A detailed and honest look from the perspective of classical Islam. Dawah carriers and apologists frequently fudge this issue and make up their own interpretative frame work, leaving them open to the counter-attacks of Islam – bashers when they bring more authoritative classical sources. So here is a talk explaining the practices of the classical period, so that one will not be taken unaware.
This lecture tackles the issue of ‘engagement’, where basically it is allowed for me to engage my child for marriage to another child when they are still too young to make up their own mind. Islamicly, such an arrangement cannot be consummated, according to the ijma of the scholars, until both parties are mature and agree to consummate. But what if by then the girl in particular is not happy with the arrangement? The man can just divorce, but is the woman not unfairly restricted by having to go to a judge or having a pre-nuptial? What if her father or guardian just married her off for nefarious reasons?
Is she forced to have sex with her husband?
All this is explained honestly and without deception or sophistry.
Tahir – Ul – Qadri, another well know scholar, unleashes an scathing barrage on forced marriage within Asian communities in particular.
Further, this guy includes a savage attack on the practice of ‘cousin marriages’.
Asharis: Assemble 
Salam, excellent post as usual, can you post the Hadith he was referring to for the cousin marriges and if I’m not mistaken Hazdrat umar or Ali(both to whom be peace) said to marry abroad, do you know which sayings they are?
WS,
Many thanks indeed and sorry for the late reply.
You are right, there is a narration about marrying abroad, some attribute it to the Prophet(SAW) and others to Umar (RA). However, there is a very similar narration by RasoolAllah SAW where he comes upon a village of ‘weak children’ (I believe that was the translation) and he attributes this to endogamy.
Online, there are a number of references for the Hadrat Umar narration (RA) but I will have to look into it myself to find a reliable source. Perhaps we should arrange a lecture on it?
Sadly, Deobandis in particular, such as my own teachers, are keen to not mention these narrations. I was surprised to see a Pakistani like Tahir Ul Qari do it. It took some gumption!
Forced marriages are from jaliyah. Sheikh Qadri is one of the few voices of reason from Pakistan. And cousin marriages, though practiced in Islam, are not obligatory. That mirpur colony in England obviously does not seem to understand that.