Does the Prophet's marriage to Aisha constitute pedophilia?

Anti- Muslims writers accuse Prophet Muhammad of pedophilia because of his marriage to Aisha supposedly at the age of nine. Muhammad, peace be upon him, as a human being and prophet of God did not display a behavior that showed sexual attraction to children. His first wife was 40 and his second was about 65. Then he married Aisha when she was supposedly at the age nine. Even though there is a tradition attributed to Aisha stating the marriage took place when she was nine. Determining Aisha’s marriage age requires further investigation. By comparing Aisha’s marriage age to historical events, textual critics suggest that the dates mentioned in the tradition cannot be correct rather her age must had been about 17. In either case the marriage of Prophet Muhammad to Aisha does not constitute any abuse. The one fact about her age that is known for sure is that she had reached puberty. Marriage at the age of puberty was normal in antiquity. Following a prevailing, not intrinsically evil, norm is acceptable. It is abnormal in contemporary time for a man to marry a girl upon reaching puberty. In our time, when a girl reaches sexual maturity, she is not psychologically ready for marriage. The culture, and for good reasons, does not prepare girls for marriage at that age. Legal marriage age varies from country to country but usually falls between 15 to18 years of age, at which time psychological readiness is attainable. Islam teaches and sound judgment confirms that contemporary moral standards must be taken into consideration when determining proper marriage age. Thus nowadays puberty alone is not a sufficient criterion to determine the legal age of marriage. Anti-Muslims polemicists both neglect to remove their social frame of reference when judging the marriage in question and ignore the fact that marriage at sexual maturity then was as normative as marrying at the age of eighteen is now. Thus accusing Prophet Muhammad of pedophilia on grounds of following a prevailing, not intrinsically evil, norm implies the same accusation be directed to multitudes of men belonging to various religious traditions throughout history. The senseless accusation that Prophet Muhammad’s marriage to Aisha constitutes pedophilia rests squarely on anti-Muslims sentiments.