KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 8 ― Shariah laws should be amended to prevent those under 18 from marrying even if Islam does not set age limits for marriage, a former Shariah Court judge said today.
Datuk Ismail Yahya, who was speaking at a forum on the issue, argued that Islam defines “maturity” and “wisdom” as crucial prerequisites for marriage, saying this suggested that the religion only encourages marriage for mature couples.
“There may not be any age limit for marriage in Islam, but I say standardise Shariah laws to set the age limit to 18,” Ismail told the forum.
“This is good to prevent any future complications that may arise if they (children) are wedded young, like problems coming from divorces… and other health problems,” he added.
In Malaysia, the legal minimum age for marriage under civil law for both genders is 18, with marriages involving those under this age requiring consent from the state mentri besar or chief minister.
Shariah laws here set the legal marrying age for Muslim boys and girls at 18 and 16, respectively, with girls below 16 allowed to be married off with the consent of the Shariah court.
Citing past cases, Ismail said the provision that gives Shariah judges discretionary power to allow child marriages have often resulted in poor decisions that were detrimental to children.
He said one example was to allow child marriage due to premarital pregnancy, a decision mainly driven by the need to avoid stigma instead of the interest of the children.
Ismail added this was a worrying trend and against the teaching of Islam as the faith discourages its followers to marry out of force.
“Even pregnancy shouldn’t be the reason to force (child) marriages because many other problems will still surface from this,” he said, pointing to studies showing the mental and physical health hazard of youth pregnancy.
Pregnancy and childbirth complications are the second highest cause of death among 15 to 19 year olds globally. Some three million unsafe abortions among girls aged 15 to 19 take place each year, contributing to maternal deaths and to lasting health problems, according to the World Health Organisation.
“Early childbearing increases the risks for both mothers and their new-borns. In low- and middle-income countries, babies born to mothers under 20 years of age face a 50 per cent higher risk of being still born or dying in the first few weeks versus those born to mothers aged 20-29.
“The younger the mother, the greater the risk to the baby. New-borns born to adolescent mothers are also more likely to have low birth weight, with the risk of long-term effects,” the WHO said in its report.
Cases of child marriage have been on the rise in Malaysia, especially but not limited to those involving the Malay Muslim community.
Close to two per cent of the married population in the country are couples aged below 19 years old, United Nations Children Fund (Unicef) data showed. The UN Convention of Rights of a Child defines those below 18 years old as children.
In Malaysia, there were dozens of cases where teenage rape victims were denied justice as they were forced into marrying their rapists, the recent being the case involving a 14 year-old adolescent.
The rapist, 22 year-old Syukri Yusuf, avoided being charged for statutory rape after he married his victim.
While the issue have triggered demands for laws to end child marriages, the ide have met resistance from some quarters including conservative Muslim clerics.
