‘Syariah court studies all applications first’

It does not easily approve requests to marry a minor, says Kelantan mufti

KOTA BARU: The Syariah court does not easily approve applications to marry a minor, therefore it is not necessary to amend the laws to raise the minimum age of marriage, says Kelantan mufti Datuk Mohamad Shukri Mohamad.

He said the Kelantan Syariah court, for example, had over the years rejected many applications to marry underage girls.

“The Syariah court has a good control mechanism as permission is only granted after carefully studying each and every case,” he said.

Mohamad Shukri said this in response to the federal government’s proposal to raise the minimum age of marriage following a couple of isolated cases in Kelantan recently.

Marriages involving an 11-year-old girl and a 41-year-old man, and another case involving a 15-year-old girl and a 44-year-old man are being used as the basis to justify reviewing the legal age of marriage.

However, in the first case, the groom did not seek prior court approval before marrying the girl in Narathiwat, Thailand while in the second case, the groom had applied for

The Syariah court has a good control mechanism as permission is only granted after carefully studying each and every case.

Datuk Mohamad Shukri Mohamad

the permission for polygamy.

Mohamad Shukri said there were more pressing social issues to tackle rather than treating marriages as an act of crime.

“In Islam, a girl who reaches puberty is no longer regarded as a child,” he said.

Mohamad Shukri noted that the age of sexual consent was fixed at 14 in some European countries including Germany and Portugal.

“Marriage is not allowed but sex is at that age in those countries.

“This reflects a gross discrepancy in secular laws,” he said.