Is Interfaith Marriage Allowed in Indonesia? This is the Law

PERTANYAAN

I am an employee of a bank (23 y.o./male/Islam), and I currently have a girlfriend (22 y.o./woman/Catholic). However, we have interfaith issues in order to continue our relationship to the level of marriage, while we want to remain steadfast in our respective religions. Can we still get married, even though we have different religions? If so, what procedure should we follow? This is because if you follow the method of an interfaith marriage conducted by celebrities, you must go abroad. Obviously, we can't. Moreover, I have read that there was already a jurisprudence from the Supreme Court that interfaith marriages could be registered in the civil registry and are valid/legal. Is this true? Thank you for your help.

INTISARI JAWABAN

When asked whether interfaith marriages are permissible, the short answer is that basically, Indonesian marriage law does not specifically address the marriage of interfaith couples. However, there is a jurisprudence on the Decision of the Supreme Court Number 1400K/PDT/1896 which may be a reference that allows interfaith marriages to be registered at the Civil Registration Office.

Please read the review below for a further explanation.

ULASAN LENGKAP

This article is an English translation of Bolehkah Nikah Beda Agama di Indonesia? Ini Hukumnya which was written by Justika.com and was published on Thursday, 30 March 2023.

This article below is an update of the article entitled Interfaith Marriage According to Indonesian Law (Kawin Beda Agama Menurut Hukum Indonesia), which was first written by Diana Kusumasari, S.H., M.H. and was first published on 4 March 2011, and first updated on Wednesday, 29 December 2021.

All legal information available on Klinik hukumonline.com has been prepared for educational purposes only and is general in nature (read the complete Disclaimer). In order to obtain legal advice specific to your case, please consult with Justika Partner Consultant.

In order to answer your question, regarding interfaith marriage law, we will refer to the legal requirements of marriage as set out in Law 1/1974 a.k.a Marriage Law, specifically:[1]

1. Marriage is valid/legal if it is conducted according to their respective religions and beliefs; and
2. Every marriage shall be recorded in accordance with the prevailing laws and regulations.

In answer to your question regarding whether interfaith marriages are allowed, basically, Marriage Law in Indonesia does not specifically regulate the marriage of interfaith couples so there is a legal vacuum in relation to it.

The requirements for a valid marriage are marriages conducted in accordance with their religion and beliefs as regulated in Article 2 section (1) Law 1/1974. This means that the Marriage Law submits to the teachings of their respective religions related to interfaith marriage law.

Law of Interfaith Marriage According to Islam

Majelis Agama Tingkat Pusat (“MATP”) or known as Central Level Religious Council has also regulated interfaith marriage. MATP has given full authority to each religion in order to determine the provisions of their respective marriages in accordance with the teachings of the religion. This includes interfaith marriage laws.

The reason is the problems that often occur due to the question of whether the religion of each party allows for interfaith marriage. For example, under the teachings of Islam, women are not allowed to marry men who are not Muslim (Al Baqarah [2]: 221).

Is Interfaith Marriage Allowed?

In this case, because you as the male party are a Muslim man, and in Islam, it is still permissible to marry of different religions if the man is Muslim and the woman is of another religion. However, it is important to note that in Catholic (your spouse's religion) interfaith marriage is prohibited in principle.

However, in practice, interfaith marriages may occur in Indonesia. Professor of Civil Law at the University of Indonesia, Prof. Wahyono Darmabrata, describes 4 popular ways that interfaith couples take in order to have their marriages held, as follows.

1. Request a court order.
2. Marriage is performed according to each religion.
3. Temporary submission to any of the religious laws.
4. Married abroad.

Furthermore, the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court, namely the Decision of the Supreme Court Number 1400K/PDT/1896 clarified that the Civil Registration Office was permitted to hold interfaith marriages. This case started from a marriage that was being registered by a Muslim woman with a Protestant Christian partner.

In its decision, the Supreme Court stated that by submitting the marriage registration at the Civil Registration Office, it had chosen not to take place according to the Islamic religion. Thus, the applicant will no longer consider her religious status (Islam), then the Civil Registration Office must perform and register the marriage as a result of an interfaith marriage which is held.

In this case, if you wish to register your marriage at the Civil Registration Office, then based on the Supreme Court Decision, you may choose to submit yourself and enter into a non-Islamic marriage. Then, if your marriage registration application is granted by the Civil Registration Office, then your marriage is valid according to the law.

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These are the answers we can provide, we hope you will find them useful.

Legal Basis:

1. Law Number 1 of 1974 on Marriage as amended by Law Number 16 of 2019 on the Amendment to Law Number 1 of 1974 on Marriage;
2. Regulation of the Government Number 9 of 1975 on the Implementing Regulation of Law Number 1 of 1974 on Marriage.

Court Decision:

Decision of the Supreme Court Number 1400K/PDT/1896.

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[1] Article 2 Law Number 1 of 1974 on Marriage.