Islamabad:
Jamat Disadvanta-e-Islam-Fazl (Jui-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman announced nationwide protest against the proposed legislation that limits minor marriages, called the bill as opposed to Islamic teaching and an attack on Pakistan’s religious identity.
When he spoke at a press conference in Peshawar on Saturday, Fazl claimed that the law is shaped under foreign influence. “Pakistan’s identity is Islam and that identity is threatened,” he said.
He accused the government of drafting legislation based on recommendations from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United Nations decisions rather than Islamic principles. “The UN attitude is used to pass laws against marriages of early age. The president also refuses to sign the religious seminars,” he added.
FAZL criticized what he described as legislation in violation of the Qur’an and Sunnah. “Democracy loses its case, and such actions strengthen the stories of armed groups,” he warned.
The Jui-F leader claimed that previous legal reforms, including them under the former military ruler Perez Musharraf, had targeted religious values. “The main points are that obstacles are placed in the way of legitimate marriage while creating ease for adultery,” he said, adding that the Council of Islamic Ideology had already rejected the proposed marriage of children.
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Fazl declared a nationwide protest against the bill and said, “We will present our point of view in the world.”
He commented on geopolitical affairs and claimed that the world had entered the era of a new Cold War. “Asia, under China’s leadership, emerges as a new economic power. After 9/11 we talked about a global revolution. Now we’re in a new phase,” he said.
Fazl also aimed at India and said that “Modi’s foolishness has pushed the region against war” and that the first hope of peaceful conflict resolution between Pakistan and India had diminished.
For a easier moment, he took a weld on Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and said, “I am reminded of a joke – PPP protests against PTI because they have even broken the corruption register for People’s Party.”
At regional cooperation, he noticed the importance of ties with Afghanistan and suggested it would be a positive development to expand the China-Pakistan-economic corridor (CPEC) to Afghanistan and other countries.
What is the law of marriage of children?
President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday signed Islamabad Capital Territory Child Marriage Relaint Bill 2025 in the law and set the minimum age of marriage at 18 years in the federal capital. The new legislation criminalizes solemn marriages where either the boy or the girl is minor.
Under the law, no Nikah Khuwan (marriage manager) can make a marriage involving minors, with violations that can be punished by up to one year in prison and a fine of RS100,000.
In addition, a man over 18 who marries a minor girl can be exposed to up to three years of string prison. The bill also allows the courts to intervene if informed of a minor marriage, including the protection of the identity of those reporting such cases.
The bill was originally introduced in the National Assembly of PPP MNA Sharmila Faruqui and later presented in the Senate by Senator Sherry Rehman. However, the legislation faced the opposition of CII, which declared the bill as opposed to Islamic principles.
In his advisory reaction, CII opposed the bill by arguing that Islamic case law allows marriage to girls when they reach puberty, regardless of age. The Council claims that setting a fixed minimum age of 18 for marriage contradicts certain religious interpretations and therefore should not be made legally binding.
