COVID-19 Does Not Prevent 30 Thousand Prospective Brides From Getting Married

Ilustrasi pernikahan (Image by Pexels from Pixabay)

JAKARTA - Cases of COVID-19 transmission to this day have infected thousands of people in Indonesia. Although it continues to increase, in fact this does not prevent tens of thousands of prospective brides from registering their marriages.

At least the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) has registered 30 thousand prospective brides to register for marriage online amid the corona virus pandemic. Through the Marriage Management Information System (Simkah) service on the official website of simkah.kemenag.go.id, they registered their marriage.

"Data simkah.kemenag.go.id records, until now, nearly 30 thousand people have registered online," said the Director General of Islamic Community Guidance at the Ministry of Religion, Kamaruddin Amin, in a written statement.

According to Kamaruddin, the growing number of online marriage registrants seems to ignore the Ministry of Religion's appeal. In fact, the Ministry of Religion itself has stopped the contract service during the corona pandemic.

The Ministry of Religion will only serve the marriage ceremony procession for prospective brides who have registered before April 1, 2020. "Now we are not holding wedding services for those who registered after April 1," said Kamaruddin, who said that the registration and marriage contract services are still running at the KUA.

He explained, until now there have been 18 thousand prospective brides in East Java who will carry out the marriage contract procession because they were registered before April 1, 2020. Kamaruddin ensured that the prospective bride and groom would only marry at the Office of Religious Affairs (KUA) by following health protocols to prevent spread. corona virus.

"In South Sulawesi there are nearly two thousand (prospective brides). So there are still marriages that have occurred to date and are served by the KUA by implementing strict health protocols," he said.

The former Director General of Islamic Education at the Ministry of Religion said the marriage ceremony procession at the KUA would apply the health protocol that was in effect during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ministry of Religion limits the number of married guests to a maximum of 10 people, must wear a mask and gloves, and wash their hands using a hand sanitizer.

However, said Kamaruddin, the Ministry of Religion still opened online marriage consultation and information services. "Services at the KUA are also still running, even though online. We hope that conditions can be normalized soon so that people can hold the marriage contract in a more festive atmosphere as usual," he concluded.

There was #SahabatReligi who asked, after transferring to the state treasury, the wedding fee outside the KUA was IDR 600. However, in the midst of the covid-19 outbreak, marriage services can only be made at the KUA. What is the fate of the money that has been paid? Here's the explanation 👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/NqwQBRNzHs

- Ministry of Religion of the Republic of Indonesia (@Kemenag_RI) April 6, 2020

Previously, the Ministry of Religion had also not recommended that marriage contracts be carried out virtually through video calls or online. Because the marriage contract must be carried out in accordance with the rules and applicable Islamic law.

"The implementation of an online marriage contract, either by telephone, video call, or using other web-based applications, is not permitted," he continued after issuing a Circular of the Director General of Islamic Binmas regarding the implementation of the protocol for handling COVID-19.

The decision made by the Ministry of Religion could not be separated from the corona virus outbreak. The central government announced that there were 4,557 positive people infected with the corona as of Monday, April 13. A total of 399 of them died and 380 people were declared cured of COVID-19.