Child marriage practices remain a widespread issue in Southeast Asia, with both Malaysia and the Philippines battling the practice in the face of conservative resistance, including from Sulu’s House of Kiram. Image Source: Getty Images.

Muedzul is one of the more widely recognized heirs of the Sulu House of Kiram alongside rival claimants such as Fuad A. Kiram and the deceased Jamalulu III Kiram that led a militant invasion of Malaysia.

Though the sultanate effectively dissolved in 1915, Muedzul still clings to the old ways, extending, unfortunately, to the practice of child marriage.

Before Republic Act 11596’s passing in 2021, the Philippines had no unified national law criminalizing child marriage. Civil law already set 18 as the minimum marriage age, but Muslim personal law, under the Code of Muslim Personal Laws, Presidential Decree 1083, allowed marriage once a Muslim girl reached puberty, and customary/indigenous practices in various communities also permitted informal unions involving minors that fell outside civil registration entirely.

Consequently, the Philippines has historically ranked among the world's higher-prevalence countries for child marriage, placing 12th globally in the absolute number of child marriages and unions, with roughly one in six girls marrying before age 18. This is a number that shames the modernity of the republic.

“The Philippines has historically ranked among the world's higher-prevalence countries for child marriage, placing 12th globally.”

From the perspective of many communities in Mindanao and indeed Sulu, the issue was one of culture and religion. In a retrieved Facebook post, Muedzul himself declared that the issue of child marriage was already settled by the Holy Quran.

What’s more, he implicitly frames the issue of child marriage as a necessity to prevent sexual intercourse out of wedlock, that is to say child marriage is necessary that sexual arrangements may be made under the aegis of marriage regardless of age. This framing is disturbing as it allows for intercourse below any age of consent that international laws or modern psychology would recognize, and further entraps girls in such marriages made before adulthood.

Muedzul Kiram defended the necessity of child marriage. Image Source: Muedzul-Lail Tan Kiram, Facebook

Of course, Muedzul was not alone in his position. “We are asking the President to reconsider it and veto the law,” BARMM Labor and Employment Minister Romeo Sema reportedly told the Inquirer in 2022.

Yet this is far from an inherently islamic position.

Al-Azhar University issued a fatwa holding that eighteen is the age at which a woman can validly consent to marriage. Indonesia's Congress of Indonesian Women Ulema followed similarly, urging their government to raise the minimum marriage age for women from sixteen to eighteen.

In Malaysia, former Terengganu mufti Datuk Ismail Yahya has argued that Islam counts maturity and wisdom as necessary qualities for marriage and encourages marriage only for adults, while also disputing the historical age attributed to the Prophet Muhammad's wife Aisha, often cited to justify the practice.

A simple economic argument

Furthermore, Mindanao and Sulu remain among the poorest regions in the Philippines, and the same factors that perpetuate child marriage there, including limited education and low female labor participation, also drag down regional development.

Economic research links girls' education and delayed marriage to higher household incomes, better child health outcomes, and stronger long-term growth, as educated women are more likely to enter the workforce and invest in their children's schooling.

Modernizing legal frameworks and social norms around women's autonomy, then, isn't just about meeting international rights standards. It may be a practical lever for breaking the poverty cycle that has long left the region behind economically. That is what every Kiram should be arguing for rather than practices that further impoverish Sulu.

“A practical lever for breaking the poverty cycle that has long left the region behind economically. That is what every Kiram should be arguing for rather than practices that further impoverish Sulu.”

Can Kiram call for global support while standing against human rights?

In any case, Manila was careful to frame Republic Act 11596 as an effort to not only protect children, but to bring the Philippines in line with international law, listing the country’s obligations to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child among others.

Muedzul, and indeed other members of the Kiram family, are not ignorant or separate from the rest of the world. They have, in fact, often called upon international support to restore the Sulu Sultanate or when pressing claims to Sabah state in Malaysia.

As such, the question must be asked: leaving aside the contentious histories and legacies of the Sulu Sultanate, how can any international or Filipino figure of authority endorse a Sultanate, House, or Kiram that supports child marriage?

REFERENCES

Ibrahim, I. N. (2019, September 20). Malaysia can't keep condoning child marriage, says SIS. Malay Mail. https://www.malaymail.com

Maitem, J. (2022, January 10). Muslim leaders ask Duterte to defer law criminalizing child marriage. Philippine Daily Inquirer. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net

Palansamy, Y. (2017, May 7). Don't misuse Prophet Muhammad's name to justify rape and marriage, ex-mufti says. Malay Mail. https://www.malaymail.com

Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, Republic Act No. 11596 (2021) (Phil.). https://www.lawphil.net

Subingsubing, K. (2022, January 14). CHR slams Bangsamoro body for move vs anti-child marriage law. Philippine Daily Inquirer. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net