In fact, shouldn’t we Muslims be leading the way? Instead, we are lagging far behind in this regard. You cannot imagine how many Muslims are actually defending the Mormon mothers who have played an active role in marrying off their underage daughters (or allowing them to be married) into polygynous marriages with grizzled old geezers, which amounts to child abuse. Is it because we are doing the same thing and don’t want people calling us into account?
Tihun Nebiyu, 7, a girl from central Ethiopia, waits to be presented to her 17-year-old husband on her wedding day. (Tribune photo by Heather Stone. / December 12, 2004)
Consider this:
8-year-old girl’s divorce is finalized while a law to prevent early marriage stalls
By: Hamed Thabet
Eight-year-old Nojoud is now safe after an anonymous donor paid her 30-year-old husband to divorce her. Although this chapter of her life has closed, there are many other Yemeni girls who still suffer from early marriage and its consequences.
Feminist groups in Yemen are urging the Parliament to legally define a minimum marriage age. [Does anybody else see labeling these groups as "feminist" to be a red herring?] However, there is a long way to go before girls like Nojoud can be free from detrimental early marriages.
A few months ago, Nojoud was an average 8-year-old girl from a poor family. Then Nojoud’s father decided to marry her off to a man more than three times her age. Overnight, Nojoud became a wife, enduring physical and sexual abuse for two months until she ran away with the help of her uncle and filed a court case against her father and her husband.
On April 15, with support from her lawyer Shatha Mohammed Nasser and Judge Abud Al-Khaleaq Ghowber, Nojoud paid her way out of marriage with YR 100,000 from an anonymous donor in the Emirates and happily became an 8-year-old divorcee.
“This was the first time a girl came to us for a divorce. We are going to do our best to push the parliament to change the marriage law,” said Judge Ghowber.
“I am so happy to be free and I will go back to school and will never think of getting married again,” Nojoud said joyfully. “It is a good feeling to be rid of my husband and his bad treatment.”
She said that she felt lucky that she did not have to continue in such a marriage and live out a life similar to her sisters, who had been married young [though not as young as Nojoud] and have already bore children.
“Although Nojoud does not know her real birthday, I believe this day she was born again and it would be apt to celebrate this day as the first day of her new life,” said Nasser.
And why is this a bad thing?
Early marriage in Yemen:
According to the International Center for Research on Women’s 2007 statistics, Yemen is one of 20 developing countries where early marriage is common. Nearly half of all Yemeni girls are married before the age of 18.
Most women have their first child immediately after their first menstruation cycle and are likely to have a child every 12 months during their reproductive lifespan. Yemen’s fertility rate is extremely high, with an average 6.3 children per each woman, and the country also has some of the highest mother and infant mortality rates worldwide.
According to research on early marriage in Yemen from Oxfam and the United Nations Population Fund, there are severe physical consequences that result from early marriage and subsequent early childbirth such as nutritional anemia, post-partum hemorrhages, obstetric fistula (a disorder that affects the bladder and causes leaking of urine or feces), plus mother and infant mortality.
Additionally, many girls like Nojoud develop irreparable psychological complexes from early marriage and the forced sexual encounters that accompany it. Early marriage also contributes to divorce and family problems.
“I hated nights because they usually meant that my husband would come to my bed. I used to run from him and he would chase me and beat me and do his thing. I pray that my younger sisters do not face the same fate,” said Nojoud. Now the 8-year-old is living with her uncle and his family in relative safety.
So what have the we and the Yemenis learned from this?
A divided society
The Yemeni personal status law stipulates that a girl cannot be wed until she is ready for intercourse, which in essence leaves the judgment up to the girl’s parents or guardians. Judge Ghowber explained that early marriages are usually the fault of the parents. He insisted that there must be increased awareness among Yemeni families in order to avoid these serious mistakes.
A number of Yemeni religious scholars, including some in the Evaluation and Jurisprudence Committee in the Parliament, say that since there is no religious statement defining a minimum age for marriage, then early marriage is perfectly fine if not desirable.
Other scholars and religious authorities, like Judge Hamoud Al-Hitar, the Minister of Endowment, want to create legislation to prevent parents from marrying their girls off at a young age and to prevent religious sheikhs from endorsing such marriages.
“Those who approve of girls marrying at 13, 14 or even below 18, are barbaric men who abuse childhood and are irresponsible,” said religious scholar Yahiya Al-Najar, the former Minister of Endowment. He explained that there should be a minimum age for boys and girls to marry in order to complete their physical and mental development and so that they can manage the responsibilities of marriage and raising a family.
Al-Hitar said that the minimum age of marriage should be 16-years-old, no less. He added that previous religious bodies in charge of jurisprudence wrote such laws in 1976 and in 1988. “Those who say that defining a minimum age for marriage is un-Islamic do not understand the religion at all,” said Al-Hitar. “Defining a minimum age of marriage is a need dedicated by life’s nature.”
The Yemeni parliament is equally divided between MPs who believe in safe motherhood (and thereby banning early marriage) and those who don’t. Deputy speaker of Parliament, MP Himyar Al-Ahmar, said that he supports the creation of legislation against early marriage, requested by the Women’s National Committee, but prefers to forward the issue to the Evaluation and Jurisprudence Committee, which is strongly against such legislation.
Rasheeda Al-Hamadani, chair of the Women’s National Committee, promised to continue to raise awareness about the issue by holding workshops soon with religious leaders, MPs and decision makers.
Here are some stats from the ICRW 2007 Report:
Child Marriage Around the World (Percentage of girls marrying before the age of 1 
1 Niger 76.6
2 Chad 71.5
3 Bangladesh 68.7
4 Mali 65.4
5 Guinea 64.5
6 Central African Republic 57.0
7 Nepal 56.1
8 Mozambique 55.9
9 Uganda 54.1
10 Burkina Faso 51.9
11 India 50.0
12 Ethiopia 49.1
13 Liberia 48.4
13 Yemen 48.4
15 Cameroon 47.2
16 Eritrea 47.0
17 Malawi 46.9
18 Nicaragua 43.3
18 Nigeria 43.3
20 Zambia 42.1
How many of these have sizable Muslim populations? According to Factbook:
1 Niger 91.0% of the population is Muslim
2 Chad 85.0% of the population is Muslim
3 Bangladesh 88.0% of the population is Muslim
4 Mali 90.0% of the population is Muslim
5 Guinea 95.0% of the population is Muslim
6 Central African Republic 55.0% of the population is Muslim
7 Nepal 4.0% of the population is Muslim
8 Mozambique 29.0% of the population is Muslim
9 Uganda 36.0% of the population is Muslim
10 Burkina Faso 50.0% of the population is Muslim
11 India 14.0% of the population is Muslim
12 Ethiopia 65.0% of the population is Muslim
13 Liberia 30.0% of the population is Muslim
13 Yemen 99.0% of the population is Muslim
15 Cameroon 55.0% of the population is Muslim
16 Eritrea 80.0% of the population is Muslim
17 Malawi 35.0% of the population is Muslim
18 Nicaragua 0.0% of the population is Muslim
18 Nigeria 75.0% of the population is Muslim
20 Zambia 15.0% of the population is Muslim
12 out of the 20 countries with the highest perecntage of child marriages have Muslim populations that make up 50% or more of the overall population. At the same time, I recognize that these are all very under developed countries with strong tribal systems for the most part. So what are we Muslims doing to help these countries develop and implement laws that will respect human rights and especially the rights of children?
Not enough, in my opinion.
Addendum (Please note Simon): There are many sources from which one might take figures regarding Muslim populations. If I look at Islamicweb, their figures for the Muslim population in Ethiopia is 65% and Eritrea is 80%. If we look at Wikipedia (based on the US State Dept. figures from 2006-2007) they rate Ethiopia as being 32.8- 45% Muslim and Eritrea as being 48- 60% Muslim. The point is that everybody should be concerned about these issues and certainly MUSLIMS should be.
