MorningStarNews.org reports: “Pakistan’s top Islamic body on Tuesday (May 27) rejected a bill that seeks to criminalize child marriages in Islamabad, describing it as ‘un-Islamic.’

The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) also declared a similar bill presented by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provincial government to be in conflict with sharia (Islamic law). The announcements were made in a statement issued after a meeting of the CII chaired by Dr. Raghib Hussain Naeemi in Islamabad, the federal capital, on Tuesday (May 27).

The CII discussed the anti-child marriage bill passed by the National Assembly on May 16 and by the Senate on May 19. The bill defines a child as anyone under 18 years of age of either sex, and also states that no Nikah (Islamic marriage) registrar (officiant) is allowed to solemnize a marriage if either of the individuals is under 18…”