Morocco's top body of Islamic scholars condemned on Sunday a Muslim theologian for issuing a religious decree that girls as young as nine years old can marry. Why not? Moh used to like 'em before they were weaned.
Morocco's High Council of Ulemas "denounces the utilisation of religion to legitimise the marriage of nine-year-old girls", it said in a statement. Sheikh Muhammad Ben Abderrahman Al Maghraoui said earlier this month that Islam allowed the marriage of nine-year-old girls. Sheikh Maghraoui derided criticism of his claims as "part of a secular attack against the Islamic nation and its theologians". The High Council of Ulemas, which is presided over by Morocco King Muhammed VI, called Sheikh an 'agitator and mystificator'. A Rabat-based lawyer, Mourad Bekkouri, has filed a complaint against Sheikh Maghraoui and his fatwa, which he said damages children's human rights, and the family and criminal code by increasing the risk of rape.