NU will propose amendment on Marriage Law

Jakarta, NU Online
General chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) KH Said Aqil Siroj said that Marriage Law having been in effect since the 1970s was no longer in line with the present circumstances, one of the requirements is that the minimum marriage age for girls is at 16 years old.<>

"We will propose an amendment of the (Marriage) Law, but first we will discuss the issue with problems solving deliberation (Bahtsul Masail) institutions," he said in a meeting with the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) chief Dr. Sudibyo, here on Tuesday (12/2).

One of the points proposed by the Indonesia's largest Muslim organization is proposing the minimum legal age for marriage for girls to be raised from 16 to 18.

In regard with the family planning (KB), Kiai Said expressed support for the program by involving all NU elements, especially clerics (kiai), so that the program could be accpected by the people.

Kiai Said explained that Imam Ghozali in his Ihya Ulumuddin approved the birth control due to a number of reasons. "First, it is due to health reason for both child and mother, never get too close to giving birth because it can disturb both sides."

"The second reason is education, whether it comes to a matter of intelligence or education costs that should be afforded by parents. The third is related to the benefit and welfare of the child," he said.

'Even Imam Ghazali also agreed to set the birth rate for the wife to remain sexy."

The arrival of the BKKBN chief is an attempt to establish communications and collaborations in the future. One of the collaborations is the establishment of reproductive health information center at Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) to provide a more comprehensive understanding to adolescents about reproductive health guidelines and tools.

Sudibyo on the occasion said the current birth rate of adolescents aged 15-19 years increased. All this, he added, due to the increase of out-of-wedlock births. Australian National University (ANU) in cooperation with the Center for Health Research, University of Indonesia (UI) in a research carried out in Jakarta, Tangerang and Bekasi (Jatabek), reported some 20.9 adolescents aged 17-24 years in the cities "got pregnant before marriage."

To help provide a better understanding of reproduction, BKKBN has formed the Center for Information and Counseling on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health in schools, universities and youth organizations.

Writer : Mukafi Niam
Editor : Sudarto Murtaufiq