Harm and Consent in the Socio-Legal Perspectives on Child Marriage in Iran

Child marriage is a social problem worldwide and is not only traceable in Muslim contexts. Islamic rulings do, however, play a significant role in defining and sanctifying legitimate forms of marriage in Muslim-majority countries. In Iran, since 1979, specific interpretations of Twelver Shi’i Islam have been partially encoded into the state law, and institutionalized religion has been an important factor affecting the legal and socio-political discourses on child marriage. In this study, I aim to explore the effects of Shi’i juristic rulings on child marriage as a harmful gendered practice. I investigate the definition of childhood as a gendered notion, as well as the meaning of consent in Shi’i Islamic rulings on marriage in both religious and legal discourses in Iran. I then examine the notion of consent as an argument for considering child marriage a form of harmful gendered practice. I conclude with a discussion on the social and legal role of the contemporary juristic Shi’i perspectives – in their heterogeneity – in both sanctioning and problematizing child marriage.