ALOR STAR: Kedah government today urged PKR Wanita chief Zuraida Kamaruddin and Sisters in Islam (SIS) to seek clarification on the move to facilitate the legalisation of marriages that are solemnised outside the country before turning the matter into a polemic.
In expressing his regret over the parties’ actions to criticise the move without fully understanding the reason behind the ‘amensty’ initiative, Kedah Islamic Religious Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Rawi Abd Hamid advised them to get a clearer picture on the issue.
Mohd Rawi said it was unbecoming for the Zuraida, who is also Ampang MP and SIS to mislead the public by making statements on the matter without understanding the root of the issue.
“They are suggesting that the move Kedah government is encouraging, to the extent of endorsing polygamous marriage (without the consent of the first or senior wives), which contradicts the Kedah Islamic Family Enactment under the state Syariah Enactment.
“Unfortunately, their statements on the matter have gone viral, causing confusion among the public,” he said in a statement today.
Mohd Rawi explained that the move to introduce the ‘amnesty’ programme was meant to protect the welfare of the wives concerned and to prevent their children from ending up being stateless.
“We decided to come up with the initiative following grouses raised by many people in Kedah since the state is located near the southern Thai.
The matter was not only raised by those women who were married as second or subsequent wives but also those married for the first time and also local men who are married to foreign women.
“The couples did not register their marriage with the local Islamic authority so their children have become stateless. Some of these Innocent children are not attending schools because they do not have birth certificates while the women are not eligible for any rights in the marriage,” he said.
As such, Mohd Rawi said the move was clearly meant to the provide justice for these women and their children, instead of denying the rights of the first wife or current wives.
“Zuraida and SIS claim that they are championing the rights of women in polygamous marriage but as responsible parties, I am asking them whether they are being fair to the innocent children and also women who were duped into entering polygamous marriage by some irresponsible men.
“They may politicise or turn the issue into a polemic but we are trying to find solutions here. It is unlucky that they are suggesting that that the Kedah government is allowing men to take more wives without the consent of first or senior wives,” he said.
He stressed that the state government had decided to do something to resolve the issue before things got out of hand as there are thousands of such cases in Kedah and across the country.
Zuraida, who was reported as speaking on behalf of Pakatan Harapan, reminded the Kedah government that the cross border marriage legalisation should be done in accordance to the country’s syariah law.
She stressed that one of the requirements stated that a syariah judge should decide whether a Muslim man could afford to support more than one wife and the children.
SIS was reported as claiming that the Kedah government move was sending a message that a man would not be committing a serious offence if he took a second, third or fourth wife without the permission of the first or senior wives.
The Muslim women’s rights group also lamented that the move would encouraged dishonesty and injustice towards the first wife.