On June 18, a 11-year old Thai girl by the name of Masaryu Mat Rashid was married to a 41-year old man, Che Abdul Karim Che Abdul Hamid, from Kelantan, Malaysia. The wedding was conducted in Sungai Golok in Thailand.

Even though Abdul is already married to two other wives and has six children aged between 5 and 18, both of the girl's parents have given their blessings for the marriage.

The girl's husband and father have also agreed to nikah gantung -- a marriage where the couple lives apart for a period of time. Nikah gantung was proposed by Abdul after the girl's father initially disagreed to his request for marriage due to her age.

For this marriage, it will be a period of 5 years, until Mat Rashid turns 16, whereupon her husband will register the marriage in Malaysia and she will proceed to live with him.

Mat Rashid has seemingly signalled her agreement to this arrangement:

"I accept whatever decision my parents and husband have made, to wait five years before we can live together because I am only 11 years old."

The case has elicited an uproar, both within Malaysia and internationally.

Outrage over the marriage

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has come out against the marriage calling it,"illegal and they must be separated."

Adding on to the disapproval was Marianne Clark-Hattingh, UNICEF's representative in Malaysia, who called it:

"If true, it is shocking and unacceptable. It is not in the best interest of the child. It is a violation of her rights. Law reform to set the legal age for marriage at 18 without exception should be one of the priorities of the new Parliament."

There were also calls on social media that further echoed these sentiments.

I was shocked to hear the news about the 41 year old man who married a 11 year old girl. What is going on in our society. Child marriage should not be permitted in our country. We should revise any laws that permits such actions.

— Zuraida Kamaruddin (@zuraida_my) June 30, 2018

The 41 year old man who married an 11 year old girl should be prosecuted for criminal offences. No exception.

Child marriages should be banned - no exception.

That is the only way.

— Eric Paulsen (@EricPaulsen101) June 30, 2018

What does the law say?

Under the Islamic Law Enactment, the minimum marriageable age is 18 for boys and 16 for girls. However, the Shariah courts have the authority to give consent to those under the permitted age to get married.

In 2017, Malaysia passed a law on sex crimes against children, the Sexual Offences Against Children (SOAC) Act 2017. The law does not criminalise child marriage as a proposal by an opposition member of parliament(MP) to include child marriages under the act was voted down.

Shabudin Yahaya, a Malaysian MP from the Barisan Nasional coalition, said that girls as young as nine were “physically and spiritually” ready for marriage, in response to the proposal.

Support for the current marriage

Currently, while the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia’s (Suhakam) opposes the marriage, at least one of its seven commissioners, Nik Salida Suhaila Nik Saleh, saw nothing wrong with it.

In a Facebook post that is no longer available to the public, Salida stated:

"It is not one’s right borne out of the heart’s desires. It is not a limitless right. It is subject to whether the purpose of marriage can be fulfilled — no torture or oppression against any party, the husband’s and wife’s responsibilities are carried out, God’s orders and prohibitions are obeyed, it doesn’t harm society, and doesn’t defame religion."

Calls for change

Several lawyers have already called for changes to the law.

One change put forward by a constitutional lawyer, Lim Wei Jiet, is an amendment to Section 8 of the Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) Act 1984, which governs Muslim marriages in the Federal Territories.

This amendment would remove the Shariah courts’ power to grant special exceptions to underage marriage.

However, the enforcement of the amendment falls within the jurisdiction of each state's legislative assembly.

In states such as Kedah and Perak, where Islamist party Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) holds significant influence, and states such as Kelantan and Terengganu, which are under their governance, such an amendment would potentially run into opposition.

Another lawyer, Surendra Ananth, has suggested that Parliament should enact a criminal law to prohibit child marriage, which would then render all state Shariah laws unconstitutional. This will allow Parliament to bypass any potential opposition from Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), even in states where they hold much sway.

In the meantime, Abdul has vowed he will remain married to his 11-year old bride in spite of the impending investigation.

Defending his marriage, he stated that the accusations were "baseless and ridiculous" and added he was looking at legal action because of these "inaccurate accusations."

Abdul cited his nikah gantung arrangement with Mat Rashid and her family, and acceptances by his first and second wife as reasons why the accusations did not hold water.

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Top image from Syed Azmi Facebook