Shiekh Abdul Muhsin Al-Obaikan wants to avoid cases of very young girls getting married to men many years their senior.

The sheikh has also pledged his support for the “No to Minor Marriages” campaign run by Arab News’ sister publication, Sayidaty magazine.

Al-Obaikan said that forcing a young girl to marry nullifies the marriage because it does not fulfill one of the major rules of Islamic marriage — the agreement of the girl.

The campaign has already received support from princesses, human rights activists, Shoura Council members, lawyers and the Ministry of Social Affairs.

The magazine’s desk manager in Jeddah, Muna Siraj, said the campaign is different from others organized on the Internet.

“The strength of our campaign is due to Sayidaty being an establishment that has built trust over the years and it is now able to move a step further by putting pressure on the public to reduce these marriages,” said Siraj.

She added that it was time for the media to move forward and also fight for change, not restrict their role to simply looking for stories.

The campaign has already managed to prevent the forced marriage of two young girls in the Kingdom after a number of visits to their families.

The magazine has not reached closure in other cases involving young girls and their families.

Siraj called for the establishment of a research center to provide accurate data and statistics about such cases in the Kingdom.

She also said a question asking families whether they had been involved in any so-called minor marriages should be included in the 2010 Census.

Minor marriages, she said, is common in tribal communities and they also hear of cases from human rights societies.

Siraj added that there must be a clear distinction between puberty and adultery in order to reduce such marriages, adding that a girl might reach puberty but may not be ready to handle marriage responsibilities.

“We want to also handle cases of women who were married at a young age and suffered psychological problems as a result,” she said, adding that they have arranged consultations for such cases with hospitals and lawyers.

According to her it is time to act on the suggestions of different sheikhs four years ago to moderate such marriages.

“It was in the past a tradition, but unfortunately it is turning into a business now,” she said.

The campaign started two weeks ago and the ultimate aim is to contribute to the introduction of a law that will ban marriages involving minors and punish those responsible for them.