Welcome, Guest: Register On Nairaland / LOGIN! / Trending / Recent / NewStats: 3,194,659 members, 7,955,393 topics. Date: Sunday, 22 September 2024 at 02:36 AM |
Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Marriageable Age; Nigeria N Islamic Law. (712 Views)
The Raging Debate On Marriagable Age In Nigeria And Islamic Law. (2) (3) (4)
(1) (Reply)
Marriageable Age; Nigeria N Islamic Law. by bakry86: 12:08am On Jul 27, 2013 |
Praise be to Allah; we praise Him, seek His forgiveness, and turn to Him in repentance. We seek refuge with Him from the evils of our souls and the evils of our deeds. Whomever Allah guides, none can misguide, and whomever Allah leads astray, none can guide. We bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone without partner, and we bear witness that Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) is His servant and Messenger. Brothers and Sisters in Islam, As-salaamu ‘alaykum, On Tuesday, 16th July, 2013, the Senate had voted to delete section 29(4)(b) of the Nigerian Constitution which deems a married woman to be of ‘full age’ with the effect that she can renounce her citizenship, even if she is below 18 years. But then, Senator Sani Yerima raised a constitutional order that the vote was un- Islamic since Item 61 of Part I, Second Schedule (Exclusive Legislative List) empowers the National Assembly to legislative on: The formation, annulment and dissolution of marriages other than marriages under Islamic law and Customary law including matrimonial causes relating thereto. As if what transpired at the hallowed chambers of the Senate was ambiguous, several misleading media reports scripted by highly unprofessional journalists, and vetted by grossly unqualified editors filled the dailies and internet news sites. The impression given was that underage marriage has been endorsed by the Senate, as if the issue borders on age of marriage at all. Laughably, the confused Nigerian Feminists Forum, without taking a minute to read the provisions of section 29, released a junk of a statement saying they were greatly concerned about the resolution by the Senate to alter section 29(a) of the Constitution which stipulates that a woman shall not be qualified for marriage until she attains 18 years of age. Within few hours, the social media became filled with rancorously ear- splitting rantings of #ChildNotBride, #EducationNotHusband, #PenNotPenis, etc, by self-appointed and confused advocates reducing the IQ of their gullible followers. What is perhaps most disheartening is that some Muslims too, in blatant defiance to the dictates of Islam, joined these hate mongers in peddling their ignorance, immorality and bias. As an association with a mandate to advance the course of Islamic education and the betterment of humanity, we wish to make some clarifications and set the records straight. First, marriage in Islam is not only a social institution but also a religious injunction. Allah says: “And marry the unmarried among you.” – Qur’an 24: 32. This is a directive, clear and expressive. Marriage in Islam is a holistic institution which creates a fulfilling social, religious, familial and learning experience for all the parties. So those who think it’s just about sexual intercourse got it wrong. Second, under the Islamic law, age is not of essence when it comes to the validity of marriage. What is important in this regard is the ability to enter into contractual relationship and the physical development of the child, which varies from one place to the other. Allah says: “Marry women of your choice…” – Qur’an 4: 3. The Prophet also said: “O young men! Whoever among you is able to marry should do so…” Marriage to a child (properly, it is only a betrothal) is allowed in Islam. The child can remain with his own parents thereafter or be with the proposed husband’s family, UNTIL SHE IS PHYSICALLY MATURED AND GIVES HER CONSENT. Before these two conditions are met, no consummation or any other sexual activity may occur. The campaign of #EducationNotHusband and #PenNotPenis is therefore misplaced. Seeking knowledge is compulsory for every Muslim, male and female, regardless of age, and early marriage (properly practiced as laid down by Islam) only enhances a girl’s education and not hinders it. Such a betrothed girl will have a sense of direction and decency and not mess around like those half-clad, ‘nail- trousered’ girls you see everywhere who are tasted by God-knows-how-many men before they get to their final ‘consumers’. That is the Islamic ideal. There might have been abuses of it in the past by some persons but this does not detract from the sanctity of the institution as laid down by Islam. There are also daily abuses in marriage, election, education and Internet usage. Shall we then stop all these things because some folks do abuse their use? Third, we wish to categorically state that it is NOT COMPULSORY to marry out a child in Islam. But it is allowed, beneficial and lawful. In Islam, the only authority that determines what is compulsory, what is permitted, what is discouraged and what is prohibited is Allah. This is a right He shares with no one. Hence, while a particular Muslim will not be committing any sin if he does not give out his child early in marriage, it would be criminal of him to condemn another Muslim who does it or even detest it or campaign against it. Under the common law, the age at which a person is legally permitted to engage in sexual activity is below the marriageable age. In Nigeria for instance, Article 21 of the Child Rights Act provides: “No person under the age of 18 years is capable of contracting a valid marriage, and accordingly, a marriage so contracted is null and void and of no effect whatsoever.” On the age of consent, the Criminal Code Act provides in section 221 that “any person who has unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of 16 years is liable to imprisonment for 2 years, with or without caning.” Hence, such a person is guilty of rape, even if the girl purported to consent. The implication is that a girl of 16 or 17 years can legally give consent to sexual intercourse, but cannot legally give consent to marriage. This is something reprehensible in Islam and in common sense. How on earth could one reconcile a legal permission to engage in sexual activity with a legal prohibition to get married at age 16 for instance? And we all know how devastating the consequences have been: widespread fornication, abortions, increased cases of HIV/AIDS, etc. Fortunately, the provisions of section 21 of the Child Rights Act above is, by virtue of Item 61 of the Exclusive Legislative List earlier quoted, unconstitutional and has no effect whatsoever on Islamic law marriage. Further, we maintain that by now, it should have been clear to everyone who has a brain in his skull that a ‘nationalization’ of the marriageable age is not practicable, considering the heterogeneous nature of Nigeria. So if you think early marriage or child betrothal is not for you, no problem. But do not attempt to foist your culture of early fornication and late marriage on us. Such an attempt shall fail, as zina (fornication or adultery) is one of the gravest sins in Islam. We say yes to #MarriageNotFornication. Finally, we wish to once again counsel the Nigerian media practitioners and traffic- hungry bloggers to always doubly verify their facts before news items are disseminated. Success comes from Allah. |
(1) (Reply)
Want To Be Happier? Stop Doing These 10 Things Right Now! / Funny Interesting Facts About Nigeria / .
(Go Up)
Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket Links: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2024 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise. 19 |