The Social Completion of Muslim Marriage: Interlegality in Aceh and Muslim Mindanao

Syarifah Huswatun Miswar; King Alizon M. Camral

doi:10.66277/rir.1.2.336

Authors

Syarifah Huswatun Miswar Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China Author https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7619-0343
King Alizon M. Camral Sultan Kudarat State University, Tacurong City, Philippines Author https://orcid.org/0009-0006-9004-0816

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.66277/rir.1.2.336

Keywords:

Interlegality, Muslim Marriage, Layered Validity, Aceh, Muslim Mindanao

Abstract

A valid marriage contract does not necessarily conclude the social process through which marriage acquires legitimacy and acceptance. This study examines how Islamic norms, state law, custom, and family authority interact in defining marital validity and relational meaning in Aceh, Indonesia, and Muslim Mindanao, the Philippines. Employing a qualitative socio-legal approach based on documentary analysis, the study comparatively investigates mahr/dowry, consent, family authority, marriage rituals, and social recognition. The findings demonstrate that similar marital categories acquire different meanings, functions, and degrees of authority across distinct normative configurations. In Aceh, customary practices remain closely embedded in local and gampōng structures, where communal expectations and familial involvement influence marital recognition alongside Islamic and state legal frameworks. In Muslim Mindanao, Muslim personal law is more formally institutionalized through Shariʿah institutions, although kinship networks, customary arrangements, and community expectations continue to shape marital negotiations and social acceptance. These differences reveal that religious validity, legal recognition, familial approval, and communal acceptance do not necessarily coincide. Rather than treating legal pluralism merely as the coexistence of separate normative systems, this study conceptualizes interlegality through layered validity, emphasizing how marital legitimacy emerges from overlapping and sometimes competing forms of recognition. The study contributes to socio-legal scholarship by demonstrating that contractual validity and formal registration alone cannot fully explain how marital relationships become socially established and sustained. Understanding Muslim marriage therefore requires attention to the continuing authority of families, communities, and customary institutions in shaping marital legitimacy in everyday social life.

References

Akhtar, Rajnaara C., Mulki Al-Sharmani, and Annelies Moors. “Introduction.” Hawwa 20, nos. 1–2 (2022): 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1163/15692086-12341383.

An Act Prohibiting the Practice of Child Marriage and Imposing Penalties for Violations Thereof, Pub. L. No. Republic Act No. 11596 (2021). https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2021/ra_11596_2021.html.

Auni, Luthfi, Abdul Manan, and Al Yasa’ Abubakar. “Factors Changing the Gayo Ethnic’s Traditional Marriage Procession in Lut Tawar Sub-District of Takengon, Central Aceh, Indonesia.” Samarah: Jurnal Hukum Keluarga Dan Hukum Islam 6, no. 2 (2022): 703–33. https://doi.org/10.22373/sjhk.v6i2. 14888.

Badu, Muhammad Nasir, Syafhendry, and Christine B. Tenorio. “Successes and Failures of Conflict Governance: Lessons from Aceh, Indonesia and Moro, Philippines.” Otoritas: Jurnal Ilmu Pemerintahan 13, no. 3 (2023): 500–510. https://doi.org/10.26618/ojip.v13i3.12991.

Bangsamoro Darul-Ifta’. Fatwa No. 5, Series of 2026. Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao: Bangsamoro Darul-Ifta’, 2026.

Bangsamoro Information Office. “Bangsamoro Fatwa Rejects Forced Marriage in Rape Cases.” BARMM Official Website, Bangsamoro Information Office, March 31, 2026. https://bangsamoro.gov.ph.

Barodi, Norhabib Bin Suod S. “An Analysis of the Legal Implications of Malaki v. People of the Philippines on Polygyny under the Code of Muslim Personal Laws of the Philippines.” IIUM Law Journal 31, no. 2 (2023): 373–92. https://doi.org/10.31436/iiumlj.v31i2.865.

Bowen, Glenn A. “Document Analysis as a Qualitative Research Method.” Qualitative Research Journal 9, no. 2 (2009): 27–40. https://doi.org/10.3316/ QRJ0902027.

Bowen, John R. Muslims through Discourse: Religion and Ritual in Gayo Society. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993. https://www.jstor.org/ stable/j.ctv173f009.

Brighenti, Andrea. “Visibility: A Category for the Social Sciences.” Current Sociology 55, no. 3 (2007): 323–42. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392107076079.

Buendia, Rizal G. “A Re-Examination of Ethnicity and Secessionist Movements in the Philippines and Indonesia: The Moros and Acehnese.” Philippine Political Science Journal 23, no. 46 (2002): 3–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/01154451. 2002.9754234.

———. “The Secessionist Movement and the Peace Process in the Philippines and Indonesia: The Case of Mindanao and Aceh.” Asia-Pacific Social Science Review 5, no. 1 (2005): 51–67.

Butuan, Omar S., Elisa M. Abellar, Samsiya D. Mayasa, Sadat G. Blah, Margie D. Fiesta, and Osmeña M. Kasim. “A Comparative Study on Maguindanaon Traditional Marriage and Islamic Marriage System.” Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal 8, no. 7 (2021): 218–39. https://doi.org/10.14738/ assrj.87.10451.

Candelaria, John Lee. “Mediating Civil Conflicts in Southeast Asia: Lessons from Aceh and Mindanao.” Journal of ASEAN Studies 8, no. 2 (2020): 111–27. https://doi.org/10.21512/jas.v8i2.6622.

Chalk, Peter. “Separatism and Southeast Asia: The Islamic Factor in Southern Thailand, Mindanao, and Aceh.” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 24, no. 4 (2001): 241–69. https://doi.org/10.1080/10576100116748.

Creutzfeldt, Naomi, Agnieszka Kubal, and Fernanda Pirie. “Introduction: Exploring the Comparative in Socio-Legal Studies.” International Journal of Law in Context 12, no. 4 (2016): 377–89. https://doi.org/10.1017/ S1744552316000173.

De Sousa Santos, Boaventura. “Law: A Map of Misreading. Toward a Postmodern Conception of Law.” Journal of Law and Society 14, no. 3 (1987): 279. https://doi.org/10.2307/1410186.

———. Toward a New Legal Common Sense: Law, Globalization, and Emancipation. 3rd ed. Cambridge University Press, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1017/978131666 2427.

Eaton, Kent, and Sarah Shair-Rosenfield. “Autonomy in the Pursuit of Peace: Demarcation and Territorial Accommodation in Indonesia and the Philippines.” Peacebuilding 12, no. 3 (2024): 317–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/ 21647259.2023.2251284.

Engle Merry, Sally. “Legal Pluralism.” Law & Society Review 22, no. 5 (1988): 869–96. https://doi.org/10.2307/3053638.

Fathurahman, Oman. “A New Light on the Sufi Network of Mindanao (Philippines): The Sheikh Muhammad Said Manuscript Collection.” Indonesia and the Malay World 47, no. 137 (2019): 108–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639811.2019.1568753.

———. Shaṭṭārīyah Silsilah in Aceh, Java, and the Lanao Area of Mindanao. Javanese Studies: Contributions to the Study of Javanese Literature, Culture and History, 4. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, 2016. https://repository.uinjkt.ac.id/dspace/handle/123456789/34898.

Gedacht, Joshua. “Holy War, Progress, and ‘Modern Mohammedans’ in Colonial Southeast Asia.” The Muslim World 105, no. 4 (2015): 446–71. https://doi.org/10.1111/muwo.12106.

George, Alexander L., and Andrew Bennett. Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences. Belfer Center Studies in International Security. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2005. https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262072571/case-studies-and-theory-development-in-the-social-sciences/.

Hoekema, André J. “European Legal Encounters between Minority and Majority Cultures: Cases of Interlegality.” The Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law 37, no. 51 (2005): 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/07329113.2005.10756585.

Holbrook, Justin. “Legal Hybridity in the Philippines: Lessons in Legal Pluralism from Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago.” Tulane Journal of International and Comparative Law 18, no. 2 (2010): 403–48.

Hurgronje, C. Snouck. The Achehnese. Vol. 1. Leiden; London: Late E. J. Brill; Luzac & Co., 1906. https://books.google.com/books?id=LRg7AQAAMAAJ.

Ikhsan, Muhammad, Husnaini Hasbi, and Abdullah Ishak. “Gold Dowry in Acehnese Traditional Marriage: Das Sein and Das Sollen in Pidie Community Practices.” Al-Hiwalah: Journal of Sharia Economic Law 4, no. 1 (2025): 39–52. https://doi.org/10.47766/al-hiwalah.v4i1.4793.

Inayatillah, Mohd Roslan Mohd Nor, Asy’ari, and Muhammad Faisal. “Social History of Islamic Law from Gender Perspective in Aceh: A Study of Marriage Traditions in South Aceh, Indonesia.” Samarah: Jurnal Hukum Keluarga Dan Hukum Islam 6, no. 2 (2022): 573–93. https://doi.org/10.22373/sjhk.v6i2. 14598.

Instruksi Presiden Nomor 1 Tahun 1991 tentang Penyebarluasan Kompilasi Hukum Islam, Pub. L. No. Inpres No. 1 Tahun 1991 (1991). https://peraturan.bpk.go.id.

Jailobaeva, Kanykey Bayalieva, Kathryn Kraft, Hazel Barrett, Pascal Niyonkuru, Desmond Lim, Alberto Marin, and Eduardo Cossa. “The Role of Faith in Child Marriage: Empirical Evidence from Mozambique, Nepal, and the Philippines.” The Review of Faith & International Affairs 22, no. 3 (2024): 39–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/15570274.2024.2375847.

Jatmika, Sidik, Nanang Sumanang, Ajeng Puspa Marlinda, Chalilla Raihan Nabilazka, and Muhammad Indrawan Jatmika. “Why Aceh-Indonesia Conflict Resolution Can’t Be Copy-Paste in Bangsamoro-Philippines Issue?” Jurnal Hubungan Internasional 11, no. 1 (2022): 72–89. https://doi.org/10.18196/jhi.v11i1.12066.

Jensen, Sif Lehman. “Learning to Love at the Violent Periphery of Philippine Society.” Feminist Anthropology 4, no. 1 (2023): 8–22. https://doi.org/10.1002/ fea2.12098.

Karim, Jerald, and Erwin Mallo. “Exploring the Dynamics of Maguindanaon Kawing (Marriage): A Keystone to Understanding Culture and Traditions.” Journal of Interdisciplinary Perspectives 4, no. 1 (2026): 354–62. https://doi.org/10.69569/jip.2025.711.

Karim, Jerald S., and Erwin A. Mallo. “Exploring the Dynamics of Maguindanaon Kawing (Marriage): A Keystone to Understanding Culture and Traditions.” Journal of Interdisciplinary Perspectives 4, no. 1 (2026): 354–62. https://doi.org/10.69569/jip.2025.711.

Kirab, Fahmiya D., Kathleen Kate D. Cantero, Sittie-Sarah T. Kali, Jeddah G. Macabinta, and Zoraida B. Pangansayan. “Unveiling Cultural Threads: An Exploration of Maguindanaon Marriage Practices in the Face of Contemporary Adaptations.” International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 28, (2025): 41–48. https://doi.org/10.47772/ IJRISS.2025.903SEDU0004.

Kompilasi Hukum Islam, Pub. L. No. KHI 1991 (1991). https://jdih.usu.ac.id/id/regulasi/kompilasi-hukum-islam-khi.

Manan, Abdul. “The Ritual of Marriage: An Ethnographic Study in West Labuhan Haji-South Aceh.” Jurnal Ilmiah Peuradeun 2, no. 2 (2014): 17–44.

Mantawil, Abdulmaula U. “The Marriage Innovation Practices of the Bangsamoro: The Maguindanao Cases.” Randwick International of Social Science Journal 3, no. 2 (2022): 440–46. https://doi.org/10.47175/rissj.v3i2.393.

Mardhiah, Nellis. “Actor Role of Comparative Foreign Presence in Regional Autonomy: The Case of Aceh, Mindanoa and Southern Thailand.” Aceh International Journal of Social Sciences 4, no. 1 (2015): 33–40.

Mastura, Michael O. “Legal Pluralism in the Philippines.” Law & Society Review 28, no. 3 (1994): 461–75. https://doi.org/10.2307/3054065.

Mednick, Melvin. Encampment of the Lake: The Social Organization of a Moslem-Philippine (Moro) People. Research Series, No. 5. Chicago: Philippine Studies Program, Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago, 1965. https://iucat.iu.edu/catalog/4838782.

Miswar, Syarifah Huswatun. “Aceh and Mindanao: A Comparative Study of Postcolonial Muslim Experiences in Democratic States.” Islamic Studies Review 4, no. 1 (2025): 72–105. https://doi.org/10.56529/isr.v4i1.360.

Miswar, Syarifah Huswatun, and Isnira Arap Baginda. “Beyond State-Centered Sharia: Muslim Women, Decolonial Feminism, and Islamic Legal Authority in Aceh and Mindanao.” Journal of Religion and Decoloniality 1, no. 2 (2025): 114–29. https://doi.org/10.24260/jrd.1.2.79.

Muthalib, Kismullah Abdul, Dohra Fitrisia, and Nia Zahara. “Ceremonial Language and Social Cohesion: An Analysis of Seumapa in Acehnese Wedding Traditions.” Studies in English Language and Education 11, no. 2 (2024): 1231–47. https://doi.org/10.24815/siele.v11i2.29512.

Nasir, Muhammad, Aniza, Muzakkir, and Muhammad Roni. “The Contestation of Authority in Islamic Marriage Law in Aceh, Indonesia.” Al-Istinbath: Jurnal Hukum Islam 8, no. 2 (2023): 369–88. https://doi.org/10.29240/jhi.v8i2.7896.

Nasir, Muhammad, and Budi Juliandi. “The Practice of Walimat Al-‘Urs: : Competing Sharia and Tradition in Aceh.” Journal of Contemporary Islam and Muslim Societies 5, no. 2 (2022): 290-322. https://doi.org/10.30821/jcims. v5i2.9341.

Odaira, Takeshi. “The Effectiveness of Third-Party Mediation in Internal Armed Conflicts: Cases of Mindanao and Aceh.” The Journal of Social Science, no. 68 (2009): 31–52.

Peraturan Menteri Agama Nomor 30 Tahun 2024 tentang Pencatatan Pernikahan, Pub. L. No. Peraturan Menteri Agama No. 30 Tahun 2024, Berita Negara Republik Indonesia Tahun 2024 Nomor 1031 (2024). https://jdih.kemenag.go.id/regulation/peraturan-menteri-agama-nomor-30-tahun-2024-tentang-pencatatan-pernikahan.

Presidential Decree No. 1083: Code of Muslim Personal Laws of the Philippines, Pub. L. No. Presidential Decree No. 1083 (1977). https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocs/11/54047.

Qanun Aceh Nomor 8 Tahun 2014 tentang Pokok-Pokok Syariat Islam, Pub. L. No. Qanun Aceh No. 8 Tahun 2014 (2014). https://jdih.acehprov.go.id/dih/detail/ a7514822-852f-47f6-b3d7-79a138515f98.

Qanun Aceh Nomor 9 Tahun 2008 tentang Pembinaan Kehidupan Adat dan Adat Istiadat, Pub. L. No. Qanun Aceh No. 9 Tahun 2008, Lembaran Aceh Tahun 2008 Nomor 9 (2008). https://jdih.acehprov.go.id/dih/detail/c764c4e0-2e30-4d36-b781-539671bddac0.

Qanun Aceh Nomor 10 Tahun 2008 tentang Lembaga Adat, Pub. L. No. Qanun Aceh No. 10 Tahun 2008, Lembaran Aceh Tahun 2008 Nomor 10 (2008). https://jdih.acehprov.go.id/dih/detail/367007c1-8a25-4a47-8b6a-a0ca40847f55.

Republic Act No. 11596: An Act Prohibiting the Practice of Child Marriage and Imposing Penalties for Violations Thereof, Pub. L. No. Republic Act No. 11596 (2021). https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2021/ra_11596_2021.html.

Rinaldo, Rachel. “Obedience and Authority among Muslim Couples: Negotiating Gendered Religious Scripts in Contemporary Indonesia.” Sociology of Religion 80, no. 3 (2019): 323–49. https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/sry045.

Saber, Mamitua, and Abdullah T. Madale, eds. The Maranao. Manila: Solidaridad Publishing House, 1975. https://search.worldcat.org/title/2609577.

Saleeby, Najeeb M. Studies in Moro History, Law, and Religion. Ethnological Survey Publications, Vol. IV, Part I. Manila: Bureau of Public Printing, 1905. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/41770.

Salim, Arskal. “Adat and Islamic Law in Contemporary Aceh, Indonesia: Unequal Coexistence and Asymmetric Contestation.” Samarah: Jurnal Hukum Keluarga Dan Hukum Islam 5, no. 2 (2021): 529-551. https://doi.org/10.22373/ sjhk.v5i2.11082.

———. “Dynamic Legal Pluralism in Indonesia: Contested Legal Orders in Contemporary Aceh.” The Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law 42, no. 61 (2010): 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/07329113.2010.10756640.

———. “‘Sharia from Below’ in Aceh (1930s–1960s): Islamic Identity and the Right to Self-Determination with Comparative Reference to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).” Indonesia and the Malay World 32, no. 92 (2004): 80–99. https://doi.org/10.1080/1363981042000263471.

Samad, Sri Astuti A. and Munawwarah. “Adat Pernikahan Dan Nilai-Nilai Islami Dalam Masyarakat Aceh Menurut Hukum Islam.” El-Usrah: Jurnal Hukum Keluarga 3, no. 2 (2020): 289–302. https://doi.org/10.22373/ujhk.v3i2.7716.

Sangsuwan, Suttiluck. “Ethnic Conflict and Peace Process: A Comparative Study in Aceh and Mindanao.” Political Science and Public Administration Journal 5, no. 1 (2014): 54–65.

Schenk, Christine G. “Islamic Leaders and the Legal Geography of Family Law in Aceh, Indonesia.” The Geographical Journal 184, no. 1 (2018): 8–18. https://doi.org/10.1111/geoj.12202.

———. “Legal and Spatial Ordering in Aceh, Indonesia: Inscribing the Security of Female Bodies into Law.” Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 51, no. 5 (March 2019): 1128–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X19836119.

Showkat, Arshi. “The Principle and Practice of Mahr in Muslim Marriages.” Feminist Theology 31, no. 2 (2023): 197–209. https://doi.org/10.1177/096673 50221134992.

Siegel, James T. The Rope of God. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1969. https://books.google.com/books?id=DbhGAAAAMAAJ.

Sitompul, Roswita, Alesyanti, and Nurul Hakim. “Marriage Mahar to Minimize the Low Rate of Marriage in Aceh Pidie, Indonesia.” Italian Sociological Review 8, no. 3 (2018): 487–99. https://doi.org/10.13136/isr.v8i3.246.

Solin, Siti Dian Natasya, Zaiyad Zubaidi, Salman Abdul Muthalib, and Izuddin Abdussalam. “Kafaah as a Tool of Social Legitimacy in Marriage: An Empirical Analysis of Maslahah and Discrimination in Banda Aceh City.” Samarah: Jurnal Hukum Keluarga Dan Hukum Islam 10, no. 2 (2026): 1405–23. https://doi.org/10.22373/04708r49.

Taniguchi, Miyoko. “Territorial Autonomy as Territorial Reordering: Sequencing Post-Conflict Governance in Aceh and Mindanao.” Territory, Politics, Governance, ahead of print, September 11, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1080/21622671.2026.2726971.

Undang-Undang Nomor 1 Tahun 1974 tentang Perkawinan, Pub. L. No. UU No. 1 Tahun 1974, Lembaran Negara Republik Indonesia Tahun 1974 Nomor 1 (1974). https://peraturan.bpk.go.id/Details/47406/uu-no-1-tahun-1974.

Undang-Undang Nomor 11 Tahun 2006 tentang Pemerintahan Aceh, Pub. L. No. UU No. 11 Tahun 2006, Lembaran Negara Republik Indonesia Tahun 2006 Nomor 62 (2006). https://peraturan.bpk.go.id/Details/40174/uu-no-11-tahun-2006.

Undang-Undang Nomor 16 Tahun 2019 tentang Perubahan atas Undang-Undang Nomor 1 Tahun 1974 tentang Perkawinan, Pub. L. No. UU No. 16 Tahun 2019, Lembaran Negara Republik Indonesia Tahun 2019 Nomor 186 (2019). https://peraturan.bpk.go.id/Details/122740/uu-no-16-tahun-2019.

Wurm, Greg. “Theorizing Arranged Marriage: The Case of South Asian Muslim Immigrants in Love Marriage Societies.” Journal of Family Theory & Review 14, no. 4 (2022): 644–59. https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12470.

Yoshizawa, Asuna. “‘Love Conquers All?’: Women’s Narratives on Polygyny as an Internal Critique of Intersecting Patriarchies.” Feminist Anthropology 6, no. 2 (2025): e70016. https://doi.org/10.1002/fea2.70016.

Ziegenhain, Patrick. “Subnational Autonomy and Political Islam: A Comparative Analysis of Aceh, Bangsamoro, and Patani.” Jurnal Indo-Islamika 15, no. 1 (2025): 65–76. https://doi.org/10.15408/jii.v15i1.47002.

Zuhrah, Fatimah, Wakhid Sugiyarto, Marpuah, Ahsanul Khalikin, and Titi Isnaini Fauzah. “Tradition Beyond Formal Fiqh: Ethnic Perspectives on Negotiating Kafāʾah in Marriage within the Aceh Singkil Community.” Journal of Islamic Law 6, no. 2 (2025): 155–76. https://doi.org/10.24260/jil.v6i2.4187.