MUI Urged to Issue Fatwa to Prevent Child Marriage

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Muhadjir Effendy, asked the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) to issue a fatwa or an edict to prevent child marriage.

Muhadjir highlighted the rampant practice of child marriage in Indonesia, which was even increased during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The government cannot solve this national problem on its own. A fatwa on child marriage from the MUI is necessary that it does not abide by the sharia law of marriage," said Muhadjir in a written statement on Thursday, March 18, 2021.

Based on data from the Supreme Court's Directorate-General for Religious Courts, 64,211 child marriage dispensations were issued in 2020. The number increased by 300 percent from the previous year's 23,126 dispensations.

Muhadjir also quoted the study conducted by the Indonesian Coalition to End Child Marriage ("Koalisi 18+") that 98 percent of parents married-off their children as they were considered to have already had a partner or engaged. Meanwhile, 89 percent of judges granted the dispensation requests in response to the parents' concerns.

The government has a legal basis for child marriage. The most recent amendment to Law No. 1 of 1974 on Marriage, which was stipulated in Law No. 16 of 2019, has increased the minimum age for marriage for women and men to 19 years old. However, this does not mean that child marriage can be prevented. Therefore, Muhadjir hoped that the MUI's fatwa can be a solution.

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EGI ADYATAMA