Islamabad:
The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) rejected a bill which prohibits marriage under the age of 18 in Islamabad, describing it as non -Islamic. The Council also declared the bill on the restraint of children’s marriage, presented by the government Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), in conflict with Sharia law.
A CII meeting took place Tuesday chaired by Dr. Raghib Hussain Naemimi.
According to the press release published after the meeting, the Council discussed the bill presented by Mna Sharmila Faruqi of the PPP and adopted by the National Assembly on May 17.
The bill was presented with the object to curb, discourage and ultimately eradicate the concept and the phenomenon of children’s marriages. He indicated that no Nikah registrar must record a marriage where one or the two contracting parties are under 18 years of age.
He declared that anyone who was contravening or compliant with paragraph (1) and (2) of the bill will be punishable by a simple imprisonment for a mandate that will not be more than a year and with a good amount to RS100,000, or both, unless he proved that he had reasons to believe that marriage was not a child’s marriage.
The bill asked for a new sanction for male adults over 18 to marry a child. “Whoever it is, being a man over eighteen, contracts a child marriage is punishable by a rigorous imprisonment sentence which can extend to three years but will not be less than two years and will be liable to fine,” he said.
The here noted that the clauses defining marriage under the age of 18 such as sexual actuation and prescription of sanctions do not align with Islamic injunctions. The declaration said that the bill to prohibit children’s marriage was not referred to the CII for examination before the legislation.
The Council also noted that the bill on the restraint of marriage of children submitted by the KP government was in contradiction with Sharia law.
The CII stressed that the Thalassémie tests before marriage should be optional, and not compulsory, adding that, according to Islamic lessons, marriage must be kept free from useless complications.
The Council also expressed its concern in the face of the irresponsible declaration of judicial decisions. He said that forcing the bride’s family to provide dowry elements is contrary to Islamic lessons.
The press release also said that women should have the right to choose to keep the home of the region of their husband or that of their parents after marriage.
He judged that after the completion of Iddat – the compulsory waiting period – the husband is not financially responsible for the divorced woman. In Islamic Sharia law, Iddat is also observed in the event of the husband’s death.
The CII also proposed modifications to clause 7 of the 2025 bill of the laws on the family of Muslims, which was referred to it by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and trained a committee to write a new version of the law.
The meeting also examined the questions received from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), as well as questions related to Mudarabah (Islamic finance), housing programs and investment issues.
