The Minimum of Marriageable Age in Maqāsid al-Sharia and

Psychological Perspectives

Zaenul Mahmudi

and Khalimatus Sa’diyah

Department of Al Ahwal Al Syakhshiyyah, Sharia Faculty, Universitas Islam Negeri Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang,

Indonesia

Department of Psikologi Islam, Faculty of Ushuluddin, Adab dan Dakwah, Institut Agama Islam Negeri Tulungagung,

Indonesia

Keywords: marriageable age, maqasid al-shariah, children rights, psychology.

Abstract: The minimum of marriageable age becomes an interesting topic in Indonesia. As the most populous Muslim

country, Indonesia should exert the Islamic teaching in the case. Aisha, the Prophet Muhammad's wife, get

married to the Prophet when she was six and consummate to him when she was nine. The Indonesian

government, as a member of the United Nations (UN), should follow and ratify the UN treaties that prohibited

the child marriage. This study employs conceptual and statute approach to examine the problem of

marriageable age based on maqasid al-shariah and psychological perspectives. The results of this study are:

(1) Islamic law does not decide the minimum age to get married to the bride and the groom. The Quran

conditions for the bride and the groom to have, at least, a rushd quality to get married. (2) Based on the

maqasid al-shariah and psychological perspectives, the minimum of marriageable age, 16 years and 19 years

for the bride and the groom respectively should be preserved but the bride who got married in 16 years was

still the child who should be under the protection of her parents.

1 INTRODUCTION

The child marriage age of the first marriage

contributed to the stability of marriage, especially for

women. However, the research results found by

Lehrer and Jeong Son indicated that the marriage

union was influenced by the ethnicity of the marriage

parties besides the age. The study done in America

found that the females’ age 30-32 decreased the

probability of divorce for non-Hispanic white women

and for the black women their instability decrease in

24-26 whereas for the Hispanic wives’ ages 20-23,

their household unsteadiness tended to decrease.

(Lehrer and Son, 2017) Therefore, the age of the bride

and the groom should be stipulated to decrease the

level of divorce besides to fall the rate of the mortality

of the mother. (Anjarwati, 2017); (Marphatia et al.,

2017) Their age should be increased to promote

economic empowerment, (Yount et al., 2018) and

educational achievement, especially for women.

(Mohammad Mainul Islam, Md. Kamrul Islam,

Mohammad Sazzad Hasan, And Md. Aminul Haque,

2016)

The minimum of the nubile age is contentious

provisions that the Muslim countries vary in deciding

the age for the bride and the groom. The countries

stipulated the age for early marriage below 18 years

for boys were Lebanon 13, Iran 15, and Kuwait 17

while for the girls: Lebanon 9, Iran 13, and Kuwait

15. (Arthur et al., 2018) The differences of these

provisions might be influenced by their diverse

understanding pertaining to Aisha’s marriage in 6 and

her consummation in 9. However, the child marriage

under 18 was prohibited by the United Nations (UN)

as was stipulated in article 16 (2) of the Convention

on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination

against Women (CEDAW).

The minimum of marriageable age prescribed by

the Indonesian law number 1/1974 is 16 years and 19

years for the bride and the groom respectively. The

provision of the minimum age was stipulated in 1974

when their maturities had been reached in these years

by the bride and the groom. The maturity is an

important quality for the bride and the groom to enter

the marriage life.

The contemporary cultural and social change,

influenced by globalization and the development of

information technology, alters the time of the

Mahmudi, Z. and Sa’diyah, K.

The Minimum of Marriageable Age in Maq

asid al-Sharia and Psychological Perspectives.

DOI: 10.5220/0009924711891195

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Recent Innovations (ICRI 2018), pages 1189-1195

ISBN: 978-989-758-458-9

1189

maturity. The maturity of reason tends to delay while

the maturity of sex tends to predate.

The minimum of marriageable age, the orthodox

Muslim jurists exerted the concept of balīgh as for

women and men are nine and fifteen respectively. The

concept was used for sexual maturity than the

intellectual one. The meaning of balīgh is used as the

sign for Muslim to be liable for his deeds before

Allah.

The marriage is not only purposed for

reproductive objection but also for preserving

harmonious family and establishing the new

generation ready to be Allah’s vicegerents in the

world that do not come but from the harmonious

family fulfilled with caring, respecting, and loving

among husband, wife and their children. Therefore,

the minimum of marriageable age should regard the

objectives of establishing family those are not merely

for reproductive objectives.

2 METHODS

The method used in the research employs

hermeneutic analysis to understand the Quranic

verses and hadith concerning with marriageable age

interpreted by Interpreters as well as the legal

reasoning concluded by Muslim jurists. These two

sources of Islam are regarded as one system

strengthening each other. This analysis sees that their

interpretation of the Quran and hadith and their

conclusion as well are not independent but depends

on their knowledge backgrounds, circumstances and

the people they faced. The research utilizes maqāṣid

al-sharī‘ah and psychological perspective as tools

analysis to solve the problems of the marital age. The

first examines the minimum age of the bride and the

groom based on multi-dimensions perspectives, not

only from the Quranic and hadith teachings but also

from the principle of justice and human rights and

psychological views as well. The second analyzes the

age of maturity as a pre-requisite for marriage. The

maturity of mind, psyche, and physical body should

be reached by the bride and groom to enter an ideal

marriage. The age of maturity to get married is

important according to maqasid al-sharī‘ah and

psychological perspectives to revise the age for the

bride and the groom to get married.

3 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

3.1 The Objectives of Marriage based

on Quran and Hadith

The Quran ordains the marriage in many verses,

among them are mentioned in al-Rūm: 21 as follow

ـﻴ

ـﺑ

ﻞ

ﻌ

ﺟ

و ﺎ

ﻬ

ـﻴ

ﻟ

إ اﻮ

ﻨ

ﻜ

ﺴ

ﺘ

ﱢ

ﻟ

ﺎﺟا

ﻢ

ﻜ

ﺴ

ﻔﻧ

ﻦ

ﱢ

ﻣ ﻢ

ﻜ

ﻟ

ﻖ

ﻠ

ﺧ

ﻪ

ﺗﺎ

ﻳآ

ﻦ

ﻣ

ﱠ

ﻮ

ﱠ

ﻣ ﻢ

ﻜ

ﻨ

نو

ﺮ

ﱠ

ﻜ

ﻔ

ـﺘ

ـﻳ

ﻮ

ﻘ

ﱢ

ﻟ

تﺎ

ﻳ

ﻵ

ﻚ

ﻟ

ﰲ

ﱠ

ﺔ

ﲪ

“And among His Signs is this, that He created

wives for you from among yourselves, that you

may find tranquillity in them, and He has put

between you affection and mercy. Verily, in that

are indeed signs for people who reflect.

Based on the verse, there are three objectives of

marriage, namely tranquility, affection, and mercy in

the marriage and family. The tranquility means that

marriage should guarantee that husband and wife to

give tranquility and peacefulness to each other as well

as to their children. The affection should color their

conjugal life that husband and wife have an

interchangeable fondness for each other. The mercy

of marriage and family means that husband, and wife

should have a mutual feeling and compassionate to

each other.

However, based on the text of the verse the

majority of Quranic interpreters said that the

obligation of establishing tranquility, affection as well

as mercy is not mutual obligation between husband

and wife rather they are the responsibility of men than

the liability of women as was said by Aḥmad Mustafa

al-Maraghi (d. 1945) in his Ta fsīr al-Marāghī.

However,

Muḥammad Ṭāhir ibn ‘Ashūr (d. 1973)

contended that these responsibilities are equally

shouldered by husband and wife. He argued that the

word “lakum” in this verse consists of both male and

female as the word “azwāj” does not mean only as

single-sex but to the husband as well as a wife.

Additionally, he reasoned that the verse is the rule of

procreation ordained by Allah for human beings to

differentiate from that of animals. (Muḥammad Ṭāhir,

1984, p. 71)

The objective of marriage as procreation is

emphasized by Hadith as follows.

ﻓ ،اﻮ

ﺟ

ﱠ

ﺰ

ـﺗ

و ،

ﱢ

ﲏ

ﻣ

ﺲ

ﻴ

ﻠ

ـﻓ

ﱵﱠﻨ

ﺴ

ﺑ

ﻞ

ﻤ

ﻌ

ـﻳ

ﱂ

ﻦ

ﻤ

ﻓ ،

ﱵﱠﻨ

ﺳ

ﻦ

ﻣ

حﺎ

ﻜ

ﱢ

ﻨﻟا

ﺮ

ﺛﺎ

ﻜ

ﻣ

ﱢ

ﱐ

ﺈ

ﻮ

ﻃ ا

نﺎ

ﻛ

ﻦ

ﻣ

و ،

ﻢ

ﻣ

ﻷا

ﻢ

ﻜ

ﺑ

ﻪ

ﻴ

ﻠ

ﻌ

ـﻓ

ﺪ

ﳚ

ﱂ

ﻦ

ﻣ

و ،

ﺢ

ﻜ

ﻨ

ـﻴ

ﻠ

ـﻓ

ﱠ

ﺈ

ﻓ ،

مﺎ

ﻴ

ﱢ

ﺼﻟﺎ

ءﺎ

ﺟ

ﻪ

ﻟ

ﻮ

ﱠ

ﺼﻟا

The marriage is one of my recommendations.

Whoever does not practice my recommendation

is not my faction. Get marriage! Because I am

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in the contest upon you among prophets to have

considerable people. Whoever has an extension

please to get married and whoever does not to

take fast because the fasting is a shield for him.

(Ibn Mājah, 1406, p. 321)

Based on the hadith, procreation of human beings

is needed to make large people and to strengthen

Muhammad's people among prophets’ people.

Therefore, Muhammad enjoined his people who have

enough properties to marry and to procreate or to take

fast if he does not.

3.2 The Minimum of Marriageable Age

in Islamic Law

The minimum of age that the bride and groom can

make a contract of marriage, there is no provisions

exactly decide it. However, there is hadith chained

from Aisha says that Aisha got married to the prophet

Muhammad when she was only six and consummated

to him when she was nine.

ﰊ

ﲎ

ـﺑ

و ،

ﲔ

ﻨ

ﺳ

ﱢ

ﺖ

ﺴ

ﻟ

ﻢ

ﱠ

ﻠ

ﺳ

ﻪ

ﻴ

ﻠ

ﻋ

ﷲا ﻰ

ﱠ

ﻠ

ﺻ

ﷲا

لﻮ

ﺳ

ﲏ

ﺟ

ﱠ

ﺰ

ـﺗ

ﲔ

ﻨ

ﺳ

ﻊ

ﺴ

ﺗ

ﺖ

ﻨ

ﺑ ﺎ

ﻧ

“The prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him

(p.b.u.h.), got married me when I was six and

consummated to me when I was nine” (Naishabūrī

al-, 1987, p. 206).

The marriage of the Prophet p.b.u.h. to Aisha

when she was child stirred heat debate among Muslim

scholars from historians, Quranic interpreters to

jurists. There were many opinions concerning the age

of Aisha when the Prophet married her from six,

sixteen, seventeen to eighteen. The opinions of her

age other than six based on the age of Asma bint Abū

Bakr, the elder sister of Aisha who was ten years older

than Aisha. (Ghafīlī al-, 2011, pp. 391–402) They also

based their opinion on that the hadith was transmitted

by a weak memorization of the transmitter, Hishām

ibn ‘Urwah ibn Zubair. Based on the hadith, Bowden

concluded that the Aisha’ in the consummation of

marriage had reached the age of maturity as the

prerequisite for having a marital relation. (Bowden,

2013)

The differences of opinions concerning the nubile

marriage are a common feature and a dynamics of

Islamic law. However, we should comprehend that the

hadith does not enjoin the people to do so. The order

on marriage given by the prophet is to teenagers as

concluded from his statement as follows:

ﺼ

ﺒ

ﻠ

ﻟ

ﱡ

ﺾ

ﻏ

ﻪ

ﱠ

ﻧ

ﺈ

ﻓ ،

ﱠ

ﺰ

ـﺘ

ﻴ

ﻠ

ـﻓ

ءﺎ

ﺒﻟا

عﺎ

ﻄ

ﺘ

ﺳا

ﻦ

ﻣ ،

بﺎ

ﺒ

ﱠ

ﺸﻟا

ﺮ

ﺸ

ﻌ

ﻣ ﺎ

ﻳ

ﻦ

ﺼ

ﺣ

ﺮ

ءﺎ

ﺟ

ﻪ

ﻟ

ﻪ

ﱠ

ﻧ

ﺈ

ﻓ

ﻮ

ﱠ

ﺼﻟﺎ

ﺑ

ﻪ

ﻴ

ﻠ

ﻌ

ـﻓ

ﻊ

ﻄ

ﺘ

ﺴ

ﻳ

ﱂ

ﻦ

ﻣ

و ،

ﺮ

ﻔ

ﻠ

ﻟ

"O you the group of teenagers, whoever has the

capability to marry, please marry because the

marriage can cast down the look and can fortify

the sexuality and whoever has no capability to

marry, they should take a fasting because the

fasting becomes a shield for him" (Ghafīlī al-,

2011, p. 355)

The hadith indicates that the order for marriage is not

to the age of someone but given to whoever attach and

become teenagers.

The teenager in psychological terminology is

called adolescence. The adolescence is a period

ranging from puberty to maturity. (Bhatia, 2009, p.

11) It is hard to define as to what age the adolescents

have. However, some psychologists decide that their

ages are between 10 and 19 and others say they are

between 11 to 22, but among them say that they are

between 13 and 30. It can be said that adolescents are

they who are no longer children but are not yet adults.

There are many changes within the individual,

whether physically, cognitively, or socially. The

physical change is interrelated with puberty, the

cognitive change associated with intellectual

competence, and social change, related to exchange of

focus to more on peer orientation. (Moshman, 2005,

p. xx) The change of the adolescents differs from one

to another, from villagers to others, and from country

citizens to others. There are many factors influencing

the changes in the individuals from food, hormone,

civility to religiosity.

Therefore, the term teenager or adolescent we

cannot decide exactly to the age of individuals but to

the physical, cognitive, and social transformation of

such individuals. The Quran contends that the

precondition of marriage is when someone

cognitively attains, at least, the full legal age as

mentioned in al-Nisā’: 6 as follows:

دﺎ

ﻓ

اﺪ

ﺷ

ﻢ

ﻬ

ـﻨ

ﱢ

ﻣ ﻢ

ﺘ

ﺴ

ﻧآ

ﺈ

ﻓ

حﺎ

ﻜ

ﱢ

ﻨﻟا

اﻮ

ﻐ

ﻠ

ـﺑ ا

ﱠ

ﱴ

ﺣ ﻰ

ﻣﺎ

ﺘ

ﻴ

ﻟا

اﻮ

ﻠ

ـﺘ

ـﺑا

ﻢ

ﻬ

ﻴ

ﻟ

اﻮ

ﻌ

ـﻓ

ﻢ

ﳍا

ﻮ

ﻣ

“And examine the capabilities of the orphans until

they attain a marriageable age, then if you see in

them sound judgment, devote their properties to

them”

The verse indicates that the key to enter the

marriage is at least when someone has rushd potency.

It is understandable from the verse that the property

contract the Quran requires the parties to have rushd

potency, how about the marriage contract consisting

also property contract between the spouse.

The word rushd has many meanings like the integrity

of one’s action, sensible conduct; reason, good sense,

senses; consciousness; and maturity of the mind while

sinn al-rushd means full legal age. (Wehr and Cowan,

1976, p. 341) The rushd potency is obtained after

The Minimum of Marriageable Age in Maq

asid al-Sharia and Psychological Perspectives

1191

individuals attain the puberty. (Bowden, 2013) The

rushd quality should be promoted as a requirement for

everyone to enter the marriage. The age of rushd

should replace the bāligh requirement of the marriage

passed by Muslim jurists because the baligh tends on

physical and sexual potency than the cognitive and

social potency of the parties.

3.3 The Minimum of Marriageable Age

in Indonesian Law

The Indonesian government, one of the states

ratified UN treaties, should exert the CEDAW,

especially article 19 (2) as follows:

“The betrothal and the marriage of a child shall

have no legal effect, and all necessary actions,

including legislation, shall be taken to specify a

minimum age for marriage and to make the

registration of marriages in an official registry

compulsory”.(The United Nations, 1979)

The child marriage was prohibited by the UN as the

marriage abused the children’s rights. There are many

rights disappear because of the marriage, for

instances, education, playing, and living with their

families.

The Indonesian government issued the law

number 35/2014 in Liu to the law number 23/2002

concerning the protection of the children’s rights. The

article 16 (1) point c said:

“The parents have obligation and responsibility

to prevent the marriage in child age”.(The Law

of Indonesia Number 35/2014, n.d.)

The individual is called a child if his or her age is

under 18 years (The Law of Indonesia Number

35/2014, n.d., p. article 1) as was ordained by the

United Nations. (The United Nations, 1989, p. Article

1). If the law of Indonesia ordained the minimum

marriageable age 16 for the bride as was stipulated in

the law of marriage (The law of Indonesia number

1/1974, n.d., p. Article 7 (1)) and the compilation of

Islamic law, (Indonesian Presidential Instruction

number 1/1991, n.d., p. Article 15 (1)) the provision

is against the UN’s provision and the other Indonesian

laws.

The prohibition of marriage for individuals under

18 years is assumed that the individuals under the age

do not have the maturity, whether sexual, physical,

and rational to enter the marriage lives since the

qualities are the requirement for the men and women

to face various problems across the family life. Such

qualities, the Quran termed as rushd quality.

The rushd potency of the marriage parties differs

from countries to countries and also differs between a

bride and a groom. In 1974, Indonesian Government

passed the law concerning the marriage as the article

7 (1) stipulates that “the marriage is allowed if the

groom has attained 19 years old while the bride has

attained 16 years old."[10] The age stipulated under

the law of marriage was a compromise between the

two extreme parties. The committee of NTR

(Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage) backed by

Ulama, firstly, proposed the groom, and the bride

should be 18 and 15 years old respectively while the

member of parliament and KOWANI proposed the

minimum of marriageable age is 21 years for the male

and 18 years for the female.

The age of 19 years and 16 years as the

requirements for the groom and the bride respectively

to enter the marriage is in line with the circumstances

and the condition of Indonesian people. The men of

19 years old had discovered the potencies needed to

enter the marriage. They also had experienced

physical, cognitive, and social changes in their body

and life. The women of 16 years old had obtained the

potencies and had experienced the changes as well as

of those of the men.

The potencies needed for the marriage are fixed

requirements that prevail throughout times and

spaces. However, when the marriage parties attain and

obtain such potencies differs from times to times and

places to places. Because of the globalization and the

social and cultural transformation, the minimum of

marriageable age for the groom and the bride had

been contested recently.

Many organizations that are active in protecting

the mothers and the children such as SCN (Semerlak

Cerlang Nusantara), MAGENTA (Masyarakat untuk

Keadilan Gender dan Antar Generasi), KPI (Koalisi

Perempuan Indonesia), and YPH (Yayasan Pemantau

Hak Anak) perceived that the minimum age for

marriage parties ordained in the law no.1/1974 is not

compatible anymore with the social and

psychological transformation of the youth. Therefore,

they had filled the case to the ICC and proposed to

increase the minimum of marriageable age from 19

and 16 to 19 and 18 for the groom and the bride

respectively. However, their case was finally nullified

by the ICC in the decree number 30-74/PUU-

XII/2014.(The Indonesian Constitutional Court

Number 30-74/PUU-XII/2014, n.d.)

The nullification of the case leaves behind the

problems that may be experienced by the children

who perform an early marriage performed by the

parties under 18 years. There are many impacts may

occur towards pregnant mothers under 18 years and

their babies as follows: a) a premature childbirth, b) a

physical defect of the babies, c) an underweight baby,

d) an anemia mother, e) a bloody child-birthing, f) the

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mothers experiencing eclampsia during pregnancy, g)

an increasing of depressive mothers, h) an increasing

of death rates of mothers, i) an increasing of cervical

cancer of mothers, and j) a risk for the mothers to be

infected by sexual disease. (The Indonesian

Constitutional Court Number 30-74/PUU-XII/2014,

n.d.)

3.4 The Ideal of Marriageable Age in

Maqāsid al-Shariah and

Psychological Perspectives

The maqāsid al-sharia is the objectives of sharia,

the provisions stipulated by Allah and the Prophet

Muhammad in the Quran and hadith. The maqāṣid

formulated by the orthodox Muslim scholars cannot

dissolve contemporary problems without adding the

element regarded necessaries (ḍarūrī). (Ibrahim,

2014). The maqāṣid, as one of Islamic

epistemologies, should not be locked on seventh

century or era of the formulation of Islamic

jurisprudence because it will restrain the dynamism

and universality of the Quran. (Abou El Fadl, 2015)

Jasser Auda, a modern Muslim jurist, developed the

concept of maqāsid al-sharia. He divided it into three

categories, general, specific, and partial maqāsid. The

general is the highest level that is concluded from the

whole Islamic teachings of the Quran and the hadith.

It consists of three levels, necessities (ḍarūrī), needs

(ḥājjī), and goodness (tahsīnī). In addition, he puts the

principle of justice and facilitation in this category.

The specific is the objectives observed from a certain

chapter of Islamic law, for instance, marriage

(munākaḥah), law of inheritance (mawārīth), and

politics (siyāsah). And the partial is observed from the

intent of particular rulings like praying (ṣalāh) and

fasting (ṣawm). (Auda, 2008, p. 5)

The principle of justice and facilitation, Auda

included in the general maqāsid was inspired by Ibn

Qayyim al-Jawziyah who said:

The cornerstone and basis of sharia are grounded

on the wisdom and benefit of the people in this

world and hereafter. Sharia is all about justice

and people wellbeing. Every rule deviates from

justice to injustice, from mercy to its opposite,

from welfare to evil, and from soundness to

uselessness are not sharia. (Ibn al-Qayyim al-

Jawziyyah, 1423, p. 337)

Additionally, Auda proposed a system as an approach

that is consisting of purposefulness, cognition,

holism, multi-dimensionality, and openness to

analyze a certain provision of Islamic law. (Auda,

2008, p. 192) He also proposed to take into account

the opinions of Muslim jurists, the legal sources,

linguistic analysis of the sources, a method of judicial

reasoning, culture, history, location, and time when

examining contemporary cases.

There are three methods of legal reasoning for

resolving the contemporary problems: (1) to

differentiate the texts as the means (

wasā’il) and the

ends (ahdāf), (2) to exert a multi-dimensional

approach to harmonize of opposing proofs, and (3) to

take the principle of universality of sharia and observe

the cultures and customs in its implementation.

(Auda, 2011)

The marriage is a partial maqāsid as it is ordained

by particular provisions of the Quran and hadith.

However, the provisions cannot contradict against the

general objectives of sharia namely justice,

facilitation, and people’s welfare. The objectives of

marriage, among them, are to establish the family

fulfilled with tranquility, affection, and mercy among

the members.

The harmonious family cannot be reached by the

marriage parties who do not have rushd quality. This

quality should be reached for an individual to make a

contract of property as was contended in al-Rūm: 21.

The marriage as a contract not only on the property

but also human and familial contracts should have

prerequisite more than this quality. Therefore, the

rushd is a minimal requirement for the bride and the

groom to enter the marriage. The maturity of reason

also becomes a requirement to complement each other

in the familial life since husband and wife are united

in one as was mentioned in al-Baqarah: 187 (the wives

are the garments for you, and you are the garment for

them). The function of each party as the garment to

cover and compliment the defections of each other

cannot be achieved if the marriage parties do not have

the maturity of reason, psyche, and physical anatomy

as well. The conjugal partners need commitment

sharing to endure their marital relationship. (Rozario,

2012)

The objective of the marriage, among others, is to

establish marital satisfaction and wellbeing in the

family. (Margelisch et al., 2017) The husband and

wife should give a satisfied-relation to each other. It

cannot be done by the child spouse who does not have

mature reason and vulnerable for high risk by their

intimate mates. (McFarlane et al., 2016) Marital

harmony, according to marriage counselors and

therapists, depends on the maturity of the spouses.

(Chettiar, 2015) Therefore, the maturity of the marital

parties’ minds is the required element for the bride and

the groom to accomplish the goals.

In the psychological perspectives, the human’s

maturity of the reason is reached completely when

they are in the adolescent age. In this age, they have

The Minimum of Marriageable Age in Maq

asid al-Sharia and Psychological Perspectives

1193

maturity in intellect, physic, hormone, and social.

However, there are many factors influence the

individual’s maturity, among others, are age, sex, and

nutrition. (Sharma et al., 2013) The maturity of the

human brain should regard brain functional activity,

functional connectivity and interrelation between

brain structure, function, and network organization of

the brain. (Somerville, 2016) The adolescent age of

human spans from 10 years to 24 years but the

complete maturity is gained at the age of 25 years old.

The adolescence is an epoch between the childhood

and adulthood. This epoch is signed with the changes,

the individual experienced in his or her life.

The ideal age of the marriage is when the marriage

parties attain the complete maturity, namely 25 years

old. However, this age hard to be accomplished in the

Indonesian context since the law number 1974

stipulated minimum age of marriage is 16 years and

19 years for the bride and the groom respectively.

Even, the low-legal age to enter the marriage can be

decreased by means a legal exception or marriage

dispense filled in the civil or religious court, and this

legal procedure becomes an emergency exit for the

brides who have a pregnancy before the legitimate

marriage.

4 CONCLUSION

The minimum of the marriageable age is a

complicated problem that is should be solved by the

Indonesian government. Based on the discussion, it

can be concluded that Islam does not decide the

minimum of the marriageable age. However, Islam

provisioned two qualities to be met, namely the

shabāb (the adult/adolescence) and the rushd. The

first tends to physical maturity while the second tends

to psychological and social maturities. Pre-requisites

for the marriage parties to solemnize their marital

contract. These two potencies must be concluded by

the Indonesian government as the characteristics for

issuing the minimum age to marry.

The minimum of nubile age as was issued in

the law number 1/1974 is 19 and 16 for the groom and

the bride respectively. Although the allowed age for a

female is 16 years, there were thousands of legal

exceptions (dispensasi kawin) filled before the

religious and civil courts of Indonesia for many

reasons, mostly because of the illegitimate pregnancy.

There are contentious problems concerning with the

stipulation of the minimum age of marriage, namely

(1) if a minimum of marriageable age for the bride is

increased to 18 to meet the child protection law No.

35/2004, it can trigger the increasing number of

adultery and illegal conjugal relation, and (2) if a

minimum age to marry is decreased below 19 and 16,

it can prompt to increasing number of divorce

because of the immaturity of marital parties

physically, psychologically, and socially. Therefore,

the stipulation of a minimum of marriageable age

should be based on maqāṣid al-sharia and

psychological perspectives. The objectives of

marriage are to maintain harmony, tranquility, love,

and care family. The marital parties to attain these

goals should have two qualities; the shabāb and the

rushd. These two potencies, according to

psychological perspectives, are concerning with the

maturity of the parties physically, mindfully, socially,

and psychologically as well. Therefore, if the men

and women contracted their marriage before 18 years,

they were should be still under their parents’

protection because they are still children and should

be under the auspices of their mother and father.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The article cannot be finished without the help and

guidance of Allah, al-ḥamdulillāh. Many thanks go to

the Rector and the vice-rectors, I, II, III and the

Director of Postgraduate of Universitas Islam Negeri

Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang, who have supported

the lectures to publish their thoughts internationally.

The gratitude, I extend also to the head of the

University library, Mas Faiz, who guided me to use

the modern tool to carry out an online research.

Last but not least, many thanks, I devote to my

family who supported me to upgrade and to

disseminate my knowledge broadly at the

international level. In addition, my family is an oasis

for my tired academic journey. Wallāhu A‘lam bi al-

Ṣawāb.

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