The Shoura Council is studying a new law to prevent marriages between aged Saudi men and young girls. The law is expected to produce guidelines to protect young girls from marriages with Saudi men of a significantly higher age, a phenomenon that has spread in parts of the Kingdom and abroad, resulting in numerous problems for wives and Saudi children abroad. The new law also deals with marriages to non-Saudi women in which the Saudi husbands admit fathering the children, with new legal procedures expected to be in place soon to enable their children to be brought to the Kingdom. The law secondly addresses cases where fathers refuse to recognize their children, in which case proof of the marriage will be required from the wife through relevant authorities. If she fails to provide the documents, the matter will be referred to the courts to conduct DNA tests. The Ministry of Justice and other government departments are also preparing regulations to prevent the marriage of girls under the age of 14. The regulations are expected to be issued before the end of the year. Studies into child marriage show that it has caused an increase in divorce rates and women becoming widows at an early age, in addition to a range of health and psychological problems. Recent cases of child marriage to elderly men have caught the attention of both the public and the authorities. S.A. was married at the age of 13, to become a divorcee only two months later. “I was forced into the marriage and I had to leave school,” she says. “I did not know the meaning of living with a man under one roof. I was terrified and couldn't continue so I was divorced after two months.” Some marriages occur without the consent of the bride. One girl was taken aback to find out she had become the third wife of a man 60 years her elder. The marriage took place without her knowledge to the unknown septuagenarian when she was barely 10 years old. It is difficult for a girl to accept an elderly man as a husband, with stark incompatibilities in terms of age, culture and education, and the elderly husband being unable to understand or meet the emotional needs of a young wife, leading regularly and rapidly to divorce. In Jizan, tribal sheikhs say marriage between young girls and elderly men has become an increasing scourge, with Saudi men marrying non-Saudi girls in border regions or from neighboring countries to escape scrutiny. They have called for the age of marriage to be set in law in order to protect the rights of girls. Although the Kingdom currently has no law setting the age for marriage, Zuhair Al-Harithi, a board member of the Saudi government-run Human Rights Commission, told Associated Press in June of this year: “These marriages violate international agreements the Kingdom has signed.” Dr. Suhaila Zein Al-Abideen agrees a national law is needed to define marriageable age. A member of the Studies and Consultations Committee in the National Society for Human Rights, she has appealed to the Ministry of Justice to ban aged men from marrying young girls and called for a minimum age for marriage to suit the needs of the times. She also said that whoever is involved in forcing a girl into marriage should be punished. Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Talhi, a marriage official, said there were clear instructions from the Ministry of Justice to marriage officials that they must hear the girl's consent clearly while officiating a marriage without an intermediary. In other words, the girl must be veiled and must answer the marriage official's question clearly. However, he admitted that some guardians deceive officials by bringing another girl to pronounce consent to the marriage. “It is the father or guardian who bears the sin for such an act,” he said. Dr. Abdullah Al-Humaid, Director General of the Asir Region branch of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance, said that there were no official directives for marriage officials saying the girl must be of a certain age. This, he said, depended upon the consent of the girl's guardian, the girl herself and the husband-to-be, requiring also the presence of witnesses and an authenticated medical report on the suitability of the man and woman for marriage. Sheikh Sa'eed Muhammad Aal-Makhfour, another marriage official, said Allah legislated marriage for sublime wisdom and noble ends and benefits. He cited the Qur'anic verse: “And if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphan-girls then marry (other) women of your choice, two or three, or four; …” (Surah An-Nisaa, verse 3). He also quoted the Prophet (peace be upon him) as saying that a woman is married for four reasons – for her financial status, noble descent, beauty and piety. The Prophet (peace be upon him) regarded piety as the most important factor. Sheikh Aal-Makhfour said an aged man marrying a young girl was rare, and that it was not clear that all such marriages were harmful. He gave the example of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) marrying Aesha, describing it as a very happy and successful marriage despite the great age difference. Controversy over child marriage has become the focus of media attention recently in Yemen with two cases of child brides, under ten years of age, seeking refuge from unwanted marriages, while Dr. Ahmad Al-Mu'bi, a Saudi marriage official, told Lebanese television in June: “There is no minimal age for entering marriage. You can have a marriage contract even with a one-year-old girl, not to mention a girl of nine, seven, or eight. This is merely a contract consent. The guardian in such a case must be the father, because the father's opinion is obligatory. Thus, the girl becomes a wife... But is the girl ready for the marriage or not? What is the appropriate age for having sex for the first time? This varies according to environment and traditions. In Yemen, girls are married off at nine, ten, eleven, or thirteen, while in other countries, they are married off at 16. Some countries have legislated laws forbidding consummation of the marriage before the girl is eighteen. – Okaz __
