Meet Nada Al-Ahdal

Nada Al-Ahdal is a young Yemeni girl who ran away from home in 2013, at the age of 11.  Here is a video of Nada, filmed by one of her friends in July 2013, and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), where Nada explains that she ran away from home to escape a forced marriage —

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la2qfiV1sZ4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iah2f-f6PzA

Supposedly there is some controversy regarding the truth of Nada's accusations against her parents, and their intent to sell her into a forced marriage — something they had reportedly done previously with Nada's older sister —
     https://archive.is/X6tCe
     https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/reportsfeatures/a-narrow-escape

Nada had an 18 year-old sister who had been engaged many times. Her parents accepted each new proposal and took a partial downpayment for a bride price. They would then postpone the marriage until the groom had enough money, eventually ending each engagement, not returning the money. The same story would start all over again with another suitor, and so it was that she had had nine fiancés.

Here is a quote from the Arab magazine 'The Majalla' that describes Nada as having been manipulated by her uncle as part of a publicity stunt.  Note that this article was written by a woman named Catherine Shakdam, and is entitled 'A Deception Comes Undone', even though Shakdam only offers vague hearsay as proof that Nada lied —
     https://archive.is/fI7Di
     http://www.majalla.com/eng/2013/07/article55243853

Most disturbingly yet, Seyaj says its investigations indicate that Nada had been coerced by her uncle into making the video as part of a scam to turn the young school girl into Yemen’s new Nujood, gain fame and make a profit. Nujood was a young girl who rose to fame in 2008 when, at the age of 8, she bravely refused to tolerate abuse from her husband and asked a judge to grant her a divorce.

Here is a polite article from CNN that includes the questions regarding the validity of Nada's accusations, and describes child marriage in Yemen with the euphemism: 'extremely complicated', rather than the more truthful:  'a human rights violation' —
    https://archive.is/HkeAE
    http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/30/world/yemen-child-marriage/

In deeply tribal Yemen, the issue of child marriage is extremely complicated.

Here is a video from the CNN article above, which includes Nada meeting with her family and Ramzia Al-Eryani, formerly one of Yemen's leading women's rights activists, and president of the Yemen Women's Union (Al-Eryani passed away in November 2013 - https://archive.is/u5zTz).  Notice the intensity of Nada's impromptu responses in this video —

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQszkZVNeFA
https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2013/07/31/dnt-jamjoom-nada-story-yemen.cnn

I believe Nada's accusations against her parents — not because I think there is no possibility that she could be lying, or because I think it would be difficult for an 11 year old girl to fake the reaction in the video above as part of some kind of ongoing publicity stunt, at the request of her uncle — but because there is nothing surprising about her claims.  Young girls are forced into marriage all the time as part of Islamic tradition, so there is no good reason not to believe Nada.

It would be more surprising if Nada's claims were false.

In the video below, Nada Al-Ahdal appears on Lebanese TV in September 2013, in a segment translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), with an Egyptian cleric, Sheik Abu Yahya.  Sheik Abu Yahya states without hesitation that a female child can be married as soon as she is born, as long as her husband doesn't have sex with her until 'the woman is ready to bear it' — which he couldn't define, other than to say: 'this varies from girl to girl.' —
    https://www.memri.org/tv/yemeni-child-nada-who-fled-forced-marriage-and-egyptian-cleric-debate-child-marriage/transcript

Egyptian cleric Sheik Abu Yahya: There is a difference between contractual marriage and consummated marriage.  A contractual marriage can take place from day one.  From the moment the baby girl is born, takes her first breaths, and is given a name, her guardian, who is her father only – and there is consensus about this in the Muslim world – is allowed to marry her off.  This is an accepted custom, and perhaps even my grandparents and your grandparents married this way. The boy is kept for the girl, and vice versa.  This marriage – a contractual marriage or engagement – is permitted [at this age].  As for consummation of the marriage – it is not permitted until the woman is ready to bear it.  A guardian who acts otherwise is harming the girl under his charge.

The cleric's statements begin at 2:54 in this clip — notice that he is completely comfortable discussing young girls in the same way that a sane person would discuss breeding farm animals —

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YftJ9g5Lb8g
https://www.memri.org/tv/yemeni-child-nada-who-fled-forced-marriage-and-egyptian-cleric-debate-child-marriage

If you are familiar with the Quran, you aren't surprised by Muslims speaking this way, since the Quran clearly states that men are in charge of women in Chapter 4, Verse 34 (http://legacy.quran.com/4/34).

For further demonstration of that Muslim belief, consider the infamous case of Nujood Ali, another Yemeni girl who was forced into a marriage — at 8 years old.

Here is a 'Journeyman Pictures' documentary telling Nujood's story.  It is chilling to hear Nujood matter-of-factly describe how her husband raped her, while his mother helped hold her down --

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https://www.journeyman.tv/film/5951

"He sexually assaulted me on the wedding night.  His mother was holding me," remembers Nujood.  Traumatised, she sought refuge from her relatives but was turned away for fear of shaming the family.  With no one to rely on but herself, she took a taxi to court where a judge, outraged by her story, granted her a divorce.  But Nujood was lucky in a country which does not recognise marital rape as a crime and has no minimum marriage age.  A reform to introduce it was blocked last year by Yemen's Muslim Brotherhood.  "Islam doesn't specify an age for marriage.  Why make a problem out of nothing?" asks one member of Yemen's parliament.  Nujood is set on fighting child marriage in Yemen when she grows up; but with an estimated half of all brides aged below 18 and many families hoping to alleviate poverty with dowries, she faces a bitter struggle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmP66xGpjGo

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And of course, Yemen's Muslim Brotherhood opposes any restriction on the practice of forced child marriages.

Here is Nujood quoted in August 2009, describing her disappointment at receiving no help after her ordeal attracted so much media attention — including her being chosen as one of 'Glamour' magazine's 2008 women of the year —
     https://archive.is/IiqkU
     http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/08/26/yemen.divorce/

"There is no change at all since going on television. I hoped there was someone to help us, but we didn't find anyone to help us. It hasn't changed a thing. They said they were going to help me and no one has helped me. I wish I had never spoken to the media."

This is the book Nujood co-wrote in 2010 to tell her story (ghostwritten by Delphine Minoui) — her share of the royalties were supposed to help pay for her schooling, and her ambition to become a lawyer —
     http://www.amazon.com/Am-Nujood-Age-10-Divorced/dp/0307589676

It is not surprising that Nujood's father may have spent the money he was receiving for her from her book sales on himself, since he had already demonstrated that he viewed Nujood as an unwanted burden —
     https://archive.is/6tBEw
     http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/12/child-bride-father-cash-spend

If you are inclined to believe that such things only happen in less developed countries like Yemen, you would be wrong.  Here is a story from the Australian news program 'Four Corners', profiling four women from Australia and their experiences with forced marriage —
     https://archive.is/XW0oA
     http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2012/03/29/3466537.htm
     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEh6V5XAjZg
     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkKmaxKONdw

No mention of Islam is made in that program, but it is no surprise that the women profiled all have parents from Islamic countries.