IEA says marriage separation regulation aligns with Sharia

Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Islamic Emirate, said during an interview that criticism by some circles regarding the marriage separation regulation is not new and should not be given importance by those opposing Islamic principles.

Mujahid said those who accept Islamic laws should have no concerns in this regard, adding that there is no law within the Islamic Emirate that contradicts Islamic Sharia.

The spokesman also stated that under Islamic Sharia and Hanafi jurisprudence, fathers and grandfathers have guardianship and authority over their minor children, provided that they are kind, have no history of cruelty, are free from mental disorders, are not addicted to narcotics, and do not make decisions regarding their children because of poverty.

Mujahid further said that the ruling does not mean granting unrestricted permission to people, but was issued to create ease for the country’s courts so judges can make decisions more easily in such cases.

He stressed that the Supreme Leader has separately ordered that marrying off a girl without her consent is prohibited.

Mujahid added that only in the past year, thousands of cases of forced marriages involving girls were addressed in the courts of the Islamic Emirate and through the complaint-hearing department of the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which he said shows the Islamic Emirate’s attention to women’s rights.

The remarks come after the Ministry of Justice recently published the marriage separation regulation. Some circles criticized the regulation, claiming that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan had allowed or facilitated the marriage of underage girls.