Saudi cleric: okay to marry 10 year old girls

It's an injustice to NOT marry girls aged 10, says Saudi cleric By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 4:32 PM on 14th January 2009

Saudi Arabia's most senior cleric has told followers it is permissible for ten-year-old girls to marry and anyone who think they are too young are doing the youngsters 'an injustice'.

Abdul-Azeez ibn Abdullaah Aal ash-Shaikh, the country's grand mufti, said: 'It is wrong to say it's not permitted to marry off girls who are 15 and younger.

'A female who is ten or 12 is marriageable and those who think she's too young are wrong and are being unfair to her,' he said during a Monday lecture.

Al Sheikh's comments come at a time when Saudi human rights groups have been pushing the government to put an end to marriages involving the very young and to define a minimum age for marriage.

Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh, the Kingdom's grand mufti, prays during the funeral of the Saudi woman and her daughter last February

In the past few months, Saudi newspapers have highlighted several cases in which young girls were married off to much older men or very young boys.

Though the mufti's pronouncements are respected and provide guidance, the government is not legally bound by them.

On Sunday, the government-run Human Rights Commission condemned marriages of minor girls, saying such marriages are an 'inhumane violation' and rob children of their rights.

The commission's statement followed a ruling by a court in Oneiza in central Saudi Arabia last month that dismissed a divorce petition by the mother of an eight-year-old girl whose father married her off to a man in his 50s.

Newspaper reports said the court argued that the mother did not have the right to file such a case on behalf of her daughter and said that the petition should be filed by the girl when she reaches puberty.

Responding to a question about parents who force their underage daughters to marry, the mufti said: 'We hear a lot about the marriage of underage girls in the media, and we should know that Islamic law has not brought injustice to women.'

The mufti said a good upbringing will make a girl capable of carrying out her duties as a wife and that those who say women should not marry before the age of 25 are following a 'bad path'.

'Our mothers and before them, our grandmothers, married when they were barely 12,' said Al Sheikh, according to the Al-Hayat newpaper.

There are no statistics to show how many marriages involving children are performed in Saudi Arabia every year.

It is also not clear whether these unions are on the rise or whether people are hearing about them more now because of the prevalence of media outlets and easy access to the Internet.

Activists say the girls are given away in return for hefty dowries or as a result of long-standing custom in which a father promises his infant daughters and sons to cousins out of a belief that marriage will protect them from illicit relationships.

well i do not know any girls who married in 10 yearsold here…

but i just laugh on those who post praising the western culture …what i know that when the boy or the girl has 17 yearsold they cicked out of home and some of the parents rent their home for their children …this is more important to discuss !

hey you guys you're twisting it all around.

i don't think that was the main point here. It shouldn't be a matter of "see what happens in muslim countries" , or "see what happened in Texas" it's just about an injustice being done. and Margaret, it's the media's main prerogative, to inform. whether it's about the muslim or christian world.

the fact that the girl's mom filed the petition means that not all muslims agree to that. and neither is the mormon case  a typical American phenomenon.

fabs, if that little girl in the UK, happened to be from Bangladesh, doesn't really mean that it couldn't happen to any girl from anywhere else. 

There's no point in getting racist and turning it into a religious issue. let's face it, both eastern and western worlds have their flaws. that's a fact!

Some food for thought for the moderators:

I think it's high time that someone got in and banned all racist and religious posts.  this is getting way out of hand!

It largely happens in indonesia, I mean underage marriage. The paedophilia guys said that they’re just inspired by what muhammad’s done with aisha. Even some islam’s preachers said that it’s legal in islam to get married with underage girl. Fortunately the law doesn’t go well with their twisted mind. It really happens in the rural areas where the people just blindly follow their beliefs in custom and religion.

Hakimi,

thank you so much for adding the link. 

nad1a the bottom line here is the media always relate anything happens in the east to Islam !~ they try to deface the image of Islam by spreading things which is not real.

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 However, back to what I just post about Texas, my post wasn't against all Americans because I realize there is a good seeds and bad seeds in everywhere. My post was just to illustrate to people here that in everywhere this is happens where people marrying off their children. So this is not about Islam this is about people themselves.    

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the fact that the girl's mom filed the petition means that not all muslims agree to that.

That's true and that's what I meant in my previous posts.

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let's face it, both eastern and western worlds have their flaws. that's a fact!

Yeah, you are right no one is perfect and everyone has his own flaws. So, why people always look at others blotches while they are not looking at theirs~ I'm wondering..

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In my opinion such cleric or whosoever is seriously sick

http://www.moheet.com/show_news.aspx?nid=212256&pg=1 

I think we should understand first why did he say that.. …… 

If someone agree to something that doesn't make him dim. That's mean he has reasons for his choice, even if we don't agree to what he says.

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People have reasons for their views as we also have reasons for owns. They could be wrong but we also could be wrong.

@nad1a:

The moderators don't care. I needn't tell you how many letters I've wriiten about this:

http://www.englishbaby.com/forum/AskEnglish/thread/244242

Everything is possible. Cows could POSSIBLY fall from the sky tomorrow. But it isn't likely, nor common. The point here is that such a phenomenon isn't a British thing, given that its outlawed.

You can't get married in the UK until you're 18, or 16 in Scotland.

It is common practice in western Indian state of Rajasthan and in triabal/village areas even today. It was a ery common practice in India.But there is a slight difference, even the "Man" is a minor in most of the cases

The govt has put in a lot of effort into this. and it has been quite successful in most regions. In cities and in educated houses, girls get married at 23-24 and in villages it is 18.

According to law, "Marraige" between an Adult man and a minor girl is considered rape.

People have reasons for their views as we also have reasons for owns. They could be wrong but we also could be wrong.

I don't see you saying the same thing when fabs1 or gkiss says somthing!! .

I don't see you saying the same thing when fabs1 or gkiss says somthing!! .

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 " They could be wrong but we also could be wrong. "

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I don't think you should write me back if you do not  comprehend what you read .

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 They are certainly wrong because they prejudge over million Muslims people because of someone !

My words are clear enough to be understood plus Allah has given a brain for each person on this planet to think about what is right and what is wrong .

Java I don't think it is a good idea to be smart here, try next time to read and think about what you are reading.