MARRIAGE IN ISLAMIC LAW AND THE CASE OF AHMAD SANI [YERIMAN BAKURA]

Marriage in Islamic Law is a sacred contract which involves a man and a woman who would themselves benefit from the union as well as benefit the community in several aspects. It is probably for this reason that several laws are being formulated to safeguard the union. Several countries have fixed an age for which persons are allowed to get married. However, the marriageable age in Islamic law tends to bring about so many dialogues on the issue. Most often than not, child marriage is attributed to the religion of Islam. Child marriage connotes the legal union between parties who are children. The parties referred here could be in two fold. The first is in respect of two parties who are children or are within the same level of awareness whose marriages have either been arranged by their parents, guardians or on their own volition. The second refers to marriage between a child (mostly a female) and a major (older person). Though this article may not discriminate between the two, it may lean closer to the second aspect as it is the one that may cause uproar. Islam has been put in the limelight with respect to child marriages and every so often Muslims have been labeled as pedophiles.