How Do We Determine Marriageable Age and Is a Young Girls’ Consent Required for Marriage?

Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad

Question

What is the way to determine a marriageable age? Is it the attainment of puberty? Or is it the attainment of physical and mental maturity? I have read that girls who have not attained puberty can be married off to someone whom their father finds compatible, even if she objects and refuses. Is this true? Is consent of the girl, no matter the age, a prerequisite or not?

Answer

Thank you for your question.

Marriageable Age

A marriage may only be consummated when a girl can bear intercourse, but she may have her marital contract (nikah) before that. Our mother, ‘Aisha’s marriage to the Prophet, (Allah bless him and give him peace), was an example of this.

Marrying Off One’s Pre-Pubescent Daughter

Please see the full details to answer your question at the links below:
Marriage With a Minor
Can Father Arrange Prepubescent Daughter’s Marriage without Consent?
Why Do People Encourage the Marriage of Young People When They Are Not Mature Enough?

May Allah give you the best of this world and the next.
[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria for two years where she studied aqida, fiqh, tajweed, tafsir, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she completed her Masters in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan where she studied fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She later moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.