Saudis campaign against child marriage

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amirah80

*Fear Allah*
:salam2:

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A group of Saudi women activists have launched a nationwide campaign to enact a law criminalizing child marriages in Saudi Arabia.


JEDDAH — Shocked by stories of young girls being married off to men at the age of their fathers, a group of Saudi women activists have launched a nationwide campaign to enact a law criminalizing child marriages in the conservative kingdom.
"The idea of the campaign came out after child marriages have become rife in Saudi Arabia," Fawziya Al-Oyouni, president of the Saudi society for defending women's rights, told IslamOnline.net on Friday, September 19.

The activists are planning to file a petition with the Saudi Justice Ministry on September 23, to demand a law criminalizing the marriage of girls under 17.

"The petition will demand setting the marriage age for girls at 17," the society said in a statement.

Oyouni said child marriages often end up in tragedies.

She cited the case of a 16-year-old who has tried to commit suicide after she had been married off to a man in his 70s.

"A 10-year-old child also became a divorcee," said Oyouni.

The issue of child marriages has sparked a headed debate in Saudi Arabia after local papers reported cases of young girls who had been married off to men as old as their fathers.

Last month, the mother of an eight-year-old girl filed a suit to divorce her daughter, who was married to an old man by her father without the child's knowledge.

In many child marriages, girls are given away to older men in return for hefty dowries or as a result of long-standing custom in which a father promises his daughters and sons to marriage while children.

According to local statistics, in the most of these cases, the marriage is concluded without the girls knowledge or consent.

Awareness
Saudi scholars don't see a problem with enacting a law fixing the marriage age for girls.

"There is no Shari`ah ruling against specifying the marriage age for girls," said Dr. Saud Al-Fenesyan, a former rector of the Shari`ah Faculty in the Imam Muhammed bin Saud University.

"Setting the age of 17 or 18 for the marriage of girls is permissible according to the Hanafi school of thought, which is applicable in many man-made laws."

There are no laws in Saudi Arabia defining the minimum age for marriage.

Though the girl must give her consent to the marriage, some marriage officials set the term aside.

A United Nations report on child marriage in 2005 found that 100 million girls were expected to marry by the age of 18 before 2015.

The worst countries for child marriage were Niger, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, India and Bangladesh.

Zuhair Al Harthi, a spokesman for the Saudi human rights authority, believes that laws would not end the phenomenon.

"This issue first requires raising awareness of the parents," he told IOL.

Source: IslamOnline http://www.islamonline.com/news/newsfull.php?newid=163846
 

a_brother

Make dua for us all
:salam2:

this is the problem...

In many child marriages, girls are given away to older men in return for hefty dowries or as a result of long-standing custom in which a father promises his daughters and sons to marriage while children.

According to local statistics, in the most of these cases, the marriage is concluded without the girls knowledge or consent.


Subhana-Allah, how can some fathers treat their daughters like that???

wasalamo alaikom
 

Abel213

Junior Member
:salam2:

Forced marriage is totally haram and should never be allowed

But they shouldn't make the age limit under puberty, because adult age is subjective and depends on a persons socioeconomic status.

Edit :

Example of a good law-

Kansas: Any applicant who is under age 18 must have either: - Notarized, written consent of all then living parents and legal guardians, or notarized, written consent of one parent or legal guardian and consent of a district court judge

Why do I say this? Because in the US people get married when they are about 23-25 on average, but in Afghanistan people get married at 15-18. So would you apply 18 year old age limit to Afghanistan? No because it would be chaotic
 

Maryam Sayyidina

Junior Member
Subhanallah
well done Saudi! I am waiting the Saudi care about foreign worker specially the treat for worker from my country.
 
weird....i thought it was allowed in Islam like when the prophet Muhammad (saw) married aisha at 6 and took her into his(saw) house at 9.........and now u r here saying its wrong.....totally weird!
 

amirah80

*Fear Allah*
:salam2:

First, regarding the article this conversation took a turn. Regardless wether Aisah (may Allah be pleased with her) was 6, 9, 11 or whatever is not the issue. They are not campaigning saying that the age of the children is to young the problem is not having their consent to involve them in a marriage. In Islam a women cannot be forced into marriage against her will.

We already hear about adult women getting forced into marriage especially in Saudia. Due to that in 2005 the Mufti Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Al-Sheikh made a ruling about forced marriages for women in Saudia. So now something needs to be done to protect the children. Now if the ruling is put into effect in Saudia protecting the children they probably will have a clause were if the children want to engage in marriage than they can "with their consent".

FYI- When the Prophet (saws) married Aisha she was not forced into it and it was not against her will (without her consent) which is the bases of this article "against the childs will".
 

allah is with me

Rabana Wa laqal Hamd
huh! this world has become so creepy and so bad that my country from were i took birth saudi arabia'n's say it wrong .how can they
in this generation almost all day its wrong but few are sorrect saying tis rite
and when someone froce a person to get married then it is not at all allowed.
i pray for worls people to become correct tottaly correct :tti_sister: ameen
 

allah is with me

Rabana Wa laqal Hamd
no aisha rasi allah huan ha (R.A.A) never married muhammad swt at the age of 6 and took aisha(R.A.A.) AT AGE OF NINE I agree that muhammad swt married aisha(R.A.A)when sha was a child indeed but took her to home when she was well matured ,plz dont creat fitnah
 

amirah80

*Fear Allah*
:salam2:
To "Allah is with me" this is just a hadith to inform you of Aishas age (may Allah be pleased with her). Even thou this has nothing to do with the article I just wanted to inform you of this hadith.

'Aa'ishah, may God be pleased with her, narrated that the Prophet<May the Peace and Blessings of God be upon him> was betrothed (zawaj) to her when she was six years old and he consummated (nikah) his marriage when she was nine years old, and then she remained with him for nine years. (Saheeh al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 62, Number 64)
 

B.H.

Junior Member
The secular west has no objective absolute moral standard by which to judge right and wrong by, so any criticism by it of Muslims marriages is moot.

Anyway, may in the west would have no problem with allowing the murdering that girl in the womb through abortion if the mother so chose, yet criticize her being married off young? Talk about being warped by Satan. Does not the Quran speak of the unbelievers as having a disease in their hearts?

However, a woman should not ever be forced to marry against their will and those who force such on a woman (whether father or whoever) should suffer the penalty allowed under law.
 

Aapa

Mirajmom
Salaam,


I am concerned about the post. There is very little factual information. There are random references to reports..made by the UN. What percentage of the Muslim population carries on these weddings. What are the soico-economic status of the families. What are the educational backgrounds. What are the current statistics on child brides. What are the current rulings of such a union. What defines pedophilia. What are the terms that make these unions legal. Give us something so we can become informed and not make emotional judgements out of context.
 

amirah80

*Fear Allah*
Salaam,


I am concerned about the post. There is very little factual information. There are random references to reports..made by the UN. What percentage of the Muslim population carries on these weddings. What are the soico-economic status of the families. What are the educational backgrounds. What are the current statistics on child brides. What are the current rulings of such a union. What defines pedophilia. What are the terms that make these unions legal. Give us something so we can become informed and not make emotional judgements out of context.

Salam Sister

The facts remain that child marriages in Saudia do exist and not limited to just Saudia. But, since that is what the article is about we can stay on Saudia. If it is one random report or hundreds. The fact remains forcing children into marriage is against Shariah point blank. Regardless of economic standing or educational backgrounds. Aganist the childs will does not change regarding those issues. Pedophilia can be explained but no one suggested that here or in the article. The terms that make the unions legal are getting married by the laws governing Shariah so they say. The problem is again "Against the will of the child". There is nothing to get emotional about here except in Islam it is a woman's right to refuse marriage to whomever she pleases no matter what age. If the children opt not to marry there fathers should not force them without their consent, period. Regardless if stats show one person or hundreds. I am sure stats or additional info to form your opinion can be found if you search.
 

Aapa

Mirajmom
Salaam,


There was no emotion, whatsoever. It proves an argument if one is able to present robust statements. We are a forum. This may become an emotional issue. The reason I used the word pedophilia is because it is the object of inference. Society objects to a child bride because it would please the lust of a pedophile. A bride has to be mature. As Muslims we need to be able to express why child brides are not permitted in the Sharia. We need to make comfortable those who are thinking of reverting to Islam. In a sense we need to have an Islamic perpspective of the parameters of maturity. What is the mark of maturity for a girl to metamorphsis into a woman.
I am not attempting to limit the scope of this post. I am merely pointing out that we need definition. I thank you for reading my response.
 

amirah80

*Fear Allah*
Salaam,


There was no emotion, whatsoever. It proves an argument if one is able to present robust statements. We are a forum. This may become an emotional issue. The reason I used the word pedophilia is because it is the object of inference. Society objects to a child bride because it would please the lust of a pedophile. A bride has to be mature. As Muslims we need to be able to express why child brides are not permitted in the Sharia. We need to make comfortable those who are thinking of reverting to Islam. In a sense we need to have an Islamic perpspective of the parameters of maturity. What is the mark of maturity for a girl to metamorphsis into a woman.
I am not attempting to limit the scope of this post. I am merely pointing out that we need definition. I thank you for reading my response.

Salam Sister

Yes, no one disputes this is a forum. This could be emotional for some if they want to look at the issue blindly. As a muslim when we read you will understand the problem in this situation which is not the age. For a non muslim inshallah we can clear up some misconceptions regarding the age differences which could be their problem with the article. Because the information is out there to obtain and addressing it here will shed light on the situations for muslims and non. I will post again to define pedophile so those who think that is the case can achieve a better understanding of the term and not use it again in this situation. Most that would have a problem with the ages are the western world as we know it. Society here in the USA deem adult to be 18 which is there law so one has formulated their opinion of adulthood based on that. But, with that said if a parent as in this case thinks the child is old enough to partake in marriage then they should let that be there choice. Not force them. They are forcing obviously thinking the child cannot make that choice so that evidently means that they do not need to be married.

Majority say when the maturity level is when puberty is met that a women can be married. At this time women can have babies etc... Some scholars say when puberty is met and they are able to reason. But, setting the age of 18 or 17 does not deem that the age of reasoning. Prime example we see some 18 year olds acting imaturely while some underage children 16, 15 etc have more sense. Plus if someone has issues with it they must evaluate the situation themselves. Because back in the day in the USA the age for marriage was not 18. Children were getting married. My grandmother was married at 16. So this can cause a emotional dilemma for some due to lack of information and knowledge. But, we have a number of threads that are done even regarding the Prophet (saws) and his marriage I will post some and whomever reads this thread can go their to clarify there misconceptions if the problem is due to age. Muslims should have a problem with this article due to against the will of the child.
 

jaffarabduraheem

Not afraid of you.
Subhanallah!

Here's the crux of the situation. Rasul Allah (saaws) married Aisha (raa) at the age she was because she had entered puberty and she consented. This is the requirement of Islam. The Saudi attempt to put an age limit on marriage is an affront to the sharia and an obvious attempt to westernize the heart of our holy land.:astag:
 

shaheeda35

strive4Jannah
:salam2:
My daughter had her cycle at 9, so is she to be married? She is not emotionally or mentally ready for this, she is still in school. A child that young has no clue what to do, she just wants to play. To force them into marriage is just horrible and the parents should be ashamed of themselves. :astag::astag:
 

Khalil2u

Junior Member
Be careful

Salaam alaykum,
I was on the wicked you tube and saw a post that said a horrible thing about the prophet. I don't wish to repeat what it said. It led me to look for a hadith concerning the matter. There is a hadith about this. The prophet pbuh saw Aisha in his dream and when he saw her at age 6 he knew he was to marry her. He married her @ 9 and consummated their marriage at puberty. Aisha's father consented to the marriage and she did not resist. This was very confusing to me and hard to digest. I had to look to the Quran for this to see what it said about age and marriage. The Quran is the word of Allah SWT. The only thing I could find in the Quran I saw about age and marriage was when we inshallah go to paradise we will have mates of like age. This leads me to believe we should marry people of our own age. That is just my opinion. As far as child brides go. The prophet Muhammad was very special and I know that you should follow his sunnah. This does not mean you are the prophet pbuh. What makes people think they are entitled to everything he had. Emulating everything he did will not make you a prophet. I love hadith but the Quran is law. It does not say this is right or wrong. So I won't say its wrong I will just say that Allah SWT made things unknown to man so we should look to Quran and make dua for him to guide us. This is a very hard issue just as slavery is. Slavery has been abolished but is legal to us. Because it is oppressive we as humans turn away from it and Allah SWT says you are rewarded for freeing slaves and stopping oppression. I think the evidence and statistics shows that children married and sexual with adults are oppressed and suffer from all types of psychological afflictions. So this to me should lead us to make this not be the norm. However people should be very careful about making things legal or illegal when Allah SWT has given his laws. If Allah SWT allowed this to the prophet pbuh I think we should be very careful of the language we use concerning this. Also men of this earth don't have the moral standing of the prophet pbuh or his knowledge and should also be careful of the things that they do. The men of this earth no matter how pious could never measure up to him or his moral character. That is why he along with the select others were chosen for the prophethood. They were few and we are many. We will all pay for our deeds one day so try to be the best you can be. Khalil2u4ever.:hijabi:
 
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