Muhaddith.org
Islam
answers - Early marriage
Several
attacks have been raised recently against early marriage in Islam, which
clearly result from ignoring facts about pre-modern society and Islam,
or intentionally concealing them.
1)
Age
of Consent in History
One
such claim is that “Islam’s age of consent was relatively low in
history”.
 |
First
of all, early procreation was a necessity for human survival. Lifespan
ranged from 20 to 30 years,[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
due to high death rates.[10]
[11]
[12]
Even until the 18th century, 8 children were still needed by
each fertile wife just to maintain the population.[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]
[17]
[18]
[19]
[20]
Also, sexual attraction accompanies puberty,[21]
[22]
which genetically ranges from ages 7 to 13 in women.[23]
[24]
[25]
[26]
[27]
[28]
[29]
[30]
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 & Human Sexuality, the “age of consent throughout
history…usually coincided with the age of puberty” with “the
absolute minimum at seven”.[31]
Both that Journal and Encyclopedia Britannica state that
age of consent laws were passed from Roman law to the Church to English
Common Law,[32]
[33]
which states: “between 7 years and puberty there could be consent but
not consummation” until puberty, with no parental consent required
from the age of 12.[34]
This was confirmed in 1877 by the US Supreme Court.[35]
[36]
Even today, 6 states and the
District
of Columbia
allow this Common Law marriage, [37]
[38]
[39]
[40]
[41]
[42]
and such marriages are then constitutionally recognized in all 50 states.[43]
|
|
Marriage
as early as age 7, which was considered the “age of reason”,[44]
[45]
or directly after puberty was the norm for the vast majority of all
human society even until the 19th century.[46]
[47]
[48]
[49]
[50]
|
|
1300
years earlier, Islam’s minimum of 9 was 2 years higher, and also added
the protection of requiring parental consent even after age 12.[51]
|
|
The
delay of puberty in industrialized cities between 1700 and 1850 does not
disprove the norm of early marriage in history, because that was an
abnormal result of poor sanitation, [52]
[53]
[54]
lack of exercise, and the vast introduction of cheap, un-nutritious
cereal diets.[55]
[56]
[57]
|
As
a result, not only was Islam’s age of consent higher than all
pre-modern law, it also added the protection of requiring parental
consent after age 12.
2)
Psychological
Maturity in History
The
second claim is that “Islam allowed marriage at puberty in
pre-modern times, which caused psychological harm because puberty was
too young to give informed consent”.
|
·The
fact is that even until the 18th century, reaching puberty
meant 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.[58]
[59]
[60]
[61]
[62]
[63]
|
|
·Children
faced the daily struggle for physical and economic survival,[64]
[65]
[66]
[67]
[68]
and while this type of “environmental stress” actually causes
puberty at a younger age,[69]
[70]
[71]
it is proven to have also speeded psychological maturity.[72]
[73]
[74]
[75]
[76]
This maturity helped in coping with the responsibilities of early
marriage and childbearing.
|
|
·
These
responsibilities were indeed valued by society, including the most
important founding father of the
United
States
,[77]
Benjamin Franklin.[78]
|
|
It
was only in the industrial mid-18th century that
psychological maturity started to delay,[79]
due to side effects that are proven to delay maturity such as:
increasing comforts of life, diminished parental guidance,[80]
[81]
[82]
and that “children remained children longer to complete their
education”.[83]
[84]
[85]
[86]
|
|
·
It
is therefore ridiculous to “demand late marriage in pre-modern
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
pre-modern times,
it is also naive to slander early marriage in history as:
|
1)
Child
sexual abuse: "the engagement of a child in sexual activities for
which the child is developmentally unprepared and cannot give informed
consent”.[87]
2)
Pedophilia:
the sexual attraction towards pre-pubescent children.[88]
[89]
[90]
As
a result, early procreation was psychologically appropriate and even a
valued benefit to society.
3)
Risks
of Early Procreation in History
The
third claim is that “Islam allowed procreation at puberty in
pre-modern times, which was more dangerous to the younger mothers”.
|
This
attack cites 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.[91]
The
International Journal of Epidemiology states “studies implicate
poverty, not maternal age, as the real threat to maternal and infant
welfare”.[92]
In pre-modern times, the high risk of childbirth, due to lack of
medical knowledge and hygiene, affected all women regardless of age.[93]
|
|
·In
fact, early procreation was a genetically superior trait for population
growth in pre-modern times for 2 reasons:
|
1)
Women
who have puberty earlier have children who grow up faster and weigh
more.[94]
2)
“Life
history theory” states that in a less stable environment, “natural
selection will favor individuals that reproduce earlier...within a
population”.[95]
[96]
As
a result, early procreation was not harmful, but beneficial to newborns
and genetics.
4)
Early
Marriage in Modern Times
The
fourth claim is that “Islam allows marriage at puberty in modern
times, which causes sexual and psychological harm”.
|
First
of all, it is untrue that Islamic age of consent is lower in modern
times compared to other laws. For example, the
US
and other countries currently allow marriage well under the age of 16
with pregnancy, or parental or court approval.[97]
In contrast, 17 Islamic countries have age of consent ranging from 15 to
18 years with parental consent,[98]
[99]
[100]
[101]
[102]
[103]
[104]
[105]
[106]
[107]
[108]
[109]
[110]
[111]
[112]
[113]
[114]
which was raised specifically as an implementation of Islamic Law.[115]
[116]
In fact, because of the contemporary delay in maturity, marriage at
puberty today would violate 6 basic Islamic rules:
|
1)
“Rushd”,
psychological maturity, or “prudent judgement” is required before
marriage.[117]
[118]
2)
No
one should harm anyone else.
[119]
[120]
[121]
[122]
3)
People’s
best interests must be observed.[123]
4)
No
one should bear any burden beyond their capacity.
[124]
[125]
[126]
[127]
[128]
5)
Governments
and guardians are entrusted to act correctly.[129]
[130]
[131]
6)
Compliance
to “urf”, new social norms that are considered good.[132]
[133]
[134]
|
·
Secondly,
it is 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 sexual relationship and its potential
offspring the benefits of faithfulness, emotional support, mutual trust,
commitment,[135]
parental guidance and wide social support.[136]
In addition, with a slightly lower average age of marriage, Islamic
countries benefit from the early marriage mentality, which is proven to
result in psychological maturity at a relatively younger age.[137]
On the other hand, non-Islamic societies permit and condone sexual
activities years before psychological maturity and the legal age of
marriage,[138]
which causes devastating sexual harm to adolescents, such as the
following current
US
statistics:
|
o
50%
of child sexual abuse offenders are adolescents themselves,[139]
committing sexual abuse, child pornography, child prostitution and
incest,[140]
using deception, force or coercion.[141]
o
35%
of all 17 year olds have been sexually abused.[142]
[143]
o
12%
of all 14 year olds have had sex “involuntarily”.[144]
o
“Half
of all new HIV infections occur among adolescents”.[145]
[146]
o
70%
of 13 year olds who had sex said it was “against their will”.[147]
o
7%
of 12 year olds have had sex.[148]
[149]
o
90%
of prostitutes were victims of child sexual abuse.[150]
[151]
[152]
o
“The
average age at which girls first become victims of prostitution is
12-14”.[153]
o
Sexually
active teenagers are 3 to 8 times as likely to attempt suicide.[154]
[155]
o
76%
of unplanned teen mothers end up on welfare[156]
o
Every
year in the world’s richest countries,
there are 1.25 million teen pregnancies and
500,000 teen abortions.[157]
o
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,[158]
[159]
[160]
[161]
child pornography,[162]
[163]
incest,[164]
[165]
and even legal “beastiality”, sex with animals.[166]
[167]
[168]
[169]
|
In
modern times, the age of puberty has fallen [170]
[171]
below the age of psychological maturity,[172]
[173]
[174]
sexual values have greatly degraded,[175]
and the late marriage mentality is delaying psychological maturity even
further.[176]
These 3 trends will continue to increase the above devastating sexual
harm to 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 in Islamic countries that have not yet officially raised the
minimum age of consent, they have done so in practice. Otherwise
Islam’s critics would have publicized more than just a few cases from
some isolated tent villages. More importantly,
even such Islamic countries do not have any of the sexual atrocities
that are documented at alarmingly high ratios in the same countries
attacking Islam.
|
As
a result, Islam’s flexible marital law provides far better protection
than contemporary laws by prohibiting sexual activities prior to
psychological maturity and then marriage.
CONCLUSION
In
conclusion, Islam responsibly channels sexual instincts through
marriage, with the prior condition of psychological maturity. And
contrary to claims of improved morality, non-Islamic laws have
alarmingly driven child sexual abuse and psychological harm to epidemic
proportions.
Therefore,
when such attacks against Islam are analyzed impartially, they reveal
the perfect applicability of Islam’s solution from the 7th
century until today, and the utter failure of any other system to
provide any protection whatsoever to society’s youth. At best, these
attacks are also found to be irresponsibly superficial due to the
seriousness of this issue.
[9]
It's
Getting Better All the Time: 100 Greatest Trends of the Last 100
Years By Stephen Moore, Julian Lincoln Simon
“Throughout most of human history,
death came at an early age--25 to 30 years was a typical lifespan.
The essential element of the human condition was a day-to-say
struggle to fend off death...Increasing life expectancy at birth
from the lower 20s to the high 20s around 1750 took thousands of
years. Over the next two centuries, life expectancy in the richest
countries suddenly accelerated and tripled. From the mid-18th
century to today, life spans in the advanced countries jumped from
less than 30 years to about 75 years.”
[13]
"Saga
Background: Women", Theban Tribunal Sourcebook
“...Early marriage and procreation
of children was the norm in
Byzantium
...One reason for the promotion of teenage
marriage was the emphasis on the virginity of the bride. Another,
unstated reason may have been the desire to make the most of the
childbearing years; because of the high rate of infant mortality, a
woman had to bear many children to insure the survival of a few.
Furthermore, since many women died young (if they survived infancy,
they had an average life expectancy of about thirty-five years), it
behooved them to marry and begin producing children as soon as
physically possible.”
[14]
THE
DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION, Keith Montgomery, Department of Geography
and Geology, University of Wisconsin Marathon County
"STAGE ONE is associated with pre
Modern times, and is characterized by a balance between birth rates
and death rates...The high rate of birth (even higher if one were to
adjust it for women of childbearing age) could be due any or all of
the factors that are
associated with high fertility even today in many less developed
countries. With a high death rate among children, there would be
little incentive in rural societies to control fertility except in
the most unbearable of circumstances...STAGE TWO sees a rise in
population caused by a decline in the death rate while the birth
rate remains high, or perhaps even rises slightly. The decline in
the death rate in
Europe
began in the late 18th.C. in northwestern
Europe
and spread over the next 100 years to the south
end east."
[16]
Crisis
In The Family: Connecticut And The Nation, Lou Ratté, Yale-New
Haven Teachers Institute
“In concrete terms, historians
observe, the American woman of 1800 bore, on the average, seven or
eight children; the American woman of 1900 bore three or four...You
can start with an initial population of 100. Half of them are women.
Those fifty women have to produce 200 children in twenty years. If
all the women produced an equal number of children, and all the
children lived, the number of children necessary would be four.
However, ten percent of the women don’t marry. Eliminate five
women. Ten percent of the women who do marry prove to be infertile.
Eliminate another five women. Finally, ten percent of the women lose
their husbands before they can produce children. Eliminate another
ten percent. You are left with thirty-five women. These women could
produce 200 children if each bore 5.7, or between five and six
children each. However, ten percent of the children, or twenty, die
as infants, and another ten percent do not live into adulthood to
produce children of their own. Add another twenty. You now have 240
births necessary. Remember, though, that of the 200 children, half
of which will be female, that you want, thirty percent will not be
able to do their share of reproducing. You need an additional sixty
children to ensure that the population can continue to double. So,
you need 300 children. Divide that number by the available
thirty-five women. Each woman must bear between eight and nine
children...Between seven and eight is the figure that demographic
historians estimate was the average for number of children in the
American family in 1800”
[17]
William
Faulkner, a twentieth- century American novelist once wrote, “The
past is not dead, Sep 2004
"In the 17th century, the
majority of people worked as farmers.
In this profession, it was beneficial to have as many people
helping as possible in order to maximize profit. Thus, the average
number of children per household was 8.3 compared to today’s 1.3
children, according to 'Colonial America to 1763'."
[18]
The
Real Population Problem: Too Few Working, Too Many Retired, William
Poole and David C. Wheelock, The Regional Economist, April 2005
“For centuries, the world’s population grew slowly, as high
rates of mortality largely offset high birth rates.”
[22]
Puberty
May Start at 6 As Hormones Surge, By HARA ESTROFF MARANO, July 1,
1997
“...the adrenal sex steroids do what sex hormones typically
do, influence behavior as well as the body...Using data from three
separate studies, they said that sexual attraction first manifested
itself in the fourth grade, from the ages of 9 to 10...In Dr.
Herdt's study, the mean age of first-recalled sexual attraction was
9.6 for men, 10.1 for women. In the cancer institute's studies, the
mean age of first sexual attraction was 10 to 10.5...Dr. Herdt
recalled 'being struck by the significant number of teens in our
study who made remarks about attractions' occurring at 9 or 10. 'I
thought that was strange, certainly inconsistent with the
literature,' Dr. Herdt said. 'But many of the teens specifically
placed their experiences in the fourth grade'.”
[23]
”New
research shows how evolution explains age of puberty”, From the
University of Southampton
“They found that Paleolithic girls
arrived at menarche - the first occurrence of menstruation - between
seven and 13 years. This is a similar age to modern girls, which
suggests that this is the evolutionarily determined age of puberty
in girls...Disease and poor nutrition became more common as humans
settled, causing puberty to be delayed. Modern hygiene, nutrition
and medicine have allowed the age of menarche to fall to its
original range.“
[24]
When
Little Girls Become Women: Early Onset of Puberty in Girls
“There are new guidelines for
pediatricians that are guaranteed to shock: girls who start to
develop breasts and pubic hair at age six or seven are not
necessarily "abnormal" (Kaplowitz, et al., 1999). In fact,
by their ninth birthday, 48% of African American girls and 15% of
white girls are showing clear signs of puberty.”
[25]
"reproductive
system disease." Encyclopedia Britannica. 2008
“ ’Abnormally early’ has
traditionally been defined as younger than 9 years in boys and
younger than 8 years in girls, though studies undertaken since the
1990s indicate that the normal onset of puberty may be occurring at
a younger age in girls in developed countries and that therefore the
age of precocious puberty for girls may actually be as low as 6 or
7.”
[26]
Early
Puberty: What Is Normal and When Is Treatment Indicated?
“Girls and boys who enter puberty
before 8 and 9 years of age, respectively (corresponding to about -3
SDS), are arbitrarily considered to need referral for endocrine
investigation. A recent report from the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric
Endocrine Society suggested that the limit for investigation of
girls and boys should be lowered to 7 and 8 years, respectively. For
African-American girls, 6 years is the suggested age.”
[27]
Nutritional
Information, Precocious puberty
“Precocious puberty, or early sexual
development, is happening everywhere. It’s estimated that one out
of six girls aged eight may be entering puberty. The age at which
puberty begins has been steadily declining. Today, the average age
of first menstruation is under 12 years. Reports of early puberty
have come from many countries including
Canada
, the
US
,
Australia
,
Britain
, the European Union,
Asia
, and the
Caribbean
. A groundbreaking US study on 17,000 girls found
that 27 percent of African-American and almost seven percent of
Caucasian girls had the onset of secondary sexual characteristics,
i.e., either breast development or pubic hair development, by the
age of seven. By the time the girls turned eight-years-old, 15
percent of Caucasian girls and 50 percent of Afro-American girls
were starting puberty. Even more startling was the finding that one
percent of Caucasian and three percent of African-American girls
showed these characteristics by the age of three.”
[29]
Puberty,
Encyclopedia of Psychology
Although most children begin puberty
between the ages of 10 and 12, it can start at any age from 8 to 16.
The most obvious determining factor is gender; on average, puberty
arrives earlier for girls than boys.
[31]
“Age
of Consent A Historical Overview” Journal of Psychology &
Human Sexuality, Volume: 16 Issue: 2/3, 5/3/2005
“Age of Consent throughout history
has usually coincided with the age of puberty although at sometimes
it has been as early as seven. Early on age of consent was a
familial or tribal matter and only became a legal one in the
Greco-Roman period. The Roman tradition served as the base for
Christian Europe as well as the Christian Church itself which
generally, essentially based upon biological development, set it at
12 or 14 but continued to set the absolute minimum at seven. In the
past century there has been a tendency to raise the age of consent
but the reasons for the change have not always been clear and the
issue has been further complicated by the reluctance of many
contemporary historians to recognize what the actual age of consent
in the past has been. This failure has distorted the importance of
biology on age of consent in the past.”
[33]
“sexual
behaviour, human” Encyclopedia Britannica 2008
“when secular law replaced religious
law, there was rather little change in content...in England and the
United States there was no such rift with the past. In the latter
country, as each new state joined the union, its sex laws simply
duplicated, to a great extent, those of pre-existing states;”
[34]
“family
law” Encyclopedia Britannica 2008
“Historically, the attitude of the
English common law was that a person under seven years of age lacked
the mental ability to consent to marriage, and that between seven
years and puberty there could be consent but not consummation. At
common law, therefore, the marriage of a person between the ages of
seven and 12 or 14 was “inchoate” and would become “choate”
on reaching puberty, if no objection was raised.”
[35]
MEISTER V.
MOORE, 96 U. S. 76 (1877)
“The defense was:...That that
evidence utterly failed to establish a valid marriage at common law.
The Revised Statutes of Michigan upon the subject of the
solemnization of marriages, adopted in the year 1838 and in force at
the time of the alleged marriage, enact as follows:...
'SEC. 6. Marriages may be solemnized by any justice of the peace in
the county in which he is chosen, and they may be solemnized
throughout the state by any minister of the gospel who has been
ordained according to the usages of his denomination and who resides
within this state and continues to preach the gospel.'
'SEC. 8. In the solemnization of marriage, no particular form shall
be required except that the parties shall solemnly declare, in the
presence of the magistrate or minister and the attending witnesses,
that they take each other as husband and wife. In every case there
shall be at least two witnesses, besides the minister or magistrate,
present at the ceremony.' "
[36]
MARRIAGE
OF MINORS.; THE NEW LAW FIXING THE AGE OF CONSENT--CRIMINAL
LIABILITY OF CLERGYMEN AND MAGISTRATES, New York Times, July 14,
1887
“At common law, a marriage
contracted under the age of consent was not regarded as void, but
only as an imperfect marriage, valid until voided by the parties
after their arrival at the age of consent...The common law rule of
14 in males and 12 in females was derived from the civil law, also
substantially from the canon...In the revision of the statutes, the
age of consent was fixed at 17 for males and 14 for females, but so
deep rooted had the common law become that the section was repealed
by chapter 320 of the laws of 1830, the Legislature of that year
having arrived at the conclusion that owing to the delicate nature
of the marital relation and the complications growing out of it, the
common law rule had better be allowed to stand.”
[37]
"Common
Law Marriages", New York Divorce and Family Law
“Infancy was also an impediment to
marriage. Children below the age of seven were incapable of
marrying. After the age of seven they might marry, but the marriage
was voidable until they were able to consummate the marriage, which
the law presumed to be at age fourteen for boys and twelve for
girls. Beyond those ages the marriages were valid, even though the
parties were under the age of twenty-one and did not have their
parents' consent. Later statutes imposed the requirement of parents'
consent.”
[38]
DC Almanac,
Marriage
"MICHAEL WASSERMAN, DC HISTORY
NET - Based on my review of the statute applicable between 1901 and
1925...Sections 1283 and 1284 specify which marriages are absolutely
void or merely voidable after judicial decree....The fourth
paragraph of section 1284 (added in 1902) specifically declares the
age of consent to marriage to be 16 for males and 14 for females,
and makes marriages in which one party is under age voidable at the
suit of the party."
[39]
"Issuance
of marriage license to persons under 18", Joslyn Wilson,
Assistant Attorney General
“At common law, a male was deemed
competent to contract a valid marriage at 14 years of age; for
females the age of consent was 12 years. Green v. Green, supra; 55
C.J.S. Marriage s. 11. Any marriage, however, occurring between the
age of 7 years and the age of consent was merely voidable, but a
marriage where one or both of the parties were under the age of 7
years was void and without legal significance. 55 C.J.S. Marriage s.
11. A marriage by one above the age of consent but below the age of
contract generally is fully valid. 55 C.J.S. Marriage s. 11 at p.
823; also see Hunt v. Hunt, 161 So. 119, 122 (
Miss.
1935). Although not required at common law, the
state may require the consent of the parents or guardian as a
preliminary to the marriage of minors. 55 C.J.S. Marriage s. 23.”
[40]
"Silent
Partners", Legal Assistance for Military Personnel
“Voidable marriages are those where
insufficient age, fraud, duress, sham ceremony, physical disability
(disease or incurable impotence), or mental disability taint what
appears to be an otherwise valid marriage. If a marriage is voidable,
then it must be "avoided" (or challenged in court) by the
one whose disability causes the problem at some point in time before
the listing of the disability. Otherwise, avoidable marriage may
"cure" into a valid marriage...A different kind of common
law marriage is represented by the situation where a valid marriage
is formed from an invalid marriage after the impediment is lifted.
For example, a party might be underage at the time of the marriage.
Continued cohabitation as husband and wife after the underage party
attains majority, however, results in the marriage ripening into
validity where this form of common law marriage is recognized.”
[41]
“re
In The Marriage of J.M.H. and Rouse”, COLORADO COURT OF APPEALS,
Judge James Hartmann, June 15, 2006
AND/OR
Colorado
Court of Appeals -- June 15, 2006
AND/OR
“re
In The Marriage of J.M.H. and Rouse”, COLORADO COURT OF APPEALS,
Judge James Hartmann, June 15, 2006
"...The Uniform Marriage Act (UMA)...provides
that “[n]othing in this section shall be deemed to repeal or
render invalid any otherwise valid common law marriage between one
man and one woman." Section 142104(3),C.R.S. 2005...The
jurisdictions that recognized common law marriage are Alabama,
Colorado, District of Columbia, Idaho*, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Rhode
Island, South Carolina, Texas**, and Utah...Similarly, the United
States Supreme Court has held that common law marriages are valid,
notwithstanding statutes that require ceremonial marriages to be
solemnized by a minister or a magistrate, if no specific provision
to the contrary exists... Common law, not the UMA, governs the
existence of a common law marriage...Regarding the age of consent
for common law marriage specifically, courts in other jurisdictions
have uniformly declared that the common law age of consent applies
to common law marriages, even when statutes otherwise require
parental or judicial approval for persons under a specified age,
unless those statutes expressly modify or abrogate the common
law...The common law marriage of a person is valid, regardless of
whether the person has reached the age of competency as established
by statute, if the person is competent under the common law...Under
English common law, children below the age of seven were incapable
of marrying. After that age they could marry, but the marriage was
voidable until they became able to consummate it... which the law
presumed to be at age fourteen for males and twelve for
females...Accordingly, several jurisdictions have adopted those ages
as the common law ages of consent for marriage "
[*] only before 1997
[**] minimum 13
[43]
"Common
Law Marriage", National Conference of State Legislatures
"The United States Constitution
requires every state to accord ‘Full Faith and Credit’ to the
laws of its sister states. Thus, a common-law marriage that is
validly contracted in a state where such marriages are legal will be
valid even in states where such marriages cannot be contracted and
may be contrary to public policy."
[44]
”Age
of reason (canon law)”, Amazines
The age of reason, also called the age
of discretion, is the age at which children become capable of moral
responsibility. On completion of the seventh year a minor is
presumed to have the use of reason (canon 97 §2 of the Code of
Canon Law), but mental retardation or insanity could prevent some
individuals from ever reaching it. Children under the age of reason
and the mentally handicapped are sometimes called
"innocents" because of their inability to commit sins even
if their actions are objectively sinful, they lack capacity for
subjective guilt.
While in the Eastern Churches Confirmation (also known as
Chrismation) and Eucharist are bestowed on the infant who has just
been baptized, in Latin Rite Catholicism, Confirmation (except in
danger of death) may be lawfully conferred only on a person who has
the use of reason (canon 889 §2), and Holy Communion may be
administered to children only if "they have sufficient
knowledge and (are) accurately prepared, so that according to their
capacity they understand what the mystery of Christ means, and are
able to receive the Body of the Lord with faith and devotion.”
[45]
CHAPTER
IV : MATRIMONIAL CONSENT, Code of Canon Law
“Can. 1095 The following are
incapable of contracting marriage:
1° those who lack sufficient use of reason;
Can. 1096 §1 For matrimonial consent to exist, it is necessary that
the contracting parties be at least not ignorant of the fact that
marriage is a permanent partnership between a man and a woman,
ordered to the procreation of children through some form of sexual
cooperation.
§2 This ignorance is not presumed after puberty.
Can.
1107 Even if a marriage has been entered into
invalidly by reason of an impediment or defect of form, the consent
given is presumed to persist until its withdrawal has been
established.”
[46]
"Agnes-Anna
of France,wife of Alexius II and Andronicus I of the Comneni
Dynasty", An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors, Lynda
Garland, Andrew Stone
“Agnes was only eight on her arrival
at Constantinople... Agnes was born... in 1172... The ceremonies
took place in the palace on
2 March 1180
...Child brides, whether Byzantines or foreign
princesses, were the norm rather than the exception, especially from
the late twelfth century. Irene Ducaena, wife of Alexius I Comnenus,
was twelve at her marriage, and empress before she was fifteen; the
Byzantine princess Theodora, Manuel's niece, was in her thirteenth
year when she married Baldwin III of Jerusalem; and Margaret-Maria
of Hungary married Isaac II Angelus at the age of nine. Agnes's age,
then, was not unusual, especially as it was customary for young
engaged couples in
Constantinople
to be brought up together in the house of the
socially superior partner.”
[47]
"Saga
Background: Women", Theban Tribunal Sourcebook
“For most girls in
Byzantium
, childhood came to an abrupt end with the onset
of puberty, which was usually soon followed by betrothal and
marriage. Early marriage and procreation of children was the norm in
Byzantium
...”
[49]
"History
of Marriage in Western Civilization", Magnus Hirshfeld Archive
for Sexology
“Marriage in Ancient Greece and
Rome...As Demosthenes, the orator, explained it: 'We ...wives to
bear us lawful offspring'...Marriage in Ancient Israel...The main
purpose of marriage was procreation and the perpetuation of a man's
name...Marriage in Medieval Europe...On the average, however, males
married in their mid-twenties, and females in their early teens
(i.e., soon after their first menstruation).
[51]
“Shari'ah”,
Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008
“A legal capacity to transact belongs to any person “of prudent
judgment” (rashid), a quality that is normally deemed to arrive
with physical maturity or puberty. There is an irrebuttable
presumption of law (1) that boys below the age of 12 and girls below
the age of 9 have not attained puberty, and (2) that puberty has
been attained by the age of 15 for both sexes. Persons who are not
rashid, on account of minority, mental deficiency, simplicity, or
prodigality, are placed under interdiction: their affairs are
managed by a guardian and they cannot transact effectively without
the guardian's consent.”
[55]
Evolutionary
Aspects of Nutrition and Health, Book Review
“...insulin resistance was once
advantageous for humans, who were eating a high-protein,
low-carbohydrate diet, but once the diet shifted to a highly refined
carbohydrate diet, hyperinsulinemia was no longer beneficial and it
now causes diseases such as NIDDM, coronary heart disease, and
hypertension. They also point out that beyond the Agricultural
Revolution and its radical change to the human diet, we must also
consider the profound effects of the Industrial Revolution and the
Post-Industrial diet with the proliferation of highly refined
carbohydrates in the last centuries.”
[56]
Disease
during the Industrial Revolution
“Disease was a constant threat
during the Industrial Revolution. Changes in the way that people
lived and the conditions in which they worked led to disease being
able to spread much more rapidly, and new forms of disease emerged
that were as deadly as any killer that had been before.
Towns grew very quickly as factories led to migrations from the
countryside and immigration from different parts of
Europe
and the empire. As the demand for housing
increased so rapidly the quality of homes constructed was low.
Housing for the worker was cramped in, built quickly and built with
little regard for hygiene. In many cities the result was that large
slums appeared.
These slums were areas where houses were small, roads narrow and
services such as rubbish collection, sewage works and basic washing
facilities nonexistent. In this type of climate bacteria grow
quickly, the water supply is likely to become infected and weaker
people are likely to fall ill much more rapidly.
Water was often the problem. Factories would dump waste into streams
and rivers. The same streams and rivers were used to supply homes
with water for washing and cooking. Soon people’s health was
endangered. In many slums the same water supply was infected with
human sewage as toilet facilities were often inadequate and
sometimes consisted of a toilet block that was emptied irregularly:
meaning that when it rained, the waste may overflow into the gutter
and therefore into the rivers and streams.
The result of this is the spread of disease.
One of the main killers of the industrial age was Cholera. This
deadly disease was water borne and spread through filthy cities with
ease, killing thousands. Typhoid also took a hold in some areas and
aain made great use of the poor sewage provisions to take a hold of
many areas.
Diseases such as Cholera and Typhoid are now fairly easily
prevented. Basic cleanliness, underground sewage pipes and regularly
cleaned and controlled water supplies doing most of the work to
prevent any re-occurrence of this form of disease.”
[57]
Medieval
diets 'far more healthy', BBC News
Their low-fat, vegetable-rich diet -
washed down by weak ale - was far better for the heart than today's
starchy, processed foods, one GP says.
And while they consumed more they burnt off calories in a workout of
12 hours' labour, Dr Roger Henderson concludes.
But the Shropshire GP accepts that life for even prosperous peasants
was tough.
But after examining the available records, Dr Henderson suggests
that medieval meals were perhaps even better than the much touted
"Mediterranean" diet enjoyed by the Romans.
While this would have involved fish, fruit, whole grains and olive
oil - as well as red wine - the rich often overindulged, while the
poor may not always have been able to obtain them.
The average medieval peasant however would have eaten nearly two
loaves of bread each day, and 8oz of meat or fish, the size of an
average steak.
This would have been accompanied by liberal quantities of
vegetables, including beans, turnips and parsnips, and washed down
by three pints of ale.
Crucially, there was little refined sugar in their food, while
modern eating habits are dominated by biscuits, cake and sweets.
"If you put this together with the incredible work load,
medieval man was at much less risk of coronary heart disease and
diabetes than we are today," said Dr Henderson.
[58]
"Saga
Background: Women", Theban Tribunal Sourcebook
“For most girls in
Byzantium
, childhood came to an abrupt end with the onset
of puberty, which was usually soon followed by betrothal and
marriage. Early marriage and procreation of children was the norm in
Byzantium
...”
[59]
William
Faulkner, a twentieth- century American novelist once wrote, “The
past is not dead, Sep 2004
"In the 17th century...children
rapidly evolved into adulthood. In the words of the historian John
Demos, 'the seventeenth century had no real word for the period of
life between puberty and full manhood.' In fact, as noted in
'Colonial America', well bred children were supposed to both behave
and look like small adults."
[61]
“puberty”
[Johnson], 1382, from O.Fr. puberté, from L. pubertatem (nom.
pubertas), Online Etymology Dictionary
"puberty: 'the time of life in
which the two sexes begin first to be acquainted' [Johnson], 1382,
from O.Fr. puberté, from L. pubertatem (nom. pubertas) 'age of
maturity, manhood,' from pubes (gen. pubertis) 'adult, full-grown,
manly.' "
[62]
"Adolescense
in Historical Perspective", Demos & Demos, Journal of
Marriage and the Family, Vol. 31, No. 4 (Nov., 1969), pp. 632-638
“The "discovery" of adolescence can be related to
certain broad changes in American life--above all, to changes in the
structure of the family as part of the new urban and industrial
order...
The idea of adolescence is today one of our most widely held and
deeply imbedded assumptions about the process of human development.
Indeed must of us treat it not as an idea but as a fact...
Yet all of this has a relatively short history. The concept of
adolescence, as generally understood and applied, did not exist
before the last two decades of the nineteenth century. Once could
almost call it an invention of that period...
We shall limit our attention to developments in the
United States
, since adolescence was on the whole an American
discovery.
We shall begin with a sketch of some common ideas about childhood
and "youth" during the period 1800-1875, as revealed in
two kinds of sources: (1) a rapidly developing literature of
child-rearing advice, and (2) a large body of books and pamphlets
directed to the young people of the country and bearing especially
on their "moral problems." Then we shall summarize the
activites of the "child-study movement (beginning in about
1890)...
And finally we shall propose a hypothesis for drawing together these
various types of material and above all for explaining the
relationship between the idea of adolescence and the social
phenomena to which it was a response. It is here that questions of
family life will come most fully into view, since adolescence was,
we believe, profoundly related to certain fundamental changes
affecting the internal structure of many American homes.”
[63]
William
Faulkner, a twentieth- century American novelist once wrote, “The
past is not dead, Sep 2004
"In the 17th century...children
rapidly evolved into adulthood. In the words of the historian John
Demos, 'the seventeenth century had no real word for the period of
life between puberty and full manhood.' In fact, as noted in
'Colonial America', well bred children were supposed to both behave
and look like small adults."
[66]
William
Faulkner, a twentieth- century American novelist once wrote, “The
past is not dead, Sep 2004
"The economic structure of the
colonial times forced children to start work early."
[69]
“Early
Age at Menarche and Allostatic Load: Data from the Third National
Health and Nutrition Examination Survey”, Allsworth, Weitzen,
Boardman, Annuals of Epidemiology, Volume 15, Issue 6, Pages 438-444
(June 2005)
“Although the overall allostatic
load scores were low when compared with older adults, the mean
allostatic load score was higher among those with menarche at ages
10 or younger compared with those with later ages at menarche (1.99
vs. 1.33). After adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, level of
education, household poverty income ratio, smoking, and depression
history, women with high allostatic load scores had more than 2
times the odds as those with low scores of experiencing menarche at
age 10 or earlier.”
[70]
“Family
stress, perception of pregnancy, and age of menarche among pregnant
adolescents”, Ravert & Martin, Adolescence Summer 1997
“specifically,
the role of family stress has been linked with pubertal timing and
early female maturation (Belsky, Steinberg, & Draper, 1991;
Wierson, Long, & Forehand, 1993)... adolescents may be
particularly vulnerable to stressful events”
[71]
“Allostasis and Allostatic Load: Implications for
Neuropsychopharmacology”, McEwin, Neuropsychopharmacology
(2000) 22 108-124.10.1038 /sj.npp.1395453
“The primary hormonal mediators of the stress response,
glucocorticoids and catecholamines, have both protective and
damaging effects on the body. In the short run, they are essential
for adaptation, maintenance of homeostasis, and survival (allostasis).
Yet, over longer time intervals, they exact a cost (allostatic
load)...”
[73]
William
Faulkner, a twentieth- century American novelist once wrote, “The
past is not dead, Sep 2004
“The family’s need for this extra
source of income required children to be accelerated into adulthood.
This is different in modern society.”
[74]
”New
research shows how evolution explains age of puberty”, From the
University of Southampton
“They found that Paleolithic girls
arrived at menarche - the first occurrence of menstruation - between
seven and 13 years. This is a similar age to modern girls...'This
would have matched the degree of psychosocial maturation necessary
to function as an adult in Paleolithic society based on small groups
of hunter-gatherers,' they write...However, today there is a
mismatch between sexual maturity and psychosocial maturity, with
sexual maturity occurring much earlier. This mismatch is a result of
society becoming vastly more complex, with psychosocial maturity
therefore taking longer to reach.
'For the first time in our 200,000 year history as a species, humans
become sexually mature before becoming psychologically equipped to
function as adults in society,' explains Professor Hanson.
'All our social systems work on the presumption that the two types
of maturity coincide. But this is no longer the case and never will
be again because we cannot change biological reality. We have to
work out a new set of structures - schooling, for example - to deal
with this reality.' “
[76]
When
Little Girls Become Women: Early Onset of Puberty in Girls
“But the implications for parents,
teachers, and others who work with children are equally important:
many young girls in early elementary school are developing breasts
and pubic hair at a time when they are still playing with dolls and
Junior Monopoly, and are too young to understand the emotional mood
swings and other symptoms of adolescence.”
[78]
Benjamin
Franklin On An Early Marriage, The Pennsylvania Packet, October 30,
1789
" The tempers and habits of the
young are not yet become so stiff and uncomplying as when more
advanced in life; they form more easily to each other, and hence
many occasions of disgust are removed. And if youth has less of that
prudence which is necessary to manage a family, yet the parents and
elder friends of young married persons are generally at hand, to
afford their advice, which amply supplies that defect; and by early
marriage youth is sooner formed to regular and useful life...when
nature has rendered our bodies fit for it, the presumption is in
nature's favor, that she has not judged amiss in making us desire
it...By these early marriages, we are blessed with more children,
and from the mode among us, founded by nature, of every mother
suckling and nursing her own child, more of them are raised. Thence
the swift progress of population among us, unparalleled in
Europe
. In fine, I am glad you are married, and
congratulate you most cordially upon it. You are now in the way of
becoming a useful citizen, and you have escaped the unnatural state
of celibacy for life, the fate of many here, who never intended it,
but who, having too long postponed the change of their condition,
find at length that it is too late to think of it; and so live all
their lives in a situation that greatly lessens a man's value"
[79]
William
Faulkner, a twentieth- century American novelist once wrote, “The
past is not dead, Sep 2004
“Today’s more industrial economic
structure requires children to stay in ‘childhood’ longer.”
[80]
“sexual
behaviour, human” Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008
“The old family pattern was
inexorably disrupted by the rise of the industrial state. Children
were no longer kept at home to share in the work and be economic
assets but left for school or for nonfamily employment, and the
degree of parental control diminished.”
[81]
William
Faulkner, a twentieth- century American novelist once wrote, “The
past is not dead, Sep 2004
" Children received discipline
and learned values within a family environment. The role of family
in a child's experience has dramatically diminished since the 17th
century. Traditional family roles have changed and as a result,
children spend larger periods of time in school... As mentioned in
the
US
census, in 1995 alone, around 45% of children
were enrolled in some version of daycare. With so much of a child's
education entrusted to strangers who do not know the family well, it
has become more difficult to control, or even to know, what values
children are picking up. In addition, children have a greater peer
influence as they are with peers constantly. Thus, the changing
times have altered the traditional child rearing roles and changed
the values instilled in contemporary children."
[82]
The
Cradle and the Gap
“From ancient times through the
early centuries of this country's history, early puberty has been
considered the proper time to go to school. Now, however, educators
and psychologists have brainwashed the public into thinking that
public schools can outparent families. The state has taken over
education and removed children from the home at too young an age.
This practice has led to: (1) a poorer education, as shown by the
decline in literacy since the beginning of public education; (2) the
creation of a generation gap, as a result of keeping children in
institutions and away from parents; and (3) peer dependency and poor
self-worth attitudes, because children spend more time with peers
than with parents. Research and example have proved the theses that
the home is the best educational nest, that parents are the best
educators, and that parents are educable. Educational factors that
make home schooling successful include the importance of the
singular adult example undiluted by too many peers, the need to
explore widely without the inhibitions of the classroom, the need
for many quality personal adult-to-child responses, and the
availability of books in public libraries. The best age for school
entrance is in the range of 8-12 years old, as determined by early
childhood studies on socialization and readiness for learning.”
[84]
"Industrial
Revolution." Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008
“The main features involved in the
Industrial Revolution were technological, socioeconomic, and
cultural. The technological changes included the following: (1) the
use of new basic materials, chiefly iron and steel, (2) the use of
new energy sources, including both fuels and motive power, such as
coal, the steam engine, electricity, petroleum, and the
internal-combustion engine, (3) the invention of new machines, such
as the spinning jenny and the power loom that permitted increased
production with a smaller expenditure of human energy, (4) a new
organization of work known as the factory system, which entailed
increased division of labour and specialization of function, (5)
important developments in transportation and communication,
including the steam locomotive, steamship, automobile, airplane,
telegraph, and radio, and (6) the increasing application of science
to industry. These technological changes made possible a
tremendously increased use of natural resources and the mass
production of manufactured goods....There were also many new
developments in nonindustrial spheres, including the following: (1)
agricultural improvements that made possible the provision of food
for a larger nonagricultural population, (2) economic changes that
resulted in a wider distribution of wealth...(4) sweeping social
changes, including the growth of cities, the development of
working-class movements, and the emergence of new patterns of
authority...Finally, there was a psychological change: man's
confidence in his ability to use resources and to master nature was
heightened.”
[85]
William
Faulkner, a twentieth- century American novelist once wrote, “The
past is not dead, Sep 2004
“Children must also remain children
longer in order to complete their education.”
[86]
“Psychological
neoteny and higher education: Associations with delayed
parenthood”, Charlton, Medical Hypotheses, Volume 69, Issue 2,
Pages 237-240 (2007)
“Marriage and parenthood are indicative of making a choice to
‘settle down’ and thereby move on from the more flexible
lifestyle of youth; and furthermore these are usually commitments
which themselves induce a settling down and maturation of attitudes
and behaviors...Parenthood is associated with a broad range of
psychologically ‘maturing’ and socially-integrating effects in
both men and women...The conclusion is that psychological neoteny is
indeed increasing, and mainly as a consequence of the increasing
percentage of school leavers going into higher education.”
[87]
“Child
Sexual Abuse I: An Overview”, Advocates for Youth
“The American Medical Association
defines child sexual abuse as "the engagement of a child in
sexual activities for which the child is developmentally unprepared
and cannot give informed consented. Child sexual abuse is
characterized by deception, force or coercion.”
[93]
“Commentary:
The pitfalls of policy history. Writing the past to change the
present”, S Ryan Johansson, International Journal of Epidemiology,
2005 34(3): 526-529
"...most people were too poor, and therefore too poorly
nourished, to resist the relentless onslaughts of disease,
particularly infectious disease. In 18th century
Western Europe
, agricultural development increased the food
supply and let ordinary people buy more and better food. Better
nutrition increased their resistance to infectious disease, and
reduced death rates, all without the assistance of medical care. It
took another century (i.e. 1870) before public health and the
decline of fertility made a complementary but still minor
contribution to the continuing, nutrition-driven decline of
mortality. Thus, if the goal of contemporary health policy is to
further reduce mortality, society should invest its resources in the
reduction of malnutrition, and more broadly, the eradication of
poverty, not more and more sophisticated forms of medical care.”
[95]
“population
ecology” Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008
“Of the many differences in life
history that occur among populations, age at the time of first
reproduction is one of the most important for understanding the
dynamics and evolution of a population. All else being equal,
natural selection will favour individuals that reproduce earlier
than other individuals within a population, because by reproducing
earlier an individual's genes enter the gene pool sooner than those
of other individuals that were born at the same time but have not
reproduced. The genes of the early reproducers then begin to spread
throughout the population. Individuals whose genetic makeup allows
them to reproduce earlier in life will come to dominate a population
if there is no counterbalancing advantage to those individuals that
delay reproduction until later in life.”
[99]
”Bahrain”,
National Laws, Legislation of INTERPOL member states on sexual
offences against children, 2008
State Religion: Islam, Sharia Marital
Law: 15 with parental consent, or 21
[114]
“UAE”,
Islamic Family Law – Legal Profiles, Emory Law School, 2002
State Religion: Islam, Sharia Marital
Law
“Age
makes all the difference”, Bassma Al Jandaly, Gulf News, November
02, 2007
“Dubai: You can get married in the UAE if you are 18 years
old, but if you are less than the legal age, a judge will have to
decide whether you are competent enough to wed. If you are 18 years
of age and older but your guardians are stopping the marriage, you
can approach a court judge to sort out the issue.”
"Getting
Married in Abu Dhabi", Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority
“Islam is the official state religion and the
Sharia Court
in
Abu Dhabi
performs marriage, regardless of applicants’
nationalities, according to Islamic law...Regardless of a woman’s
age the
Sharia Court
would always require her guardian’s approval
for the marriage.”
[116]
“Age
makes all the difference”, Bassma Al Jandaly, Gulf News, November
02, 2007
“Dubai: You can get married in the
UAE if you are 18 years old, but if you are less than the legal age,
a judge will have to decide whether you are competent enough to
wed.”
"Getting
Married in Abu Dhabi", Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority
“Islam is the official state religion and the
Sharia Court
in
Abu Dhabi
performs marriage, regardless of applicants’
nationalities, according to Islamic law.”
[117]
“Shari'ah”,
Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008
“A legal capacity to transact belongs to any person “of prudent
judgment” (rashid), a quality that is normally deemed to arrive
with physical maturity or puberty...Persons who are not rashid, on
account of minority, mental deficiency, simplicity, or prodigality,
are placed under interdiction: their affairs are managed by a
guardian and they cannot transact effectively without the guardian's
consent.”
[118]
{وَابْتَلُواْ
الْيَتَامَى
حَتَّىَ
إِذَا
بَلَغُواْ
النِّكَاحَ
فَإِنْ
آنَسْتُم
مِّنْهُمْ
رُشْداً
فَادْفَعُواْ
إِلَيْهِمْ
أَمْوَالَهُمْ...}
{Test the orphans, so that if they have reached the age of
procreation, and if (you) discerned from them sound judgement then
deliver to them their fortune} Quran: Al Nisaa (The Women) 4:6, p.
77
The responsibility of another person
or children is far more important to test than the responsibility of
money alone. Furthermore, this is the only verse in the Quran using
the term “Balaghu Alnikah“ (age of procreation) for puberty, and
it is to mention the condition of sound judgement before gaining the
responsibilities normally associated with puberty. (Muhaddith MR)
[119]
“al Mustadrak”, al Hakim, vol. 2
“...an authentic hadeeth by Imaam
Muslim’s criteria: Citing Abu Sa’eed al Khudri that the Prophet
PBUH said:
‘No harm (is allowed), nor harming back. Whoever harms, Allah Will
Harm him, and whoever makes things difficult (for others), Allah
Will Make things difficult for him’.”
المستدرك
على
الصحيحين،
للإمام
محمد بن عبد
الله
الحاكم
النيسابوري.
المجلد
الثاني
... عن
أبي سعيد
الخدري - رضي
الله تعالى
عنه: أن رسول
الله - صلى
الله عليه
وسلم - قال: (لا
ضرر ولا
ضرار، من
ضار ضاره
الله، ومن
شاق شاق
الله عليه).
هذا حديث
صحيح
الإسناد
على شرط
مسلم، ولم
يخرجاه.
[120]
Imaam Ahmad, Abu Dawood, Tirmizhi, Nasaa’i, Ibn Maajah, and
Al Tabaraani (citing Abi Sirmah), and Al Hakim (citing Abu Sa’eed
Al Khudri):
“Whoever harms, Allah Will Harm him, and whoever makes things
difficult (for others), Allah Will Make things difficult for him.”
روى
أحمد في
مسنده وأبو
داود،
والترمذي،
والنسائي،
وابن ماجه،
والطبراني
في الكبير
عن أبي صرمة
من
ضار ضار
الله به،
ومن شاق شاق
الله عليه
[121]
Hadith Hasan (authenticated): Malik, Suyuti, Ahmed, Shafii;
and Imam Munawi in “Faydh al Qadir, Sharh al Jame al Saghir” vol
6, hadith #9899
“Allah’s Messenger said: ‘No
harm (is allowed), nor harming back.’ “
الإمامِ
المناوي, فيض
القدير،
شرح الجامع
الصغير،
الجزء
السادس.
حديث رقم:
9899
لا
ضرر ولا
ضرار
[122]
"The Language of God", Francis Collins, pp 243-244
"four ethical principles
undergird much of bioethics, and are common to virtually all
cultures and societies: 1-Respect for autonomy...2- Justice...3-
Benefience-The mandate to treat others in their best interests 4-
Nonmaleficence-"First do no harm" (as in the Hypocrstic
oath)...A religious person will see these as principles clearly laid
out in sacred texts of the Judeo-Christian, Islamic, Buddhist, and
other religious traditions..."
[123]
"The Language of God", Francis Collins, pp 243-244
"four ethical principles
undergird much of bioethics, and are common to virtually all
cultures and societies: 1-Respect for autonomy...2- Justice...3-
Benefience-The mandate to treat others in their best interests 4-
Nonmaleficence-"First do no harm" (as in the Hypocrstic
oath)...A religious person will see these as principles clearly laid
out in sacred texts of the Judeo-Christian, Islamic, Buddhist, and
other religious traditions..."
[124]
Tafsir al Qurtubi, Explanation of the Quran: Al Tawbah (The
Repentance) 9:91
“His saying: {Not on the weak nor on
the sick nor on those who find nothing to spend is any blame (haraj,
or fault) if they are
true to Allah and His messenger...} is a foundation that obligations
are waived from upon the infirm, thus any person who is not capable
of something, then it is waived for him; sometimes to a replacement
which is an (other) action, and sometimes to a financial assignment,
and there is no difference between incapability regarding the body
or the wealth.
And similar to this aayah is His saying: {Allah does not burden a
soul except according to its capability} (Baqarah, 286)
And His saying: {There is no blame on the blind, nor is there blame
on the lame, nor is there blame on the sick.} (Al Nur, 61)”
سورة
التوبة 9:91
تفسير
القرتبي
قوله
تعالى: {ليس
على
الضعفاء
ولا على
المرضى ولا
على الذين
لا يجدون ما
ينفقون حرج
إذا نصحوا
لله ورسوله
ما على
المحسنين
من سبيل
والله غفور
رحيم} .
أصل
في سقوط
التكليف عن
العاجز فكل
من عجز عن
شيء سقط عنه،
فتارة إلى
بدل هو فعل،
وتارة إلى
بدل هو غرم،
ولا فرق بين
العجز من
جهة القوة
أو العجز من
جهة المال
ونظير هذه
الآية قوله
تعالى: {لا
يكلف الله
نفسا إلا
وسعها" [البقرة:
286]
وقوله:
{ليس على
الأعمى حرج
ولا على
الأعرج حرج
ولا على
المريض حرج"
[النور: 61].
[125]
Quran: Al Hajj (The Pilgrimage) 22:78
“...He has chosen you and has not
placed upon you in religion any hardship (haraj)...”
سورة
الحج 22:78
القرآن
الكريم
هُوَ
اجْتَبَاكُمْ
وَمَا
جَعَلَ
عَلَيْكُمْ
فِي
الدِّينِ
مِنْ حَرَجٍ
[126]
Tafsir al Qurtubi, Explanation of the Quran: Al Nur (The
Light) 24:61
{Not on the blind is blame (haraj, or
fault), nor on the blind is blame (haraj), nor on the sick is blame
(haraj), nor on yourselves to eat from your houses...(or from houses
of various relatives)...}
“But the selection (by Qurtubi) is to say: ‘That Allah has
lifted the burden from upon the blind, concerning obligations that
necessitate eyesight, and from upon the limping (lame) concerning
action that require walking in order to become obligatory as well as
actions that become impossible due to limping, and from upon the
sick, whatever is waived by disease such as fasting, the conditions
and details of prayer and jihad and similar (duties).’ Then He
(Allah) said, providing details: ‘And there is no blame upon you
to eat from your houses.’
So this is a correct meaning, and a clear and beneficial
explanation, supported by Islamic law (sharia) and reason, and does
not require textual sources in (this) explanation of the Aayah.
I say (al Qurtubi): And this is what Ibn Atiyyah indicated; he said:
‘So the outward meaning of this Aayah, and the commandment of
Sharia, indicate that blame is lifted from upon them concerning
anything that they have an excuse against’.”
سورة
النور 24:61
تفسير
القرتبي
{لَيْسَ
عَلَى
الْأَعْمَى
حَرَجٌ
وَلَا
عَلَى
الْأَعْرَجِ
حَرَجٌ
وَلَا
عَلَى
الْمَرِيضِ
حَرَجٌ
وَلَا
عَلَى
أَنفُسِكُمْ
أَن
تَأْكُلُوا
مِن
بُيُوتِكُمْ
أَو...}
لكن
المختار أن
يقال: إن
الله رفع
الحرج عن
الأعمى
فيما يتعلق
بالتكليف
الذي يشترط
فيه البصر،
وعن الأعرج
فيما يشترط
في التكليف
به من المشي
وما يتعذر
من الأفعال
مع وجود
العرج، وعن
المريض
فيما يؤثر
المرض في
إسقاطه
كالصوم
وشروط
الصلاة
وأركانها،
والجهاد
ونحو ذلك. ثم
قال بعد ذلك
مبينا: وليس
عليكم حرج
في أن
تأكلوا من
بيوتكم.
فهذا معنى
صحيح،
وتفسير بين
مفيد،
ويعضده
الشرع
والعقل،
ولا يحتاج
في تفسير
الآية إلى
نقل.
قلت:
وإلى هذا
أشار ابن
عطية فقال:
فظاهر
الآية وأمر
الشريعة
يدل على أن
الحرج عنهم
مرفوع في كل
ما يضطرهم
إليه العذر،
وتقتضي
نيتهم فيه
الإتيان
بالأكمل،
ويقتضي
العذر أن
يقع منهم
الأنقص،
فالحرج
مرفوع عنهم
في هذا.
[127]
Quran: Al Maedah (The Repast) 5:6
“O you who believe, if you rise for
prayer, wash your faces and hands to the elbows, and wipe your
heads, and (wash) your feet to the two ankles. And if you are
unclean then purify (yourselves). And if you are sick, or on a
journey, or one of you comes from the lavatory, or have had contact
with women, and then you find no water, then take clean earth (sand,dust),
and wipe your faces and hands with it. Allah does not want to place
on you of hardships (haraj), rather, He wants you (to be) purified
and perfect His grace upon you, that you may be grateful”
سورة
المائدة 5:6
القرآن
الكريم
يَا
أَيُّهَا
الَّذِينَ
آمَنُواْ
إِذَا
قُمْتُمْ
إِلَى
الصَّلاةِ
فاغْسِلُواْ
وُجُوهَكُمْ
وَأَيْدِيَكُمْ
إِلَى
الْمَرَافِقِ
وَامْسَحُواْ
بِرُؤُوسِكُمْ
وَأَرْجُلَكُمْ
إِلَى
الْكَعْبَينِ
وَإِن
كُنتُمْ
جُنُباً
فَاطَّهَّرُواْ
وَإِن
كُنتُم
مَّرْضَى
أَوْ عَلَى
سَفَرٍ أَوْ
جَاء أَحَدٌ
مَّنكُم
مِّنَ
الْغَائِطِ
أَوْ
لاَمَسْتُمُ
النِّسَاء
فَلَمْ
تَجِدُواْ
مَاء
فَتَيَمَّمُواْ
صَعِيداً
طَيِّباً
فَامْسَحُواْ
بِوُجُوهِكُمْ
وَأَيْدِيكُم
مِّنْهُ
مَا يُرِيدُ
اللّهُ
لِيَجْعَلَ
عَلَيْكُم
مِّنْ
حَرَجٍ
وَلَـكِن
يُرِيدُ
لِيُطَهَّرَكُمْ
وَلِيُتِمَّ
نِعْمَتَهُ
عَلَيْكُمْ
لَعَلَّكُمْ
تَشْكُرُونَ
[128]
Quran: Al Anam (The Cattle) 6:152, Al Araf (The Heights)
7:42
, Al Muminum (The Believers) 23:62
“We do not charge a soul except what
it can bear”
لَا
نُكَلِّفُ
نَفْساً
إِلَّا
وُسْعَهَا
Quran: Al Baqara (The Cow) 2:226
“Allah does not charge a soul except
what it can bear”
لا
يكلف الله
نفسا إلا
وسعها
Quran: Al Baqara (The Cow) 2:286
“A soul is not charged except with
what it can bear”
لاَ
تُكَلَّفُ
نَفْسٌ
إِلاَّ
وُسْعَهَا
[129]
“Al Athkaru al Nawawiyya”, Imam Nawawi, hadith # 2/850
“...Abu Hurayra said:
‘Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) said: ‘The person asked for advice
is entrusted’.’ “
Muslim, abu Dawud, Nasaii, Tirmithi, Nasaii, ibn Maja, and it is an
authenticated saying (hadith hasan)
الأذْكَارُ
النَّوَويَّة،
للإِمام
النَّوَوي,
وجدت
الكلمات في
الحديث رقم:
2/850
وروينا
في سنن أبي
داود
والترمذي
والنسائي
وابن ماجه،
عن أبي
هريرة رضي
اللّه عنه
قال: قال
رسول اللّه
صلى اللّه
عليه وسلم: "المُسْتَشارُ
مُؤْتَمَنٌ".
(849) مسلم (55) ،
وأبو داود (4944)
، والنسائي
7/156. (850) أبو داود
(5128) ،
والترمذي (2823)
و (2824) ،
والنسائي
وابن ماجه (3745)
و (3746) ، وهو
حديث حسن.
[130]
“Tihfet al Ahwathi: The Explanation of Sunan al Tirmizhi”,
Mubarakpuri
(The person asked for advice is
entrusted)
‘The person asked for advice’: Whoever asked his advice has
requested his opinion about what contains benefit ‘is
entrusted’: from ‘security’ or ‘trust, confidence’, its
meaning is that the person asked for advice is entrusted concerning
the matters being asked about, so he should not be treacherous
(commit treason) to the person asking, by withholding what is of
benefit to him.
كتاب
تحفة
الأحوذي،
شرح جامع
الترمذي،
لمحمد بن
عبد الرحمن
المباركفوري
(إن
المستشار)
من استشاره
طلب رأيه
فيما فيه
المصلحة (مؤتمن)
اسم مفعول
من الأمن أو
الأمانة
ومعناه أن
المستشار
أمين فيما
يسأل من
الأمور،
فلا ينبغي
أن يخون
المستشير
بكتمان
مصلحته
[131]
“Fayd al Qadir: The Explanation of Jame al Saghir”, Imam
Munawi, Hadith # 9201
“ ‘The person asked for advice is
entrusted’, that is, entrusted concerning the matters he is asked
about, mentioned al Teebi, because he was given responsibility for
the matter in which he was entrusted, so if he knows the benefit of
the person who gave him responsibility of his own affair, he should
not withhold it, for if he withholds it he will then be harming him
but the Prophet PBUH said: ‘No harm (can be initiated), nor harm
performed (in retaliation)’...”
الإمامِ
المناوي, فيض
القدير،
شرح الجامع
الصغير،
الجزء
السادس.
حديث رقم:
9201
(المستشار
مؤتمن) أي
أمين فيما
يسأل من
الأمور
ذكره
الطيبي
لأنه قلد
الأمر الذي
استشير فيه
فإذا عرف
المصلحة
لمن قلده
أمره فلا
يكتمه فإن
كتم ضره وقد
قال عليه
الصلاة
والسلام لا
ضرر ولا
ضرار فيكون
قد ترك
الإحسان
وغشه فيما
استشاره
فيه وخان
وقوله (إن
شاء أشار
وإن شاء لم
يشر)
[132]
Tafseer Al Nasafi:
{command to what is Urf} (Quran: The
Heights 7:199, p. 176)
“What is considered good and fine among actions, or every feature
that reason confirms and that Islamic Law accepts.”
{وَأْمُرْ
بِالْعُرْفِ}
بالمعروف
والجميل من
الأفعال أو
هو كل خصلة
يرتضيها
العقل
ويقبلها
الشرع
[133]
Durr al Manthur, Al Suyuti
{command to what is Urf} (Quran: The
Heights 7:199, p. 176)
“What is considered good.”
{وَأْمُرْ
بِالْعُرْفِ}
بالمعروف
[134]
Baydawi (famous for linguistic eminence in tafseer):
{command to what is Urf} (Quran: The
Heights 7:199, p. 176)
“What is considered good and recommended so among actions.”
{وَأْمُرْ
بِالْعُرْفِ}
المعروف
المستحسن
من الأفعال
[135]
"What's
Happening to Marriage?", Essay from State of Our Unions: The
Social Health of Marriage in America, 1999
The Marriage Relationship...benefits
such as sexual faithfulness, emotional support, mutual trust and
lasting commitment.
[137]
“Psychological
neoteny and higher education: Associations with delayed
parenthood”, Charlton, Medical Hypotheses, Volume 69, Issue 2,
Pages 237-240 (2007)
“Marriage and parenthood are indicative of making a choice to
‘settle down’ and thereby move on from the more flexible
lifestyle of youth; and furthermore these are usually commitments
which themselves induce a settling down and maturation of attitudes
and behaviors...Parenthood is associated with a broad range of
psychologically ‘maturing’ and socially-integrating effects in
both men and women...The conclusion is that psychological neoteny is
indeed increasing, and mainly as a consequence of the increasing
percentage of school leavers going into higher education.”
[143]
“Child
Sexual Abuse I: An Overview”, Advocates for Youth
“The National Resource Council
estimates the percent of the U.S. population which has been sexually
abused to range from a low of 20-24 percent to a high of 54-62
percent of the population; the higher estimate includes sexualized
exposure without touching, such as masturbating in front of the
child. The largest retrospective study on the prevalence of child
sexual abuse found 27 percent of women and 16 percent of men
reported abuse.”
[144]
“Troubled
Teens Statistics - Teen Help for Troubled Teens”
“In the U.S.,...6 in 10 of those who
had sex before age 15 report having had sex involuntarily.”
“Teenage
Sex and Promiscuity”
“Twenty percent of all adolescents have had sex at least once
before their fifteenth birthday.”
(Therefore 60% x 25% = 12% of all 14 year olds have had sex
“involuntarily”)
[148]
“A
LEAGUE TABLE OF TEENAGE BIRTHS IN RICH NATIONS”, Unicef, Innocenti
Report Card, 2001
“But it is among younger teenagers
that the kaleidoscope has been most vigorously shaken. According to
some sources, for example, seven per cent of American children now
have sex even before they have become teenagers.”
[150]
“In
Whose Interest? Feminist Research on Prostitution”, Off Our Backs,
July 1997
“Those who work with prostituted
women have found that 90% of the population are incest and child
sexual abuse survivors, oftentimes abused by many perpetrators (The
Council for Prostitution Alternatives, WHISPER).”
[151]
"Child
Prostitution", US Department of Justice, Child Exploitation and
Obscenity Section (CEOS)
“The majority of American victims of
commercial sexual exploitation tend to be runaway or thrown away
youth who live on the streets who become victims of
prostitution...These children generally come from homes where they
have been abused, or from families that have abandoned them”
[152]
"Myths
and Facts of Incest", Hill Country Children's Advocacy Center
"90% of young prostitutes were
victims of sexual abuse."
[153]
"Child
Prostitution", US Department of Justice, Child Exploitation and
Obscenity Section (CEOS)
“The average age at which girls
first become victims of prostitution is 12-14”
[157]
“A
LEAGUE TABLE OF TEENAGE BIRTHS IN RICH NATIONS”, Unicef, Innocenti
Report Card, 2001
"In the world’s rich
nations...at least 1.25 million teenagers become pregnant each
year...approximately half a million will seek an abortion and
approximately three quarters of a million will become teenage
mothers... Sex before marriage and the expectation of several sexual
partners before beginning a stable relationship has now become the
norm in most industrialized countries.”
[158]
"Comments
of CATW in preparation for the United States 2002 Trafficking in
Persons (TIP) Report", Coalition Against Trafficking in Women
"Legalized or decriminalized prostitution industries are one of
the root causes of sex trafficking. There is an fundamental
connection between legal recognition of prostitution industries and
the increase in “significant numbers of victims” who have been
subjected to sex trafficking. Nowhere do we see this relationship
more clearly than in countries advocating prostitution as an
employment choice, or who foster the legalization of prostitution,
or who support the decriminalization of the sex industry...Another
argument for legalizing prostitution in the
Netherlands
was that it would help end child prostitution.
In reality, however, child prostitution in the Netherlands has
increased dramatically during the 1990s...The sheer volume of
foreign women who are in the prostitution industry in Germany – by
some NGO estimates now up to 85 per cent – casts further doubt on
the fact that these numbers of women could have entered Germany
without facilitation. As in the Netherlands, NGOs report that most
of the foreign women have been trafficked into the country since it
is almost impossible for poor women to facilitate their own
migration, underwrite the costs of travel and travel documents, and
set themselves up in business without outside help."
[159]
”Worst
Forms of Child Labour Data: Germany”, Global March Against Child
Labor
“Child Trafficking...NATIONAL
STATISTICS...At least 200 women, including girls under the age of
16, were trafficked by one Polish man to Germany and the Netherlands
between 1993 and 1996...Germany is a destination and transit country
for trafficked women. Estimates vary considerably on the number of
women and girls trafficked to and through the country, ranging
between 2,000 and 20,000 per year....Most trafficking victims are
women and girls between the ages of 16 and 25 who are forced to work
as prostitutes....Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Denmark, and
Austria are major destinations for women trafficked from Lithuania,
based on the figures of women subsequently deported from these
countries to Lithuania....The German Federal Department of Criminal
Investigation estimates that 5% of the women trafficked from Eastern
Europe are younger than 18....Germany is one of the most popular
destinations in Europe for women trafficked from Ukraine and
Russia...Sweden is used as a transit country for trafficking Latin
American women to brothels in Denmark, Germany and the
Netherlands.”
[160]
Child
Prostitution in the Netherlands, Carin Tiggeloven, Radio Netherlands
Worldwide, 18-12-2001
"The number of Dutch children
working in prostitution has increased dramatically over the past
five years: from 4,000 to 15,000 according to figures published by
the Amsterdam-based ChildRight organization...recent years have seen
a significant rise on the number of Dutch girls forced into the sex
industry..."
[161]
"Human
Rights Reports of Europe and Central Asia: Germany", 2003, The
Protection Project
“Germany is the top destination
country for trafficking in women and children for prostitution...The
sex trade in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, brought in US$7.5
billion in 2003, which
makes Germany an attractive destination country for prostitution
networks that traffic women and children.”
[162]
" 'Tens
of thousands' blocked from child porn", Nov 25 2005, The Local:
Sweden’s News in English
"Every day 20,000 to 30,000
attempts by Swedes to enter child pornography sites are blocked,
according to the latest figures from the police...Between 80% and
90% of child porn web sites are blocked by the
filters...Nevertheless, the figures are "grotesque", said
Ecpat's general secretary Helena Karlén...'It's significant and
shocking that so many people in our country are interested in
watching children being raped and in certain cases tortured,' she
said to SvD."
[163]
”German
Police Turn Up the Heat on Internet Sex Offenders”, 08-01-2007,
DW-World.de Detche Welle
Thousands of suspected pedophiles and
child-porn users in Germany...using the Internet to view and trade
sex photos and videos...investigators said they found photos and
videos of children in "violent and degrading
situations."...Child pornography on the rise...Some 800 cases
involving child pornography passed through the state's district
attorney's office in
Stuttgart
in 2006. That number represents an increase from
690 cases in 2005 and 620 cases in 2004. The suspects come from all
parts of society...Few cases of child pornography, however, are easy
to prosecute, district attorney spokeswoman Bettina Vetter told the
Stuttgarter Zeitung. Only one third of all child pornography cases
are carried through to a court sentence while many cases are often
abandoned for lack of evidence, she said.
[164]
"German
Government Publication Promotes Incestuous Pedophilia as Healthy Sex
Ed", John-Henry Westen, July 30, 2007, LifeSiteNews.com
“Booklets from a subsidiary of the
German government's Ministry for Family Affairs encourage parents
to...Two 40-page booklets entitled "Love, Body and Playing
Doctor" by the German Federal Health Education
Center..."Fathers do not devote enough attention to the
clitoris and vagina of their daughters. Their caresses too seldom
pertain to these regions, while this is the only way the girls can
develop a sense of pride in their sex," reads the booklet
regarding 1-3 year olds. The
authors rationalize, "The child touches all parts of their
father's body, sometimes arousing him. The father should do the
same."...For ages 4-6, the booklet recommends teaching children
the movements of copulation...According to the Polish daily
newspaper Rzeczpospolita, the BZgA booklet is an obligatory read in
nine German regions. It is used for training nursery, kindergarten
and elementary school teachers...Rzeczpospolita reports that the
Eckhardt Scheffer of BZgA claimed that before releasing the manual
the organization consulted parents, educators and child
psychologists. 93% of whom gave a positive evaluation.“
[166]
"Europeans
pay big for beastiality at barnyard brothels", Aftermath News,
October 2, 2006
"Denmark’s animal bordellos
reportedly draw Norwegian clients, but both countries have loopholes
that make such establishments legal...Denmark’s animal bordellos
have been advertising on the ‘Net and reportedly draw customers
from as far away as Norway, Germany, Holland and Sweden who want to
pay for sex with horses and other beasts... Mersereau said just
because there’s been publicity about such facilities in
Denmark
who are “catering to those kinds of sickos,”
that doesn’t mean those activities aren’t happening
elsewhere."
[167]
"Animal
bordellos draw Norwegians", Aftenporten News from Norway, Sep
14 2006
"According to the 24timer report,
Germans, Dutchmen, Swedes and Norwegians visit the Danish bordellos,
and a web site devoted to bestiality claimed that many of Denmark's
animal sex clients stem from Norway...A new dissertation from the
Institute of Criminology at the University of Oslo showed that
Norwegian veterinarians know of at least 124 cases of animal sex
abuse in Norway. The thesis reports that 22 percent of Norwegian
veterinarians suspect or are sure that they have treated animals
that have been sexually abused by humans."
[168]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestiality#Legal_status
Currently, the legality of bestiality
varies greatly around the world. It is legal in some countries, such
as
Sweden
,
Denmark
and the
Netherlands
...Countries such as
Belgium
,
Germany
and
Russia
are in between the two as they permit sexual
activity with animals but strictly prohibit the promotion of
animal-oriented pornography
[169]
”Bestiality
on the Rise in Sexually Libertine Sweden”, LifeSiteNews.com, May
4, 2005
"Sweden, known the world over for
its avant garde sexual mores has crossed yet another barrier in its
moral descent with the news that sexual abuse of animals is on the
increase. A government commissioned study has found that more than
200 animals, mostly horses, have been sexually abused in
Sweden
since the 1970s...Unlike most countries,
bestiality is not illegal in
Sweden
. The legal prohibitions against both bestiality
and homosexuality were lifted by the country in 1944....In an
article published last year entitled "The End of Marriage in
Scandinavia", author Stanley Kurtz reported "Sweden is
probably the most secular country in the world. Secular social
scientists (most of them quite radical) have largely replaced
clerics as arbiters of public morality." The decline of general
sexual morality, evident in Swedish society, seems to be manifesting
itself in many disturbing ways, spiraling downward with increasing
rapidity."
[170]
“Falling
Age at Puberty”, Population Reports, Volume XXIII, Number 3,
October, 1995
“Boys and girls now experience
puberty at younger ages than previous generations. In general, girls
enter puberty between ages 8 and 13 and reach menarche (first
menstruation) several years later, while boys enter puberty between
ages 9 and 14 (436, 529). The reasons for earlier menarche in girls
are not well understood. Most of the change is attributed to better
health and nutrition (160, 185, 529). In
North America
age at menarche decreased by three to four
months each decade after 1850”
[173]
”New
research shows how evolution explains age of puberty”, From the
University of Southampton
“They found that Paleolithic girls
arrived at menarche - the first occurrence of menstruation - between
seven and 13 years. This is a similar age to modern girls...'This
would have matched the degree of psychosocial maturation necessary
to function as an adult in Paleolithic society based on small groups
of hunter-gatherers,' they write...However, today there is a
mismatch between sexual maturity and psychosocial maturity, with
sexual maturity occurring much earlier. This mismatch is a result of
society becoming vastly more complex, with psychosocial maturity
therefore taking longer to reach.
'For the first time in our 200,000 year history as a species, humans
become sexually mature before becoming psychologically equipped to
function as adults in society,' explains Professor Hanson.
'All our social systems work on the presumption that the two types
of maturity coincide. But this is no longer the case and never will
be again because we cannot change biological reality. We have to
work out a new set of structures - schooling, for example - to deal
with this reality.' “
[174]
When
Little Girls Become Women: Early Onset of Puberty in Girls
“But the implications for parents,
teachers, and others who work with children are equally important:
many young girls in early elementary school are developing breasts
and pubic hair at a time when they are still playing with dolls and
Junior Monopoly, and are too young to understand the emotional mood
swings and other symptoms of adolescence.”
[175]
“A
LEAGUE TABLE OF TEENAGE BIRTHS IN RICH NATIONS”, Unicef, Innocenti
Report Card, 2001
“In particular the weakening of
traditional attitudes has combined with commercial pressures to
create more sexualised societies in which old taboos serve mainly to
add to the allure of the formerly forbidden. Increasingly, sexual
imagery and content are permeating the information and entertainment
environments within which today’s teenagers develop awareness,
experiment with identity, and live out their aspirations towards
adulthood. Unsurprisingly in such a context, sexual activity among
teenagers has increased (perhaps aided by a fall in the average age
of puberty as a result of better health and nutrition).”
[176]
“Psychological
neoteny and higher education: Associations with delayed
parenthood”, Charlton, Medical Hypotheses, Volume 69, Issue 2,
Pages 237-240 (2007)
“Marriage and parenthood are indicative of making a choice to
‘settle down’ and thereby move on from the more flexible
lifestyle of youth; and furthermore these are usually commitments
which themselves induce a settling down and maturation of attitudes
and behaviors...Parenthood is associated with a broad range of
psychologically ‘maturing’ and socially-integrating effects in
both men and women...The conclusion is that psychological neoteny is
indeed increasing, and mainly as a consequence of the increasing
percentage of school leavers going into higher education.”
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