Bill on underage marriages challenged in FSC

A citizen has filed a petition in the Federal Shariat Court challenging the recently enacted Child Marriage Restraint Bill 2025, which prohibited the marriage of girls under the age of 18.

The petitioner, Shehzada Adnan, is being represented by Advocate Mudassar Chaudhry. The Ministry of Interior and its secretary have been named as respondents in the case. The petitioner argued that the law contradicts Islamic teachings and was passed in violation of the Holy Quran, Sunnah, and Hadith. The petition includes multiple references to Quranic verses and claims that Islamic jurisprudence does not set a fixed age for marriage, but instead considers physical and mental maturity.

The petition also strongly objects to the punishments listed in the law. It claims that the provision for imprisonment with hard labor is both unconstitutional and un-Islamic. According to the petitioner, such punishments are harsh and unnecessary for an act that is not forbidden in Islam. Furthermore, the petition claims that the law interferes with the religious rights of citizens and goes beyond the authority of the state. The petitioner stated that criminalizing marriages under 18 without considering religious context violates basic freedoms.

The petition requests the Federal Shariat Court to declare the bill null and void. It also seeks a restraining order to prevent law enforcement from registering any cases under this new legislation until a final decision is made. The case is expected to raise important legal and religious debates about the balance between civil law and Islamic principles in Pakistan.