Sri Lanka: polygyny under the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act 1951

1Law applicable to Muslims

Sri Lanka mengamalkan sistem undang-undang diri yang plural. Orang Islam, iaitu sekitar 9.7% penduduk menurut Banci 2012, tertakluk kepada tiga undang-undang khusus:

• Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act No. 13 of 1951 (MMDA): marriage contract, registration, polygyny, divorce, maintenance and Quazi courts.
• Muslim Intestate Succession Ordinance No. 10 of 1931: inheritance.
• Muslim Mosques and Charitable Trusts or Wakfs Act No. 51 of 1956: mosques and waqf.

Undang-undang perkahwinan umum, iaitu Marriage Registration Ordinance 1907 (juga disebut General Marriages Ordinance, GMRO), mengecualikan secara nyata “perkahwinan antara orang yang menganut Islam”. Oleh itu pasangan Muslim tidak boleh memilih GMRO dan wajib berkahwin di bawah MMDA. Orang Sinhala Kandyan pula boleh memilih antara Kandyan Marriage and Divorce Act 1952 dengan GMRO.

Perkara 16(1) Perlembagaan mengekalkan kesahan undang-undang bertulis sedia ada walaupun bercanggah dengan hak asasi. Ini sebabnya peruntukan MMDA tidak boleh dicabar di mahkamah atas alasan diskriminasi. Namun Parlimen tetap boleh meminda akta tersebut.

2Marriage contract and registration

Under the MMDA, marriages are registered by a Registrar of Muslim Marriages appointed under s.8, s.9 and s.10. The Act requires the registrar to be a Muslim man. Key features of the system:

• Validity does not depend on registration. Under s.16, a marriage valid under the Islamic law of the parties' school (“sect”) remains valid even if not registered. The HRCSL stresses that registration is “not mandatory” under the MMDA.
• The bride's signature is not required on the registration form. The wali's signature, on the other hand, is mandatory. This is one of the main reform issues.
• No minimum age. Section 23 only requires the Quazi's permission to register the marriage of a girl under 12 years. Even then, a marriage without that permission may still be valid under s.16. The GMRO, by contrast, sets a minimum age of 18 years for all non-Muslims.
• Penal Code s.363(e) exempts from the offence of statutory rape a husband with his wife aged over 12 years. The HRCSL recommended deleting this exemption.

3Polygyny: 30 days' notice to the Quazi (s.24)

The MMDA allows a Muslim man to marry up to four wives. Section 24 only sets out a notification procedure:

1. Suami yang tinggal bersama atau menanggung seorang atau lebih isteri dan ingin berkahwin lagi mesti memberi notis sekurang-kurangnya 30 hari sebelum akad kepada Quazi kawasannya. Notis juga diberi kepada Quazi kawasan isteri sedia ada dan Quazi kawasan bakal isteri.
2. The notice must state the full names and addresses of the husband, each existing wife and the prospective wife.
3. Quazi wajib mempamerkan salinan notis di setiap masjid Jumaat dalam kawasannya dan di tempat yang mudah dilihat pada setiap alamat yang dinyatakan (s.24(3)).
4. Pendaftar yang dengan sengaja mendaftarkan perkahwinan yang melanggar s.22, s.23 atau s.24(4), dan sesiapa yang bersubahat, boleh didenda tidak melebihi Rs.100 atau dipenjara sehingga enam bulan atau kedua-duanya (s.82; jumlah denda perlu disahkan pada teks rasmi).

Undang-undang tidak mensyaratkan persetujuan isteri sedia ada, kebenaran mahkamah, ujian kemampuan kewangan, mahupun ujian keadilan. HRCSL (2025) menyatakan bahawa “peraturan ketat yang wujud di banyak negara Muslim lain yang membenarkan poligami tidak wujud di bawah MMDA”.

4A brief comparison with Malaysia

5Divorce in brief

• Talaq (by the husband): the husband notifies the Quazi of his intention, and the Quazi attempts reconciliation within the set period (exact period to be verified). The husband need not give reasons, and the wife has no right of appeal against the talaq.
• Judicial dissolution (fasakh) (by the wife): the wife must prove the husband's fault, such as ill-treatment, cruelty, failure to provide maintenance or desertion. Under paragraph 11 of the Third Schedule of the MMDA, the wife's evidence must be supported by at least two witnesses.
• Khulʿ and mubaraat are recognised in practice even though not specifically mentioned in the Act. Section 28(2) applies the law of the parties' school to divorce on the wife's application.
• Mutʿah (consolatory gift) — called Mata'ah in the MMDA — and ʿiddah and child maintenance are claimed in the Quazi court (s.47).

6Quazi courts and the Board of Quazis

7The 2009–2026 amendment debate

Perdebatan pindaan MMDA berlangsung lebih 15 tahun:

• 2009: the government appointed a committee (number of members to be verified; the 2018 report lists 19 names including replacements) chaired by former Supreme Court Justice Saleem Marsoof. Its report was submitted in January 2018 and published by the Ministry of Justice in July 2018. About half the members, including the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU), submitted differing views.
• 2019–2021: a Cabinet memorandum proposed a minimum age of 18 years. In March 2021 the Cabinet reportedly decided to abolish the polygyny provisions, and the HRCSL noted a Cabinet decision to abolish the Quazi system. An advisory committee chaired by Shabry Haleemdeen submitted its report in June 2021.
• September 2022: the Muslim law reform committee voted 7–2 to regulate, not abolish, polygyny. The proposed conditions are permission from an authority, financial capacity, the first wife's consent or a strong reason such as incurable illness, and equal treatment. The committee also proposed an age of 18 years, compulsory registration and a compulsory signature by the bride.
• 2023: Muslim MPs put forward counter-proposals, criticised by women's groups for failing to address child marriage and polygyny.
• August 2025: the HRCSL recommended a minimum age of 18 years, women Quazis, family courts, and the abolition of polygyny.
• January–May 2026: a private member's bill by MP Faiszer Musthapha was tabled on 5 January 2026. The Ministry of Justice opened a public consultation on five matters: minimum age, women Quazis, conditions for polygyny and its oversight body, the court structure, and the bride's signature.

8Statistics

• Tiada statistik rasmi kebangsaan tentang kekerapan poligami di Sri Lanka.
• For 2014–2016, Registrar General's Department data submitted to the reform committee recorded 5,491 registered marriages involving brides under 18 years. These data are cited by Musawah (2022), and their community scope is to be verified.
• In Kattankudy, 22% of registered Muslim marriages in 2015 involved brides under 18 years, compared with 14% in 2014 (Musawah 2022).
• Penduduk Islam: sekitar 9.7% (Banci Penduduk dan Perumahan 2012).

9What Malaysians / foreign nationals need to know

• Malaysian permission is still required. A Malaysian Muslim man wishing to marry again in Sri Lanka must first obtain the permission of his state Syariah Court. Notice to a Sri Lankan Quazi does not replace that permission. A marriage abroad must also be re-registered in Malaysia (see cross-border marriage).
• Security clearance. A Registrar General's circular dated 18 October 2021 requires foreigners to obtain clearance from the Ministry of Defence before registering a marriage with a Sri Lankan citizen. The current status of this circular is to be verified.
• For women. Because there is no requirement of the wife's consent, a Malaysian woman marrying a Sri Lankan man may include conditions in the contract, for example a taʿliq or an agreement, if accepted by the Quazi and the law (enforceability to be verified). Also check the prospective husband's marital status through the registrar.
• In terms of fiqh, the Shariah permission for polygyny comes with the duty of justice (Surah an-Nisa' 4:3). The absence of conditions in Sri Lankan law does not remove that duty. See fiqh of polygyny.

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