Setting minimum age for girls' marriage not against Islam: Pakistan court

PAKISTAN'S top Islamic court has ruled that setting the minimum age limit for girls’ marriage was not against the teachings of Islam.

The verdict may settle a controversy over child marriage fuelled by the insistence of radical Muslims that Islam has not allowed fixing age for marriage.

A three-judge bench of the Federal Shariat Court (FSC), headed by Chief Justice Mohammad Noor Meskanzai, on Thursday (28) heard the petition challenging some sections of the Child Marriage Restraint Act (CMRA) 1929.

According to the Dawn newspaper, the FSC dismissed the petition and categorically declared that setting any minimum age for girls' marriage by an Islamic state was not against Islam.

“After examining the petition, we are of the considerate view that the petition is misconceived,” ruled the judgement authored by Justice Syed Mohammad Anwer.

In the 10-page verdict, the FSC held that the sections in which the minimum age was prescribed by the act for both girls and boys for marriage were not un-Islamic.

Section 4 of the CMRA prescribes punishment for marrying a child to simple imprisonment which may extend to six months and a fine of Rs 50,000 (£210).

The judgement said the importance of education “is self-explanatory and the need for education is equally important for everybody, irrespective of gender”.

“That is why Islam has made the acquisition of education mandatory for every Muslim as mentioned in a Hadith,” the verdict said.

For a healthy marriage, it said, “not only physical health and economic stability are necessary factors but mental health and intellectual development are also equally important, which are achievable through education.”

Education is fundamental for women empowerment as it is the key for the development of an individual and consequently for the future generation of any nation, it said.

There are many Islamic countries wherein the minimum age for marriage for male and female is fixed, like in Jordan, Malaysia, Egypt and Tunisia, the verdict pointed out, according to the report.

(PTI)