In the majority of the countries, however, matters
pertaining to the major faiths and cultures of citi-
zens are formally regulated by separate, co-existing
systems of personal laws. These matters mainly
consist of the observation of religious rituals and
adherence to religious precepts. Most importantly
they include rules on marriage and divorce and
matters ancillary to these issues, such as mainte-
nance, inheritance, guardianship of children, adop-
tion, and the constitution and administration of
personal court systems.
Muslims form significant percentages of the pop-
ulation in many of the Southeast Asian countries.
Muslims constitute the majority population in
Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei. In countries where
Muslims are minorities, they have long histories of
practicing Islamic law and way of life. Historically,
governments of the day in these countries have
allowed Muslims to continue applying Islamic rules
and principles in many aspects of their private
transactions. Thus, Islamic law develops into an
important personal legal structure within many of
the Southeast Asian legal systems featuring it as a
distinct subset of legal pluralism in these countries.
In Malaysia, the mandatory prescription of
Islamic law to Muslims for specific personal and
family matters is constitutionally provided. The
provision delineates the specific powers and juris-
dictions of institutions to be charged with the legis-
lation and administration of Islamic law. It includes
a prohibition from interference by the ordinary
courts and the federal legislature. In Indonesia, the
Marriage Act (No. 1/1974) stipulates that a mar-
riage is legitimate when it is conducted within the
law of each of the parties’ religion and belief. For a
Muslim, the Compilation of Islamic Law provides
that such a marriage must be conducted in accor-
dance with Islamic law. Malaysia, Singapore,
Brunei, and the Philippines have formal Sharì≠a
court structures with jurisdictions and administra-
tions separate from the ordinary courts. In Thai-
land, the enforceability of Islamic law is less clear.
However, historical evidence shows that past gov-
ernments have positively included Islamic law as a
legitimate source of personal law for Muslims in
the southern areas of the country where Muslims
form the majority. The substance and structure of
Islamic law as historically developed in these areas
continue to prevail.
In many of the Southeast Asian countries, Islamic
law is interpreted to suit local situations. It is enacted
and codified through formal and contemporary
processes of legislation. In Malaysia, each of the 13
states and federal territories has its own body of
Islamic legislation that includes the Islamic Family
southeast asia 379Law Enactment and the Syariah Criminal Code. In
Singapore personal law matters for Muslims are
codified in the Administration of Muslim Law Act
1966, while in Brunei they are included in the Islamic
Council and Kadi’s Court Act (Term 77). Indonesia
collates Islamic rules and principles to be applied to
Muslims in its Compilation of Islamic Law. Muslim-
governed provinces in Mindanao, in the Philippines,
enforce the Muslim Code on Personal Law. Thai-
land regulates the prescription of Islamic law in a
Royal Decree of 1945, which gives discretion to the
Ministry of Internal Affairs to establish Islamic Com-
mittees, now known as the Islamic Councils, in
provinces with significant percentages of Muslims.
These councils advise the provinces’ Administrative
Committees on matters pertaining to Muslims.Muslim women and Islamic law
Muslim women within these regions are signifi-
cantly affected by the legal systems through their
encounters with the substantive and procedural
aspects of Islamic law as administered in the vari-
ous countries. Since the use of Islamic law is pre-
scribed mostly for matrimonial issues, women,
disproportionately, become plaintiffs in cases in-
volving divorce, maintenance, and guardianship of
children.
Within this region, it is accepted that Islamic
matrimonial law gives a husband a unilateral right
to pronounce a divorce. Such a pronouncement, in
effect, may be made at the husband’s behest.
Although a modern interpretation of Islamic law
enables the legislature to deem a pronouncement
outside of the Sharì≠a court a matrimonial offence,
such a pronouncement is rarely considered to inval-
idate the divorce. A woman, in contrast, is not
given similar freedom to dissolve her marriage.
This means that a woman who intends to separate
from her husband without his consent has to use
the court to apply for an order of a dissolution of
marriage. Similarly, if she disagrees with her hus-
band’s pronouncement of divorce, she must take
steps to contest it in court.
A husband is also the person vested with the
paramount responsibility for providing for the
financial and material maintenance of his wife and
children. When he fails to do this, and the wife has
no other means of support, it often falls on her to
seek redress in the court for herself and her chil-
dren. Women also, more often than men, have to
instigate court proceedings to settle issues relating
to the custody of their children in cases of separa-
tion and divorce. Since Islamic law in many of the
Southeast Asian countries stipulates that a father
shall have the legal guardianship of his children,