Al-Watan newspaper

THE Islamic and Judicial Affairs Committee at the Shoura (Consultative) Council has rejected a proposal made by some members to regulate marriage of minors. The panel justified its rejection saying the proposal prevents the marriage of males and females who have not reached the age of 15 and this involves prohibition of the permissible. It’s not legally permitted to forbid what Allah has allowed without a legitimate reason, the panel adds.

The Shoura committee’s justification, in fact, is not different from the prevailing opinion expressed by scholars of Islamic jurisprudence on the issue. Some Islamic jurists believe that it’s desirable for a girl to get married at the age of nine and people find happiness in marrying their daughters before they reach the age of puberty.

Scholars supported the idea considering the age of Hadrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) when she was married to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). According to a Hadith reported by Muslim, Hadrat Aisha has narrated that the Prophet (pbuh) married her when she was seven while consummation took place when she was nine.

This Hadith is not an evidence for the permission of marriage of minors in Islam. In this report, Hadrat Aisha is actually explaining the mode of marriages in those days when men used to marry underage girls. Therefore, such marriages were considered part of then customs, traditions and social norms. Men used to marry minors before the time of the Prophet (pbuh). For example, Abdul Muttalib, the Prophet’s grandfather, married Hala, daughter of his uncle on the day Abdullah, the Prophet’s father, married his youngest son to Amina Bint Wahab. Both were underage girls.

The Prophet (pbuh) married Hadrat Aisha following the prevailing social norms. He wore clothes usually worn by individuals in the community, ate the same food people used to eat, and adopted the same methods followed by his people for treatment of diseases in those days.

Answering a question on marriage of underage girls, an Islamic scholar said: “Perhaps your question comes because of the absence of such marriages in some countries. But if you ask elders in your family they will tell you that some grandmothers were married at the age of close to that of Hadrat Aisha. This is not a new invention of our time, nor in the following ages. It was prevalent in many villages as well as in countries that followed tribal system.”

What the scholar has stated in his reply was true as many mothers and grandmothers in the past were married at a very young age following customs and traditions. But today the social values and norms are different and whether we like it or not we have change our systems accordingly. In the past nobody opposed marriage of minors. But today many people denounce such marriages, considering it as a violation of women’s honor and dignity.

There is an internal conflict between requirements of the modern age and provisions of Islamic jurisprudence. Today jurists are unable to prevent or criminalize underage marriage because of their adherence to religious heritage. Five years ago I read a newspaper report on Muslim scholars meeting to discuss the issue. The meeting was aimed at clarifying the Shariah principles to determine the minimum age for marriage. It seems that the scholars met because of the demand by some rights activists to enact a law that would criminalize marriage of minors.

What strikes me in this issue is that modern scholars conduct their research based on the views expressed by old scholars, without considering its negative consequences as well as the difference in time and place and changing circumstances. So I think the meeting was to remove doubts and confusion surrounding the issue rather than resolving the problem and protecting human rights.

Moreover, these scholars did not take people's views into consideration while discussing the issue. If scholars of today are unable to take a clear stand on a social issue like marriage of minors how can they deal with major economic and human rights issues that require enactment of laws to boost economic and social development?

Early Muslim scholars were very active and energetic in conducting research to enact laws and give their rulings on the basis of the Qur’an and Sunnah as opposed to scholars of today whose discussions are centered on the views of old scholars, considering them as indisputable Shariah texts that cannot be questioned or changed. They strictly adhere to those old opinions and did not find any necessity to use their intellect to discuss the issue in light of modern circumstances.

The Shoura committee’s rejection of the proposal to prohibit marriage of minors reflects the same negative mentality. The consultative body will definitely find it difficult to take a clear stand on other social issues because of its over dependence on the views of ancient scholars at the expense of intellect, development and human rights.