http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=118974&d=8&m=2&y=2009
Sunday 8 February 2009 (13 Safar 1430)
Underage marriages and HRC's campaign
Abeer Mishkhas | [email protected]
In its campaign against child marriage, the Human Rights Commission (HRC)
worked with the Ministry of Health in the preparation of a report on the
effects of underage marriages on girls. The ministry issued the report in which
it warned of the physical effects on girls who married at an early age as well
as on the offspring of their marriages. The report also specified the
psychological effects of these marriages and said that girls who are deprived
of their childhoods often end up mentally ill.
The report was given support later by a senior member of the Islamic
Jurisprudence Society in Saudi Arabia, Dr. Muhammad Al-Nujaimi. In his
interview with Shams newspaper - which was carried on the Al-Arabiya website -
he spoke out against underage marriages from the religious point of view. He
stressed that Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, had said that when it comes
to marriage, the bride's consent must be obtained. Obviously, this requires
that she be mature enough to think for herself that is hardly the case with an
eight-year-old or one even younger.
This is an issue that has been around a long time. If underage marriage
has become the current burning issue, this is not because of its novelty value
but because the media have suddenly begun to concentrate on it. It is only
right for religious scholars, in tandem with medical authorities, to come out
and denounce the practice. Al-Nujaimi's words target men who believe they can
marry off their daughters whenever they choose - and of course collect dowries.
It is not a surprise, however, that some of the replies posted on the
website carrying Al-Nujaimi's interview were not very supportive of the
scholar. Some of them said that girls in the desert should be married early
because they mature more quickly. Others said that by blocking these marriages
people are depriving their daughters of their basic rights and leading them to
spinsterhood.
In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, HRC spokesman Dr. Zuhair
Al-Harithy discussed his organization's efforts to engage all the relevant
government bodies in the campaign against underage marriage. He said that the
commission was lobbying to establish a marriage age limit that all marriage
officials must adhere to. They have also been in touch with the Ministry of
Justice and several governorates concerning cases that have been recently
reported in the newspapers and have yet to be resolved.
In a comment on Al-Harithy's interview, a reader, who lives in France,
said that the commission should study the cases first to see whether the
particular marriages work. He advised that the commission should not succumb to
the influence of "imitation or Westernization." The reader went on to say that
Arabic culture and traditions can make such marriages work and that they were
the best way to protect young men and women from corruption.
The reader's remarks actually reflect quite accurately a lot of Saudi
opinion. There are many people who think of early marriage as a protection from
corruption. Nonetheless, most people would not allow girls under the age of 15
to marry.
Some of the publicized cases in Saudi Arabia concern girls aged 10,
eight, and sometimes even younger. Obviously some people think that the
corruption of morals can only be avoided by depriving children of their
childhood and innocence. But as we have seen in several cases here, early
marriages can become a lucrative business, and at this point one has to ask who
is morally corrupt here. Surely a law is called for that forbids this trade in
young people under any pretex.
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