Child marriage in Islam: a myth? Age Ain’t Nuthin’ But A Number?

HISTORY OF MARRIAGE IN WESTERN CIVILIZATION Marriage, as we know it in our Western civilization today, has a long history with roots in several very different ancient cultures, of which the Roman, Hebrew, and Germanic are the most important. Western marriage has further been shaped by the doctrines and policies of the medieval Christian church, the demands of the Protestant Reformation, and the social impact of the Industrial Revolution. When we look at the marriage customs of our ancestors, we discover several striking facts. For example, for the most of Western history, marriage was not a mere personal matter concerning only husband and wife, but rather the business of their two families which brought them together. Most marriages, therefore, were arranged. Moreover, the wife usually had much fewer rights than her husband and was expected to be subservient to him. To a considerable extent, marriage was also an economic arrangement. There was little room for romantic love, and even simple affection was not considered essential. Procreation and cooperation were the main marital duties.

Ikim Views
By Dr Wan Azahar Wan Ahmad

We need to understand the cultural-religious issues first to clear the misperception that child marriage is supposedly sanctioned by Islam.

ISLAM has always been an obvious easy target of misperception, misunderstanding. In a never-ending challenge against it, another opportunity for Islamophobes around the globe to maim the religion lurks wide open yet again when the issue of child marriage resurfaced recently.

They claim that child marriage is sanctioned, and thus common in the teachings of Islam. The practice takes place every day in the Muslim world to innocent girls as young as six, making it shockingly widespread.

Moreover, statistics of cases – though questionable – of different Muslim countries proving the prevalent rampage are cited.

Quoting a report by the United Nations, the Islamophobes reveal that “one out nine girls in developing countries will be married by age 15, and an estimated 14.2 million girls a year will become child brides by 2020, if nothing changes”. Are Muslim men to be entirely blamed for their seemingly lack of restraint?

The reality is that child marriage happens all over the world, regardless of religions or civilisations. But it appears that Islam suffers by far the most severe beatings compared to other faiths and cultures.

Millions of Young Girls Forced Into Marriage

“Whenever I saw him, I hid. I hated to see him,” recalls Tahani, pictured here, of the early days of her marriage to Majed, when she was 6 and he was 25. The couple live in Yemen. Stephanie Sinclair, VII/National Geographic

Photographer Stephanie Sinclair speaks up for child brides.

For the sake of argumentation, why does such a phenomenon befall the Muslim community? The answer is perhaps more cultural than religious. Culture, more than anything else, may have the upper hand.  >>more from the star online<<

Age Ain’t Nuthin’ But A Number?

We have to disagree with Aaliyah on this one, because it absolutely does. Especially when a grown ass person marries a child!

When news that an 8-year-old boy married a 61-year-old woman in South Africa, we were shocked, but it happens more often than you’d think. In a few cultures around the world, child brides are the norm and arranged marriages are even more common.

But the unions pose more problems than just shock.

Husbands have reportedly raped their child brides and while these girls, usually in their early teens, should be running around playing, they are birthing children and enduring abusive relationships.

But forced early marriages are a way of life in some cultures, performed as a way to ensure a young girl loses her virginity respectfully.

More than one-third of all girls under 18 are married in 42 countries, according to the U.N. Population Fund.

Read more: http://globalgrind.com/news/controversial-child-weddings-shocked-world-list-photos#ixzz2VE85v12q

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