SISTERS in Islam (SIS) is concerned that continued delay in amending laws to end child marriage comes at the expense of hundreds of children who continue to be exposed to this vulnerability.

As a country with ambitions to achieve high-income status, Malaysia simply cannot afford to prolong child marriage, as it is a practice that perpetuates poverty and is counter-productive to the health and intellectual development and wellbeing of children.

As Malaysia is slated to have an aging population in less than 10 years, we cannot afford to deprive any child from opportunities to achieve her highest potential for our country.

As such, while efforts by Jakim to amend the Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) 1984 (Act 303) to increase the marriageable among Muslims age to 18 years old is commendable, we are disappointed that seven states have expressed their objection to increasing the age of marriage in their states. 

Sarawak, Pahang, Terengganu, Perlis, Negri Sembilan, Kedah and Kelantan must explain to the people why they insist on compromising the future of children by insisting on continuing this practice.

In June this year, the al-Azhar, considered by Sunni Muslims to be the highest authority of Islamic jurisprudence, issued a fatwa against child marriage. 

The fatwa explicitly states that the age of 18 marks the stage at which a women can validly express her will to marry. The fatwa also states that marrying after the age of 18 will guarantee that she can enjoy her fundamental rights to childhood, education and the capacity to assume the responsibility of marriage.

Just this week, Indonesia became the latest Muslim-majority country to ban child marriage by raising the age of marriage in the country to 19. Other Muslim-majority countries that have banned child marriage are Egypt, Kenya, Pakistan, Iraq and Jordan.

While we understand that marriage applications involving minors under the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 (Act 164) had also been tightened, adopting standard operating procedures (SOPs) still leaves loopholes that are prone to abuse.

As such, we reiterate our call that the minimum age of marriage must be raised to 18 for both boys and girls, Muslim and non-Muslims, with no exception. – September 20, 2019.

* Sisters in Islam is a civil society organisation working towards advancing the rights of Muslim women in Malaysia within the framework of Islam, universal human rights principles, constitutional guarantees, as well as the lived realities and experiences of women.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.