İslam hukukunda erken evlilik üzerine bir inceleme ve değerlendirme

This study aims to examine and analyze the issue of early marriage in Islamic law. The scope of the study includes what the issue of early marriage in Islamic societies today corresponds to in real terms, the Sharia evidence on this issue, the opinions of the jurists, and the pros and cons on the individual and social levels. The study employs the comparative and descriptive methods of description to collect and analyze the evidence on the subject and determine the preferred view with contemporary scholars' contribution. The study reaches the following conclusions: The issue of early marriage has been discussed in the Islamic legal literature under "underage marriage." The Qur'an and the Prophet's Sunnah show that early marriage is permissible under certain conditions, which is the common view of the madhhabs of fiqh. These conditions are sexual maturity, establishing the marriage contract with the father's consent, avoiding harm, the consent of the girl, and equivalence. However, Ibn Shibrima, Uthman al-Batti, Abu Bakr al-Asam, and some contemporary scholars argue that early marriage was exclusive to the Prophet and therefore does not apply to anyone else. Both views can be reconciled because those not of marriageable age can be married only based on a clear maslaha that their guardian will appreciate. The Qur'an and Sunnah do not specify the minimum marriage age. In some Arab countries, the legal age of marriage is between 14 and 20. The Ottoman Family Law Decree states that the minimum age of marriage must be 18 for men and 17 for women. In European countries, the average age is between 14 and 21. There may be various reasons for such a marriage. A person may marry to protect his/her nafs from falling into forbidden behavior, in a sense, to obey Allah and his Messenger. One may also marry for customary reasons such as mere tradition and custom. Early marriage has benefits such as preserving chastity, cleansing from sins, and keeping one's eyes away from haram. On the other hand, its high cost today can also be considered a disadvantage. To solve these problems, being pious, deeply understanding religion, facilitating marriage, supporting the married person financially and morally, and governments preparing support packages for married individuals can be mentioned.