Raising the Minimum Age of Marriage in Malaysia and Indonesia: A Juridical, Theological, and Psychological Analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70211/gils.v1i2.546Keywords:
Child Marriage, Developmental Psychology, Islamic Family Law, Maqāṣid Al-Syarī‘Ah, Minimum Marriage AgeAbstract
The regulation of the minimum age of marriage in Malaysia and Indonesia remains a crucial issue at the intersection of family law, Islamic jurisprudence, child protection, gender equality, and psychological maturity. This study aims to analyze the increase and regulation of marriageable age in both countries through juridical, theological, and psychological perspectives. Employing normative legal research, this study uses statutory, comparative, and conceptual approaches, with legal materials drawn from marriage legislation, Islamic family law, fiqh literature, maqāṣid al-syarī‘ah discourse, and developmental psychology studies. The data were analyzed qualitatively through a descriptive and prescriptive-comparative framework. The findings reveal that Malaysia adopts a plural and flexible model, setting the minimum marriage age for Muslims at 18 years for males and 16 years for females under the Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) Act 1984, while non-Muslims are generally subject to an 18-year threshold under the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976, with discretionary mechanisms through Syariah or civil authorities. In contrast, Indonesia establishes a more uniform standard through Law No. 16 of 2019, setting the minimum age at 19 years for both males and females. Theologically, Islam does not prescribe a fixed numerical age for marriage but emphasizes readiness, maturity, responsibility, and public benefit. Psychologically, emotional stability, identity formation, cognitive maturity, and social competence are essential for marital resilience. The study concludes that raising the minimum age of marriage represents a contextual ijtihad aligned with maqāṣid al-syarī‘ah and modern developmental psychology. Its implication is that marriage-age policy should not merely function as an administrative threshold, but as a preventive legal and social instrument to strengthen child protection, gender justice, and sustainable family resilience in Muslim-majority societies.
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