“The government prompted a storm of controversy last year when it pushed through a law which set the minimum marriage age for girls at 15. Lawmakers from the largest opposition bloc in the Bahraini Parliament had opposed the legislation, saying it went against Islamic principles.”
Now wait a minute. Islamic apologists in the West are forever telling us that Aisha was not nine years old when Muhammad consummated his marriage with her, and that only greasy Islamophobes think otherwise. Yet the largest opposition bloc in the Bahraini Parliament seems to be full of greasy Islamophobes, since the only “Islamic principles” that would lead them to oppose setting the minimum marriage age for girls at fifteen arise from Muhammad’s example in marrying Aisha.
“No plan to close ‘child bride’ loophole – Bahrain minister,” by Andrew White for ArabianBusiness.com, January 26 (thanks to Twostellas):
Lawmakers in Bahrain have no plans to close a loophole that allows girls below the age of 15 to be married in the Gulf island state, despite legislation intended to ban the practice.
The government prompted a storm of controversy last year when it pushed through a law which set the minimum marriage age for girls at 15. Lawmakers from the largest opposition bloc in the Bahraini Parliament had opposed the legislation, saying it went against Islamic principles.
However, a clause in the legislation means that parents are still able to marry their daughters younger, with the consent of the courts.
“I think we have taken a very big step to remove [the decision] from the hands of the parents, and to have it so it must be approved by the judge,” HE Sheikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa, Minister of Justice & Islamic Affairs, told Arabian Business in an interview….