Transfer of Guardian’s Authority of Marriage to the Hand of the Judge: A Jurisprudential Field Study in the Marriage of Some Malaysians in Southern Thailand: انتقال ولاية النكاح إلى الحاكم: دراسة فقهية ميدانية في زواج بعض الماليزيين في جنوب تايلاند

Abstract

The study aims to discuss the topic of " Transfer of guardian’s authority of marriage to the hand of the judge: a jurisprudential field study in the marriage of some Malaysians in southern Thailand." This is due to a trend among Malaysian Muslims to marry by transferring the guardianship to the Judge as they travel outside the country with the intention of transferring the right of guardianship of marriage from their guardians to the Judge and seek his services in concluding the marriage contract. This marriage, in which the guardian is purposefully absent, violates the right of the guardian of lineage to give his ward in marriage. It also violates what the majority of the scholars from the past and present held, that the guardian is a requirement for the validity of a marriage. Southern Thailand is considered one of the most desirable destinations and one of the primary options for many Malaysians who want to marry in this manner. Therefore, the authors decided to study the ruling about the marriage of Malaysians with the intention of abandoning the right of the guardian of lineage to give his ward in marriage and transferring it to the ruler in southern Thailand. The authors employed inductive and analytical approaches. The authors carried out a field study by conducting personal interviews to learn about the opinions of some scholars, judges, lawyers, muftis, and academic experts from the relevant area. The authors have divided the research topic into two primary components; the first part highlights the concept of transfer of marriage guardianship from an Islamic juristic perspective; while the second part investigates the reasons that contribute to the spread of this ugly phenomenon in Malaysian society and proposes some solutions to address this issue. One of the most important findings of this study is that this phenomenon is one of the factors causing the destruction of family relationships in particular, and the moral value system of society in general