“There is no Islamic justification for forced marriage," says Samina, and yet there is ample support for child marriage, and how freely can a child really consent to such a thing?
"The Prophet wrote the (marriage contract) with 'Aisha while she was six years old and consummated his marriage with her while she was nine years old and she remained with him for nine years (i.e. till his death)." -- Bukhari 7.62.88
In Islam, Muhammad is the supreme example of conduct (cf. Qur'an 33:21). Thus he is exemplary even in his marriage to a child: Muslims take this seriously and imitate Muhammad in this. Article 1041 of the Civil Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran states that girls can be engaged before the age of nine, and married at nine: "Marriage before puberty (nine full lunar years for girls) is prohibited. Marriage contracted before reaching puberty with the permission of the guardian is valid provided that the interests of the ward are duly observed."
The Ayatollah Khomeini himself married a ten-year-old girl when he was twenty-eight. Khomeini called marriage to a prepubescent girl "a divine blessing," and advised the faithful: "Do your best to ensure that your daughters do not see their first blood in your house."
Glorious Fruit of Multiculturalism Update: "I wed aged FIVE... in the UK," by Anila Baig in The Sun, April 8 (thanks to all who sent this in):
Instead she was being married off — having just turned FIVE.
The Islamic ceremony effectively ended her childhood and paved the way for years of abuse.
Just as shockingly, this was not happening in a remote Third World village — but in a large town in the north of England.
Samina has decided to speak out after Britain’s Forced Marriage Unit revealed that last year the 1,468 cases they investigated included another girl of five.
There are thought to be another 6,500 cases that went unreported.
Samina — not her real name as she is too scared to be identified — told The Sun: “I was denied the right of childhood, play and innocence.
“When you are married at the age of five you no longer live like a normal child. I was deprived of my basic human rights.
“I’m genuinely shocked and horrified to hear that another little girl has had to go through this. My heart goes out to that child and anyone who is forced to marry.
“That is why I am sharing my experience, to reach out to those girls and young women. There is hope and light at the end of the tunnel.”
Stop child brides
She went on: “I know that such behaviour is contrary to the teachings of Islam and must be therefore outlawed.
“There is no Islamic justification for forced marriage and doing it to a child of that age is not just wrong — it is criminal.”...
Posted by Robert on April 8, 2012 3:37 AM
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