❓WHAT HAPPENED: A Muslim cleric in England admitted to forcing two minors into marriage, violating a law banning child marriages that had come into effect months earlier.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Ashraf Osmani, 52, two minors, judge Akhlaq Choudhury, and prosecutor Jennifer Newcomb.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Marriage took place in November 2023 at Northampton’s Central Mosque, sentence handed down recently.
💬KEY QUOTE: “You were entirely in charge of the marriage process at the mosque, and ignorance of the law is no defence,” said Mr Justice Akhlaq Choudhury, but handed him a derisory sentence.
🎯IMPACT: Osmani received a 15-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, meaning he will spend no time in custody unless he commits further crimes in that 12-month period.
A Muslim cleric in Britain has admitted to carrying out illegal religious marriages involving two children. Ashraf Osmani, 52, conducted an Islamic Nikah ceremony at Northampton’s Central Mosque in November 2023, despite the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act having taken effect nine months earlier. The legislation makes it a criminal offence to arrange or facilitate a marriage involving anyone under 18, even with parental consent.
Osmani pleaded guilty to two counts of causing a child to enter into a marriage. In mitigation, he claimed he was unaware of the change in the law. That explanation was rejected by the trial judge, Mr Justice Akhlaq Choudhury, who told him: “You were entirely in charge of the marriage process at the mosque and ignorance of the law is no defence.” The judge described Osmani’s conduct as negligent and said he should have been fully aware of his legal responsibilities.
Prosecutor Jennifer Newcomb told the court that the marriage came to light after the girl’s foster parents discovered a marriage certificate in her bedroom. Osmani later admitted in a voluntary police interview that he knew the girl was in foster care and that her foster parents did not approve of the relationship. Newcomb said Osmani believed he was preventing the teenagers from committing sin by carrying out the ceremony, but stressed that child marriage is illegal and undermines protections designed to safeguard minors.
Defense lawyer James Gray argued that the children had not been harmed and described Osmani as someone committed to encouraging moral behaviour in others. The judge imposed a 15-week prison sentence, saying the punishment was intended to deter others from ignoring the law. However, he suspended it, meaning the imam will not actually serve any time in custody.
The case has drawn attention to broader debates in Britain around marriage practices linked to culture and religion. While under-18 marriage is now illegal, first cousin marriage remains lawful and is common in some communities, particularly among Pakistani Muslims.
The issue has become controversial amid concerns about genetic risks to children, despite the socialized National Health Service (NHS) downplaying those risks. The debate has reached the political level, with some Members of Parliament (MPs) calling for a ban, and, more recently, there has been international criticism of the British government for resisting such proposals by the Trump administration.
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