Source: ET
Sindh has blazed a trail that other provinces may feel impelled to follow. On April 28, itsprovincial assembly passed the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act 2013, criminalising marriage below the age of 18. This represents a triumph for civil society which had been venting its anguish at the trend in some segments of society to marry off girls at a very young age. There was also the recent controversy sparked by the Council of Islamic Ideology, which had given a recommendation saying that there was no bar on child marriages and that girls could be married off if they had attained puberty.
Categories: Asia
A remarkable and historical step. Hope religious clerics will be able to digest it.
@ Zubair Khan
– Please make sure Your anti Mullah attitude does not turn into one with anti religious or anti common sense.
– For me 18 is ok too but the question would be Why 18 why not 20 or 25 ? Infact most marriages are delayed. The focus now should be more on the limit of staying unmarried? Its not about legislation, its more about educating the people of the full picture of the issue. Right and left both sides.
– The CII actually declared that there is no religious restrictions on underage Nikah or paper marriages, but the actually Marriage or Rukhsati should be done when one reaches the age of puberty. Please get your facts straight before you comment and don’t get carried away. You can differ with them but with logic not emotions.
– What would be the age of Puberty? The parents know best – what if someone get marriage at the age of 17? There are many countries jurisdictions where 16 is the age. Are they doing something wrong? Is it really applicable to force people to wait and marry at the age of 18 where girls are getting pregnant underage with out any wedlock? Why marry then at all?
All religions have made marriage easy and have encouraged it but some people are making it hard and hard and hard. And forcing people to live with out marriage. Khuda aur Rasool se bhi zyada Huqooq ka khyal rakhne ki baat karte hain. Aur phir nataij bhi bhugat te hain.
Please be unbiased in your comments.
@ Nadi
Thank you for sentimenal comments. Please keep in mind here post has been copied from ET newspaper and I commented only as lot of hue and cry going on about underage marriage specially in Sindh. Rest what you mentioned also has weight and I am not against it.
just a quotation:
The lowest age of sexual initiation was in Germany withthe sexual activity of girls starting at the age of 14.5, and boys at the age of 12.6. In the remaining countries, this age was not so diversified. English girls claimed to have begun
sexual activity at the age of 14.7 while English boys at the ageof 15.7. In France, Ukraine and Poland the age of initiation was 16.0, 16.6, 18.8, respectively, for boys and 16.7, 15.6 and
16.6 for girls.
unquote.
For a Muslim the ‘age of sexual activity’ should be equal to the age of marriage.
Source:
http://www.google.jo/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CEEQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Faaem.pl%2Ffulltxt.php%3FICID%3D1011065&ei=ETlhU8GlAe2A7Qay0YCYAw&usg=AFQjCNFwHx7g2sb-1tTagCCR1DnJmbJI7A&sig2=HWuHLVEJw0PBZIjWknRG2A&bvm=bv.65636070,d.bGE
@Zubair Khan:
Thanks for understanding and sorry if it caused you any disturbance for being emotional I know it sounded emotional which actually it was. I am really disturbed when some wise people also start seconding some Blind Media notes with out looking in depth of the issue or even sometimes agendas, with out caring of ones faith or in built common sense.
@Rafiq A. Tschannen:
Thanks for the info – it actually helps to understand the real issue at hand. And Ahamdies are not completely immuned from this if they blindly follow what media is saying. We need to beware of Modernity Snobbery. Thanks
Nadi is obviously ideologically motivated. He is telling others to follow logic and himself ignoring his own advice.
Marriage is not just about sex. It is about raising a good and decent family. The age of marriage 1400 years ago was in the context of those times. Both boys and girls were getting married young. In the present day studies have shown that if a woman marries in her teens, the success of that marriage is less compared to one where the age was in the twenties.
For marriage Islam requires the consent of the woman. So she cannot be too young. Islamic Mullahs are guided by the incorrect assumptions that Hadhrat Ayesha was married at age 9. This is false and incorrect. If we can get over this then I believe even Nadi would agree that in todays world teen age girls should not be married. Khuda ki di hui aqal istemal karain! Afala Ta’qeloon!!
@Lutf
Lutf him self sounds like effected by Modernity Snobbery. Anything that goes against Mullah is welcome for some “Modern” Thinkers. I believe this attitude is unfair and will pressurize these very people (if Ahmadies) tomorrow to laugh at Ahmadi Murabbis as well.
Now, I did say 18 is ok too but there are other issues bigger than that to address. 18 or 17 or 16 is not really an issue to cry about. Its more of education rather than Legislation.
Anyways, you are sounding to say its ok if you get sex at teenage but you should marry when you are wise (may be in twentys). Marriage is a package but for youth its primarily about sex my dear. Face the facts. If you are having sex without wedlock then what is the need of marriage at all? Also Which studies you are referring to, which show more success ratio of marriages in later age? If this study is done in the west then surely its not talking of first marriage – I know people settle down after some experiments but we should avoid experiments.
If you are an Ahmadi – have you forgot the practice of the Promissed Massiah (AS)? Its just little more than 100 years ago, not 1500 year ago.
May God let us understand and do what is good for us. Amin!