Marriages between Muslims and non Muslims is prohibited under Islamic law, except in certain limited circumstances. Malaysian Islamic law is even more limited than some other schools of Islamic law. International human rights norms however suggest that the prohibition and criminalisation of interfaith marriages is an unreasonable restriction on the rights of men and women to marry and found a family.

Islamic law

Under Islamic law, as I understand it, a Muslim woman can only marry a Muslim man. However, a Muslim man can marry a Muslim woman or a Kitabiyyah. See for example section 10 of the Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) Act 1984:-

Section 10. Persons of other religions.

(1) No man shall marry a non-Muslim except a Kitabiyah.

(2) No woman shall marry a non-Muslim.

A Kitabiyyah is generally regarded as a Person of the Book i.e. a Jew or a Christian. Traditional commentators discourage marriages between Muslims and non Muslims, although there is a divergence of views on when it is allowed and what restrictions are placed on the general rule above. See for example Abdur Rahman I’ Doi.

Most Malaysian State Syariah legislation, following the Shafie school, puts a slight gloss on the above rule. The following is the definition of a Kitabiyyah taken from the FT legislation:-

Kitabiyah means –

(a) a woman whose ancestors were from the Bani Ya’qub; or

(b) a Christian woman whose ancestors were Christians before the prophethood of the Prophet Muhammad; or

(c) a Jewess whose ancestors were Jews before the prophethood of the Prophet ‘Isa;

*Prophet ‘Isa is of course Christ to Christians. As I understand it, Bani Ya’qub are the descendants of the Prophet Ya’qub (Jacob To the Christians?), who had 12 sons who formed the 12 tribes of Israel.

(Incidentally, this means only Malayalee Christians in Malaysia – the Mar Thomites and the Syrian Christians – would probably comply with this requirement).

Some States do not have this provision at all, instead only allowing Muslims to marry Muslims. (I recently learnt that Sarawak only permits a Muslim to marry another Muslim, whether you are a man or a woman.)

An interesting discussion on this, which also shows this Malaysian definition of a Kitabiyyah is perhaps unique to the Shafie school can be seen in the English Court of Appeal decision in U Viswalingam v S Viswalingam [1980] 1 MLJ 10.

Malaysian civil law

The Malaysian Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 does not apply to Muslims (section 3). Hence, in Malaysia there is no means for a Muslim to marry a non Muslim under the civil law. In fact, the Muslim who goes through a marriage or even cohabits with a non Muslim runs the risk of falling foul of a number of offences under State Syariah criminal law prohibiting fornication (zina) and close proximity (khalwat).

This position is of course contrasted with the position in India and Singapore where by the Special Marriage Act of 1958 and the Woman’s Charter respectively, a Muslim and a non Muslim can lawfully marry. In both countries, if two Muslims are getting married to each other, their marriage is solemnised under Islamic law. It is noteworthy that the famous Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, a Muslim, and his Hindu wife Gauri have been happily married since 1991.

International human rights norms

In addition to the protections for religious freedom and equality under the law, there are specific protections for the human right, in of itself, to found a family.

For example, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides that “Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.”: Article 16(1)

Article 23(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides that “The right of men and women of marriageable age to marry and found a family shall be recognized”. Although the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations in General Comment No. 19 does not explicitly state that this provision requires the State to ensure the right to persons of differing religions to marry, it does state that “the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion implies that the legislation of each State should provide for the possibility of both religious and civil marriages.”

It is also interesting that in the USA, the equality clause of the US Bill of Rights has been held to prohibit the criminalisation of marriages between difference races: see the US Supreme Court decision of Richard Perry Loving et. ux v Virginia (1967) 388 US 1, 18 L Ed 2d 1010 (now dramatised in the Hallmark production “Mr & Mrs Loving”). There does not seem to be any case on interfaith marriages. However, the current dispute in the US on the legality of same gender marriages and how it is ultimately resolved will no doubt be of relevance to this issue.

It seems clear, however, based on a simple reading of the provisions of the UDHR and ICCPR that to restrict the right of two consenting adults to live together and to found a family merely because of their differing religions is contrary to the rights of equality under the law, the right of religious freedom and the right to found a family contained within international human rights norms.

Shanmuga K sometimes sees a purple banana emerging in his sub-conscious. An article seems to then be magically written. He is @shanmuga_k on Twitter. When he does not see those purple bananas, he practices...

221 replies on “Muslim/non-Muslim marriages in Malaysia”

  1. I am in a relationship with a foreigner who's non muslim and he doesn't mind converting but he wants to keep his name.

  2. From Bangladesh: I am a Hindu man married with a Muslim women without converting. Can I live in Malaysia with my wife?

  3. Hello,
    I am a Christian American have been talking to a man that lives in Malaysia. He is Muslim and from Pakistan. He has been asking me to come visit him in Malaysia. He often mentions getting married while in Malaysia. I have been reading about the Muslim Religion and it almost seems impossible for this to happen. I am looking for some advice, thanks.

  4. hi i need help, " if non muslim get a muslim girl pregnant and the non muslim man did not want to marry cause he have to convert which he did not want to convert to muslim" . i really need help on this matter cause i am afraid the child cannot be register at JPN

  5. People should realize marriage shall be indipendent of religions. It shall give a great room for love and taking care of partner and family.
    Shall not be a ruling system to up bringing a special religious group. This is a terriir act if so.
    Indipendent right judgement some times overide wrong marriage as well as wrong decisions and practice of religious views not allowing people to do right thing is eventually demeging the whole world. Most important is living by truths.
    Note of the religions stop people getting sick getting old and dieing so what the point try to say maintain a special religions. Our moral and views of life shall me living with love and metta.i opinionate to establish a group become a member of any religions and allowing to merry anyone with out halming right of religions but taking care of love of each other. If you are not satisfy about your marriage and whats the point of your religious code.you know its a cult then. Spreading what? This is pasing 2000yrs and transation 3000 people shall act with good ideas and good views and understanding reality rather become blind so.

  6. I have a question here : DO ALL MALAYSIANS ARE MUSLIMS EVEN SOME OF THEM SAY THEY ARE BUDHISTS ? AS CHINESE MALAYSIANS ? And if I want marry a Chinese Malaysian, should I take the islam religion ? Should we both take it ? or how is this ?

  7. I have a question here : DO ALL MALAYSIANS ARE MUSLIMS EVEN SOME OF THEM SAY THEY ARE BUDHISTS ? AS CHINESE MALAYSIANS ? And if I want marry a Chinese Malaysian, should I take the islam religion ? Should we both take it ? or how is this ?

  8. Hi
    I have a question or should say a problem. My wife and I got married in the UK (England) my wife is from Malaysia and I'm English. We are looking to move back to Sarawak within the next 2 years. We are planning to build a house on the family land.
    The issue we have is my wife had to convert to Islam due to her marrying a Muslim on her 1 st marriage. So the problem is she has a Muslim name and I have no intention of converting. So does anyone have any idea how we can get round this problem.

  9. sir, in i m working in sabah. my boss local from Kulalampur (Indian). Already he maaried and he has two childrens in KL. nw he is doing the bussiess in sabah. he has connection with our staff in illegal. this is correct or not. several times the filipino worker abortion also. sir now my question is non muslim can do like this. what is in malaysian law. where we can complaint. please tell me clearly. sir i am waiting for your reply.

  10. i am muslim and i am a foreign but i want to married a non muslim malaysian in malaysia she want to convert in muslim and we want to got married…

  11. I am Indian Malaysian and my boyfriend is Indian Muslim. He is not a practicing Muslim, does not want me to convert (and I don't want to either because the laws are awful in this country) and would prefer to renounce his faith. Can he safely do that in Malaysia? What are our options? Migrate, PR and then get married there? Leave Malaysia completely? I'm worried that if we continue living as we are, someone will report us to JAIS or whatever stupid body that meddles in other people's private affairs. I don't want to live in fear. Any advice?

  12. Can a still married christian foreigner(meaning not yet annuled)be legally married in malaysia.if she converts to muslim bec.the bf is a muslim..can she legally stay in malaysia.
    Thank you.
    Ms.contemplation

  13. hi im a malaysian muslim and my bf is malaysian non muslim,but we both plan to get married at singapore,The thing now is it is possible to get married at singapore under the civil law,i already verified with Registry of Marriage Personel,but they are asking for letter/certificate of no impediment issued by the respective embassies or relevant goverment authorities to show that there are no impediments for the parties to marry under the laws of their respective home countries.The document should include the particular of both parties to the intended marriage (name,date of birth,nationality,,citizen identity/passport) but my question now is,as malaysia is a muslim country how do they aspect that malaysia embassy or goverment will give a permission? im helpless,please help me! i want my bf i dont want to live without him… :(

  14. Hello, am a Muslim man from Jordan and married from Christian Malaysian women , we made our mirage in Jordan already but now we want to register our mirage in Malaysia as we expecting a child soon and we want the child to be register in his Mother country Malaysia .

    so if any one can advise me from where to start or whom I can contact to proceed with the issue.

    many thanks in advance.

  15. Hello every one…I just want to share my situation and hopping that some one could give me further explanation about Islamic law of marriage….
    I'am a Catholic woman and having a malaysian Muslim bf and we are planning to get married…but the problem is I was married before and have been separated for more than 4yrs since my X husband has cheated on me but we are not legally separated by the law of church…I was bearly confused as I read some of the articles about islamic law…
    I'am now trying to learn about Islam because I wanted to convert into Islam…question#1If ever I was converted to Islam does my first marriage going to be invalid since my X husband remains into Catholic ? Question #2 do I really need a legal separation from my X husband before I can get married to my muslim bf even though I had converted to Islam yet…
    Thank you so much..and I'm glad to read everyones advice

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  17. Hi,

    I am a muslim malaysian. I met my boyfriend who is a greek christian.orthodox. we both live here in malaysia. We fell hard in love. Our love is like a fairy tale, it is true and it is real. At the early stage of our relationship we hv spoken about the consequences shoud we go further in the relationship. He knows that islam requires the other party to be a muslim in order to marry another muslim. Howevsr he has convinced me that he is willing to convert for the sake of our love. He did asked me if im willing to convert to christianity. I cant. And he accepted that fact. With all my heart i love him, though i am not a good muslim but i believe in my religion and i hv these values embedded in me. I would never forced or even expect him to do so for me either. And i took it with a pinch of salt. As we got in deeper into the relationship we spoke about the future children etc. Suddenly he has a change of heart. That he is not willing to convert. It would hurt his family. I love him very much and i would not allow him to do so. But it takes a toll out of our relationship. We hv discuss of other options but it doesnt seemed possible. I was informed that if we were to register overseas and let him stay as a christian and myself as muslim i cant return to malaysia and i would be commit8ng a crime under the syariah law. Is that true? God help me. But we still carry on our relationship and pretend that the problem is not there. We are very much in love and we have hope and dreams and want or build a life together. We are good individuals. The topic came up again. And as much that i try to avoid it. I know it is there and it will come back. What do we do? There are no way out. Everythibg is against us. It is like hiting a wall. No other way out. I would hurt my parents very much if i were to go n marry him and vice versa for him. I would not force him. I can only hope and pray that God will open his heart. I cant deny this. All hell breaks loose.i am broken hearted and so hurt. I dont know if he is going to stay or leave me.i have so much to lose. The rationale thing to do is walk away. And i cant. I have even told him that if he convert he doesnt have to embrace it. And even to reconvert after getting married. Sigh. Nothing works. Why cant two ppl very much in love be together. It is pure with no other intentions except loving protecting and supprort. But with this comes the biggest obstacle ever. What do i do? Please advice.

  18. Hey guys, I am indian muslim (living in india) and i want to marry Malaysian muslim girl. So i want to know the legal procedure for marriage for us and what documents i will need? She is living in Penang. Just marriage there after marriage i want to take her to india.thx for any help

  19. Becoming a Muslim in Malaysia is like going to prion where the Islamic authorities backed by the government will tell you what to and what not to do.

    My Poetry
    They claim no religion can tell you wrong
    But their details may be altogether wrong
    To make me free, to urge me to freedom
    You give me a prison and call it freedom
    You lead me to my spirituality, in a cage
    Am I ranting or are we on the same page
    A preacher once said, Christ died for pain
    Mohammed showed us a path out of pain
    Promises of gifts only on the other side
    Loved ones who left never came this side
    Mom and dad won’t hesitate to come
    In our pain and cries they always came
    To love me here and ignore me that side
    Make noise of a realm on the other side
    There could me demons, gods with us all
    Seem to sort our lives just to destroy us all

  20. How can mearid with malesia gril plz tell me Sam one girl Muslim so much love me this gril want merid with me

  21. Hi my girl friend in Malaysia citizens she is Cristian I'm Muslim I'm Pakistani citizens can I possibll she is merrige me

  22. Hi.. I want to marry with a christian (Kitabiyyah) in Malaysia…Can i marry with that girl..

  23. I married an indonesian Muslim guy last 2011 and the marriage was solemnised and recognised in Indonesia.I am a Malaysian Catholic.I have not registered the marriage in Malaysia. I am now thinking about staying in indonesia for good but do not know how to go about applying.Will it be a problem for me since I didn't register in Malaysia.Appreciate if someone can enlighten me on what I should do.

  24. I want to marry my thai girlfriend but she's not a Muslim. In time I may be able to convince her to convert Islam (just for the sake of registering) as neither of us are actually practicing religion at all but I don't want to register my marriage outside malaysia as I don't want to lose my bumiputera status for me and my future children.

    However, is there any workaround to still register my marriage without neither party convert at all? How about sabah & sarawak I heard the religious department there is not serious in enforcing the syaria so is it possible to get married there? Help me I love her so much I don'twant to lose her

  25. Hye….im paveetra..malaysian..im loving muslim guy from india..he is working here…im 19..he is 26..i wanna register marriage….is ter i need to convert..n we planning to stay in malaysia..may i noe wat is d procedure..can someone help me??

  26. *Some of you might think that this is Malaysia, this is Malaysia's law and in Malaysia there are no rights.

    I apologise for the typo.

  27. Salam and Hello to everyone,

    I respect each others views, opinions and comments.

    I am here to seek advice and motivation to continue standing up for what I believe is right.

    I am a Malayaisan Muslim man that plans to wed a female Malaysian Catholic. My question is

    1) what is the process and procedures for a Malaysian Muslim man to wed a Kitabiyah female?

    2) what are the requirements to prove that the female is a Kitabiyah? Does a(i) family tree that predates Islam, (ii)a family emblem that is more than 500years old and (iii)a church in their family's name suffice as requirements?

    I have asked many Shariah lawyers who are not familiar with this rule and received biased comments from religious people who said it'll be all okay if she just converts, which goes against human rights.

    Some of you might that this is Malaysia, this is Malaysia's law and in Malaysia there is no rights. My answer to that is everyone has their rights and we have to make a stand for it.

    I strongly believe my partner and I have a valid case and we hope there are helpful people out there to guide us to the proper channels to make that change.

  28. Hey my name is malik and I need to a Muslim gril to marige :: I m a Pakistani but I live in johar baru and my work is elactarik. My monthly salary very good ? Have any Muslim family's need to a Pakistani boy. I m ready ? Sory my age 24 " 0162534302

  29. Hi I'm from PH and and I have a Muslim girlfriend who is a Malaysian. I'm planning on marrying her but I'm not a muslim. So is it possible if I could convert to being a muslim there in Malaysia or I have to convert here in my native country?

  30. Guys, whats the big deal?? if you refuse to leave your religion and refuse to convert as a muslim, just dont date the muslim..because most of them might choose their religion over their non-muslim gf/bf. i dont understand why people said this country has no freedom of religion while the options are in their hands.

    1. You don't understand because you're an idiot. How in hell is freedom of religion is in the hands of Malaysian when a person born to a Muslim parents are automatically Muslim and can never legally renounce their religion in Malaysia? Where is the freedom in that? "Just don't date the Muslim" – people fall in love for reasons obviously beyond your inferior intelligence. Religion then comes in to fuck it up in countries like Malaysia. We choose to be with someone who we know will make our lives better and happier and vice versa. We don't just kick them to the curb because they happen to be born into anther religion.

      Now, what I don't understand is how thick minded bigots like you survive through life.

  31. I have a big problem. I am Sabahan local Christian and my boyfriend is from Iran. We are planning to get marry.Anyone could help me with idea/advice how to get marry without me converting to Islam? Because I don't believe in Islam and my boyfriend actually doesn't believe in Islam. He consider himself as free thinker and he wants to convert to Christian.He doesn't want me to convert to Islam either (and I don't want)

  32. Hi Shanmuga,
    Thank you for sharing the knowledge on this very important piece of law in Malaysia.
    Please let me know your personal email address as I need to ask you very specific question.
    Once again thank you.
    ckp

  33. Stupid muslim law..i want to marry a muslim without converting..i know…mission impossible unless i migrate…

  34. Why? Why can't people of different faiths marry each other in this day and age? Why can't a Muslim woman/man marry whomsoever she/he pleases? Why can't a Muslim man or woman convert to the religion of their prospective spouses if they so choose to do so? Believe it or not Islam is not the only way to heaven. My husband converted to Catholicism, and his family will just have to deal with it. Not our problem. Not the community's business either.

  35. this is serious issue , bcos i am christian and my surname is ibrahim the registry cannot marry me and my hindu Malaysian girlfriend but i am a foreigner

  36. im muslim arabian want to get married with moslim Indonisyan in Malaysia, when i weany to the religion office to get married they asked for documents from my country which its i can't get … abd cus of that i can't get married with her under the Malaysian low, so i want to marry her under local imam, its not important for me to register this marriage … where can i find local imam … i really need help

    thx

  37. Hi. I am a Sikh guy from India and my girlfriend is Muslim in Malaysia. She is citizen there. Now I want to marry her please tell me what are the possibilities to get marry without converting to Islam. I want she follow her religion and I follow my and we both respect each religion. Were we can get marry or in which country..we can stay together after marriage without converting.

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