CAIRO: Italian political leader Daniela Santanche called Prophet Mohamed a “pedophile” in a speech earlier this month that has been circulating a number of anti-Islamic websites, which has resulted in continuing the detente between Europe and the Arab world, where insulting the Prophet is a no-no. The former model and current head of the Movement for Italy, Santanche, lashed out at Islam in a speech on Islam, but despite her argument that the Prophet is a pedophile, she said she has no qualms with the faith. “This behavior by the man whom hundreds of millions of people regard as the exemplary standard of conduct (Koran 33:21) has brought suffering to untold numbers of women and girls,” she said of the Prophet. Continuing, she argued that child marriage is “common” and in the places it is worse, Islamic law, or sharia, has been implemented. “The Nigerian government has tried to act against the practice, passing a law in 2003, the Child Rights Act, that set the minimum age for marriage at 18. Islamic clerics have been the fiercest opponents of this law: Imam Sani, a Nigerian cleric, explained: ‘Child marriage in Islam is permissible. In the Koran there is no specific age of marriage.' Consequently, ‘the Muslim clerics have a problem with this Child Rights Act and they decried it, they castigate it, they reject it and they don't want it introduced in Nigeria.' If the government imposed the law, Sani said, ‘There will be violent conflict from the Muslims, saying that ‘no, we will not accept this, we'd rather die than accept something which is not a law from Allah',” the Italian leader said. Santanche gave the example of the Prophet marrying Aisha, who was underage at the time of their wedding, as a clear example of Mohamed as pushing the divorce rate up “given the words of the Qur'an about divorcing prepubescent women and Mohamed's example of marrying Aisha, that in some areas of the Islamic world the practice of child marriage enjoys the blessing of the law.” In Egypt, the government and religious leaders have been cracking down on underage marriages, with a number of men being arrested and jailed if caught. The ministry of family and population in the country has established a hotline for girls to call in case they feel they are being pressured into underage marriages. Minister Khalil Mostafa said earlier this month that the government is currently preparing a draft law for Parliament’s upcoming session that would criminalize human trafficking of adults, similar to the current law for children trafficking. The new law also includes organ trafficking, which a number of local rights groups have reported is a major concern as Gulf Arabs come to Egypt and use their house workers to these ends. Mostafa said that the marriage of a girl younger than “18-years-old from a rich Arab is child trafficking, unless the procedures, organized by the list of regulations of the notaries on the marriage of Egyptian to foreigners, were followed.†But, Santanche's diatribe did not end as she argued that child marriage in the Islamic world is a direct response to what she called the teachings of the Prophet. “Nigeria is not alone, either in the prevalence of child marriage there or in attempts at reform the practice. In September 2008, Moroccan officials closed 60 Koranic schools operated by Sheikh Mohamed Ben Abderrahman Al-Maghraoui – because he issued a decree stating that marriage to girls as young as nine was justified by Muhammad's example,” she continued. In 2006, Danish cartoons showing the Prophet wearing a missile as a turban led to massive demonstrations and violence against the Danish embassies in the region, where insulting the Prophet is seen widely as a topic not to be touched. The cartoons led to widespread anger and frustration against Europe, but had died down recently, until an Egyptian woman, Marwa el-Sherbini, was knifed to death inside a Dresden, Germany, courtoom. With Europe and the Islamic world at odds, activists in Egypt and across the region are calling for a better means to communicate. One activist in Egypt told Bikya Masr that the Italian woman's statements are likely to do more harm than good and were unnecessary. “What are we supposed to think when you have politicians continuing to say these horrible things when they really know nothing of what they are talking about,” said Yussif Reda. “I just think Europeans need to take it easy and end this taking advantage of fears that seems to be a part of European politics these days.” BM
