Copenhagen: Koran teacher marries 15-year old Danish convert
Translated from Berlingske (h/t Hodja):
A 15 year old Danish girl married a Muslim man in his twenties this summer in Copenhagen, in a mosque on 16 Vibevej road in the Nordvest district. [ed: Al Hidayah mosque]
The man worked as a Koran teacher at the mosque and the marriage took place without consent from the girl's parents, and just a few months after the girl converted to Islam. The Copenhagen municipality reported the man to the police for having an illegal relationship between teacher and student, as well as for keeping a minor away from their parents.
Mikkel Warming (Enh.), alderman for social issues, says the case is tragic. "Imams who marry 15-16 year old girls are bastards. In this case, when the municipality first tried to intervene, we were up against powerful forces, which can be compared to Moon, Faderhuset, or Scientology. The concrete case approaches brainwashing," says Mikkel Warming.
The case also around strong feelings in the Muslim community. Imam Abdul Wahid Pedersen personally intervened to help the family.
"I want to say loud and clear, that this case is reprehensible. The marriage is completely wrong." says Abdul Wahid Pedersen.
The chairman of the Vibevej mosque said he knew nothing of the marriage, although there is a wedding picture of the couple from the mosque.
Justice Minister Lars Barfoed (K) is taking the matter very seriously and has turned to the Family Agency to impress on faith communities and religious preachers that the regulations regarding marriage should be respected.
"It's worrying if young girls feel trapped in a marriage-like relationship, which they themselves consider binding. And it's obviously unacceptable, if religious preachers with authority to conduct marriage, help create doubts about the legal status of a religious marriage," he says.
The case of the 15 year old girl is not unique. Last week Berlingske revealed that imams had married minor Danish girls 16 and 17 years old, without their parents' consent. The marriages are not legally binding, but according to various experts bind the girls socially even more than Danish marriages.
The 15 year old girl from Copenhagen married in a small Muslim community, considers cult-like by other Muslims. According to Lene Kühle, Phd student at Aarhus University, the community attracted a number of Danish converts.
