AGAINST: RELIGION

Re: Muslim Marriage In Accordance with Sharia Law

Recognition of Muslim Personal Laws in the Philippines
The constitution has offered autonomy to the Muslim areas of the island of Mindanao, and has in
fact officially recognized the applicability of shari'ah laws and the jurisdiction of shari'ah courts.
The constitution therefore expressly carves out exceptions to the principle of state neutrality to
religion, in favor of the Muslim minority. 1
The Constitution provides that there shall be created autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao
and in the Cordilleras consisting of provinces, cities, municipalities, and geographical areas
sharing common and distinctive historical and cultural heritage, economic and social structures,
and other relevant characteristics within the framework of this Constitution and the national
sovereignty as well as territorial integrity of the Republic of the Philippines.2

Muslim Personal Law on Marriages

Presidential Decree No. 1083 provides that any Muslim male at least fifteen years of age and any
Muslim female of the age of puberty or upwards and not suffering from any impediment under
the provisions of this Code may contract marriage. A female is presumed to have attained
puberty upon reaching the age of fifteen. 3
Marriage through a wali by a minor below the prescribed ages shall be regarded as betrothal and
may be annulled upon the petition of either party within four years after attaining the age of
puberty, provided no voluntary cohabitation has taken place and the wali who contracted the
marriage was other than the father or paternal grandfather. 4
Raul C. Pangalangan, Transplanted Constitutionalism: The Philippine Debate on the Secular
State and the Rule of Law, Philippine Law Journal 1, 10, 2008
1

PHIL. CONST. Art. X, 15

A Decree to Ordain and Promulgate a Code Recognizing the System of Filipino Muslim Laws,
Codifying Muslim Personal Laws, and Providing for its Administration and for Other Purposes
[Muslim Personal Laws], Presidential Decree No. 1083, art. 16, 1
3

A Decree to Ordain and Promulgate a Code Recognizing the System of Filipino Muslim Laws,
Codifying Muslim Personal Laws, and Providing for its Administration and for Other Purposes
[Muslim Personal Laws], Presidential Decree No. 1083, art. 16, 3
4

The Muslim Personal Laws allows divorce and multiple marriages. Said law provides seven
grounds for divorce. 5
It also provides that provisions of the Revised Penal Code relative to the crime of bigamy shall
not apply to a person married in accordance with the provisions of the Muslim Law.6 Hence, the
Muslim Laws allows multiple marriages.
With these, the way the Muslims view marriage is not exactly the same as how the Catholic
Church, even our Family Code, does. It means that what the Catholic Churches and the State are
trying to protect in marriages, specifically divorce, is not a risk in a similar way in Muslim
marriages.
However it is to note that according to the Council on Foreign Relations, some Muslims who
follow a conservative interpretation of sharia argue that Islam permits child marriage as the
Quran specifies that girls can be married upon reaching maturity, which conservative scholars
define as puberty. However, there is debate within Islam about at what age a girl reaches
maturity. Many Muslim communities and Islamic scholars agree with the internationally
recognized age of maturity, eighteen. Moreover, many Muslims argue against child marriage
because Islam mandates that men and women should choose their partners freely, and children
are unable to do so. 7
Essential Requisites of Marriage
According to Presidential Decree 1083, the following are the essential requisites of marriage:
Article 15. Essential Requisites - No marriage contract shall be perfected unless the following
essential requisites are complied with:
a. Legal capacity of the contracting parties
b. Mutual consent of the parties freely given
c. Offer (ijab) and acceptable (qabul) duly witnessed by at least two competent persons after
the proper guardian in marriage (wali) has given his consent; and

Muslim Personal Laws, art. 46 - 52.

Muslim Personal Laws, art. 180.

Council on Foreign Relations, InfoGuide: Child Marriage, available at http://www.cfr.org/

peace-conflict-and-human-rights/child-marriage/p32096#!/?cid=otr_marketing_usechild_marriage_Infoguide#!%2F (last accessed October 19, 2016)
7

d. Stipulation of customary dower (mehr) duly witnessed by two competent persons 8

The first two requisites are the same as the essential requisites in the 1988 Family Code of the
Philippines. The last two requisites however are unique to Muslim marriages. These two
requisites show especially that not only are the couples the one deciding to enter into marriage
but also their families.
Lowering Age of Marriage
A UNESCO report examining laws on children's rights and education in 158 countries revealed
that minimum ages for marriage vary between seven and 18 years, with no legal minimum in as
many as 37 countries. Forty-four states provide a lower limit for girls than for boys.
But even in countries with legal minimum ages of marriage, early marriage still prevails as it is
condoned by religious and customary laws and practice. The UNICEF report states it is hard to
assess the prevalence of early marriages as so many are unregistered and unofficial. Very little
country data exist regarding marriages under the age of 14, even less regarding those below age
10. But it says there are grounds for believing that the practice is under-reported in areas where it
is known to occur, especially for children under 14 who are virtually invisible in standard data
recording.9

Role of Parents in Childrens Marriage

Parents choose to marry off their daughters early for a number of reasons. Poor families may
regard a young girl as an economic burden and her marriage as a necessary survival strategy for
her family. They may think that early marriage offers protection for their daughter from the
dangers of sexual assault, or more generally, offers the care of a male guardian. Early marriage
may also be seen as a strategy to avoid girls becoming pregnant outside marriage.10

Muslim Personal Laws, art. 15.

Campaign Against Early Marriage in Muslim Countries and Communities: The Problem with
Early Marriage available at http://www.sistersinislam.org.my/news.php?item.674.41 (last
accessed October 19, 2016).
9

Campaign Against Early Marriage in Muslim Countries and Communities: The Problem with
Early Marriage available at http://www.sistersinislam.org.my/news.php?item.674.41 (last
accessed October 19, 2016).
10

Mehr in Muslim Marriages

"This (the Mahr) is the most important of all the conditions through which, the private parts
(intercourse) have been made lawful and permitted for you."11
Mehr under the religious code of Islam, is the amount of money to be paid as a duty by the
bridegroom to his wife as a part of the marriage contract. While the amount of mehr is
established at the time of nikah (the marriage ritual) and is stated in Nikah Nama (the
Registration Form), the money may not or need not be paid at that time. The bridegroom with the
consent of bride (or her parents) has the choice of paying the amount at the nikah registration or
at a later date. Mehr is fixed by the elder relatives of the bride and bridegroom at the time of
marriage.
An interesting feature of this study is the positive relationship of mehr with age at marriage of
males as well as females. As the age of males and females at marriage rises, the amount of mehr
also rises up to a certain age. The people who marry earlier are mostly from the families where
higher education is not considered necessary. The first group consists of very rich business
communities like Bohra, Khoja, Memon etc., who would like to educate their children to a level
just sufficient to enable them to handle the business of the family. The second group of people
who believe in early marriage and low mehr are those who are from poor families. They are the
people who cannot afford higher education and thus would like their children to start earning as
early as possible. The poor people, as is generally true everywhere, tend to marry their children
at younger ages. The third group consists of those middle class families who believe in early
marriage of their daughters only. They tend to depend on the family pressures to protect the
matrimonial life.
In short while preference for marriage at young age is visible for males as well as females, the
time spent on education and attainment of economic self-sufficiency directly affects the age at
marriage and also plays an important role in the fixation of the amount of Mehr. 12
The Istikhara in Relation to the boy and Girl
Before the boy and girl even get a chance to meet one another and talk and see if they are
compatible with the other, the parents will rush to their local Mawlana or Alim to perform the
The Religion of Al-Islam and Marriage by Al-Fath Al-Mubin Publications available at https://
www.al-islam.org/religion-al-islam-and-marriage/preconditions-aqd-marriage#1-looking-otherparty-marriage (last accessed October 19, 2016)
11

Mohammad Afzal, Lee L. Bean and Itiazuddin Husain, Muslim Marriages: Age, Mehr, and
Social Status, 12 The Pakistan Development Review 1, 48-61 (1973).
12

traditional Istikhara. If the answer comes 'good', then even if the boy or girl is the biggest sinner
or ill-mannered person, the parents will welcome him/her into the family with open arms.
The opposite has also been seen that if the boy or girl is an upright, virtuous, and pious believer,
but the Istikhara comes out 'bad' then they are automatically rejected with no chance to go
forward.
The Istikhara is a method that has been taught and approved by our Prophet (S) and Ahlul Bait
(as), however, there are many preconditions and steps that must be followed before we rush to
the Quran or Tasbih.13
Dowry Among Muslims
Marriage of children is an important social duty of parents. There is an exchange of gifts between
two families. It has become an established custom in India for many centuries. Traditionally, rich
and well-to-do families not only gave the bride as a gift at the time of marriage but also
accompanied her with small gifts in cash and/or ornaments. These gifts were not called dowry in
those days as they were presented after the marriage and as a mark of affection and love. As long
as dowry was voluntary, it was not a financial burden.14
Dowry and Dower in Muslim Marriage
Marriages are preferred among close kins i.e. both parallel and cross cousins and that too within
the same territory. This kind of marriage is known as marriage in the relations or x Rishte ki
Shad /' whereas marriage among the non kins but within the same caste is known by Biradari ki
Shadi. The parents of both boy and girl prefer to marry in those families who are financially
strong so as to get more dowry and dower respectively. If boy's family is economically strong the
girls parents can demand heavy amount of dower. Similarly if girl's parents are strong, more
dowry can be demanded or given to boy's family. Thus it can be said that economically strong
families are expected to give heavy amount of dowry and dower.15

The Religion of Al-Islam and Marriage by Al-Fath Al-Mubin Publications available at https://
www.al-islam.org/religion-al-islam-and-marriage/preconditions-aqd-marriage#1-looking-otherparty-marriage (last accessed October 19, 2016)
13

Nehal Ashraf Economic and Political Weekly, Dowry among Muslims in Bihar, 32 Political
Weekly 52, 3310-3311, (1988).
14

Ragini Sahay and Regini Sahay, Dowry and Dower in Muslim Marriage : A study among
Muslim Telis of Delhi, 26 Indian Anthropologist 1, (June, 1996), 47-52
15

New Fatwa on Early Marriage, Gender and Youth

Islamic leaders, including Muslim Religious Leaders and legal experts, in Mindanao endorsed a
new Fatwa, or formal legal opinion, clarifying the issues of early and forced marriage in the
context of Islam last November 23, 2015.
The Fatwa on the Model Family in Islam, signed by Abuhuraira Udasan, Mufti of the Dar-al-ifta
Bangsamoro, urges the Muslim youth to get married when the necessary conditions of mindmaturity and intellectual integrity are met but clarified that the urgency is not applicable to the
pre-puberty or childhood stage.
Klaus Beck, Country Representative of the United Nations Population Fund, hailed the
endorsement of the Fatwa by Islamic leaders, noting that early marriage and the consequent teen
pregnancy are among the major causes of maternal mortality.
The fatwa is a timely way to arrest early marriage and improve the health indicators in the
region, said Dayang Carlsum Sangkula - Jumaide, assistant secretary of the Department of
Health in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DOH-ARMM).16
The Code of Muslim Personal Laws (CMPL) states that a girl may be married at the age of
puberty or the onset of menarche (first menstruation). A girl is presumed to have reached the age
of puberty at 15. The CMPL prescribes the minimum age of marriage for boys to be 15-years
old.
Citing statistics, Sangkula - Jumaide said that one in ten Filipino girls between the ages of 15-19
are mothers. Early marriage opens up sexual activity at a time when girls body is still
developing. Her uterus is not yet developed to nurture a new life.
Sangkula-Jumaide added that early marriage also has other effects like depression and stressrelated disorders brought about by taking on massive responsibilities like marriage and childrearing at such a young age. 17
With the new FATWA, the United Nations Populations Fund and the Islamic Leaders have
acknowledged that there are risks involved in the early age marriages.

UNFPA Hails New Fatwa on Early Marriage, Gender and Youth, UNFPA Philippines,
available at http://www.unfpa.org.ph/index.php/news/268-unfpa-hails-new-fatwa-on-earlymarriage-gender-and-youth (last accessed October 19, 2016)
16

Ana Santos, [DASH of SAS] Muslim religious leaders affirm 'sublime status' of women,
Rappler, November 30, 2015, available at http://www.rappler.com/views/imho/114347-dash-sasmuslim-religious-leaders-women (last accessed October 19, 2016)
17

Divorce Rates
The Republic of Maldives which officially describes itself as 100 percent Muslim, is believed to
have the highest divorce rate in the world, at 10.97 divorces per 1,000 population in 2004. This is
in comparison than 4 per 1,000 for Guam, Belarus, Russia, and the United States, the countries
with the next four highest divorce rates in the same year. Also, most of the divorces are from the
early age marriages.18

Kotlikoff, J. and S. Burns, The Coming Generational Storm: What you Know about Americas
Economic Future, 2005
18