Selangor Sultan consents to streamlining minimum Muslim marriage age of 18
SHAH ALAM: The Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah has consented to recommendations made by the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (MAIS) and the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) to streamline the minimum age requirement for marriage for both female and male Muslims in the state to 18 years.
Sultan Sharafuddin said he viewed seriously cases involving Muslim child marriages, especially for girls, as it posed harm to the couple’s future and could have a negative impact on the community.
“Therefore I had instructed MAIS and JAIS to review the existing law for Muslims in the state of Selangor and to make the necessary improvements,” he said when opening the Second Meeting of the First Session of the 14th Selangor State Assembly here, yesterday.
Also present were the Tengku Permaisuri of Selangor, Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin and the Raja Muda of Selangor Tengku Amir Shah.
Apart from that, he said, several other laws should also be amended to improve the procedure and processes involved in obtaining permission for underage marriages in Syariah Courts, which include inserting certain conditions which should be met by the parents and other parties involved.
“For that purpose, several provisions in the Islamic Family Law (State of Selangor) Enactment and the Syariah Court Civil Procedure (State of Selangor) Enactment 2003 have been proposed to be amended. We hope that both proposed amendments to the law can be tabled at the state assembly meeting this time,” he said.
In the meantime, Sultan Sharafuddin said he was pleased that the Selangor Government and Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor) had reached an agreement over the takeover of Syarikat Pengeluar Air Sungai Selangor Sdn Bhd (SPLASH) in order to finalise the restructuring of the water supply services industry in Selangor, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur and Putarajaya.
“The acquisition which does not involve any financial allocation from the Selangor government has been structured with a long-term payment model. It is pleasing when Air Selangor can operate with reasonable costs, and at the same time ensure that the water tariffs do not burden the people of the state.”