KOTA BARU: About 10,000 Malaysian couples have tied the knot at the Narathiwat religious office in the past five years, with more than half being from the east coast states.
This was revealed by Narathiwat Islamic Council deputy president Abdul Aziz Che Mamat in a recent interview with the New Straits Times.
Abdul Aziz said they included those who eloped to the southern Thai province after failing to get their parent's approval.
"Since 2020, the council has recorded nearly 10,000 Malaysian couples who have come to our office to get married," he said.
"They were from several states in Malaysia, but up to 50 per cent of them were from Kelantan and Terengganu.
"The rest were from other regions, like Kuala Lumpur, Melaka and Selangor."
He said council records also showed that a majority of the men travelled to Narathiwat to take a second wife or to practise polygamy.
"There are cases where Malaysian couples, particularly young people, chose to tie the knot by eloping to Thailand.
"These couples could not get approval from their parents and we normally use a 'wali hakim'."
On the number of "problematic couples" who tied knot with the council, Abdul Aziz said 80 per cent of them fell into this category.
"Some of them wish to marry widows, but these widows did not bring their divorce certificates or the death certificates of their late spouses. Some women were even pregnant out of wedlock.
"In these cases, we will find the best solution to resolve the couple's issues according to islamic law."
The Narathiwat Religious Council is popular among couples from Kelantan and neighbouring states, as the province is located about 60km from the Kelantan-Thai border in Rantau Panjang.
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From: Mimi