No sane man will allow daughter to marry below 15, says Asri
(The Malay Mail Online) – No sane father would permit his daughter to wed before turning 15, former Perlis Mufti Datuk Dr Asri Zainul Abidin said yesterday.
The prominent Muslim scholar also stressed that the syariah court should exercise discretion in permitting child marriages in “exceptional cases” such as if the girl is a 15-year-old orphan whose suitor is a loving, stable man.
“If the father is sane, he’s not going to allow his child to get married at 13,” Asri (picture) told The Malay Mail Online in an exclusive interview here.
“Islam does not allow forced marriages, marriages by deceit, and marriages without the agreement of the wali, a sincere protector,” added the Muslim cleric, referring to the guardian for females seeking marriage.
An uproar ensued when a 40-year-old Sabahan married a 13-year-old girl recently after raping her. The Attorney-General’s Chambers reportedly dropped the statutory rape charge after the man registered his marriage in the syariah court, triggering public anger.
Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail later promised in May to press statutory rape charges against the man, regardless of his marriage to the child, who is younger than the 17-year-old daughter from the man’s first marriage.
Women’s groups have called for an end to child marriages, saying that child brides were less likely to complete their education and faced higher risks of physical, sexual and mental abuse.
“Young brides are more likely to become young mothers, and the risk of death in pregnancy and delivery for girls under the age of 15 is five times higher than for women in their 20s,” said the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG) in a statement last month.
According to JAG, the 2000 Population and Housing Census showed that 6,800 girls under the age of 15 were married, with Selangor showing the most cases, followed by Sabah. Malays had the most number of child marriages at 2,450, while other Bumiputeras had 1,550, Chinese 1,600, Indians 600 and others 600.
Read more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/no-sane-man-will-allow-daughter-to-marry-below-15-says-asri
