IT was love at first sight for 18 year-old Muhammad Danish Fauzi who was determined to marry Nurul Syuhada Azmin, 17, despite being together for only nine months.

For this couple from Bachok, Kelantan, their young age is not an obstacle to getting married. Not finishing school is also not a big issue.

To them it was better to get married than to carry on a relationship out of wedlock.

Syuhada, who is from the Tok Mekong village, is aware that at her age she should be busy preparing to sit for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) exam like her peers. 

But, the teenager was determined to quit school because she wants to be a good and obedient wife.

“I am ready to be a good wife and I am confident I can do it,” she said when met by The Malaysian Insight at her home the night before the couple’s wedding at the mosque.

Syuhada is looking forward to her wedding reception and admitted to having no regrets in her decision to quit school and get married.

She said her two sisters, Nurul Syakila, 20, and Nurul Syazlin, 19, will also hold their respective wedding receptions with her.

She admitted that she has been anxiously waiting for her wedding day and has chosen two songket dresses, one blue and one green, for the ceremony.

Syuhada, who is the fourth of nine siblings, said she does not come from a privileged family and they had just lost their father to Covid-19 in April.

“Before this, I worked after school at a restaurant to help my family. So, when the movement control order (MCO) was implemented, I quit school,” she said.

She said Danish’s family had been asking her to marry him since she was 16, but at the time, her father did not agree to the union. 

“At that time my late father said I was too young to get married, so my father asked me to postpone the nuptials first and wait until I was at the right age.”

The issue of underage marriages is often debated in PAS-administered Kelantan, especially when the state government does not want to raise the legal age for girls to get married to 18.

Kelantan Amanah women’s wing chief Dr Hafidzah Mustakim said underage marriages in Kelantan are easy to implement despite the law providing that they can only be allowed through consent. 

From 2001 to 2017, a total of 2,226 underage marriage applications were approved in Kelantan.

In 2018, Kelantan was the state with the highest number of underage marriages, with 135 cases.

In addition to underage marriage, educators and civil society groups are concerned about the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic that have led to many students dropping out. 

In December, Education Minister Mohd Radzi Md Jidin said a total of 21,316 students in the country had dropped out between March 2020 and July last year. 

Based on the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund and the United Nations Population Fund report on the socio-economic situation after the end of the MCO last May, the percentage of upper secondary students who do not attend school is alarming.

Avoiding public ridicule 

Danish, on the other hand, decided to marry Syuhada at a young age because he wants to avoid badmouthing from the villagers.

Furthermore, he often took Syuhada to work at his family’s restaurant.

“I really want to avoid villagers from gossiping. I also send her home late at night after work. So, I want to get married to prevent any gossip.”

When asked how the couple met, Danish said he first met his wife when he was at Pantai Senok, a popular gathering spot for teenagers.

“The first time I saw Syuhada, I fell in love. I then started to meet her at Pantai Senok, where many young people hang out. 

“I approached Syuhada through her friend, and she responded. At that time, she was only 16 years old,” he said. 

Danish quit school during the MCO last year because he was more interested in continuing his family’s restaurant business. 

He also rejected the perception that getting married at a young age is immature. 

Danish said he is able to shoulder the responsibilities as a husband with a salary of RM1,500, which is enough for them.

“I don’t think that it’s an issue (getting married early); I’m more than ready and know the responsibilities, and even the family doesn’t object to it and have encouraged me to get married early,” he said.

Syuhada’s mother, Rosmazini Malik, 41, said there is no obstacle for her daughter to get married early even if she did not finish school.

Rosmazini said it is probably the best way, as she was not doing well in her studies.

“After all, my family has not been very happy since the death of my husband. Life is quite difficult because I have to raise five young children.

“I can only depend on the income from selling fried bananas and the help of the Social Welfare Department, I think it is better for her to get married,” she said.

The single mother said among her daughters, only Syuhada has not finished school.

Teens usually unprepared 

Meanwhile, Prof Dr Dasmawati Mohamad said she often holds dialogues with the shariah court on the issue of underage marriage in Kelantan.

Dasmawati is a board member of Raudhah Sakeenah Kelantan, a home for teenage girls who get pregnant out of wedlock.

She said she is concerned that child marriages are allowed without in-depth assessment of the situation. 

“This issue has to be looked at thoroughly, because half the cases involve 15- and 16-year-olds who are still immature, and the same goes for their partners.

“But what worries us is the case of getting married to avoid adultery, while the teenager does not know what’s going on and is unprepared.

“The government needs to refine (its stance) the matter because there is concern of sexual grooming, especially with older partners,” she said. – June 12, 2022.