Christian Law Prohibits Divorce
The Islamic Law (Shari’ah) is actually much more “progressive” than the Christian Law.
As we have seen in the section above, a woman under Islamic Law can seek a divorce
(khula) simply because she does not like the husband. However, Biblical law prohibits a
woman from seeking a divorce from her husband. According to the Catholic and
conservative Protestant view, neither divorce nor remarriage is allowed. Some
conservative Protestants allow divorce, but prohibit remarriage. Mainstream Protestants
limit divorce to cases of adultery or abandonment; in other words, a woman is stuck with
her husband even if she dislikes him, or if he is abusive towards her! In an earlier chapter
of this book, entitled “Age of Marriage Under Christian Law”, we saw how Christian
Law allows girls as young as seven be married off; if the husband has sexual intercourse
with her, then she can no longer annul the marriage nor divorce him. Contrast this to the
Islamic Law (Shari’ah) which allows a woman to seek a separation (khula) herself at any
age!
Marriage of Immature Girls is the Exception, Not the Rule
Under Islamic Law, the general principle is that girls should not be married off whilst
they are immature and under the age of accountability. This is because they are too
young to make an informed decision by themselves. Marrying them without their
consultation would be considered oppression.
Shaykh Faraz Rabbani declared:
Marrying her off like this would in almost every case be a major sin, because of
the harm, contravention of law, etc.
(Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, SunniPath.com)
However, there is an exception: fathers are allowed to marry their immature daughters off
if they fear that delaying the marriage would mean losing out on a great opportunity. If
the girl receives a very good marriage proposal—and the father fears that this proposal
would be lost if the decision is delayed—then he is allowed to marry her off despite her
young age. Because this is done with the intention of safeguarding the benefit of the girl,
it is not seen as a form of oppression. Imam an-Nawawi said:
They (the parents) should not marry her off before she reaches puberty if there is
no obvious interest to be served that they fear will be missed out on if they delay
it…In that case [if there is a benefit that would be lost with delay] it is preferable
to go ahead with the marriage because the father is enjoined to take care of his
child’s interests and not to let a good opportunity to slip away.
In fact, in most instances in which young girls were married off before maturity, it was in
order to ensure that the girl did not lose out on a marriage proposal from a powerful man.
This situation may not be applicable to today’s society, but it used to be the case in
ancient times that a king or prince would wish to marry a daughter of another king or
prince. Therefore, the marriages would be arranged when the girl was still immature.
This practice was prevalent in Christian Europe for many hundreds of years.
This may seem odd by today’s cultural mores, but it was the societal norm back in
ancient (and not so ancient) civilizations. One king would ask to marry another king’s
daughter; the girl’s father did not want to lose out on such a good marriage proposal, so
the marriage would be solemnized even when she was a child. (Another added benefit of
these marriages was to strike an alliance between the two kingdoms.) Similarly, Abu
Bakr (peace be upon him) didn’t want to lose out on the Prophet’s proposal, since after
all, who would be better for his daughter than God’s Prophet? (Furthermore, the Prophet
wished to seal an alliance through this marriage; delaying the alliance would mean
putting the fledgling Muslim polity at risk.)
It should be kept in mind that although Islam allows for such a provision, this only
applies to the situation where a father thinks that delaying the marriage would lead to the
girl missing out on a great opportunity. Otherwise, Islam does not at all encourage
marrying off daughters at such a young age. As Shaykh Salih al-Munajjid said:
It is preferable for a guardian not to marry off his daughter when she is still young
unless there is a valid reason for it.
| Signature of فداء الرسول |
تحمَّلتُ وحديَ مـا لا أُطيـقْ من الإغترابِ وهَـمِّ الطريـقْ
اللهم اني اسالك في هذه الساعة ان كانت جوليان في سرور فزدها في سرورها ومن نعيمك عليها . وان كانت جوليان في عذاب فنجها من عذابك وانت الغني الحميد برحمتك يا ارحم الراحمين |