Center, from April 8 till July 29, 2019 held series of interactive orientation sessions for senior students and teachers at religious seminaries highlighting sociological, legal and religious dimensions of child marriage in Pakistan.
Center is presently engaging its network of religious scholars to hold a series of interactive orientation sessions at various seminaries cross Pakistan on the issue of Child Marriage. As part of this effort, Center held the fifth and last of its interactive sessions with students and teachers of religious seminaries on July 29, 2019 at Darul Nisa, Multan. The series of sessions were held in collaboration with various religious seminaries of Punjab, Islamabad Capital Territory and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces as below:
1. Idarah e Minhaj ul Hussain, Lahore
2. Madrassah Darul Huda, Islamabad
3. Madrassah Taleem ul Quran, Peshawar
4. Jamia Naeemia, Lahore
5. Darul Nisa, Multan
Nearly 235 senior students and teachers (male & female) participated in the interactive orientation sessions. The sessions highlighted the issue of child marriage from sociological, legal and religious perspectives. Almost 235 students of Madrassah’s attended these sessions as per the following schedule:
| Venue | City/Province | Date of Session | No of Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Idarah e Minhaj ul Hussain | Lahore, Punjab | 8th April, 2019 | 60 (males & females) |
| Madrassah Darul Huda | Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory | 25th June, 2019 | 50 (male) |
| Madrassah Taleem ul Quran | Pakha Ghulam, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | 6th July, 2019 | 50 (males) |
| Jamia Naeemia | Lahore, Punjab | 28th July, 2019 | 35 (males) |
| Darul Nisa | Multan, Punjab | 29th July, 2019 | 40 (females) |
Ms. Shagufta Bhatti, Program Director & Mr. Tahir Abbas, Advocacy Specialist represented Center. They shared the sociological and legal dimensions of child marriage in Pakistan. From the Religious perspective, Dr. Raghib Naeemi of the Darul Uloom Jamia Naeemia, Lahore shared his insights on the subject at Lahore & Multan, Allama Hassan Raza Baqir from Idarah e Minjaj ul Hussain at Lahore and Maulana Muhammad Sharif Hazarvi, from Madrassah Darusalam, Islamabad shared his thoughts at Peshawar and Islamabad.
In addition to sociological and legal perspectives, the discourse allowed students and teachers to have intense discussion on the subject to understand the impacts of child marriage in Pakistan. Questions specifically around age were widely asked to gain clarity on the issue. This included among others, consent in marriage, poverty aspects and the lack of options available to parents against the option of marrying your child at a young age, especially in the light of rights and obligations of duty bearers. Other topics like the concept of a family unit in Islam, the roles and responsibilities of both husband and wife towards each other and children, understanding of Sunnah [sayings and practices of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)] were also explored. The series of sessions provided an opportunity for both students and their teachers to generate a healthy discussion around the issue while creating a supportive narrative as well.
This initiative is part of project ‘Promoting Legislation, Prompting Action to End Child Marriage in Pakistan. The Project is in its second phase and funded under a grant program named AmplifyChange. More details on this initiative are provided on this link