MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Islamic leaders have banned Somalis from marrying without the consent or knowledge of their parents, saying such unions violate Islam.

"It is against the teaching of our religion and parents do not approve of it," said Sheik Mahad Mohamed Sheik Hassan, chairman of the regional Islamic court in Wanlawien.

The edict Monday was the latest step to impose strict religious rule as this chaotic nation emerges from more than a decade of anarchy. The group also has banned live music and the viewing of films and sports, and the use of qat, the leafy semi-narcotic plant, in areas it controls.

The marriage practice of "masaafo" — roughly equivalent to eloping — is common in Somalia because it allows young couples to wed without their parents scuttling their plans over a dowry they consider too small or other objections. Weddings also often cost up to a year's savings for an average Somali.

Mohamedek Ali, a 21-year-old Somali, said the costs were prohibitive and would prevent many marriages. "They cannot ban what our forefathers practiced," he said. "All of us, including the mullahs were born from elopement marriage."

Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on one another, throwing the country into anarchy.

The Islamic movement — which began in the 1990s — seized the capital, Mogadishu, after fierce battles with secular warlords in June and now controls much of the country's south.

The government controls just one town, Baidoa, 150 miles northwest of the capital.