RELIGIOUS HEADS’ PERSPECTIVE TOWARDS THE ABOLITION

OF CHILD MARRIAGE :
A STUDY IN MALANG, EAST JAVA INDONESIA

By: Tutik Hamidah

tutikhamidah@uin-malang.ac.id
 BACKGROUND

1.Child marriage: 1 in 6 girls in Indonesia, stimulated by Law No. 1

of 1974, 7: 1
2.Marriage under-age child (18 years); violation of children's rights;
3.Efforts to revise the law are not successfull yet(Prameswari &
Agustin, 2018), because there is no support from ulema; The
Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and
Muhammadiyah has stated the objection to increase the age of
marriage to 18 years.
4.Limited research involving religious heads’ perspective towards
the abolition of child marriages along with the reasons, especially
in the affected regions.
 RESEARCH QUESTION
• How is the perspective of the KUA heads in Malang
City towards the abolition of child marriage; the
background of the occurrence of child marriage and
the strategy to eliminate child marriage.
• How is their understanding concerning to the values
of Islamic belief towards the abolition of child
marriage?
 METHODE

1.A qualitative single case study;

2.Primary data source is 5 Heads of KUA in Malang City
3.Secondary data is literature related with topic
4.Instrument : semi-structured interviews.
5.Analytical framework : Islamic Law in the Qur'an, Al-
Hadith and Fiqh related to marriage.
6.The method analysis: thematic analysis.
 Finding & Discussion
1. Ready to increase the age of marriage to 18 years, even 21 years. In
contrast to MUI, NU and Muhammadiyah; Still retained the article on
marriage dispensation.
2. Background : tradition, will of children, got pregnant out of wedlock ; in
accordance with the study conducted in the UK regarding forced marriage,
which concluded that forced marriage is a complex problem intertwined
among culture, religion, poverty and government policy (Chantler, Gangoli,
& Hester, 2009)
3. The age of marriage according to fiqh conveys a context of time and place.
Different situations and conditions can change the laws of fiqh. This
understanding is similar to the findings of researchers in the Fiqh of
Women with Insight into Gender Justice (Hamidah, 2011)
 CONCLUSION
1. Abolition of marriage children by revising the marriage law No.1 of
1974 is not difficult, since the community is ready; however must
be responded interactively by parents, teachers, religious leaders,
community leaders, health workers and population.
2. The article on marriage dispensation must be maintained, as a
preventive measure to avoid adultery.
3. This study indicates that religious leaders in Malang differed with
MUI, NU and Muhammadiyah scholars.
4. The results of the study are expected to be a reference to establish
a synergic program among community institutions to abolish child
marriages.