Marriage At Nine No Longer Reasonable, Says Saudi Sheikh

Although the Prophet Mohammed married a nine year old girl, marriages to minors are no longer justified, according to a senior Saudi cleric.

The issues has been at the forefront of debate since it was reported that a man offered his 8 year old daughter in marriage to a 47 year old man to settle a debt.

Will Saudi Arabia stop this institutionalized child abuse?

Among the Prophet Mohammed’s many wives was Aisha, a nine year old girl. In the last 14 centuries this has been used as justification to allow young girls to marry.

This weekend Sheikh Abdullah al Manie, criticized the practice in the Saudi Gazette and Okaz. He sits on the Council of Senior Ulema, the country’s highest religious body.

He said that Aisha’s marriage “cannot be equated with child marriages today because the conditions and circumstances are not the same.”

“It is a grave error to to burden a child with responsibilities beyond her years. Marriage should be put off until the wife is of a mentally and physically mature age and can care for both herself and her family.”

These comments came a few days after Sheik al Obaikan, a legal advisor to the royal court, suggested legislation making marriage under the age of 18 illegal.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child places the age of majority at 18. Saudi Arabia has ratified the document, putting international pressure on the country to change its practices.

Although child marriages are allowed in Saudi Arabia, they are not common practice. Clerics are split on the issue and many citizens disagree among themselves.

However, many people treat the life of Mohammed as gospel and are reluctant to deviate from his teachings.