So, today I approach my post in a serious tone. Jokes, funny comments, and sarcasm aside. This is something I feel very strongly about. I have been a feminist and a human rights advocate as long as I can remember. And sometimes, my faith in humanity just drops miles down.
I will let you know that this isn't exactly current news; it is more than a month old. However, now that I have a blog that I regularly write in, I couldn't NOT mention this.
Over a month ago, sometime in April, I was sitting in my Anatomy class. I (for reasons I cannot recall) decided to open the Atlanta Journal-Constitution website. There I spotted an article about a 13-year-old Yemeni child bride's death. I'm sure such a catchy title would have gotten anyone's attention, and me being the strong feminist that I am, it really hit home. I can say this honestly: no news article (that I can recall) has ever affected my this strongly. I cried while reading it, and I could not stop thinking about that poor little girl. I didn't even know what she looked like but the days that followed had me in such a down mood. I would start crying for no reason. Even today, it is really hard for me to write this article without crying and find the write words.
I'm sure all of you are wanting to know the story of the girl, if you haven't already heard it. A couple of months ago, a 13-year-old Yemeni girl called Elham Mahdi Shoi was married off to a 23-year-old man, Abed al-Hikmi. Her Al Hikmi and Elham's brother had an agreement to marry each other's sisters to avoid having to pay the expensive bride-price.
Although I cannot find the article that I read on the AJC website anymore, I still remember the gory details I read. The girl's family had asked Al-Hikmi to not consummate the marriage until she was a little older. However, he was getting frustrated and wanted to prove his "manhood" by consummating the marriage. Elham's family tried to convince her to let him consummate the marriage. A few days after the marriage, Al-Hikmi proceeded to rape Elham, beating her when she resisted. In doing so, he tore her vaginal canal.
Following this, he took Elham to a clinic and asked for them to give her tranquilizers so she wouldn't resist him, but allegedly, they refused. He continued to tie her up and sexually and physically abuse her. Later, he took her back to the clinic because she was unable to stand or walk and was continually bleeding. Dr. Fathiya Haider asked Al-Hikmi to stay away from Elham for at least 10-days as her vaginal cavity was ruptured. However, autopsy reports indicate that he did not follow these directions.
A few days later, Elham died of excessive vaginal bleeding in her mother's arms. Her mother, Nijma Ahmed, commented that before dying, Elham told her that Al-Hikmi had brutally raped and beaten her. She further commented that Elham looked as if she had been butchered.
The last I read of Abed Al-Hikmi was that he was in police custody. I could not find any thing more about what they were going to do with him. In my opinion, he needs to be tortured, raped, and electrocuted. Then he needs to be left stranded in a dessert without any food or water. But then again, that's just my opinion and probably will not be upheld by the courts of law.
According to several news articles, this practice of marrying young girls to older men is common in Yemen. International Human Rights groups have tried to get a law passed about increasing the age at which girls can be married to 17; however, local authorities say this is un-Islamic and have long opposed it.
Being a Muslim girl myself, I don't think that act would be un-Islamic at all. These twisted, sick people completely mold the rules of our religion to what suits there wants. Why don't they read about the part of Islam that says that rape and beating up is haram (disallowed)? Isn't it also in the Quran that a marriage without the actual consent and liking of both of the people involved is considered void. There is accounts of Prophet Mohammad himself rendering a marriage void after a woman told him that she did not want to marry her husband and did not like him. Then, how do these people commit such acts of human rights violation behind the banner of Islam?
Islam is nothing like these people portray it! It is a peaceful religion. And it is because of these twisted, illiterate people that Islam is viewed the way it is by others. So, the next time one of these official says that such a law would be "un-Islamic" I would love for someone to throw in their face that most of the things that are going on under their rule now are HIGHLY un-Islamic as well. They cannot give the name of Islam to something that they want to do.
The story, when the incident first happened, was all over a lot of news websites. But now, that it has been a while, the hype has died down. I'm so disappointed to see that I don't see anyone pursuing the conviction of Abed Al-Hikmi. There is no news about what is being done with him. Have the people just forgotten about the poor, young Elham? Have the Yemeni officials just let it go? If so, that is truly sad. This is one of those things that makes me immensely disappointed in humanity.
It is my hope that this article would prod people to raise their voice. Because I, personally, would love to know what is going to be done with Al-Hikmi now. So, what is your view on this? And please, no bashing the religion. It is not Islam's fault that these uneducated people abuse it's name and twist it's words around to their liking.
Love,
Amna.
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This is pretty horrible, but there was a National Geographic article about child bride only 6 when she started living wither her husband, "a wife in every sense of the word." She said she hated him and used to hide. Didn't stop the brutal rapist. They were still married two years later at the time of the NG article. Poor kid--two years of constant abuse. Would somebody please arrest these "husbands" and throw them away forever.
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