Controversy has intensified after senior JUI-F leader Hamdullah suggested arranging mass weddings of minors to challenge laws raising the legal marriage age to 18, recently enacted in Islamabad. The issue further escalated when Hafiz Hamdullah reportedly threatened to marry a 16-year-old girl to openly defy the new legislation.
JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman also drew criticism after vowing to arrange marriages for girls as young as 10, arguing that Sharia should take precedence over state laws. His remarks triggered strong reactions from lawmakers, rights activists, and civil society groups.
Critics warned that such statements undermine child protection efforts and promote harmful practices. Citing UNICEF data, they highlighted serious risks linked to child marriage, including higher maternal mortality, disrupted education, and increased vulnerability to abuse.
Rights groups stressed that the new laws aim to protect children’s health and future, urging political leaders to respect the law and prioritise child welfare over political confrontation.
Also Read, “Khawarij talk of Islam but are criminals”: Maulana Fazal ur Rehman
On Wednesday, the JUI-F Chief, Maulana Fazal ur Rehman, strongly reacting to the martyrdom of a religious scholar in South Waziristan at the hands of Khawarij militants, said that there are some organisations that openly say that democracy has nothing to do with Islam. He further added that they have nothing to do with Islam and are actually against it.
He said that these Khawarij militants do not know what they are talking about; they are misled and are misleading more people. Every Muslim knows that killing another muslim is one of the gravest sins in Islam; the people who do not even understand that have nothing to do with Islam.
He further asked how these people who have nothing to do with Islam call Ulema infidels. He said that Religious scholars are being killed all over the country by these Khawarij, and they have no place in Islam. He told his listeners that in just this year, which is in its beginning phase, three religious scholars have been eliminated.
