-Forced Arranged Muslim Marriages In America?
by Dr. D ~ March 21st, 2011
Arranged marriages are a tradition in Muslim cultures. Now some girls in America are being forced into arranged marriages by their families? I have no doubt that many Muslim families in America are continuing the arranged marriage tradition in some form or another. But what if the young woman doesn’t want to comply? What if she wants to find her own husband –someone she is actually knows and is in love with?
Here is an article about one young American teenager, Jessie Bender, a 13-year-old southern California girl, who ran away from home rather than be sent by her family to Pakistan to get married to someone she never met. Also in this case the family was going to receive $3,000 for her!
Meanwhile her mother claimed that Jessie had been abducted by a Facebook predator and pleaded with police and even on TV that her daughter be brought back.
This is not the only incident of this kind in the USA. One family in Texas apparently murdered their two daughters in an ‘honor’ killing for refusing arranged marriages.
Response: Usually when I refer to ‘traditional marriage’ its about traditional Christian marriage between one man and one woman. This story is about traditional Muslim marriages which are usually arranged by the families.
I am not against traditional Muslim arranged marriages if both parties are in total agreement. It is the ‘forced’ or coercive kind that have no lawful place in America. Particularly offensive is the idea of sending a 13 year old out of the country against her will to be married for a fee to boot.
