Pakistan Islamic Council Rejects Under-18 Marriage Ban Bill

The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) has unanimously rejected the Child Marriage Restraint Bill 2025, which sought to prohibit marriages under the age of 18, declaring that setting a fixed legal age for marriage contradicts Islamic teachings. Chaired by Dr. Raghib Hussain Naeemi, the Council emphasized that marriage should be evaluated based on physical and mental maturity within social, cultural, and religious contexts rather than a fixed age limit. While the CII supports discouraging child marriages through awareness and education, it opposes criminalizing underage marriage or imposing legal penalties, viewing such measures as inconsistent with Islamic principles. The Council also rejected mandatory thalassemia testing before marriage, recommending voluntary tests coupled with public awareness campaigns instead. Additionally, the CII condemned the practice of demanding dowry from either side as un-Islamic and advocated for women's rights to maintain their original domicile after marriage and for amendments to inheritance laws to protect women's legal interests. The Council is expected to issue formal recommendations after further deliberations, maintaining that no legislation on marriage laws should be passed without full religious consideration.