Polygamy without the shariah court's permission in malaysia: a socio-legal perspective

Raihanah Abdullah, (2007) Polygamy without the shariah court's permission in malaysia: a socio-legal perspective. Malaysian Journal of Social Administration, 4 . pp. 11-26. ISSN 1675-3925

Affiliations

University of Malaya, Academy of Islamic Studies, Dept. of Shariah and Law

Abstract

During the British colonial rule, several codified rules
pertaining to the Muslim family were introduced into the
country. As far as polygamy is concerned there was no single
procedure relating to polygamy at that time. The British merely stressed on the registration of marriage and Islamic law was made the basis of matters relating to marriage and divorce. However,in the early 1980s, Malaysia began to formulate and enforce Islamic family laws that were more detailed and comprehensive in comparison with any of the Islamic family laws enforced previously. Within this law, several procedures pertaining to polygamy were introduced, consequent to various problems faced by Muslim women as a result of polygamous marriages. The procedures were to control the practice of polygamous marriages so that the practice can no longer be carried out at will and to ensure that only those who are qualified to do so are allowed by the court to practice polygamy. New provisions introduced in the Islamic Family Law Enactment empower the court to approve each polygamy application and to impart punishment on husbands who contract another marriage without prior
permission from the Shariah courts.

Item Type:

Journal

Keywords:

Polygamy, Shariah courts, Marriage, Islamic law

Subjects:

H Social Sciences, Economics, Sociology

ID Code:

10384