Female clerics in Indonesia issue fatwa against child marriage

Female聽clerics聽yesterday issued an unprecedented fatwa against child聽marriage in Indonesia in a bid to stop young girls becoming聽brides in the world’s most populous Muslim country.

The fatwa – which is influential among Muslims but not聽legally binding – came at the end of an extraordinary three-day聽conference of female Islamic clerics –聽a rare example of women聽assuming a lead role in the nation’s聽religious affairs.

“Maternal mortality is very high in Indonesia. We – as聽female clerics – can play a role on the issue of child聽marriage,” conference organiser Ninik Rahayu told the Thomson聽Reuters Foundation.

“Female clerics know the issues and obstacles women face, we聽can take action and not just wait for the government to protect聽these children,” she said by phone from Cirebon in the West Java聽province, where the congress was held.

Indonesia has one of the worst records for under-age聽marriage – its high number of child brides puts it among the top聽10 countries worldwide – and it is common for girls to marry聽before they turn 18.

Thursday’s fatwa, or religious edict, called underage聽marriage 聽“harmful” and said its prevention was mandatory.

One in six Indonesian girls marry before they turn 18, equal聽to 340,000 girls a year, according to the United Nations聽children’s agency UNICEF. About 50,000 wed before they turn 15.

A government report last year showed almost a quarter of聽married women aged 20-24 had entered wedlock when they were聽under 18.

The Southeast Asian nation has a population of 250 million.聽Under Indonesian laws, the minimum age of marriage for girls聽is 16聽and 19 for boys.

In issuing the fatwa, the women clerics cited studies saying聽many Indonesian child brides could not continue their studies聽once wed and half their marriages ended in divorce.

They urged the government to raise the minimum marriage age聽for girls to 18, a demand activists have sought for years.

Early marriage not only makes it more likely that girls will聽quit school, campaigners say it also increases the risks of聽exploitation, sexual violence, domestic abuse and death in聽childbirth.

About 300 participants took part in the congress, which聽included Indonesian women clerics and women leaders from聽Afghanistan, Pakistan and Malaysia. Organisers billed the聽three-day conference as the first meeting of its kind in the
world.

The congress also issued two other fatwa against聽environmental destruction and sexual violence, which the clerics聽said are against Islamic teaching and fundamental human rights.