Perak Mufti Says Teens Would Become Adulterous If Minimum Age For Marriage Is Raised To 18
He, however, doesn't want preteen girls to be married to men who are much older.
By Sadho Ram — 23 Sep 2018, 02:51 AM
Perak Mufti Harussani Zakaria has joined his Sabah counterpart in voicing against the proposal to increase the age limit of marriage to 18 as it could open the door for adulterous affair among teens
While Mufti Harussani Zakaria doesn't want preteen girls, like the 11-year-old Ayu, to be married to men who are far older (in Ayu's case, she is married to a 41-year-old Kelantanese man), at the same time, the Perak Mufti argues that raising the minimum age of marriage to 18 goes against the 'Hukum Syarak' (Syariah laws).
Taking Sabah Mufti Aziz Jaafar's views that "children mature at an early age and are exposed to sexual matters much earlier" a step further, Mufti Zakaria believes teens would become adulterous
"Why do you need to restrict, this would increase existing social ills.
"Under 'Hukum Syarak' those who had reached puberty are allowed to get married," he was quoted as saying by NSTP, adding that 14-year-old girls usually reach puberty.
According to the Perak Mufti, it's parents who are responsible for determining whether a (child's) marriage is justified or not
"Whether a marriage should be done or not after (their) adolescent (daughter) reaches puberty, depending on the assessment and role of parents who better understand their situation," The Malaysian Insight reported Zakaria as saying on Saturday.
Meanwhile, former Minister of Youth and Sports Khairy Jamaluddin called out the logic propagating menstruation as an indication that a girl is now mature and ready for marriage as "gross mentality"
The Twitter user @suhailalia1 was responding to Khairy's criticism of the Sabah Mufti, who proposed to reduce the legal age of marriage to 14 for Muslim girls.
The Rembau MP had chastised the Sabah Mufti's proposal as "Madness."