State enactments · Pulau Pinang
Islamic Family Law (State of Penang) Enactment 2004
Islamic family law for Pulau Pinang, as held by this site. Every section has its own address, so references on this site can open the exact section.
An archive copy, not the current text. The e-Syariah portal did not answer on 13 October 2026 (UTC), so every section below was taken from the Internet Archive (Wayback Machine) copy of that portal, captures 2017–2023. Amendments made after the capture date are not included.
Key Parts only. What is held is the long title, sections 1 to 41 (preliminary, marriage, polygamy, registration and related offences) and section 120 to the end (harta sepencarian, appeals, penalties and general). Sections 42 to 119 (dissolution of marriage, maintenance, guardianship and legitimacy) were not fetched. The list of sections held is below.
Where this text comes from
Short title (section 1), Malay
Short title (section 1), English
Number
Enactment No. 5 of 2004
Enacting words, as written
Dates as recorded in the source header
Where the text was obtained
Law library of the e-Syariah portal (JKSM), through the Wayback Machine web-archive copy, captures 2017–2023
Accessed on
14 October 2026 (GST; 13 October 2026 UTC)
Languages held
Malay and English
How much was read
Key Parts: 59 of 136 numbered sections held
Key sections
Polygamy section
Polygamy without permission
s.124: a fine not exceeding RM1,000 or imprisonment not exceeding six months or both
Minimum age
s.8: 18 for a man and 16 for a woman, except with the written permission of the Syarie Judge, as in the text held
Registration of marriage
Harta sepencarian on divorce
Definition of “Court”
What this text shows
- Section 23 in this text has ten subsections: the application and iqrar at s.23(4), the four conditions at s.23(5)(a)–(d), service of the application on each existing wife and the woman to be wedded at s.23(6), and the power to order maintenance or the division of jointly acquired assets at s.23(10). In Act 303 the same matters sit at s.23(3), s.23(4), s.23(5) and s.23(9).
- The offence of polygamy without permission is s.124, not s.123, because s.123 in this enactment is the appeals section. Its maximum penalty is the same as Act 303 s.123.
- Section 23 says only “the Court”. Section 2 defines it as the Syariah Subordinate Court or the Syariah High Court, as the case may be. The enactment itself does not fix the level of court for a polygamy application.
- The Malay text below is the portal’s original text, while the English text is the portal’s updated text (its header cites latest amendment Pg.P.U. 12/2008), because the updated Malay pages have no archive capture.
- Polygamy applications are heard in the Syariah High Court because of JKSM Practice Direction No. 14 of 2006 (in effect from 1 June 2006), not because of this enactment; the text of that practice direction was read on 14 October 2026.
Verified against a primary source
- Instrument number: No. 5 of 2004. The list of enactments in the Penang Government Gazette, Vol. 48, Supplement No. 3, 24 November 2005, as copied in the text of the enactment published by Jabatan Agama Islam Pulau Pinang (JAIPP), lists “No. 5 tahun 2004 — Enakmen Undang-Undang Keluarga Islam (Negeri Pulau Pinang) 2004”. The label “Enakmen 3” on the portal’s updated text is not supported by this source. Source: the PDF on the JAIPP site (a retyped copy, not a scan), fetched directly; checked 14 Oct 2026.
To be checked for this State
- Maximum fine in s.39: the Malay text in the JAIPP copy says “satu ribu ringgit” (imprisonment not exceeding six months), the same as the portal's Malay text; the portal's English text says “two thousand ringgit”. The official English text has not been obtained, so to see whether the English gazette also differs (as in the Kedah gazette), consult the gazette.
- Harta sepencarian (s.122): the Malay text in the JAIPP copy reads “Mahkamah hendaklah membuat pembahagian yang sama banyak”, the same as the portal text. The official English text has not been obtained to compare with “distribution of equal proportions” on the portal.
- Amendments made after the archive capture date were not reached at text level. Check the State gazette before relying on this text.
The text held
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 58 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136
The text above is a copy for reference, copied unchanged from the source stated; spelling errors in the source are kept. The binding text is the one gazetted by this State, including the latest amendments. This page is not legal advice.
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