Only Selangor, Kedah have set minimum marriage age for Muslims at 18, says Nancy

 The women, family and community development minister says they are working to standardise the minimum marriage age nationwide.

Women, family and community development minister Nancy Shukri said a total of 1,361 underage marriages were recorded in 2024, compared with 923 in 2023 and 1,467 in 2019.

PETALING JAYA:

Only Selangor and Kedah have amended their laws to set the minimum marriage age for Muslims at 18, while similar amendments in other states are still subject to deliberation and legislative processes, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Women, family and community development minister Nancy Shukri said her ministry would continue working closely with state governments to standardise the minimum marriage age at 18 nationwide.

Nancy said the initiative required engagement with state religious authorities, relevant agencies and stakeholders, as matters relating to Islamic family law fall under state jurisdiction.

“We are trying to achieve uniformity nationwide, but since marriage matters fall under state jurisdiction, we will make every effort to ensure all states work together with the federal government and agree on how to address underage marriage.

“The ministry has been highlighting the risks associated with underage marriage, particularly the impact on children’s education, health, safety and future opportunities, during engagement sessions with state governments,” Bernama quoted her as saying during the question-and-answer session today.

She was responding to a supplementary question from Siti Zailah Yusoff (PN-Rantau Panjang) on the progress of the National Strategic Plan to Address the Causes of Underage Marriage (2020-2025) and efforts to standardise the minimum legal marriage age nationwide.

Nancy said a total of 1,361 underage marriages were recorded in 2024, compared with 923 in 2023 and 1,467 in 2019. The figures cover marriages registered under civil, shariah and customary laws.

However, she said the increase in recorded cases from 2023 to 2024 was partly due to more systematic data collection in Sarawak.

She said two studies were expected to be completed by early 2027 – one assessing the effectiveness of the national strategic plan, and the other examining risk factors and prevention strategies for underage marriage.

The findings of both studies would be used to identify implementation gaps and determine more targeted, evidence-based follow-up measures. - FMT