Abderrahim El Ouali the Moroccan social writer on political and environmental issues has published an article on IPS News stating that Morocco is still divided over marriage of minors. In the article, El Ouali states “The widespread practice of marrying minors continues to be one of the most incendiary legal and political issues in Morocco today, causing open confrontations between hard-line Islamists and moderates throughout the country. …30,000 minor girls are married every year – roughly 10 percent of the 300,000 marriages recorded… A campaign to gather one million signatures to forbid the marriage of minors is already in progress, sparked by the death of Amina Filali, a 15-year-old girl who committed suicide after being forced to marry her rapist. …Sheik Mohamed El Maghrawi, a well-known Moroccan Muslim scholar, published a Fatwa reiterating families’ right to marry off their daughters over the age of nine. His position provoked a major scandal but the scholar suffered no consequences. …El Maghrawi even expressed his attachment to his position, “based on the Quran and the words of the Prophet ” according to him. However, opposition to this particular reading of Sharia’a law has become widespread. “All the laws that go against the dignity of women must be amended or even abolished “, said the president of the Chamber of Councilors in Moroccan parliament.”

 

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