Nigerian senator who married a 13-year-old is “following the teachings of the Prophet.”

Despite protests from human rights groups, Sani Ahmed Yerima, a 49-year-old senator in the Nigerian government, has just married a 13-year-old girl. This will be his fourth wife, and he bought her for… er… paid her Egyptian parents a dowry of $100,000.

Of course, Senator Yerima doesn’t much care what the critics say. He has Islam on his side:

“The Prophet Mohammed married at the age of nine, therefore any Muslim who marries a girl of nine years and above, is following the teachings of the Prophet,” Yerima told Al Jazeera….

[I]n Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north, weddings of underage people do not often cause controversy as many northern states have refused to recognize the law making marriage for people under 18 illegal.

They say that ban is against the teachings of Islam.

On that point, they appear to be right.

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This has to be the best political ad of the 2010 cycle. Dale Peterson is running to be Alabama’s Agriculture Commissioner, and he has something to say about the ‘dummies’ he’s up against.

My favorite part is when he pulls out the gun.

[Hat tip: Taegan Goddard]