage in the Muslim world .... although as this is what the Hadiths say, I am not sure what's the problem .... maybe it was couched in vulgar terms? .... its hard to say, as the Muslim fearing Western media, have all shied away from repeating what was said, showing that death threats can stifle free speech in the West. 

The BBC for example said 'that it is not repeating Ms Sharma's remarks as they are offensive in nature'. Naveen Jindal, who was media head of the BJP's Delhi unit, had also posted a provocative tweet on the same issue. The video of it just shows the argument slipping from English, in to another Indian language, which is not translated.

Kuwait, Iran and Qatar, UAE, Oman, Indonesia, Iraq, the Maldives, Jordan, Libya and Bahrain all condemned the remarks, while Saudi Arabia issued a strongly worded statement. Basically calling for a public apology from the Indian government (which it has struggled to find a wording for, that appeases Muslim states, but doesn't anger its Hindu supporters - many of whom are angered by the Muslim worlds responses). 

Stating that remarks from some "fringe elements" did not represent the views of the Indian government have not cut it so far. The remarks have been classed as ‘blasphemy’ and an 'insult' to the Prophet by several Islamic leaders, although if it was merely a statement of fact, why is not entirely clear.

The BJP Indian government have thrown the two under the bus, and consequently the two leaders have issued public apologies after death threats from adherents of the religion of peace, and the party has suspended Ms Sharma and expelled Mr Jindal. Millions of Indians live and work in the Arab world and send millions of dollars in remittances back home. The region is also the top source for India's energy imports, while trade with the Arab world was $87 billion in 2020-21.

Geert Wilders Twitter Comments

Meanwhile Dutch MP Geert Wilders has joined in the row, in support of the BJP’s former spokesperson by saying that Ms Sharma’s statement about the Prophet is a fact and not some false allegations. Wilders stated that he gets death threats every single day from Pakistani and Turkish Muslims who want to kill him in the name of the ‘so-called Prophet Muhammad’ and he will never stop speaking the truth. 

So like Pandora's box, Indian politics has spilt out in to a wider world, that is already showing signs of division.