Vice President Ma'ruf Amin Affirms MUI Fatwa Forbidding Interfaith Marriages: Haram And Illegal!

JAKARTA - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin who is also the Chairman of the Advisory Council of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) emphasized the fatwa prohibiting interfaith marriages, despite the decision of the Surabaya District Court which granted the marriage request.

"From the point of view of the MUI fatwa, it is not in line, yes, it is not in line", said Ma'ruf after attending the MUI Leadership Council Meeting at the MUI Jakarta Office, Antara, Tuesday, June 28.

The MUI fatwa referred to by Ma'ruf is the MUI fatwa Number 4/MUNAS VII/MUI/8/2005 concerning Interfaith Marriage which was stipulated on July 28, 2005, which stated

"Interfaith marriages are haraam and illegitimate and the marriage of Muslim men and women of the People of the Book, according to qaul mu'tamad, is haraam and illegitimate."

"The fatwa already exists, when I was chairman of the fatwa commission, the fatwa was already there", added Ma'ruf.

According to Ma'ruf, the MUI legal commission will discuss the next steps for the Surabaya district court's decision.

"It will be discussed at MUI what it will look like at the legal commission because the fatwa is indeed not allowed, later the MUI will make (legal steps)", said Ma'ruf.

It is known that the sole judge of the Surabaya District Court, Imam Supriyadi, on April 26, 2022, granted the petition of two applicants, namely Rizal Adikara, who is Muslim, and Eka Debora Sidauruk, who is a Christian.

Both of them have married according to their respective religious beliefs, namely Islam and Christianity.

However, when they were going to register their marriage at the Surabaya City Population and Civil Registration Office (Dispendukcapil), it was turned down because the couple's religious beliefs were different.

Furthermore, Surabaya Dispendukcapil officials are recommended to obtain a District Court determination at the legal domicile of the applicants.

The sole judge Imam Supriyadi who examined this case referred to Article 21 paragraph (3) of the Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 1 of 1974 concerning Marriage in conjunction with Article 35 of Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 23 of 2006 concerning Population Administration and then made three decisions.

First, to permit the applicants to carry out interfaith marriages in front of officials from the Surabaya Civil Registration Office.

Second, ordering officials from the Surabaya Dispendukcapil Office to register the interfaith marriages of the applicants in the marriage registration register and immediately issue the marriage certificate.

Furthermore, the Dispendukcapil recorded and issued a request for a marriage certificate for a husband and wife of different religions on June 9, 2022, after the court's decision.