Morocco slams marriage claims
2008-09-22 08:36
Rabat - Morocco's top body of Islamic scholars condemned on Sunday a Muslim theologian for issuing a religious decree that girls as young as nine years old can marry.
Morocco's High Council of Ulemas "denounces the utilisation of religion to legitimise the marriage of nine-year-old girls", it said in a statement.
Sheikh Mohamed Ben Abderrahman Al-Maghraoui earlier this month said the marriage of nine-year-old girls was allowed by Islam as the Prophet Muhammad consummated the marriage to one of his wives when she was that age.
He derided criticism of his claims as "part of a secular attack against the Islamic nation and its theologians".
The High Council of Ulemas, which is presided over by Morocco's King Mohammed VI, called Sheikh Maghraoui an "agitator and mystificator".
A Rabat-based lawyer, Mourad Bekkouri, has filed a complaint against Sheikh Maghraoui and his fatwa, which he said damages children's human rights, and the family and criminal code by increasing the risk of rape.