What went on in this 9 year old's case was she had grown up to be somebody's mother, and then had a son who achieved note in Arab ranks, but he wasn't sufficiently noble.
So what they did was turn her into Mohammad's "wife".
She was never married to Mohammad.
The reason Moslems were required to believe this story was quite simple ~ if you were in the higher ranks and denied the truth of the story (like you might if you were a close relative of the woman) they'd kill you!
Most people in those days wre totally illiterate and there was no "opposition" press. This was among the easiest of stories to get accepted, but it's just a story. TOTAL ARABIAN BS!@
Although the rest of the world believes mohammad married her at age seven, and that in and admirable display of self-restraint, this most perfect of all men didn’t penetrate her until she was all of nine (what a guy!)...
It’s nice to know there is always someone on FR who will defend mohammad from the charges of pedophilia that his followers believe as fact and use to justify their own perversions.
Nicely played, sir.
Too bad you’d probably get a fatwa for denying the faith in any muslim/sharia law dominated country, it is still a cool story, bro...