URDU: پاکستان اور معاصر مسلم ممالک میں کم سنی کی شادی :عصری تحدیات کا عمومی جائزہ

Child Marriage in Pakistan and Modern Muslim States: A General Review on Contemporary Challenges

Abstract

Marriage is a well-known and widely accepted social norm for establishing a family. One of the primary goals of Islamic law is to protect the family. Marriage contracts violating basic principles of Islamic jurisprudence cause serious difficulties with a wide range of social effects. Child marriage is endemic in many regions, but its worldwide persistence and rates of occurrence give it some of the characteristics of a pandemic. It is a highly intersectional human rights problem that negatively impacts their rights to health, education, equality, non-discrimination, and the right to live free from violence and exploitation. The practice of child marriage is sometimes referred to as "early or forced marriage," which is increasingly being recognized as a major obstacle towards developmental progress at national and international levels. It disrupts the educational, mental, and physical health of the spouses. They have a lack of knowledge about sexual and reproductive health and rights. The boy also goes into stress and is unable to manage marital life. Besides the school's drop, its stress leads to suicide and domestic violence. This issue needs a multi-dimensional approach involving local influencers such as religious leaders, the officials responsible for enforcing laws, and institutions at all administrative levels. Primarily, the legal framework for child marriage in Pakistan is challenging due to its attribution to religion. It is time to explore the Islamic legal jurisprudence on the regulation of this subject. It is highly necessary to underline the negative consequences of child marriage and the potential for changing attitudes and social norms about this practice. Although fines and punishments exist, laws on child marriage have little impact as they are not well enforced. The paper at hand will investigate the consequences of child marriage in Pakistani society. It will explore the Islamic rulings on the modern challenges to the child marriage issue. This study will review the recommendations of Muslim jurists, Muslim countries laws, and research entities to solve this matter. It will also analyze the Islamic legal provisions on the protection of children's rights and ensuring matrimonial freedom in Pakistan. This article will introduce suggestions to amend the laws regulating child marriage.