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Child Marriage in the Qur'an: Difference between revisions
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{{QualityScore|Lead=4|Structure=3|Content=3|Language=4|References=2}} | {{QualityScore|Lead=4|Structure=3|Content=3|Language=4|References=2}} | ||
[[File:Women protesters.jpg|right|thumb|300px|March 23, 2010: Women protesters hold up copies of the Qur'an outside parliament in Sanaa while stating that a proposed law banning marriages under the age of 17 in Yemen is un-Islamic<ref>[http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=88589 YEMEN: Deep divisions over child brides] - IRIN, March 28, 2010</ref>]] | |||
The subject of child marriage per se never arises in the Qur'an. Yet scholars were more or less unanimous that the Qur'an deals indirectly with the topic. The Qur'an lays down strict rules for how long a woman must wait in between the end of one marriage and the beginning of another. The purpose of this in a pre-modern, patriarchal society was to ensure that a woman would not marry a new man while pregnant from her last husband and impute fathership of her baby to the wrong husband. Pursuant to these rules {{Quran|2|228}} stipulates a waiting period ([['Iddah|'Iddah]]) of 3 months after divorce, while {{Quran|33|49}} states that no waiting period is prescribed for a woman who has ''not'' had intimate contact with her husband. However, the Quran also clarifies a number of other scenarios in verse {{Quran|65|4}}, including that there is also a 3 month waiting period for "those who have not menstruated". | The subject of child marriage per se never arises in the Qur'an. Yet scholars were more or less unanimous that the Qur'an deals indirectly with the topic. The Qur'an lays down strict rules for how long a woman must wait in between the end of one marriage and the beginning of another. The purpose of this in a pre-modern, patriarchal society was to ensure that a woman would not marry a new man while pregnant from her last husband and impute fathership of her baby to the wrong husband. Pursuant to these rules {{Quran|2|228}} stipulates a waiting period ([['Iddah|'Iddah]]) of 3 months after divorce, while {{Quran|33|49}} states that no waiting period is prescribed for a woman who has ''not'' had intimate contact with her husband. However, the Quran also clarifies a number of other scenarios in verse {{Quran|65|4}}, including that there is also a 3 month waiting period for "those who have not menstruated". | ||
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Today, [[w:Marriageable_age|many modern Muslim countries]] have legislated to raise the minimum age of marriage, in many cases to the age of 16 or 18 for girls (though often with loopholes or with ineffective enforcement) and to prevent forced marriage, often in the face of opposition from Islamic scholars. Many Muslim campaign groups and charities have been involved in this process and continue to offer help to those at risk (see the article [[Forced Marriage]] which includes sources of help).<ref>For example [https://www.mwnuk.co.uk/Forced_Marriage_7_factsheets.php Muslim Women's Network UK] and [https://preventforcedmarriage.org/forced-marriage-overseas-pakistan/ Tahirih Justice Center Forced Marriage Initiative]</ref> In collaboration with activists, in 2019 the deputy Grand Mufti of al-Azhar University in Cairo issued a fatwa calling for marriage based on mutual consent with a minimum age set as 18.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/jun/21/senior-islamic-cleric-issues-fatwa-against-child-marriage Senior Islamic cleric issues fatwa against child marriage] - Guardian.com</ref> Unicef say that the prevalence of child marriages are decreasing globally but are nevetheless common (including among non-Muslim populations in some regions of the world). | Today, [[w:Marriageable_age|many modern Muslim countries]] have legislated to raise the minimum age of marriage, in many cases to the age of 16 or 18 for girls (though often with loopholes or with ineffective enforcement) and to prevent forced marriage, often in the face of opposition from Islamic scholars. Many Muslim campaign groups and charities have been involved in this process and continue to offer help to those at risk (see the article [[Forced Marriage]] which includes sources of help).<ref>For example [https://www.mwnuk.co.uk/Forced_Marriage_7_factsheets.php Muslim Women's Network UK] and [https://preventforcedmarriage.org/forced-marriage-overseas-pakistan/ Tahirih Justice Center Forced Marriage Initiative]</ref> In collaboration with activists, in 2019 the deputy Grand Mufti of al-Azhar University in Cairo issued a fatwa calling for marriage based on mutual consent with a minimum age set as 18.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/jun/21/senior-islamic-cleric-issues-fatwa-against-child-marriage Senior Islamic cleric issues fatwa against child marriage] - Guardian.com</ref> Unicef say that the prevalence of child marriages are decreasing globally but are nevetheless common (including among non-Muslim populations in some regions of the world). | ||
==Introduction== | ==Introduction== | ||