A critical analysis of the impact of early marriage on girls based on published autobiographies and a contemporary scholarly text – Īḍāḥ al-bayān fī nikāḥ al-ṣibyān

Abstract

Background

This work emerged from a need to better understand the “lived experience” of early marriage for girls and how it should impact on contemporary attitudes in the Muslim community and encourage it to support the international movement with the aim of a minimum common age of 18 years for marriage of young people.

Objective

To identify from contemporary published literature, including autobiographies and religious texts dealing specifically with early marriage, the effects of early marriage on individuals and to set this as a background to the extensive literature on its medical, psychological and social impact.

Participants and setting: The setting is the published words of two women and a man who were involved in early marriages and a commentary on the topic by an Ibadi theologian.

Methods

The documents were identified through searching a range of databases using various search engines. Texts were then analysed for key terms describing the impact of early marriage and these were then grouped into themes.

Findings

The extracts raise questions linked to the issue of consent and the role of adult coercion, including physical force and threat of harm. In practice girls are given in marriage by their guardians against their wishes and international conventions on the rights and care of children, as well as that outlined in Qur’an 4 v6.

Conclusion

Modern Muslim states face a real challenge in implementing 18 as the minimum age for marriage, especially in how to manage opposition to appropriate new legislation from some traditionalist groups.