Yemeni Fatwa Condoning Underage Marriage - Instablogs
Yemeni Fatwa Condoning Underage Marriage
Incognito , Boca Raton: Feb 27 2009
Made Popular Feb 27 2009
Yemen :

Yemeni Fatwa Condoning Underage Marriage

Why would a 30-plus year-old man be interested in an 8-year-old girl? What could he possibly find in common with a child of that age, a pre-pubescent who has yet to become a woman? Who would rather play with dolls than with him? In western countries relations with any girl under the age of 18 would be considered pedophilia, but in some countries, men actually want the option of marrying girls as young as 8.

In Yemen, they finally passed a law that would legalize marriage for girls 17 and older, after an outraged world learned of 8-year-old Nojoud Muhammed Nasser’s forced marriage to Faez Ali Thamer. After 2 months of rape and domestic abuse, she went to the courts, by herself, and asked for a divorce, because her parents refused to help her.

“My father beat me and told me that I must marry this man, and if I did not, I would be raped and no law and no sheikh in this country would help me. I refused but I couldn’t stop the marriage. I asked and begged my mother, father, and aunt to help me to get divorced. They answered, ‘We can do nothing. If you want you can go to court by yourself.’ So this is what I have done.”

So for 2 months she was subjected to horrors no young child should endure.

“He used to do bad things to me, and I had no idea as to what a marriage is. I would run from one room to another in order to escape, but in the end he would catch me and beat me and then continued to do what he wanted. I cried so much but no one listened to me. One day I ran away from him and came to the court and talked to them.”

“Whenever I wanted to play in the yard he beat me and asked me to go to the bedroom with him. This lasted for two months,” added Nasser. “He was too tough with me, and whenever I asked him for mercy, he beat me and slapped me and then used me. I just want to have a respectful life and divorce him.”

Although some in Yemen, like Islamic Islah party member AbdulAziz alAsali, want the age to be upped to 18, allowing girls to finish high school, believing at 18

“they are mentally and physically ready for marriage.”

17 other have issued a “fatwa” against the law and demanding that the age-limit be banned. They claim

“that the law has no Islamic foundation and violates Sharia, the Islamic law, which the Constitution of the country affirms as the basis of all of its laws. “The marriage age,” says the assistant secretary general of the Islah party, Mohammad Assadi, “is an Islamic rule, and political parties cannot intervene in such affairs.”

So basically, these 17 men are saying it’s okay for dirty old men to violate and abuse young girls, as long as they’re married, because it’s an Islamic rule? Something is very wrong with that picture!

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1 Stars
Sanwali
Shimla, India
What else can you expect from these filthy minded ’Sharia’ slaves!
1 Stars
Incognito
Boca Raton, United States
Sanwali,

At least there are those fighting it.
(Global Perspectives)
1 Stars
nice 2 see ur artical : underage marriage. nice . I am just learning about instablogs.
HAVE AGOOD DAY
1 Stars
Incognito
Boca Raton, United States
Roshan,
Thanks and welcome.. you will find some very interesting things here.
(Global Perspectives)
1 Stars
Julie
New Delhi, India
Islam. Where women have no say in their own marriage.
Mohammad married Aeyisha at 6 and consummated their marriage when she was 8 according to her own haditha
1 Stars
Incognito
Boca Raton, United States
Julie,

Apparently, but there are those who will totally deny she married that young.
(Global Perspectives)
2 Stars
Tommy
Muscat, Oman
This is Crazy. Being a Muslim I am completely Disgraced by Such Illitarate Behavior. It is a Sin in Islam to do such deed. Only at the Consent of both Spouses can such a relationship begin, and even after that each partner must be of appropriate complimentary Age. It should be Common Sense. It is Unbelievable that such Acts still Occur in this world. Especially in a Muslim Environment.
1 Stars
Dennis
Montreal, Canada
why is this so surprising? the Persians and everybody else in the middle east have been doing this for centuries. They see women as cattle, something to trade when they need money.
(Global Perspectives)
1 Stars
Avadhut
Calicut, India
As I read articles like this it I conclude they are all a disgrace to the human race, and since they want to live in the 13th century of old, we should leave their shitty country and let them.
(Global Perspectives)
1 Stars
Incognito
Boca Raton, United States
Tommy, Dennis and Avadhut,

Unfortunately, it is not just in Islam, there are also the Mormon polygamists who also have no troubles bedding down with underage girls. It’s disgraceful in whatever religion. But at least it’s illegal in other countries, for certain individuals to want to legalize it is despicable.
(Global Perspectives)
1 Stars
AngeL
Melbourne, Australia
I'm, for the most part, fascinated by other cultures except most in the Middle East such as Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Iraq, etc. The way that woman and children are treated is primitive. It's legal for a man to beat his wife and if she tries to tell the cops, he'll kill her. A majority of the Middle East is just repulsive. UGH.
1 Stars
Incognito
Boca Raton, United States
Angel,

Fundamentalism in any religion is wretched, and most have ways of oppressing women. But I have most trouble with the honor killing aspect of Sharia.
(Global Perspectives)
3 Stars
Lynne K
Sydney, Australia
Terrible its just sickening to any decent moral person anywhere, even DOGS and other animals wait untill the female is mature enough.
These retarded parents/cultures must really hate and despise their little girls to want to get rid of them by giving them to sick pedophiles and calling it ”Marraige”.
What horrible cruel ordeals these poor little girls have to endure, when they should be playing with toys.
These female children should by any basic standards - feel safe, loved, protected and nurtured, not disgarded like a piece of garbage to the wolves.

* What a shining gem of a child to so bravely stand up for herself, I hope the rest of her life will be good, she’s got intelligence and guts.
Not like the retarded Morons in her society.
1 Stars
Incognito
Boca Raton, United States
Lynne K,

I agree... and I found it incredibly brave of the little girl to go to the courts by herself. Imagine how many don’t have the courage and are continued to be abused and violated. Incredibly sad.
(Global Perspectives)
2 Stars
Sukhmani
shimla, India
i have no words...except that its horribly depressing and frightening..
1 Stars
Incognito
Boca Raton, United States
Sukhmani,

Very depressing... especially for those little girls.
(Global Perspectives)
1 Stars
Oscar
Oaxaca, Mexico
IC:
I think of my own daughter, Isa..ten years old, a baby for God sake!

Not only are these ”dirty old men” horrific, disgusting, and vile, they are weak.

Why would a man want a child for a bride? In what way would a six, eight, or tewlve year old compliment a man in marriage?

Obviously, were they not so weak, they would choose women. These men need little girls to ”obey” without questioning, to feel ”greatful” for ”care” which is a child’s right.

If there were ever true grounds for stoning, beheadings and more, THIS IS IT, BOTH HEADS AT THAT!

These parents and anyone involved with the explotation, rape, and abuse of these babies should be punished to the fullest extent of the law!!!
1 Stars
Incognito
Boca Raton, United States
Oscar,

I think, as you imply, it’s a question of power. The little girls are more apt to obey. Because I can’t imagine what else would attract them to prepubescents, other than what attracts pedophiles to children.

I don’t have kids, but I remember when I was 8, and I know the last thing on my mind was boys.
(Global Perspectives)
1 Stars
Wonda L
Earth, Canada
This is nature at work but because of our blindness and wanting everything like a fairy tale- we can’t face truth-
Remember, nature calls the shots and we evolved this way and won’t change over night , just because we want to put humans that are ready to breed in holdings tanks ,like schools and colleges and by doing that delaying the passing on of our genes and that makes mother nature mad
Humans forget our past and because of pretenious emotion don’t like truth about our sex drives
I could name many things about humans drive to pass on our genes , ether symbolicly or real and you would see how disgusting the power of breeding can be
No gods or god could control mans drive to produce the perfect being and an outcry here surly won’t ether
Sometime earth can be very unpleasant and unfair
2 Stars
Rajagopalan S
Bangalore, Karnataka, India
The little 8 year old girl is like a daughter for 30 year old. This is stupid and should be punished by law, and not encouraged.
1 Stars
Incognito
Boca Raton, United States
Rajagopalan,

You would think, but there are sick men out there, who take advantage of religious edicts like that.
(Global Perspectives)
2 Stars
Vikas Shekhawat instablogs.com
Churu, Rajasthan, India
It’s time to come up with ”New Islam”. The religious community, as depicted by events all over the world, seems to be detached; or else there would have been no conflict of interests within the groups of same faith. Best parts from everywhere can be taken into consideration and adopted, ”set rules” that are too orthodox can be reconsidered or even changed, of course, only if the majority of the community members and followers agrees. This is the only way Islam can come up as a binding force in the contemporary world.
2 Stars
Incognito
Boca Raton, United States
Vikas,

One could wish, but there are too many fundamentalists who are happy with the status quo and there is way too much divisiveness within the religious community itself. Sunnis vs Shiites vs Sufi and on and on. They would all have to agree, but it’s never going to happen. sadly.
(Global Perspectives)
1 Stars
Nuya Bidness
Birmingham, United States
You know, the courts had to pay the pervert to give back the child? AND that they gave her back to her deranged parents?

The good news is that people donated money to make sure the little girl is taken care of and goes to school.
1 Stars
Incognito
Boca Raton, United States
Nuyu,

I didn’t know that.. I thought they were going to make sure she did not go back to her parents.

What a travesty of justice! I hope there are people who will make sure it doesn’t happen again.

It’s also nice to see there are good people in the world. It somehow offsets all the evil that exists.
(Global Perspectives)
1 Stars
Zaeem As-salafi
Psh., Pakistan
Most of the comments that i have read are based upon misunderstanding of What Islaam really is all about. What a fatwah is really about is the verdict based upon Qur’anic verses and Ahadeeth (authentic prophetic traditions). Now the question, if the ulemah of Yeman really did give the correct fatwah or not, is unknown since we don’t know the orignal text of fatwah, rather we only know what was written in the article. The orignal marriage age for a woman or a man in Islaam varies. It is based upon age of puberty level, which may goes from 8-9 to 15 depending upon the food, living habit and other factors, so its not that a 9 years old can’t mary in Islaam. Islaam is really different to what many of people interpret. For example, the behavior of people and the Law itself can be two different things. In West not drinking in many places might be disallowed but getting drunk at the same spot might be people habit, so can we blame the govt for it, definately not. The same way in Islaam the marriage has rules but people may do differently could be because maybe people don’t know about it, or they might not want to live by the Islaam. In this scenario, it could be that the father of that girl might not want to live by Islaam or maybe he’s unaware of the rights of his own daughter. Qur’an says about marriage:

(The Noble Qur’an 4:4)

And give to the women (whom you marry) their Mahr (obligatory bridal money given by the husband to his wife at the time of marriage) with a good heart, but if they, of their own good pleasure, remit any part of it to you, take it, and enjoy it without fear of any harm (as Allâh has made it lawful).


In one of prophet tradition its said:

Hadith (saying of prophet) - Sahih Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 62, Number 4, Narrated ’Abdullah

We were with the Prophet while we were young and had no wealth whatever. So Allah’s Apostle said, ”O young people! Whoever among you can marry, should marry, because it helps him lower his gaze and guard his modesty (i.e. his private parts from committing illegal sexual intercourse etc.), and whoever is not able to marry, should fast, as fasting diminishes his sexual power.”

the last part of that text of hadeeth shows that whoever is not able to marry, meaning he dont have enough means to get married then he should fast, so the question is that if someone who claims to be a muslim and he is not living by Islaam, is it fault of Islaam or is it his own fault? The reason i wrote these two evidence was to show that what people do is their own mistake and its not the fault or teaching of Islaam because Islaam is a religion of peace, which is evident. And Allaah knows the best.
1 Stars
Lynne K
Sydney, Australia
Zaeem
I am know many faithful muslims do want to live in peace, but its not happening around the world, Why?
When people see/hear about the abuses of human rights especally children’s rights - being committed in the name of Islam, it has to be questioned, as with anything else that violates a persons rights - it has to be questioned.
The majority of people on this planet want a change for the better for all mankind, and are trying to get rid of ignorance, fear and superstitions that hold prgress back.
Times have changed over the past thousand years, with modern technology, medicine,education, communication etc. and we no longer believe the world is FLAT.
Many people were killed for daring to think or question the authorities about the set beliefs in those times - that may be the world was round.
Time will tell in our histories pages, I believe we are still the dark ages.
(Global Perspectives)
1 Stars
Zaeem As-salafi
Psh., Pakistan
OK Miss lynne,

first thing is once you or anyone question about Islaam, for example, then you have to bring a proof that if whatever you are questioning about Islaam is the really the teaching of Islaam. For example in West people who may or may not take the name of religion of Christianity, but yet they might not be given their rights (even they would be christains). So do you blame christianity for it? Definately not, but you say its the person’s fault. So what i say is once you blame Islaam for a certain instance then either one has to have an evidence or else then blame on that individual themself.


Many a times the Media actually is responsible for certain things or actions. For example ’war-on-terror’ now this is typically an american or western ideological phenomina. Which has no real evidence from Massas at all but yet to prove it right, certain people (countries) have to kill more, more and more people to make it look like, that it exists.


I agree that time has changed and new advancement exists but trust me the true islaam (atleast) is not against of any of new medicine, education and / or any of modern technology. rather islaam says:


1. Read! In the Name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists), 2. Has created man from a clot (a piece of chewed-like-lump of flesh). 3. Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous 4. Who has taught (the writing) by the pen [the first person to write was Prophet Idrees (Enoch)], 5. Has taught man that which he knew not. (Surah Al-Alaq; verses 1 to 5)

Prophet Muhammad (asw) said:

”Seeking knowledge is mandatory for every Muslim (male and female).” (Sahih (authentic) Bukhari)


In one of another narration it has been said:


The Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said: ”For him who adopts a path of seeking knowledge, Allah eases the way in Paradise, and Angels spread their wings for the seekers of knowledge, being pleased with his occupation, and all that is in the heavens and the Earth including the fish in the water, ask for his forgiveness. The learned are the heirs of the Prophets and the Prophets do not leave an inheritance of dirhams and dinars, but only of knowledge. He who acquires knowledge acquires a vast portion.” (Abu Dawood and Tirmidhi)



Lastly i would also like to tell you one beautiful verse of Qur’an:

[079:030] He made the earth egg-shaped.

Now keep in mind that shape of earth is like geo spherical. Now an egg which is mentioned in the Qur’an is Ostrich and if you know how the Ostrich looks like, its just like geo-spherical in position. The word for the shape in Qur’an is used as duhaha, which means spread out and it also means Ostrich’s egg like-shape. So al7amdulillah Qur’an proved that unlike other scriptures Qur’an is different and it has scientific miracles and is proving itself to be from no one but Allaah (God.) Allaahu akbar (Allaah is great)

and Allaah knows the best.
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