Saman disappeared, Ucoii: fatwa against arranged marriages

The UCOII will issue a fatwa against arranged marriages and against ‘the equally tribal custom of infibulation’. It can be read on the Ucoii online site. “The case of the young Saman Abbas, a Pakistani girl who disappeared in the Reggio area, in Novellara, where her family resides, and after having reported her parents because they wanted to impose an arranged marriage on her, – we read – has embittered and worried us from the beginning” . “The UCOII strongly rejects this type of conception of the female condition and of people’s lives in general: these are behaviors that cannot find any religious justification, therefore absolutely to be condemned, and even more so to be prevented – underlines the UCOii – In this regard, and to strengthen awareness and increase prevention, UCOII will issue, in concert with the Islamic Association of Imams and Religious Guides, a fatwa against forced arranged marriages and the equally tribal custom of female infibulation. “. “The president of UCOII, Yassine Lafram, immediately followed the first agency launches to know and update himself on what happens to our sister Saman – continues the note – Fortunately these are episodes that do not have, as far as we know, a ‘extension and an important frequency but we know that within some ethnic communities situations and behaviors that harm people’s rights still persist. At the same time we reject any political speculation of this sad story which aims to tarnish the entire Italian Islamic community “. “We pray for Saman Abbas to return safe and sound and we make an appeal to his family: we do not build hatred but love starting from respect for life”, concludes the UCOII. “The news of the issue of a fatwa by the UCOII against arranged marriages is nothing short of shocking – says Souad Sbai, former PDL parliamentarian and president of the Averroè Study Center – In 2021, in Italy, the cradle of civilization and d right, such an act is inadmissible. Therefore, the attempt to subtly impose a practice that is completely foreign and contrary to the legal system must be strongly rejected. The terrible story of Saman Abbas, the Pakistani girl who disappeared after having rebelled against the arranged marriage imposed by her family, must not represent the occasion for UCOII to bring to the West the rules of a model of life that does not belong to us “.” Ai promoters of the fatwa – he continues – we reply instead that the phenomenon of forced marriages must be faced with other methods, such as those of integration, civil coexistence, respect for the law. A democratic country cannot accept that within it there are free zones or communities that are self-determined on the basis of rules contrary to the Constitution and a secular vision of the state. The institutions, politics, movements and associations should intervene to say ‘no’ to the UCOII fatwa, so that it does not become a dangerous and unacceptable precedent for Italy ”.