PETALING JAYA: The Registrar of Marriage, Divorce and Ruju’ has the jurisdiction to reject the marriage registration of a 41-year-old man to an 11-year-old girl in Malaysia despite it being registered in Thailand, said lawyers.

Syariah lawyer Nizam Bashir said that while orthodox theological views affirmed the validity of a marriage with a minor, many progressive theological views denounced such marriages.

“Unlike the ibadah (religious rituals), the issue is not necessarily cast in stone. It pays to ask whether in this day and age, we ought to support child marriages,” he said in an interview.

Nizam was responding to Women, Family and Community Develop-ment Minister Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail who said on Tuesday that the marriage was recognised from the perspec­tive of Islamic laws (hukum), but not from the legal perspective.

She also urged the Syariah court judge in Kelantan to help steer away from child marriages.

Asked if the Registrar could choose not to recognise a marriage in another country, Nizam said Section 11, Part II Marriage, of the Islamic Family Law Enactment (Kelantan) 2002 states that a marriage is void unless all conditions are fulfilled.

Anyone can institute proceedings to determine whether the marriage is valid or otherwise, including the Registrar of Marriage, Divorce and Ruju’, he said.

However, Nizam said if the marriage is not registered, the girl’s interest may be at risk, such as the issuance of a ta’liq (conditional divorce) certificate affirming her rights if she wants to divorce, filing a suit to establish her rights to maintenance and matrimonial property, which would ordinarily subsist where a marriage is registered.

Syariah lawyer for the Federal Territories Fahri Azzat said the marriage still needs to be registered before they are treated as husband and wife in Malaysia.

He said that it is possible that the Kelantan Syariah court may decide not to register the marriage.

“Then, the couple may have to remarry and seek the judge’s approval,” he added.

However, before the marriage is registered, the syariah Registrar would verify the akad nikah (solemnisation of marriage) process in Thailand to ensure it was properly implemented. For instance, it must have a ceremony where the bride was given away by the father or a valid wali (custodian), he said.

Fahri said syariah judges could make a judicial policy to disallow the marriage application unless there are special circumstances.

He added a long-lasting move is to institute an Act of Parliament that no one under a certain age can be married.