What did anyone expect Asama Javed to say?
Islamic tradition records that Muhammad consummated his marriage with (i.e., raped) Aisha when she was nine, and the resultant fact that child marriage is accepted in wide swaths of the Islamic world. Child marriage has abundant attestation in Islamic tradition and law.
Turkey’s directorate of religious affairs (Diyanet) said in January 2018 that under Islamic law, girls as young as nine can marry.
“Islam has no age barrier in marriage and Muslims have no apology for those who refuse to accept this” — Ishaq Akintola, professor of Islamic Eschatology and Director of Muslim Rights Concern, Nigeria
“There is no minimum marriage age for either men or women in Islamic law. The law in many countries permits girls to marry only from the age of 18. This is arbitrary legislation, not Islamic law.” — Dr. Abd Al-Hamid Al-‘Ubeidi, Iraqi expert on Islamic law
There is no minimum age for marriage and that girls can be married “even if they are in the cradle.” — Dr. Salih bin Fawzan, prominent cleric and member of Saudi Arabia’s highest religious council
“Islam does not forbid marriage of young children.” — Pakistan’s Council of Islamic Ideology
Hadiths that Muslims consider authentic record that Muhammad’s favorite wife, Aisha, was six when Muhammad wedded her and nine when he consummated the marriage:
“The Prophet wrote the (marriage contract) with Aisha while she was six years old and consummated his marriage with her while she was nine years old and she remained with him for nine years (i.e. till his death)” (Bukhari 7.62.88).
Another tradition has Aisha herself recount the scene:
The Prophet engaged me when I was a girl of six (years). We went to Medina and stayed at the home of Bani-al-Harith bin Khazraj. Then I got ill and my hair fell down. Later on my hair grew (again) and my mother, Um Ruman, came to me while I was playing in a swing with some of my girl friends. She called me, and I went to her, not knowing what she wanted to do to me. She caught me by the hand and made me stand at the door of the house. I was breathless then, and when my breathing became all right, she took some water and rubbed my face and head with it. Then she took me into the house. There in the house I saw some Ansari women who said, “Best wishes and Allah’s Blessing and a good luck.” Then she entrusted me to them and they prepared me (for the marriage). Unexpectedly Allah’s Apostle came to me in the forenoon and my mother handed me over to him, and at that time I was a girl of nine years of age. (Bukhari 5.58.234).
Muhammad was at this time fifty-four years old.
Marrying young girls was not all that unusual for its time, but because in Islam Muhammad is the supreme example of conduct (cf. Qur’an 33:21), he is considered exemplary in this unto today. And so in April 2011, the Bangladesh Mufti Fazlul Haque Amini declared that those trying to pass a law banning child marriage in that country were putting Muhammad in a bad light: “Banning child marriage will cause challenging the marriage of the holy prophet of Islam, [putting] the moral character of the prophet into controversy and challenge.” He added a threat: “Islam permits child marriage and it will not be tolerated if any ruler will ever try to touch this issue in the name of giving more rights to women.” The Mufti said that 200,000 jihadists were ready to sacrifice their lives for any law restricting child marriage.
Likewise the influential website Islamonline.com in December 2010 justified child marriage by invoking not only Muhammad’s example, but the Qur’an as well:
The Noble Qur’an has also mentioned the waiting period [i.e. for a divorced wife to remarry] for the wife who has not yet menstruated, saying: “And those who no longer expect menstruation among your women, if you doubt, then their period is three months, and [also for] those who have not menstruated” [Qur’an 65:4]. Since this is not negated later, we can take from this verse that it is permissible to have sexual intercourse with a prepubescent girl. The Qur’an is not like the books of jurisprudence which mention what the implications of things are, even if they are prohibited. It is true that the prophet entered into a marriage contract with A’isha when she was six years old, however he did not have sex with her until she was nine years old, according to al-Bukhari.
Other countries make Muhammad’s example the basis of their laws regarding the legal marriageable age for girls. Article 1041 of the Civil Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran states that girls can be engaged before the age of nine, and married at nine: “Marriage before puberty (nine full lunar years for girls) is prohibited. Marriage contracted before reaching puberty with the permission of the guardian is valid provided that the interests of the ward are duly observed.”
According to Amir Taheri in The Spirit of Allah: Khomeini and the Islamic Revolution (pp. 90-91), Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini himself married a ten-year-old girl when he was twenty-eight. Khomeini called marriage to a prepubescent girl “a divine blessing,” and advised the faithful to give their own daughters away accordingly: “Do your best to ensure that your daughters do not see their first blood in your house.” When he took power in Iran, he lowered the legal marriageable age of girls to nine, in accord with Muhammad’s example.
In this footage, an immigration lawyer tells an undercover reporter “there is no harm” in girls aged 15 getting married “if she is mentally or physically ready”, and offers advice on convincing his daughters to marry https://t.co/bXikfo97QC pic.twitter.com/uIhYAsPsmR
— The Times of London (@thetimes) August 1, 2018
“Lawyer Asama Javed is ‘fixer for forced marriage,’” by Paul Morgan-Bentley, The Times, August 2 2018:
‘If she is mentally or physically ready and she is 15 or 16 years old, then there is no harm in it’
In a messy office on the outskirts of Bradford, Asama Javed is advising her latest client. The immigration lawyer is sitting behind a large desk cluttered with Home Office papers and folders, piled on top of each other in precarious towers. She is wearing a white hijab, with black sunglasses perched on top of her head, and waves her right hand in front of her for emphasis.
“If she is mentally or physically ready and she is 15 or 16 years old, then there is no harm in it,” she says, addressing a Pakistani man who has come for advice about his teenage daughters.
“My [friend] was married when she was 15 but, by the grace of God, she was intelligent….
Mac-101 says
Simple, Deport her back to the Islamic Paradise of her Fathers!
Manuel Paleologus says
Alleluia! I just winder when the stupid morons would wake up and realize what that did to Europe.
Muslims do not give a damn on Christianity. They just use these uneducated people to dominate them and to exterminate them when the time comes if they do not embrace thus devilish cult.
Naomi says
What idiocy, what is it in the mohammedan psyche that requires all women to marry irrespective of whether they want to or not. As a woman I decided not to marry when I was a teenager and have remained single and free ever since. I am not suggesting that marriage is always a bad thing, but women should have the choice and are not capable of making that choice when they are children. Mohammedanism does not accept that women have the right to chose whether to marry or not, shame on them.
gravenimage says
Absolutely–we all need to have that choice. I did decide to marry–and my husband and I love and respect each other and freely decided to marry.
But Islam is all about child marriage and forced marriage.
utis says
She’s a lawyer, not a psychologist (and they don’t know a hell of lot). Her “civilization” is the product of 1400 years of underage marriages. What’s her take on cousin marriages, when there’s already a lot of inherited defects in a clan?
mortimer says
Agree with utis. HE IS NOT A DOCTOR EITHER !!! He is putting the lives of teenagers at risk!
Why endorse Islamic OBSTETRIC FISTULA caused by Islamic child marriage? DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT IS?
Teenagers should not have babies before their bodies are completely formed because of the HORRIFIC DANGER OF OBSTRETRIC FISTULA!
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/23/health/end-obstetric-fistula-day/
A fate worse than death for scores of African women
This is also child rape!
J D S says
Agree Mortimer…I do know that in early times in America there were young girls married at 15 or 16 or 17….The key here is…They were not Forced Marriages….not saying that maybe there might have been a few “shotgun”weddings. Any way The law of the land should be upheld…If Muslim countries want yo continue ruining the lives and health of their children by following their Islamic prophet’s (NOTE: Islamic prophet..not God’s prophet) example then so be it….. SHAME ON THEM…but in the west marriage age limits should be set by law and Muslims should not be allowed to circumvent this law.
gravenimage says
Mortimer, this vile shill for child marriage is actually a Muslimah. *Ugh*.
mortimer says
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION Description of Obstetric Fistula … mostly in MUSLIM COUNTRIES !!!
http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/obstetric_fistula/en/
10 facts on obstetric fistula
Updated January 2018
Each year between 50 000 to 100 000 women worldwide are affected by obstetric fistula, an abnormal
opening between a woman’s genital tract and her urinary tract or rectum. The development of obstetric
fistula is directly linked to one of the major causes of maternal mortality: obstructed labour.
Women who experience obstetric fistula suffer constant incontinence, shame, social segregation and
health problems. It is estimated that more than 2 million young women live with untreated obstetric
fistula in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
Obstetric fistula is preventable; it can largely be avoided by:
delaying the age of first pregnancy;
the cessation of harmful traditional practices; and
timely access to obstetric care.
Preventing and managing obstetric fistula contribute to the Sustainable Development Goal 3 of
improving maternal health.
utis says
Thanks for that information. It should be spread around a lot more. As I recall, Ayesha was childless. No thanks to being “married” at 9. And by Mohammed’s own admission, Kadisha gave him the most children, and he married her when she was older.
gravenimage says
Yes–she may have been childless because she was damaged by being raped as a small child.
Rob Crawford says
Nah. Mohammed was sterile. His “children” were all from his wives seeking the company of real men.
Jayell says
If she”s supposed to be a lawyer operating in the UK on behalf of UK citizens or prospective UK citizens, then she has a duty to follow the UK line on this matter and NOT her own perverted native standards. She is in no way entitled to create or amend British law to suit herself. If she does not understand that, the Law Society should give her a bit of heavy advice, maybe even with a proverbial boot in the rear.
Yokel says
She was also a Labour party councillor in Bradford, but resigned in an attempt to become a Respect party MP for Halifax. (“Respect” being George Galloway’s love affair with Islam) (Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is being slated for anti-semitism)
PATRICIA FRANCES KOENIG says
A 15 year old girl getting married is against the law in the USA. Hopefully, it is also against the law in UK. The minimum age for a girl to get married in the Roman Empire, at the time of St. Augustine c. 350 AD, was age 12. Mohammed consummated his marriage to Aisha when she was only 9 years. Mohammed was a pervert…even in his own time, which was 3 centuries later.
mortimer says
Trish, CHILD MARRIAGE poses SEVERE RISKS OF DEATH TO THE CHILD-MOTHER.
Mohammed was an amoral pedophile… child marriage PROVES Islam is not divinely inspired but the conclusion of a false prophet!
Science has the STATISTICS of the MEDICAL and PSYCHOLOGICAL HARMS of CHILD MARRIAGE.
gravenimage says
True.
Yokel says
Marriage age in UK:
16 with parental consent
18 on own decision (18 also being the age of legal majority)
gravenimage says
UK: Muslim immigration lawyer says “no harm” in 15-year-old girls getting married
……………………
Repulsive–a 15-year-old is still a kid in school. And–as noted–Muslims aren’t going to stop at 15–9 is perfectly Islamic, as well.
And these are forced marriages, as well, which violate every value in the West.
Asama Javed needs to be deported back to her Islamic crap hole.
Anne Smith says
I found it quite repellent that this so called lawyer was speaking to a client in another language. If she is practising in Britain she should be speaking English. If she wants to practice in Urdu she should go to Pakistan. If the client cannot speak English (and why not? – he is apparently living in England) then an interpreter should be called and paid for.
This is just another example of the sinister effect of multiculturalism.
Terry Gain says
The problem is not multiculturalism. It is Muslim immigration. People of all cultures fleeing Islam should be welcomed into western countries.
gravenimage says
True–Muslims not learning the language is the least of it.
Rarely says
Interesting that the legal age for marriage in (most of) Canada is 18 but only 16 with parental consent. It’s not a long way from 15 by my calculation. (My great grandmother was married at 14 in Manchester, England. She had 9 kids that lived and seemed content)14 & 15 year olds can legally have sexual interaction (including intercourse) if certain criteria are met. (Unfortunately I never found myself in that dilemma). HOWEVER, forced marriages are indictable offences under the Canadian Criminal Code.
Fifteen is no big deal. A forced marriage at 15 (or any age) is a big deal.
Susan B says
Rarely, 15 is a big deal, girls need to be educated and need to grow into adults before marriage.
Rarely says
Clearly a good idea. What about 16? 17? 18? Where would you draw the line? Would you have a maturity test before marriage?
Susan B says
18 is the consider the normal age of consent. To force girls to marry before this age is cruel and wrong. In fact to force any girl or women to marry without their consent is wrong. Islam is wrong period.
gravenimage says
18 sounds good to me–this is the age in most of the West.
And Muslims these days claim that little 9-year-old Aisha was a “mature woman”. These claims of maturity are utter bs.
Your implication that age is of no importance is odd–surely you know that little children should not be raped?
Rarely says
Don’t be ridiculous. Of course I’m against ANY forced marriage. Nor am I in favour of a 15 year old getting married. Certainly age is important but its pretty arbitrary when marriage is permitted for 16 & 17 with parental consent. Certainly 15 is too young but it’s not totally unheard of in our society.
Where did you get the insane idea I was in favour of sex with little children. Absurd!!!
In Canada it’s legal for 14 & 15 to have consenting sex with someone of approximately the same age without parental approval. Sometimes that will lead to pregnancy. Duh.
Taking these laws into account a 15 year old getting married is not quite so weird or necessarily perverse. It MAY be perverse and probably is in most cases but NOT NECESSARILY SO.
gravenimage says
Sorry, Rarely–I still find the idea of marrying 15-year-old girls to be repugnant and uncivilized. They are far too young to give consent, and belong in school.
Terry Gain says
Rarely
15 is a big deal. Once again, you embrace creeping Sharia.
Rarely says
I don’t approve of ANY sharia laws I’ve heard. I don’t approve of 15 BUT it’s not much different than 16 which IS legal. AND 14 & 15 can legally have sex anyway in certain circumstances so a 15 year old having sex IS NOT THAT BIG A DEAL. It’s also very, very common among non-muslims in our society today. That’s all.
HugoHackenbush says
In the West this song is considered parody. In other areas/cultures an actual plan of action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS4KkegjJ28
mortimer says
CHILD MARRIAGE A HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUE
https://iheu.org/obstetric-fistula-dire-consequence-child-marriage/
Child marriage and obstetric fistulas
Despite international agreements and national laws, child marriage remains common custom in the developing world. Nevertheless, it is a legislated human rights violation that prevents girls from becoming educated, maturing, enjoying a healthy life, and, ultimately, choosing their own life partners. Driven mainly by poverty, child marriage has immediate and long-term health consequences, among them increased risk for sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS and for cervical cancer. In addition, besides the incidence of obstetric fistulas, malaria and death during childbirth are other serious health consequences often resulting from premature marriage.
A high percentage of what amounts to children delivering children is found in the African nations of Ethiopia (25%), Uganda (42%), and Mali (45%). These girls give birth by age 18 compared with only 1% in Germany, 2% in France, and 10% in the United States. “Compared with women of 20 years of age, girls 10–14 … are 5 to 7 times more likely to die from childbirth, and girls 15–19 years of age are twice as likely For example, in Mali, the maternal mortality rate for girls aged 15–19 is 178 per 100,000 live births and for women aged 20–34, only 32 per 100,000”.
Among the reasons for these high death rates is obstructed labor, which is the consequence of the girl’s pelvis being too small to deliver a fetus. In effect, the shoulders of the fetus cannot fit through the mother’s pelvic bones, although its head passes into the vagina. Without a cesarean section, the neonate dies while the mother survives. Many times, obstructed labor leads to fistulas. The explanation is the pressure of the fetus’s head on the vaginal wall, causing tissue necrosis, and then the development of fistulas.
Obstetric fistula is a serious medical condition occurring after childbirth in which an aberrant communication develops between vagina and another organ – usually either the rectum or bladder – which may result in leakage of urine, feces, and blood. Obstetric fistulas affect women of all ages and account for 8 percent of maternal deaths worldwide. In many countries, particularly in the developing world, obstetric fistulas are accompanied by social and cultural stigmatization.
In western countries, obstetric fistulas were eradicated at the end of the 19th century when cesarean section became widely available. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), more than 2 million adolescents are living with fistulas; fistulas develop in more than 100,000 adolescents every year. The World Health Organization has called fistula, “the single most dramatic aftermath of neglected childbirth.” Girls ages 10 to 15 years are especially vulnerable because their pelvic bones are unready for childbearing and delivery. Their risk for fistula is as high as 88%. Unless the fistula is surgically repaired, a fistula victim may suffer from psychological damage, loss of status, and loss of dignity.
A video clip from “A Walk to Beautiful”, the recent award-winning documentary directed by Mary Olive Smith, was screened during the panel discussion. Ms. Smith was also among the keynote speakers. The compelling documentary depicts the ostracism experienced of five Ethiopian mothers who are suffering from childbirth injuries. The film details how these very young women – girls, really – are relegated to being modern-day lepers, objects of stigma in isolation from both family and community. Following a group of such women to the special clinic in Addis Ababa, the documentary profiles 5 such children of poverty and prejudice who developed an obstetric fistula after obstructed deliveries. Despite her devastating childbirth injury, each makes the difficult journey to reclaim her misplaced dignity. The trials they endure, and their nascent attempts to rebuild their lives after being medically cured, reflect powerfully uplifting stories of hope, determination, courage, and, ultimately, transformation into rebirth.
Conclusion
Now officially designated a violation of human rights, child marriage has far-reaching health, social, economic, and political implications for the girls and their respective communities. It cuts tragically short girls’ childhoods as well as creates countless physical and psychological health risks. Eradicating child marriage, however, appears far too optimistic a goal since child marriage requires the consent of all those involved, including fathers, religious communities and tribal leaders. Needless to state, the consent is still given. Too, lack of enforcement renders international laws against child marriage ineffective. This fact was transparent throughout the panel discussion.
Some of the panelists, as well as members of the audience – especially those coming from countries in Africa – pointed out the importance of media campaigns and educational outreach programs to raise awareness of this particular issue. Despite these efforts, they too seem insufficient for eradicating child marriage. Unfortunately, some governments in the developing countries do not take responsibility for stopping this practice. Still, the labyrinth of learning about reproductive and sexual health, sexual transmitted diseases (STD) prevention, contraception, AIDS, and how to seek health care really does help girls negotiate safer sex. Preventive and treatment programs for reproductive health issues need to be incorporated by governments into their health services.
In a final analysis, ending child marriage and its dreadful consequences require a multifaceted approach focused on girls, their families, their communities, and, equally, their governments. Culturally sensitive programs providing families and communities with education and reproductive health services, can help end child marriage, with its attendant early pregnancies, illness and death in young mothers and their children.
Ana Lita PhD is Director of the IHEU-Appignani Center for Bioethics
ALSO …
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2672998/
Child Marriage: A Silent Health and Human Rights Issue
Nawal M Nour, MD, MPH
Abstract
Marriages in which a child under the age of 18 years is involved occur worldwide, but are mainly seen in South Asia, Africa, and Latin America. A human rights violation, child marriage directly impacts girls’ education, health, psychologic well-being, and the health of their offspring. It increases the risk for depression, sexually transmitted infection, cervical cancer, malaria, obstetric fistulas, and maternal mortality. Their offspring are at an increased risk for premature birth and, subsequently, neonatal or infant death. The tradition, driven by poverty, is perpetuated to ensure girls’ financial futures and to reinforce social ties. One of the most effective methods of reducing child marriage and its health consequences is mandating that girls stay in school.
Key words: Child marriage, Early marriage, Maternal mortality
gravenimage says
Good post, Mortimer.
J H says
Once again they try to change OUR law to suit their perverted ways, and once again Briton do nothing……WHY???
J H says
‘Britons’
Anne Smith says
Look no further than Common Purpose.
Paul says
She was aiding and abetting a crime.
She should be censured by her professional body at the least.
But I dare say a grovelling apology will get her off the hook, she’s muslim and a woman…
Paul
gravenimage says
Spot on, Paul. She should be disbarred and deported.
Terry Gain says
The Muslim practice of child marriage is barbaric. As are FGM and “Honour” Killings.
It bears repeating that Islam’s inventor and role model was a murderer, mass murderer, slave-taker, sexual slave-taker, rapist, pedophile and so rabidly misogynist that he claimed that not only were women inferior to men, but that he had visited hell ( he was also a liar) and the majority of inhabitants were female.
Why would anyone in their right mind want to bring this ideology into Western civilization.
TheOldOligarch says
I mean, there probably isn’t. How is 15 that different from 16?
I get that the Islamic practice of marrying girls at 9 is horrific, but most of the people reading this article will have grandparents or great grandparents who married at that age.
Are we making some kind of massive deal over one year?
Susan B says
Yes, but you need to understand how islam works. Next year it will 13 or 14. Inch by inch.
gravenimage says
*Very* true, Susan. Muslims are not going to stop at 15.
TheOldOligarch says
Sure, if the premise for our outrage is ”she doesn’t really mean 15, she means 9, as modeled by Mohammad” then of course I agree completely.
tim gallagher says
Are Muslims ever in harmony with our western, civilised way of life? Not that I can see. Islam seems 100% incompatible on endless issues and views of the way life should be lived. This woman’s opinion is just one of thousands of opinions and actions in report after report in the news which show that Islam is the absolute opposite of modern, civilised western societies. This underaged paedophile marriage issue is just one of them. Islam and modern 21st century western society are like chalk and cheese or oil and water. It’s so futile to let Islam into our societies and imagine that it’s going to turn out OK. Our political leaders, who believe that Muslims will fit in with our society, live in fantasy land. I also notice how she says, in a slimy way, if the 15 year old is ready or whatever. As if the 15 year old girl would get a say in Islam.