RIYADH // A member of Saudi Arabia’s highest religious body has said that Prophet Mohammed’s marriage to a nine-year-old girl does not justify marrying minor children today because circumstances have changed in the intervening 14 centuries.
The practice has been sanctioned by some religious authorities, including Sheikh Abdul Aziz al Sheikh, the kingdom’s Grand Mufti.
Saudi sheikh says child marriages are no longer justifiable - The National Newspaper
Suhaila Zain Al-Abdeen, a member of the National Human Rights Society, said they have launched a campaign for a legislation to regulate that.
"The campaign is calling on the authorities to issue a new law that prohibits child marriages and sets the minimum age of marriage for girls at 18," she said.
There are no laws in Saudi Arabia defining the minimum age for marriage.
She insists that such unions are harmful to the children and are trivializing the institution of marriage.
Dr. al-Nafees opposes the argument that girls can be married off at the age of puberty.
"Reaching puberty is not enough to make marriage acceptable.
"A girl must reach the age of reason before being considered an adult that can get married."
The Shari`ah professor sees no problem with setting a minimum age for marriage.
"Specifying the age of marriage is permissible under Shari`ah," he maintains.
"The age for girls to be married should be kept at 18, no less. This is in accordance with the Hanafi school of thought."
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