Prime Minister's Special Representative for Interfaith Harmony and Middle East, Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi Wednesday said that there was no concept of forced marriage or conversion of religion in Islam. He was addressing "National Dialogue with Religious Scholars" organised by UN Women in collaboration with UNFPA and UK Aid here for deliberating on negative effects of child marriage and devising a way forward to address the issue through effective awareness raising and advocacy. Council of Islamic Ideology's Chairman Doctor Qibla Ayaz and other members of the council, representative of UN Women, UNFPA, UK Aid, and international and national organisations and health experts among others attended the dialogue.

Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi terming child marriages as an important social issue said that well-being of girls should be given priority as only a healthy mother could give birth to a healthy child. He said that associating child and forced marriages with Islam was totally erroneous and baseless notion as it was the religion of peace and it had
granted a respectable status to the women. Hafiz Ashrafi referring to Ahadis Mubarka said that being mature physically and mentally was specified as prerequisite for entering into matrimonial bond. Last Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) had sought consent of Bibi Fatima before her marriage with Hazrat Ali and set an everlasting guiding example for the entire Muslim Ummah, he added.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP