In the program Al-Sharia wa Al-Hayat on Al Jazeera, aired on Sunday, 4 April 2010, Dr. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi responded to a question about the debate in Yemen over setting a minimum marriage age for girls.
He said that Islamic legislation was designed to realize people’s welfare in this life and the hereafter, and that legal rulings may change according to changing circumstances and greater harm. He referred to the principle that permissible matters can be restricted when there is a genuine public interest, just as Caliph Umar ibn Al-Khattab restricted marriage to women from among the People of the Book in a different context.
He added that educating girls is an important matter and therefore some tribal communities could consider reducing the proposed age from eighteen to sixteen in a way that still allows girls to continue their education, describing the issue as one open to ijtihad and public-interest reasoning.
