I saw this on several sites yesterday. And I was thinking about it today. I was thinking of how horrible things are happening every day in our world. And I was thinking of the bravery evidenced by this young girl, speaking out against evil, wrong-doing, about her parents selling her, an eleven year old girl, to an adult male, not known to her.
Listen to this girl. Listen and think.
I hear my government wants to support rebellion in Syria. Why, I wonder, when so many of those rebels seem to be fundamentalists who believe it its right that a child like this be sold into marriage.
Shame on them.
Nada Al-Ahdal: Salaam
Alaikum. Allah’s mercy and blessings upon you. Hello to you all. I’d
like to thank Mukhtar Al-Sharafi and Amal. I’d like to thank all the
journalist and you as well. It’s true that I ran away from my family. I
can’t live with them anymore. Enough. I want to go live with my uncle.
What about the innocence of childhood? What have the children done
wrong? Why do you marry them off like that?
I managed to solve my problem, but some
innocent children can’t solve theirs, and they might die, commit
suicide, or do whatever comes to mind. They’re just kids. What do they
know? They didn’t have time to study, or anything. It’s not our fault.
I’m not the only one. It can happen to any child. There are many cases
like that. Some children decide to throw themselves into the sea.
They’re dead now. This is not normal for innocent children.
It’s true that I fled to my uncle, but
he wasn’t home. So I called Abd Al-Jabbar to come and get me. Abd
Al-Jabbar sent me a woman to travel with her back to Al-Hudaydah. When
my uncle heard about it all, he came for me. I filed a complaint with
the police against my mother. I told them that I am only 11 years old
and she wants to marry me off.
I would have had no life, no education. Don’t they have any compassion? What kind of upbringing did they get?
[...]
I’m better off dead. I’d rather die. I’d
rather live with my uncle than with these people. They threatened to
kill me if I went to my uncle. What kind of people threaten their
children like that? Would it make you happy to marry me off against my
will? Go ahead and marry me off. I’ll kill myself, just like that. I
won’t go back to live with them. I won’t.
They have killed our dreams. They have
killed everything inside us. There’s nothing left. This is no
upbringing. This is criminal, simply criminal.
[...]
My maternal aunt was 14 years old. She
lasted one year with her husband, and she poured gasoline over herself
and set herself on fire. She died. He would beat her with metal
[chains]. He would get drunk. Would it make you happy to marry me off?!
[...]
My mother, my family, believe me when I say: I’m done with you. You’ve ruined my dreams.
The Yemen Post says the girl is a fantasist, and her parents did not have any plan to sell her in marriage. Her uncle says this is the second time her mother took money from a suitor living in another country, in return for betrothal to Nada, her uncle says the first time she was ten years and three months old.
That's okay, according to Islam, the prophet married a six year-old and was considerate enough to wait until she was nine years old to consummate the marriage. And if he did it, well that means it's okay.
