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Zahir Amanov

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Muslim marriage

How family bonds can turn into shackles when fathers speak for young brides

By Gulnaz Guliyeva

The causes and consequences of "white slavery" Women who experience deep stress encounter a lack of understanding in society after being liberated.

Remembering the destiny of our grandmothers, we recall with horror cases of marriage at an early age - beginning from 9. But marriages with such young girls are still very common in Azerbaijan.

In a conversation with women from Lankaran, we found out that marriage with underage girls is quite common in the southern districts of Azerbaijan. "Marrying a 12-year-old girl is an ordinary thing in our district. This is allowed by the Koran and therefore, it is regarded as a halal," one of them said, observing that her own daughter married at 14 and had two babies by 16. The explanation is simple: "They wanted her and we gave her." The marriage was registered through the Muslim rite of "kabin" for which it is enough to produce the girl's birth certificate.

If in the southern districts marriages with underage girls account for 70 per cent, they also take place in Baku on a smaller scale. One of the Baku residents, who registered a marriage with a 16-year-old girl through the religious rite, explained this step by the fact that they wanted to be together in line with the laws of Islam.

According to one mullah, kabin is registered at any time. The girl is not present when the marriage is registered and her will is expressed by a man from her family (father, brother or uncle). The groom also has witnesses. The sides should produce documents that identify the bride and the groom. The girl and the boy put their signatures after the marriage is registered. "God says get the girl's consent and pay a mehir," the mullah pointed out. "Mehir" means a money reward or a gold ring that is given to the girl's family, and this fact is indicated in the prenuptial agreement.

The mullah stressed that the registration of kabin without the girl's consent or under duresse is a serious sin. However, the mullah himself does not oversee the process of getting the girl's consent.

Research shows that Muslim marriage has become a potential means for taking young girls abroad for human trafficking. It is sad that sometimes the family prompts the girl to fall victim to human trafficking.

The forum of NGOs for migration issues (FANGOM), with the help of the International Organization for Migration, conducted a poll among 300 residents of Baku's 11 districts and in the settlement of Mashtaga in August 2003. 56 per cent of them were women and 44 men.

Only 57 per cent of the respondents stated that they read the prenuptial agreement themselves while 43 per cent gave a negative answer. Up to 50 per cent of the respondents were people who had the right to register kabin and knew Arabic or Persian.

They said the following was the advantage of the unofficial marriage: the possibility of being together, no need to get divorced, lack of men while there is a large number of single women and so on. There were also religious motives like the will of God, Muslim laws, pure relationships and so on.

But it is notable that people whose social status is regarded as low tend towards Muslim marriage.

Most of the women tend to marry foreigners. In most cases, the sides prefer to have unregistered relationships. It is interesting that most of the respondents have heard about trade in women by foreign citizens.

Muslim marriage is quite common with citizens of Muslim states, particularly neighbouring Iran. There have been cases when a family tried to persuade their daughter to marry an Iranian through kabin and then they had to put her on the wanted list.

However, religious rites, as other research shows, are carried out with absolutely alien men for taking young girls to Muslim countries that women are not allowed to enter without their husband or brother accompanying them (for example, the UAE). In conditions of unemployment among the male population, there is always a guy who will agree to make some money by accompanying girls to Iran or Dubai. Those who have put this process on the conveyer-belt, so-called Mama Roses, take girls to Dubai where they sell them to motel owners and to other entertainment establishments.

We should point out that marriage with underage people is illegal and punishable, but only under civic law.

Last year, after the centre for legal assistance to migrants appealed to the head of the Board of the Muslims of the Caucasus, Sheikh ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade, a special fatwa was issued by the religious body of the Muslims of the Caucasus - the Council of Cadis. The fatwa banned Muslim marriages before they are registered by the registry office.
However, according to Mehriban Heydaraligyzy, president of the Clean World social human rights association, the situation has changes only slightly. "We sent our people to Baku mosques to find out whether it is possible to register a Muslim marriage without state registration at the registry office, and in most cases, they were given a positive answer. They told us that religion is separate from the state and the state cannot intervene in Islamic affairs," Heydaraligyzy pointed out. So it remains to hope for the honest intentions of those who want to contract Muslim marriage.