first of all the mahr (bridal gift) goes to the bride not the father!
but as far as i am aware from my limited knowledge of islamic law, the judge is strictly speaking correct, if a minor is married then when he or she reaches puberty then they can choose to keep the marriage or dissolve it and before this the decision to marry or not remains with the guardian, i.e the father.
an alternative route for the family, if he has kept the mahr for himself would be to go to the courts and have him declared unfit as her wali (guardian) and someone else more religiously inclinded from the family put in place as her wali who could choose to go to the courts and get the marriage annulled and the father would even have to pay back the mahr he has kept.
first of all the mahr (bridal gift) goes to the bride not the father!
but as far as i am aware from my limited knowledge of islamic law, the judge is strictly speaking correct, if a minor is married then when he or she reaches puberty then they can choose to keep the marriage or dissolve it and before this the decision to marry or not remains with the guardian, i.e the father.
an alternative route for the family, if he has kept the mahr for himself would be to go to the courts and have him declared unfit as her wali (guardian) and someone else more religiously inclinded from the family put in place as her wali who could choose to go to the courts and get the marriage annulled and the father would even have to pay back the mahr he has kept.
Abu Abdillah