What are the facts behind Vines' words?

June 17, 2002

What are the facts behind Vines' words?
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___ST. LOUIS--Was Mohammed, the prophet of Islam, a "demon-possessed pedophile" who married a 9-year-old?

Ergun Caner (right) and his brother, Emir, answer questions from reporters during a news conference at the Southern Baptist Convention in St. Louis. The Caners wrote "Unveiling Islam: An Insider's Look at Muslim Life and Beliefs," a new book from which Jerry Vines drew information used in his sermon at the SBC Pastors' Conference. Ergun Caner is assistant professor of theology and church history at Criswell College in Dallas. Emir Caner is assistant professor of church history and Anabaptist studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C. Among other things, they assert Mohammed himself questioned whether he was "demon-possessed." Van Payne photo/BP

___That's the message carried around the world from the pulpit of the Southern Baptist Pastors' Conference, where Florida pastor Jerry Vines made the assertion in a sermon June 10.
___The Pastors' Conference precedes the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting. Vines, pastor of First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Fla., is a former SBC president.
___Islamic leaders in the United States reacted with shock and anger over Vines' comments, which other prominent SBC leaders declined to distance themselves from.
___"It's really unfortunate that a top leader in a mainstream Christian church ... would use such hate-filled and bigoted language," Ibrahim Hooper told the Dallas Morning News. Hooper is a spokesman for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations.
___Ingrid Mattson, vice president of the Islamic Society of North America, called Vines' comments "medieval," according to Associated Press.
___Such statements could lead to violence against Muslims, she said. "It makes me wonder what's the hateful religion right now that we should be worried about."
___Eric Vickers, executive director of the American Muslim Council in St. Louis, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Vines' statements are "offensive to Muslims, Jews and Christians."
___"We need to educate him and pray for him," Vickers said.
___The president of the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida, Shakur Bolden, told the Times-Union that Vines' statement was unfair.
___"We don't let the bad eggs define our way of life," Bolden said, "just as he would not let the Ku Klux Klan or the Irish Republican Army or other fanatic Christian organizations define mainstream Christianity."
___But is there any truth to what Vines said?
___While "demon-possessed" might be a subjective assessment based on one's perspective, Webster's Dictionary does offer a clear definition of "pedophile": a person with a "sexual perversion in which children are the preferred sexual object."
___By numerous accounts, Mohammed had multiple wives, including at least one young girl.
___"The Wives of the Prophet," written by Muslims affiliated with the Alharamain Islamic Foundation, gives brief descriptions of 12 wives of Mohammed. The book is referenced by the University of Georgia's Islamic studies faculty as an authoritative source.
___According to this Muslim-written resource, as well as other resources produced by Muslims and non-Muslims alike, Mohammed's third wife was named A'isha. She was "married to the prophet in the 10th year of prophethood, when she was 6 years old, but the marriage was only consummated when she was 9 years old," according to "The Wives of the Prophets."
___"There is a difference of opinions among scholars as to when this marriage was solemnized," the authors explain. "But what is most authentic is that A'isha was married ... when she was 6 years old and the marriage was consummated ... when she was 9 years old."
___Christians may have difficulty understanding the lifestyle of Mohammed, according to a resource page written by the University of Georgia Islamic studies faculty. "Unlike Jesus, who lived a celibate life, Mohammed was married. Furthermore, after the death of Khadija (his first wife) in 619 until the time of his death in 632, Mohammed married a total of 11 more wives. Muslims, however, are not alarmed by his numerous marriages, since they know the following: (1) that it was not unusual for a powerful Middle Eastern chieftan to marry a number of wives; and (2) that almost all of these 11 other wives were widows when he married them; and (3) for the most part, these marriages were contracted in order to cement political ties with the tribes of the wives."
___Even if Baptists find truth in what Vines reported about Mohammed, making such a declaration in such a public setting as the SBC Pastors' Conference did nothing to enhance goodwill between Muslims and Christians, some observers noted.
___Frank Ruff, a representative of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to the SBC, predicted Vines' comments would hurt the SBC.
___"It is shortsighted because they will have less credibility," Ruff told the Houston Chronicle. "I would expect the derogatory remarks about Islam would increase hostility of Muslims toward Christianity."
___"When Vines seeks to discredit the Islamic faith, he opens the Christian faith to stinging criticism about its own flaws," said Robert Parham, executive director of the Baptist Center for Christian Ethics and columnist on the website EthicsDaily.com.
___"The New Testament's list of heroes and heroines of the faith include Abraham, the polygamist; Moses, the murderer; and Rahab, the prostitute. It also includes David, the adulterer, who had his mistress' husband murdered. The same David became angry but did nothing when his son, Amnon, raped his sister and David's daughter, Tamar. These and others hardly provide the kind of storyline to describe the perfect traditional family."
___Rather than casting stones at Mohammed, Christians should practice the Golden Rule, Parham said. "Just as we hope our own faith will not be disfigured by flawed biblical characters, we should avoid besmirching flawed characters in other religions."
___But other Baptist leaders said the comparison being made is not just between important figures in Christianity and Islam but between the founders of each religion.
___Newly elected SBC President Jack Graham, for example, made that distinction in a news conference where he was asked about Vines' statement.
___In contrast to Islam, Christians worship "a pure and perfect Savior," Graham said. Christians have a duty to God and to the world to proclaim that message, he said.
___With additional reporting by Jodi Matthews of EthicsDaily.com

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