I came across this article in both newspapers and on the web...
Saudi Arabia bans forced marriages
In the article it has the grand mufti saying "forced marriage was against Islamic law and those responsible for it should be jailed"
Sheikh Abdul Aziz, who heads the Council of Senior Ulema (Scholars) said: "Forcing a woman to marry someone she does not want and preventing her from wedding that whom she chooses... is not permissible" under Islamic law.
He also goes on to say "fathers who coerce daughters into in marriage should be jailed and not released "until they change their minds".
I am against forced marriages (which are very different to arranged marriages) and this ruling shows that it is clearly against Islam... and those families who still carry on this are actually committing grave sins! Forced marriages are not just marked by violence, kidnapping and imprisonment... but also mental and emotional torture!
I abhor forced marriages and those who force people into them should (in my mind) be severely punished!
Anyone who also uses forced marriage as an example of Islam being backward is clearly wrong as Islamic scriptures clearly state that all men and women have a right in deciding who they marry.
Many women in Eastern cultures have to bear unjust hardships but much of this is down to the cultures and has absolutely nothing to do with the religion! As this article shows when people become more Islamically aware then women's situations will improve.
One point to consider is that whenever forced marriages comes up as a topic showing Islam in a negative light, its plastered all over the media...
I was quite surprised (well not really) that this news which shows that Islam is against forced marriages was buried in small articles and not given any prominence!!!!
Could it be because the media are only interested in showing Islam as a backward religion?
3 comments:
hmmm interesting. What is the difference between a forced marriage and an arranged one?
For me a forced marriage is one where one or both of the people getting married do not wish to participate but are coerced into doing so by a number of means (mental pressure, physical violence, abduction, restriction of freedom, imprisonment).
An arranged marriage would be one where the potential couple are introduced to each other by the family and both have the right to accept or reject. Where they accept freely without coercion this would be an arranged marriage.
Currently I am taking a class about Islam in Modern Society, not because I am a Muslim, but because I want to understand the religion more fully.
The media in today's world reports whatever is the most sensational, and this information is usually skewed towards whichever society it is being broadcast to. I find this sad. I don't want to be hand fed information designed to make me "feel" safe. I want to hear the truth, even if that means my country, or my government looks not so fresh and lovely.
Thank you for posting this way. I look forward to reading more about Islam from the point of view of someone that lives and practices it in the modern world.
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