Saudi Father Weds Daughter, 10, to Octogenarian

Articles have recently appeared in the Saudi press discussing the phenomenon of child marriage, which has been practiced in Muslim societies since the dawn of Islam. In Saudi Arabia, which implements the shari'a, child bride marriages are legal, since according to Muslim tradition, the Prophet Muhammad married his wife 'Aisha when she was only six years old.

In August 2009, it was reported that a 10-year-old girl had been hiding for 10 days in her aunt's house after her father married her off to a man of 80. In response to this report, a Saudi columnist contended that child bride marriages were incompatible with Islamic values and that they violated the 1989U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Saudi Arabia is a signatory.

Fifth-Grader Wedded to an Octogenarian

The Saudi daily 'Okaz reported on August 25, 2009 that the father of a 10-year-old girl had removed her from her aunt's home, where she had been hiding for 10 days, and brought her back to her husband, who, according to the girl's relatives, is 80 years old. In an 'Okaz interview, the husband stated that he was not yet 80, accused the girl's aunt of interfering in his private life, and claimed that according to the shari'a his marriage is legal as long as the girl's father consents to it. He explained that the girl's father had first offered him his older daughter, but when the latter refused, the father had suggested the younger one, and he had agreed, since when girl was shown to him, he couldn't see anything to prevent their getting married

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