“Our family’s honour is at stake. You have to marry this person, otherwise it will bring shame upon us all.”
Forced marriage is a marriage conducted when families find and choose a spouse BUT the person DOES NOT CONSENT, or consent is obtained under duress.
Forced marriage is haram and completely forbidden in Islam but It still exists. The UK Governments Forced marriage Unit deals with on average 1,359 cases a year. According to Muslim Women’s Network: “Around 85% of these cases reported to the Forced Marriage Unit involve women and 15% involve men. More men are also coming forward and seeking help.”
Why are women more than men being forced into marriage? This is not what our Islam teaches us.
Religion must take priority over culture and forced marriage is against Islam:
“O believers! It is not permissible for you to inherit women against their will or mistreat them…
(Quran 4:19)
For Muslim marriages to be valid and free, Informed consent must be given from both single Muslim bride and groom as part of the Nikkah, which includes no emotional pressure from families or cultural pressures.
World famous scholar, Mufti Menk has stressed the importance of parents having power over their children in the right way.
He says “forced marriage are haram. It is prohibited to force your daughter or son to marry someone. You cannot force, you can suggest. They have the right to say I don’t want.
They are entitled to say, I don’t want to marry someone, and parents have to surrender because their children belong to Allah (swt) before they came to them. No forcing. “
For SingleMuslim.com, we represent a unique form of courtship, where women and men are respected and protected. The App is a safe place for Muslims to search securely with the boundaries of no physical courtship.
We take pride in being the world’s leading Muslim marriage app that helps serious Muslims look for marriage.
Parties involved, including parents can feel comfortable that their children are engaging and using our safe Muslim APP, with the intention of Nikkah.
We also allow parents, friends or siblings to search on their behalf which adds that extra peace of mind, so search is conducted mutually.