Sharia alert. From the Malaysian Star Online, with thanks to Twostellas:
A MUSLIM father can coerce his daughter to comply with his wishes to marry a person of the family’s choice and it would be legal and binding in Islam, Kosmo! reported.
However, the couple must be compatible with each other, the paper said, quoting Universiti Malaya professor Datuk Dr Mahmood Zubdi Abd Majaid.
He said Islam recognised such marriage because the father is considered the wali mujbir (authoritative custodian) of the girl.
Dr Mahmood, who heads the Fiqh Usul department of the university’s Islamic Studies Academy, said for as long as the woman remained a virgin, the father would be her custodian.
This meant that if the father compels her to marry a person of the family’s choice, even if it was against her wish, the marriage was legal, he added.
But it would be better if the girl gave her consent, he said, commenting on a recent report in which a 20-year-old woman from Kelantan was taken away by a bomoh after she was allegedly forced to marry someone else.
Dr Mahmood said although the woman could not protest against a prospective marriage, there was always room for her to voice her disagreement.
How’s that again?
He said she could complain to the kadi before the marriage was solemnised.
“That way, discussions could be held before the ceremony proceed.”
The paper also did a street survey among Malaysians with different racial and religious backgrounds on the issue and some of them felt that forced marriage was not relevant in modern times.
Mmm-hmmm.