Nigerian Muslim scholars have rejected suggestions that early marriage has any negative effects on the couples involved, insisting instead that breakdown in communal values and failure to adhere to divine rules account for much of the problems.
“There's no problem with early marriage. As far as Islam is concerned, it does not support anything that draws back humanity. And come to think of it, no religion or culture has a particular age set for marriage,” Sheikh Dhikrullahi Shaafihi, a chief preacher with The Muslim Congress (TMC), told OnIslam.net
“Whatever problem you associate with so-called early marriage is misplaced. The problem is with the society. The society has failed in its responsibility. Parents have failed in their responsibilities to their children, especially those given out in marriage.”
Sheikh Shaafihi was speaking on the recent arrest of a 14-year-old bride in Nigeria's Kano state who police claimed applied poison to the food eaten by her 35-year-old husband and his friends.
The husband, Umar Sani, and three of his friends died shortly after the meal.
Zakat and Sadaqah Foundation Executive Director Imam Abdullahi Shuaib agrees with Sheikh Shaafihi, insisting that social violence seen in many marriages are part of the “contemporary crises” associated with failure to do what it right.
Echoing similar sentiments as Sheikh Shaafihi, Shuaib said needless modernism such as discouraging close-knit extended family is taking its toll on most families, whether young or old.
“There is nothing like underage marriage in Islam, and so people should not bring a contemporary challenge and then give it Islamic coloration. There is nothing like child marriage in Islam,” he said
“Marriage in Islam is a contract between one family and another family, not just between the spouses. It is a social contract between one family and another one and it is their duty to ensure the marriage works.”
Imam Shuaib said what matters most times is not the age of the bride but her physiological features which he said must be able to shoulder marital burdens.
“The second aspect of it is whether the physiology of the bride has attained age of maturity or otherwise. That's another question entirely which is different from whether that child is ripe or not ready to shoulder marital responsibility,” he told OnIslam.net.
“From the Islamic perspective one of the cases that people usually cite is that when the Holy Prophet married Aisha that she was about nine years old. But the physiological makeup of Aisha showers was already a grownup child. Yes in terms of age, it was low. But in terms of physiological growth, she was ripe. In spite of that, the prophet did not consummate the marriage until when Aisha was over 15 or so.”
“Even in Europe today when you see a child of fourteen years she's already a full-blown girl and you would doubt if she tells you she's just 14. If you take it from that angle, a girl may already be grown up but may be young in terms of age,” imam Shuaib said.
“Taken from that perspective, in Islam there is nothing like underage marriage. But what Islam looks at is whether the child is grown up enough.
MUSLIMS JUSTIFYING PEDOPHILIA IN THE NAME OF THEIR PERVERTED RELIGION.
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