Mere Muslim

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Abu Iman Abdur-Rahman Robert Squires, a.k.a. Mere Muslim, is an online Muslim polemicist and apologist for Islam. His writings can be found on his weblog, Mere Islam^[1], and his website, Muslim-Answers.org^[2].

1 Controversy
2 Quotes
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Controversy

[edit] "The Young Marriage of 'Aisha"

Squires is perhaps best known for his article, "The Young Marriage of 'Aishah"^[3], which has been circulating around the internet since the late 1990s. In that article, he controversially affirms that the Prophet Muhammad was "betrothed" to his wife 'Aishah when she was just six years old and that he "consummated" the marriage (i.e. had sexual intercourse with her) when she was only nine years old. Moreover, he defends the Prophet's marriage to 'Aishah against the charge of pedophilia. He insists that those Muslims who deny that 'Aishah was nine years old at the time of consummation are "Uncle Toms of Islam". In fact, the actual age of 'Aisha at the time consummation would have been lower, because Islam follows a lunar calendar, not a solar calendar. Hence, nine years of age according to a lunar calendar would roughly be the equivalent of 8.5 years of age according to a solar calendar.

[edit] Polemics

On his weblog and website, he is known for making provocative comments that readers often find offensive. The targets of his criticism include the West, liberals, secularism, Christianity, Shi'a Muslims, Muslim Rationalists (Mu'tazilah), Salafis, Wahhabis, Progressive Muslims, and feminist Muslims. Despite criticism for his offensive comments, Squires staunchly defends a polemical style of engagement by stating, "I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but some people out there don't seem to realize that polemics is part of religion. [...] I know from experience that whenever one deals in polemics that accusations of "harshness", "unfairness", "double-standards" and a long list of other things will start coming out of the woodwork -- especially from those on the receiving end of the polemics. Obviously, sometimes such criticism are valid, but they're also just the nature of the business -- and some people are seemingly always offended by any sort religious polemics. However, even though such polemics might be inherently distasteful, that doesn't mean that they're not necessary."^[4]

[edit] Connection to Abdur-raheem Green

In the past, Squires' polemical articles supported the work of Abdur-Raheem Green, a radical convert to Islam, whose name recently appeared on the Australian Immigration Department's "movement alert list" and whose entry into Australia was therefore blocked.^[5]^[6]

[edit] Quotes

"...when it comes to killing, Christians remain second to none."^[7]

"...I don't have much use for continental Europe. Sure, they tolerate religious differences because religion is essentially meaningless to them. However, they're unable to tolerate those who don't share their godless and secular values nor their nihilistic world view."^[8]

"Indeed, in the post-Christian West, where most people's sense of the sacred is essentially dead and where only seemingly hypocritical and politically correct forms of moral outrage survive, it's very nearly impossible for many Europeans—their minds full of stereotypical images and misinformation about Muslims—to really comprehend why Muslims are so upset by the recent charicatures of Prophet Muhammad..."^[9]