Islam and Human Rights — Page 125
Article 16 125 under the article and those prescribed by another be rejected? This aspect could be amply illustrated by comparison of specific prohibitions in different systems and could be ex patiated upon, but that is not necessary for our immediate purpose. Another complication is added by the conflict that has developed between the Canon Law and the Civil Law under some systems. It must be realized, therefore, that in a matter so personal and so intimate and so much intertwined with religion it would be too broad a proposition to be univers ally acceptable that subject to the parties being of full age and consenting fully and freely to the union, they must be accorded the right to marry without any limitation due to religion. The second sentence of the first paragraph of the article can also lead to difficulties in implementation, if strictly construed. For instance, at the dissolution of a marriage, where there are children of the marriage, ques - tions of guardianship and custody might be involved, in respect of which it might be difficult to observe equality between the conflicting claims of the mother and the father. As we shall see, Islamic Law seeks to resolve these and other questions arising at the dissolution of a marriage in a spirit of equity between the parties, with