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Its Islamophobic to Ban Child Marriage! (Says Muslim High Court)
In this episode, Simone and the host discuss Pakistan's recent ban on child marriages with the 2025 Islamabad Capital Territory Child Marriage Restraint Bill, which sets the legal age for marriage at 18. They explore the controversy surrounding the ban, particularly the pushback from Pakistan's Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), which labeled the bill 'un-Islamic.' The discussion delves into cultural, religious, and historical perspectives on child marriage in conservative Islamic societies. They also examine disturbing local practices such as exchanging young girls to settle feuds. The hosts analyze the religious texts and traditions that support child marriage and scrutinize the arguments from both sides. Additionally, they address broader cultural implications and ethical considerations, highlighting the need for nuanced understanding and the dangers of cultural imperialism.
Malcolm Collins: Hello Simone. Today we are gonna have a spicy conversation. Pakistan did the unsinkable, or rather, something that should be non-controversial, which is banning child marriages. Oh. The country's primary like religious authority called the council of Islamic Theology.
Simone Collins: I'm picturing like a rounded table with a big globe icon.
Malcolm Collins: Oh, no. What, what really happened was this,
Speaker: This is all wrong. How dare you? You have stolen my dreams People are suffering.
Malcolm Collins: And Greta Thornberg, of course, famous anti-Semite would go along and great with these people. But they basically came back and they said, this is Islamophobic. Is, is the term that has been used? It is, it is against the principles of Islam.
Wait. Hmm. Does Islam actually condone. Well, yeah, so I was like, I know there's the whole, like if you're on the internet and you're around like the, the anti-Islamic circles, uhhuh, like, oh, well he did, you know, get engaged to a girl when she was six and consummate the marriage when she was nine. This is Aisha.
No. And I had, and I had heard this and, and then I'd heard Muslims say, oh no, that's not true. Like look at the actual whatever. And so I just assumed. Angry internet, A CS being nerds, right? Like I was like, yeah, right. Like, come on, that's not real. Or I'm sure that there's like a nuance if you really dig into it, then
Simone Collins: well, maybe it's one of those things where like people just kind of forget their ages, so then you ask them how old they are and they're like, I don't know, nine.
Malcolm Collins: Well, so we are going to get into the evidence for both sides of this. Okay? But what I will say, what I didn't know is that in the conservative Muslim world, like if you're not in the West, almost everyone believes the nine age. Th this Islamic council almost certainly would believe the nine age, almost every major conservative Islamic council council, or I'd say every major conservative Islamic council particularly the SUNY ones, would go with the nine age.
So does
Simone Collins: this mean that in turn. It is considered normative or possibly even recommended that girls as young as nine get married.
Malcolm Collins: Yes. Puberty is seen as the age. No
Simone Collins: puberty's getting earlier and earlier these days. So that's, I guess, nine territory. Let's,
Malcolm Collins: let's go into the data here. 'cause there's a lot to go over with this case and I think it's really, really interesting.
We're also gonna go into some unique practices in Pakistan. Ooh. Where they, trade young girls to end blood feuds with other families. So they will take you know, like their 9-year-old daughter or whatever, and basically give them to another family for marriage for, for one of their life. A family
Published on 6 months, 2 weeks ago