Re: Ahmad Sani, a girl’s ‘full age’ and marriage

It was clear from the beginning of her piece that the writer was not at home with Yarima’s argument that deleting the clause was against Islam. She was not alone in this, many non Muslims and the so called “liberal Muslim” commentators made it clear that they were irked that the senator based his argument […]

It was clear from the beginning of her piece that the writer was not at home with Yarima’s argument that deleting the clause was against Islam. She was not alone in this, many non Muslims and the so called “liberal Muslim” commentators made it clear that they were irked that the senator based his argument on Islam. Agreed that they were not supposed to be happy but they failed to argue that he violated any law by doing that. Uwais tried to do that but woefully failed, as we will see later.
She took the mantle from an insider’s angle, pointing out that Yarima’s understanding was not a unanimous position of Ulama. But she ended up not providing the unanimous position of Ulama on the issue. She questioned, rhetorically, whether by basing his position on his understanding of Islam, numerous activities restricted by age, like voting, has to be based on that understanding. This exposed the confusion she seems to be grappling with. By not placing things in their right contexts one is bound to make mista-kes. There is no basis of comparison, in this issue, between marriage and voting while talking from an Islamic perspective.
A very surprising and disturbing gaffe made by the writer, in her flawed attempt to fault Yarima’s position from an Islamic perspective, was her translation of the Arabic word “sufaha”. She translated it as “(a person) not considered sufficiently matured” or “mentally immature”, she worsened that by implying that the word was used in Qur’an 4:6 as such, and on that presumption she went ahead with her flawed thesis. The truth is that, while the word used by English translators was “a fool” the word “sufaha” was never used in the said verse. It was used in the preceding verse, and its usage there clearly pointed its meaning in contrast to what the writer wanted us to believe.
Verse 4:5 says “And give not the foolish your property which Allah has made a means of support for you, but feed and clothe them therewith, and speak to them words of kindness and justice”. While verse 4:6 says “And try the orphans (as regards their intelligence) until they reach the age of marriage; if then you find sound judgment in them, release their property to them, but consume it not wastefully  and hastily, fearing that they should grow up…”
As we can see, there was no time limit we were told to give our properties to “sufaha”.  
Therefore, Uwais’ wrong assertion is both misleading and insufficient to argue that “there is no basis, under shari’a, to compel a girl to deal with matters of such gravity as the renunciation of citizenship.” The issue has nothing to do with compelling but preference. By declaring that a married woman can or may renounce her citizenship, there is no indication that she is been compelled to renounce. And in shari’a, we are free to do everything save what we are prohibited. I am yet to know any provision of shari’a that bars a married woman (fully grown or not) from renouncing a citizenship.
She claimed, among other things that “Incidentally, over half of the women in the North are married off by the age of 16 and commence childbirth within the first year of marriage. Also, of the 16 million births by girls below the age of 18, 9 out of 10 of them are married.” As her focus is on the north, we can assume that the given figures of “16 million births by girls below the age of 18” are obtainable in the North; understandably, the figure will rise if added with those from the rest of the nation. I was very shocked that such figures could be presented to public without a credible source. Bearing in mind that if the figures are real, we should be on the top list of child marriage hot spots, I decided to search for anything that could take me to that “finding”. But my search only revealed a contrary finding by no less that International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW) which published the names of twenty countries regarded as a Hot Spot for child marriage. Nigeria was conspicuously missing. While Niger Republic tops the chart with 75%, Dominican Republic was at the bottom with 40%. I believe 16 million child marriages (per annum?) will never miss the attention of such bodies.
I also made some quick enquiries by sampling opinions of my facebook friends. I inquired if anybody could confirm such happenings in his area. The result was that 100% of the responders reported negative. It was outraging because even in villages you can hardly witness such rampant child marriages as obtained before. It is very clear for anybody living within our people that nowadays there is great reduction of child marriages due to many factors. Fully grown up girls, both who attended and who never attended schools, are everywhere. It is now a common sight to see an unmarried girl of 30-40+ years. How then Uwais got her “16 million child brides who give birth in their first year of marriage” is very curious.
I noticed that her piece is replete with such figures on different problems affecting the North but without any reference. Issues of such sensitivity need to be substantiated, especially when they stretched the limit.
Muslims in Nigerian particularly the north are being blackmailed and have become at the receiving end of blatant lies, deceit and all sorts of disparaging comments by non-Muslims and their apologists, under the guise of halting child marriage. It is understandable if a non-Muslim southerner, whose only source of information about the north is the scanted and slanted newspaper reports and comments, make erroneous assumptions on the north. But it is unacceptable for a person who gave his address as Kano to feign ignorance of the real happenings in the North.
This is not an attempt to downplay the unmistakable problems our region is battling with, but we need to be honest with ourselves while analyzing our situations to enable us comes with workable solutions.

Mahmud wrote from Chiranchi Quarters, Kano <[email protected]>;