State must not interfere in interfaith marriages: Experts
State must not interfere in interfaith marriages: Experts
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Demand for an end to the ban on interreligious marriages in
the country remerged, with a woman activist calling the ban state
intervention in its citizens personal affairs.
"Interfaith marriage is a decision made by people who know
what they should do with their lives, so it's not something that
should be decided by the state. The state cannot be allowed to
impose its way of thinking on its citizens," said Ade Kusuma
Ningtyas of the Rahima Center for Education and Information on
Islamic and Women Rights Issues.
She stressed that choices have to be made available for those
who want to marry someone of a different religion, by providing
them a complete explanation on the impact it will bring.
"Marriage is a personal choice, as is religion. Religious
authorities and the state should provide comprehensive
information for those who want to have such a marriage, but not
by banning it," said head of the research division at Rahima.
The issue was brought up during a discussion at the office of
the country's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) in
Jakarta on Saturday titled "Interreligious Marriage: Learning
from Various Countries' Experiences."
Law No. 1/1974 on marriage, stipulates that the state will
only recognize marriages between people of the same religion.
This means a man and woman from different religious backgrounds
must choose to marry in accordance with one religion, so that
their marriage will be acknowledged by the state.
A number of celebrities and expatriates have had their inter-
religious marriage recognized by getting married in Singapore or
Australia, countries where the practice is legitimate.
Ade said that a move to accept interfaith marriages was also
crucial to help develop a more pluralist and tolerant society in
the world's largest Muslim country.
Ade said that Sharia (Islamic Law) has been misinterpreted by
Indonesian Muslims, by considering it the final word from God and
forgetting that human beings have interpreted the verses of the
Koran.
"There were human interventions in interpreting the verses of
the Koran in terms of rules and laws in society, which then were
enforced by the state," said Nining.
She explained that the laws, which were assumed by the state
based on Islamic teachings, were formulated by people of certain
beliefs and schools of thought, therefore its application had
disregarded differences among Muslims.
Speaking at Saturday's discussion was Abdullahi Ahmed An-
Na'im, an expert on sharia at Emory University school of law, in
the U.S. who believes religions are dynamic and have to be
developed according to the changes of time.
"Sharia ceases to be sharia by the very act of enacting it as
state law, because then it becomes the political will of the
state, not the religious law of Muslims. If it is the religious
law of Muslims, it should remain a matter of free choice," he
said in an interview in 2004.
"As a Muslim, I'm entitled to chose one opinion over another,
but if you make it state law, you deny me that right." (006)