She’s 12. Her groom is 40. Her childhood ends not with time, but with a transaction. But across Pakistan, too many girls are pulled from classrooms and thrust into lives they didn’t choose. Their childhoods bartered away beneath wedding garlands. In flood-struck villages, on cracked farmland, and behind quiet doors, these stories unfold daily, unseen, unspoken, and unchecked. Now, with the signing of the Child Marriage Restraint Bill 2025, the tide may finally be turning.
By now, you’ve probably seen the news: President Asif Ali Zardari has officially signed the Child Marriage Restraint Bill 2025 into law, setting the minimum age for marriage at 18 years in the Islamabad Capital Territory. The law is a huge step forward for a country where nearly 19 million women were married off as children.
Let’s pause on that number for a second. One in six young girls in Pakistan is married in childhood.
Nowhere is this crisis more visible and more tragic than in the haunting example of “monsoon brides”. In flood-affected districts like Dadu in Sindh, particularly in villages like Khan Mohammad Malah, climate disasters have created a cruel new pipeline to child marriage. Since the last monsoon season, at least 45 underage girls have been married off in this single village some as recently as June 2024. These aren’t unions of love or companionship. They are survival strategies, driven by poverty and desperation. Girls, some as young as 10 are exchanged for bride prices ranging from Rs150,000 to Rs250,000 and married to older men, often without understanding what’s happening or having any say in the matter.
Of course, many will argue and some already have that such a law goes against Islamic teachings. But let’s pause for a moment. Since when did Islam become synonymous with denying consent? Ignoring a child’s readiness emotionally, physically, psychologically to be a wife, and often a mother, before she’s even learned how to navigate the world on her own?
The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) rejected this bill as “un-Islamic.” The backlash was predictable: questions about whether such laws are “un-Islamic” or against our cultural values.
Here’s where it helps to look back. In 2019, the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) addressed this very issue. The court dismissed a petition challenging sections of the Child Marriage Restraint Act, clearly stating that setting a minimum age for marriage is not un-Islamic. In fact, the FSC ruling explicitly connected the legal age limit to Islam’s emphasis on education, intellect, and well-being — all of which are fundamental to ensuring a healthy marriage.
The court referred to a well-known Hadith: “The acquisition of knowledge is mandatory upon every Muslim.” It went on to explain that education isn’t just valuable it’s essential. Without it, girls are deprived of the mental, emotional, and intellectual readiness that a lifelong commitment like marriage demands. The judgment also highlighted concepts such as Hifz-ul-Aql (protection of intellect) and Hifz-un-Nasal (protection of lineage) both foundational principles in Islamic jurisprudence as reasons why early marriage could be harmful and counterproductive to a girl’s development.
It’s also important to recognise that Islam does not prescribe a specific “age” for marriage, and there is no scholarly consensus on what that age should be. This makes it even more critical for courts, lawmakers, and religious scholars to engage in open, informed debate, one that acknowledges changing social conditions while remaining grounded in Islamic ethics. If anything, this is an opportunity for Islamic scholarship to guide contemporary policy, not obstruct it.
Once married, girls are almost always pulled out of school. Their books are replaced with housework, homework with motherhood. According to UNICEF, girls married before 18 are far less likely to complete even primary education. Without education, their ability to earn a living, participate in society, or escape abuse is severely limited. A girl who might have become a doctor, teacher, or engineer instead becomes locked in a life of domestic labor, often controlled by the people who are supposed to shelter her.
It also destroys health. Early pregnancy is one of the deadliest outcomes of child marriage. Girls who give birth before their bodies are ready face serious complications; prolonged labor, obstetric fistula, and even death. Pakistan has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in South Asia, and child marriage is a major contributor. For the babies born to these young mothers, the risks are just as high: premature birth, low birth weight, and a greater chance of dying before their fifth birthday.
Psychologically, the trauma runs deep. Girls married young are often subjected to sexual violence, emotional abuse, and isolation. They’re pulled from familiar surroundings and placed into households where they’re expected to behave like adult wives and mothers but they’re still children. Many suffer from depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress, with no access to mental health support.
So the Child Marriage Restraint Act is not an attempt to undermine religion. It’s an attempt to align policy with the basic rights and protections that any child deserves regardless of faith. It’s also about living up to our international commitments on child protection and gender equality, which Pakistan has signed on to.
That said, this law alone won’t solve the problem. It’s a good starting point, but enforcement will be key — especially in rural areas where child marriage is most common. One way to strengthen implementation is by requiring Child CNICsand making it mandatory to verify age before any marriage is registered or officiated. Without a proper identification system, enforcement becomes incredibly difficult.
At the same time, awareness matters just as much as legal change. People need to understand why child marriage is being discouraged not just that it’s now a crime. This means targeted campaigns in villages and small towns, engaging religious leaders, teachers, and community elders. Real change happens when people begin to see that delaying marriage actually gives girls a better chance at education, at health, at contributing to their communities.
It’s time we stop pitting women’s rights against religion especially when they are not in conflict. This law isn’t anti-Islam. It’s anti-injustice. It doesn’t aim to “modernize” our beliefs or strip away cultural identity, it simply seeks to protect children from a system that has failed them far too often.
