Now Reading
Govt Maintains Legal Marriage Age For Muslim Girls At 16, Causes Uproar

Govt Maintains Legal Marriage Age For Muslim Girls At 16, Causes Uproar

The child marriage issue has been debated back and forth for years, and there’s not much progress.

Subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest stories and updates.


After deliberations, the government has decided to maintain the minimum marriage age for Muslim girls at 16 years old after considering the proposal to raise the limit to 18 years old.

According to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Idris Ahmad, the feedback collected from the state governments finds that “there is no need to revise the minimum marriage age limit for Muslim girls.”

As reported by Malaysiakini, most states have agreed to maintain the existing age limit as enshrined in each states’ Islamic family law.

Idris added that the Department of Syariah Judiciary (JKSM) ensures that those who request to marry underage go through a strict process of evaluation to make sure the interests of all parties are preserved.

Idrid also said this standard operating procedure that was enforced three years ago resulted in a reduction of 787 cases of underage marriage applications.

The decision has prompted former Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Hannah Yeoh to question Rina Harun and Siti Zailah about what happened to the 5-year roadmap to eradicate child marriage previously put forth by Dr Wan Azizah.

There’s an outlier

In a statement dated 16 December, Sisters in Islam reported that only Selangor had amended the minimum legal marriage age for Muslims to 18.

Previously in 2019, the seven states – Sarawak, Kedah, Kelantan, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perlis and Terengganu – opposed raising the minimum marriage age to 18.

According to a 2019 report by Malaysiakini, the federal territories (Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan), Penang, Sabah, Johor, Melaka and Perak agreed to amend their Islamic family laws.

READ MORE: How Msia’s Complex Laws Put Child Marriage Ban At A Standstill

Sisters in Islam also pointed out that many Muslim countries have reformed their laws and increased the minimum marriage age to 18.

This was also echoed by the former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Latheefa Koya on Twitter who said a poor excuse was used to maintain the marriage age at 16.

The dark side of child marriage

The issue of child marriage has been a thorny one. There have been various reports showing how child marriages harm child brides such as loss of childhood, forced to drop out of school, marital rape, near-death experience during childbirth at a young age and more.

A woman under the pseudonym Emmy shared her experience when she worked as a social worker.

At first, she agreed with child marriage because it’s allowed in the religion but what she saw in her line of work changed her mind completely.

She dug deeper into the issue and found out that Al Azhar, one of the world’s most prestigious centres of Islamic learning, issued a fatwa against child marriage.

Even the local Majlis Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan (MAIWP) stated that child marriage should not be practised, with exceptions.

In 2014, the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) also declared child marriage an ‘unhealthy’ practice.

JAKIM added that Health experts and psychologists confirmed the existence of physical and mental health problems in child marriages.

READ MORE: Tweet By M’sian Brings To Light The Dark Side Of Child Marriages In Malaysia


Share your thoughts with us via TRP’s FacebookTwitter, and Instagram.

Get more stories like this to your inbox by signing up for our newsletter.

© 2024 The Rakyat Post. All Rights Reserved. Owned by 3rd Wave Media Sdn Bhd