ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Wednesday ruled that Muslim men are permitted to marry women from the ahl-e-kitab (People of the Book), including Christians and Jews.
The judgment, authored by Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi, came in a case involving Maria Bibi, a resident of Lahore, whose conversion to Islam and subsequent marriage to a Muslim man named Shehryar were declared valid.
The court noted that Maria had embraced Islam prior to the nikah and that her formal declaration of conversion was available on record.
Explaining the legal framework, the court also clarified about underage marriages, stating that the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 does not explicitly render such marriages void or voidable; instead, it prescribes punishments, including fines and imprisonment, for those facilitating or contracting child marriages.
The judgment, therefore, noted that a marriage involving minors cannot be considered void solely on the basis of age. The law criminalises marriages only for penal consequences and does not invalidate the marriage itself, the verdict added.
The verdict also stated that the Federal Constitutional Court is the final forum for constitutional interpretation, and all courts, including the Supreme Court of Pakistan, are bound by its decisions.
The court added that it is not obligated to follow Supreme Court rulings if they are found to be inconsistent with the Constitution or statutory law.
Case background
As per details, Maria Bibi had converted to Islam and married of her own free will.
Her father had initially registered a kidnapping case, which was later dismissed. Maria told the court that she had not been abducted and had entered into the marriage voluntarily.
Her father subsequently filed habeas corpus petitions based on her age, which were dismissed by various courts, including the federal constitutional court.
