RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Legal and Ethical Considerations in the Dispensation of Marriage Due to Pregnancy
Outside of Wedlock
Marriage, according to the prevailing marriage law, is the establishment of an outward
bond between a man and a woman in the roles of husband and wife, building an eternal family,
based on faith in God Almighty (Mujib, 2001). From this definition, marriage is not just an
ordinary bond, but a commitment to form a lasting life. Therefore, marriage requires
emotional, physical, financial, and firm determination to go through the journey of life
together with a life partner or life partner.
However, this readiness is often not only determined by a person's age. In Islam, there
is no explicit Qur'anic provision for age restrictions on marriage. Instead, concepts such as
'aqil, baligh, mumayiz, and rushd are used to describe a person's maturity (Zulfiani, 2017).
These concepts do not contain a specific age number, so the determination of the age limit for
marriage is the responsibility of the fuqaha and other Muslim scholars, who consider
physiological, sociological, and geographical factors of the surrounding community.
In the context of marriage, initially, age limits are based on the biological maturity of
both men and women. But, when viewed from today's perspective, it can be considered to
reflect gender discrimination and violations of women's mental and physical health. The
progress of the times has made women encouraged in terms of achieving achievements in
various fields, including education and career. Women have equal rights with men, such as
education rights, civil rights, economy, social rights, and various constitutional rights as
citizens.
Law No. 16 of 2019 provides changes in the age limit for marriage to ensure that those
who are getting married have reached sufficient maturity of body and soul. In addition, this is
also expected to reduce divorce rates, control births, reduce the risk of maternal and infant
deaths, and fulfill children's rights to obtain proper development and growth.
Marriage under the age limit, with its provisions contained in the law is a deviation from
the existing marriage regulations and is known as early marriage. The high demand for
marriage dispensation shows that public understanding of the marriage age limit regulation is
still relatively low (Halilah, 2022). This age limit is implemented to ensure that marriage is
only carried out by those who are mature both mentally and physically, and to protect the
health of prospective husbands and wives, as well as their offspring.
However, in some societies, marriage is often seen as an option that can be used as an
alternative to overcome social problems, such as marrying off children who have become
pregnant out of wedlock (Kohno et al., 2020). This is often done to avoid embarrassment and
stigma experienced by the woman's family. Therefore, the granting of marriage dispensation
is considered a measure aimed at protecting pregnant women and ensuring the well-being of
the unborn child.
The granting of marriage dispensation only applies to certain issues and is not intended
to replace or change the age of marriage stipulated by the Marriage Law or the Child
Protection Law. This marriage dispensation is given to protect the legal rights of children who
are still in the womb and prevent remarriage after the birth of the child.
A study conducted by Mansari & Rizkal (2021) revealed that the reason parents marry
off their children who are already pregnant out of wedlock is fear of spreading family disgrace,