By Maryam Uwais
 |
| Ahmed Rufai Sani Yerima |
Once again, Senator Yerima is in the
news, claiming Islam as the basis for his argument that a girl automatically
transforms into an adult of ‘full age’ once she is married, with the attendant
responsibilities that relate to the renunciation of citizenship, irrespective
of her age or mental capacity. Because the Senator from Zamfara State has gone
public with his personal comprehension of the Shari’a, it has become necessary
to respond publicly to his utterances.
It should be pointed out, however, that
several media reports on the constitutional review debate at the Senate give
the impression that underage marriage has been endorsed by the Senate Chambers.
Facts are that S.29 of the 1979 Constitution permits a Nigerian citizen of
‘full age’ to renounce his or her citizenship by declaration in a prescribed
manner, for which purpose ‘full age’ was stated to be 18 years and above. The
subsection also provides that, ‘any woman who is married shall be deemed to be
of full age’.
In its current efforts to review the
Constitution, the Senate Committee had determined that the particular subsection
should be deleted, basically because citizenship has no bearing on gender, as
for example, voting, the right to drive a car, possess a weapon or such similar
social interactions that are evolving or are germane to a democratic Nation.
Senator Yerima, however, vehemently argued (and lobbied) against the removal of
the clause, on the grounds that deleting that clause was against (his
understanding of) Islam. In his understanding, a girl, once married,
automatically assumes the full mental capacity and responsibility to
consciously make the prescribed declaration of renouncing her citizenship.
This position needs to scrutinized
carefully, against the backdrop of similar positions that obtain under the
Shari’a and in our context, as a Nation. Does it then follow that the married
girl who is below 18, at election time, would be permitted to vote, or is her
not being issued a voters card un-Islamic? Is the Senate now going to make an
exception to that law, permitting her to vote, or even drive, in accordance with
(Senator Yerima’s understanding of) Islam?
Contrary to the position conveyed by
the Senator from Zamfara, there is certainly no unanimity of positions on such
contemporary matters of social interaction, within Islamic jurists or the
various Schools of Thought. Surely where there is ‘silence in thetexts’ (i.e
primary sources) or lack of unanimity as regards a particular practice, that
opening allows for a society to determine for itself what is in its best
interest (maslaha), in its own context.
What about married Muslim girls who
inherit property? Is it not the position that in some cases, where not
considered sufficiently mature (‘sufaha’, based on Qur’an 4:6), such property
remains in the custody of her guardian, until she grows to be intellectually mature?
This would, of course, depend on her age, mental capacity and the size and
nature of the property.
Why does such property not devolve upon
her automatically upon marriage, to deal with it as she wishes,irrespective of
her mental capacity? There definitely appears to be no basis, under the
Shari’a, that would compel a girl to deal with matters of such gravity as
therenunciation of citizenship, merely because she is married.
Islam is
certainly not so presumptuous or harsh as to burden her with what she is
mentally and physically incapable of bearing. Her guardian is permitted to
determine the age or stage at which such a child can be entrusted with such
grave responsibilities, the assessment of her mental capacity being the main
determinant.
As a Muslim woman (without pretensions
of scholarship) forever striving for knowledge, research into these matters has
revealed that in matters of social interaction (mu’amalat), there is a lot of
latitude in what is permitted, unless it is expressly prohibited by a clear
text. The rules are certainly not so definitive. What is also evident is that
the ‘best interests of the child’ is a paramount consideration within Islam,
along with the principle of public good (maslaha or istislah).
The operational rules are not defined
(probably deliberately, in my humble view) and the determination of such issues
is best left to the experience, custom and context of the particular society.
The Qur’an provides that the predominant consideration in matters relating to
children would depend on the point at which they can be said to not be ‘sufaha’
(mentally immature) anymore, in the context of that particular community.
It is interesting that Senator Yerima
would rather link the weighty and dispassionate subject of citizenship with his
understanding of gender vis a vis his perception of the age of marriage, rather
than with other matters of social interaction, such as those relating to
inheritance rights, driving or even voting. Indeed, citizenship is a
contemporary phenomenon within the Sharia, as in the early days the concept of
citizenship had not been defined and people traveled across boundaries, without
restriction.
In a Muslim community, when matters
evolve, it is for scholars or experts in Islamic legal
philosophy-‘Usul-al-Fiqh’- and juristic reasoning (and not even those solely
learned in the Qur’an-‘Mussafirun’, the Fiqh-‘Fuqaha’ or the
Hadith-‘Muhaddithun’), to analyze the issues with a view to arriving at an
appropriate position for the context of that relevant community.
In this
particular instance, it is certainly perplexing for the Senator to insist so
categorically that even a married ‘intellectually immature’ girl must be
permitted to renounce her citizenship, irrespective of her mental capacity. The
foundation for such a general and sweeping statement within the Shari’a is
difficult to locate.
The public good remains the overriding
consideration in the process of analytical reasoning by those qualified for the
purpose, so long as the deductions are not in direct conflict with the primary
sources of the Shari’a. Therefore, in following arguments repeatedly canvassed
by the Senator, it may be necessary to examine the context in which we live, to
determine what is good, for the purpose of encouragement and support, and what
remains harmful to our society, to be confronted, discouraged or prohibited by
Muslim jurists.
Today the North of Nigeria continues to
throw up Nigeria’s poorest indices on matters relating to healthcare,
nutrition, education, empowerment and productivity. Consequently, unemployment,
insecurity, violence and poverty remain rife in that region. Statistics have it
that 2/3 of the 102 million poor people in Nigeria live in the North.
Extreme
poverty in the North translates into extreme vulnerability to the effects of
climate change, food security and so much more. Incidentally, over half of the
women in the North are married off by the age of 16 and commence childbirth
within the first year of marriage. Also, of the 16 million births by girls
below the age of 18, 9 out of 10 of them are married.
Facts are that nearly half of all the
children under 5 years of age are malnourished in the North East zone, with
women and children in the nutrition ‘high-burden’ States of Adamawa, Bauchi,
Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe andZamfara suffering
the most from malnutrition, wasting and stunting.
This singular factor remains
the underlying cause for 53% of under-5 deaths. If the child is stunted in its
first 1000 days, that condition is irreversible, so the future of these
children, and the larger population, is permanently shortchanged. The health
and nutritional needs of mothers, new-borns and children are closely linked,
with young mothers accounting for a majority of severely malnourished children.
Multiple health risks arising from
child marriage include the sexual exploitation (including forced sexual
relations) that she is subjected to, as well as limited access to reproductive
health services, despite the real and present danger of contracting diseases
such as HIV/AIDS, STIs (sexually transmitted diseases) and the debilitating
ailment of VVF/RVF (VVF-a tear in the flesh between the vagina and the urinary
passage, usually due to prolonged labour, resulting in uncontrolled urine or
feces in the case of recto-vaginal fistulae-RVF), including the abandonment
that comes with such ailments. Nigeria, with 2% of the world’s population, has
10% of VVF patients. Three-quarters of those with VVF/RVF are young girls who
are not yet physically mature but have suffered trauma in their first
pregnancy.
Statistics show that stillbirths and
deaths are 50% more likely in babies born to mothers younger than 18, as
against babies born to mothers above that age. Each day, 144 women die in
childbirth in Nigeria, with the North East alone having 5 times the global rate
of maternal mortality. The lack of information and access to support ultimately
results in psycho-social and emotional consequences, domestic violence,
abandoned (street) children, with the attendant deprivations of their rights
and freedoms, whose wellbeing is severely compromised.
The prevalence of the abuse of the
right to the exercise of divorce by Muslim men has only compounded the
situation, leading to so many negative social deviations such as substance
abuse (that has become so rampant), commercial sex work and the complete loss
of values in the entire family set up.
Many of these adolescents are married
off to men much older than they, and because of the associated power
differentials, this singular factor impedes communication between them, with
the girl having no negotiation skills in crucial decision-making that may
affect her life. Having lost out on these critical life opportunities, these
married adolescents can never aspire to living as meaningful and productive
members of society.
Not being able to participate actively
in the community translates to their losing out completely on benefitting from
economic activity and earning a decent income. Many of these girls remain
excluded from community life, having been separated from peers and family
members by marriage. Depression sets in. A life of diminished opportunities.
The community loses out completely; the economy cannot improve where half its
population is stuck in this rut.
Child marriage, from available
statistics, ultimately hampers the efforts of these young adolescents from
acquiring an education, as sooner than later, they find it difficult to combine
the onerous responsibilities of being a wife and mother, with schooling. They
drop out, if they have not been removed for the purpose of marriage, in the
first place. Consequently, 70.8% of young women aged 20-29 in the North West
zone are unable to read or write.
Due to the fact that these girls are deprived
so early of an education (including the access to information and knowledge)
they remain bereft of the purchasing power necessary for an adequate diet,
healthcare,skills, or even recourse to support in emergencies, all of which
would enable them rise above the circumstances of abject poverty.
It is
paradoxical that Muslims like Senator Yerima would rather their wives and
daughters be treated by female medical personnel if they fall ill, and yet they
are, by continuously advocating for child marriage, deliberately closing the
avenues for girls to aspire to such professions.
Deprivations of formal and non-formal
education translate, at such an early age, into restrictions on mobility,
domestic burdens, the denial of sundry freedoms in respect of survival,
development and participation, as well as the loss of adolescent years. Indeed,
children of young, uneducated mothers are also less likely to attain high
levels of education, perpetuating cycles of low literacy and limited livelihood
opportunities.
Child marriage, therefore, ultimately deprives societies of the
intellectual and financial/livelihood contributions of girls, and of their
offspring. It is no wonder then that the North continues to portray such poor
ratings in almost all aspects of human endeavour.
As a consequence, MDGs 1 (relating to
eradicating extreme poverty and hunger), 2 (on education), 4 (on reducing child
mortality), 5 (on maternal health), 6 (on combating diseases) remain
unattainable goals (at least in Northern Nigeria), if we cannot confront the
consequences and implications of child marriage. Evidently, the geography of
poverty requires a coherent and urgent Northern strategy and a solution to the
instability that has bedeviled the region in recent years.
Against this background of grim data,
we can ill afford to play politics with the obvious deficiencies in our human
capital. The North, as an intrinsic part of Nigeria needs to improve on all
fronts, to impact positively on Nigeria’s progress and support its growth.
Since child marriage has all these devastating and diminishing implications,
surely checking the increase in the practice can only trigger and catalyze
positive growth, in so many dimensions.
It is certainly not mandatory in Islam
that girls must be married off as minors, so to keep insisting that this
practice must remain sacrosanct, given the background of needs in Northern
Nigeria, is incongruous, even under the Shari’a. Where a practice is determined
to be merely permissible and not mandatory, it is considered practicable and
entirely feasible within Islamic jurisprudence, to discourage or prohibit it,
where it is found to be so harmful to individuals and to the community.
Countries such as Yemen, Egypt,
Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Somalia and Bangladesh, with majority or high Muslim
populations have set a minimum age for marriage as 18, in the acknowledgment
that there are serious social, physical and mental health risks associated with
child marriages. This progressive step became necessary, in that these
indisputable facts placed a heavy burden on the accountable and God-fearing
leadership in majority Muslim countries, to protect the vulnerable in their
midst.
It is, therefore, not unreasonable to
expect that educated elite and public figures such as Senator Yerima, being
conscious of their grave responsibilities to prohibit harm and to enjoin good
in our own context, should actually discourage this devaluing and belittling
practice of early marriage, in the public good, for the protection of the
vulnerable and the realization of social benefits. To enable our girls attain
their fullest possible potential is definitely a target that Senator Yerima
should also be working passionately towards, along with the rest of Nigerians
who yearn for a better future.
Indeed, the overriding objectives of
the Sharia include the promotion of human dignity, justice, compassion, the
removal of hardship, the prevention of harm, the realization of the lawful
benefits of the people, and the education of the individual by inculcating in
him a sense of self discipline and restraint, which aims are by no means
exclusive.
All else may be adapted to achieve these ends, which measures may
encompass matters of concern not only to law but also to economic development,
administration and politics. For those that reflect, the hardship that these
little girls experience, where married off and divorced soon after, so
wantonly, is certainly unacceptable within the faith.
Although the fundamentals of faith and
the practical pillars on which they stand remain immutable in principle, they
may be interpreted and justified at the level of implementation in the exercise
of public good. This process must of need be carried out solely by persons
learned and eminently qualified to speak on the subject matter in question. We
must always bear in mind that the ‘appropriation’ of divine authority in
religious interpretation is best left to Scholars learned in Islamic legal
philosophy and analytical reasoning.
Having acquired the requisite knowledge
and expertise (including the capacity to weigh the various views in the
particular sphere of learning in the context of our times), these Jurists would
also need to have imbibed, at the barest minimum, the attributes of humility,
compassion, reflection, wisdom, self-restraint, diligence, objectivity, along
with piety. Our learned Scholars must stand up and be heard, rather than remain
silent on matters that so adversely affect us as individuals, as a region, a
Nation and as members of a global community, which challenges paradoxically
controvert the deeper meaning and purpose of the Shari’a.
Back to the issue in contention, it is
important to commend the thinking behind the decision to delete the
constitutional clause that seeks to lumber even an ‘intellectually immature’
girl, where married, with the grave responsibility of the power to renounce her
citizenship, thereby elevating the subject of citizenship to the level whereby
both men and women have similar responsibilities, without discrimination.
It is
hoped that ultimately, members of the Senate would reflect deeply on the
implications of their recent action and revisit their decision to retain the
contentious clause, if only to ensure that every Nigerian citizen of full age,
without distinction, is subjected to similar standards and responsibilities
under the provisions of our Constitution.
Maryam Uwais MFR
Chairperson, Isa Wali
Empowerment Initiative, Kano
20th July 2013
No comments:
Post a Comment