It is good to see that he faces prison for this, when child marriage is broadly tolerated in Afghanistan and other areas of the Islamic world, but where did this Islamic cleric, Pujiono Cayho Widiyanto, get the idea that such a marriage would be acceptable in the first place? Could it be from Muhammad’s example?
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 62, Number 64:
Narrated ‘Aisha: that the Prophet married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old, and then she remained with him for nine years (i.e., till his death).
An update on this story. “Indonesian cleric arrested over child bride,” from Al-Arabiya, March 18 (thanks to all who sent this in):
An Indonesia Muslim cleric, who took a 12-year-old girl as a second wife, might face up to 15 years in prison on charges of obscenity, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The 43-year-old Pujiono Cayho Widiyanto, a wealthy businessman and cleric, was arrested by police in the central Java city of Semarang on Tuesday, after her married a poor village girl, Lutfiana Ulfa, sparking nationwide outrage.
“We’ve collected enough evidence to charge him with under age obscenity under the Criminal Code,” chief detective Royhardi Siahaan was quoted as saying by the Indonesian daily the Jakarta Globe….