State enactments · Kedah
Islamic Family Law (Kedah Darul Aman) Enactment 2008
Islamic family law for Kedah, as held by this site. Every section has its own address, so references on this site can open the exact section.
Malay text from the official State source. The Malay text below is the gazette text of 27 March 2008 in the PDF published by the Kedah State Syariah Judiciary Department. The English text comes from the web-archive copy of the e-Syariah portal (capture 2022) and covers the key Parts only.
Where this text comes from
Short title (section 1), Malay
Short title (section 1), English
Number
Number not settled: printed in the gazette of 27 March 2008 as “Enakmen No. 7 tahun 2008”, and cited by the State itself as “Enakmen No. 11 tahun 2008” (Pembetulan K.P.U. 31/2008)
Enacting words, as written
Dates as recorded in the source header
Where the text was obtained
Gazette in the official PDF of the Kedah State Syariah Judiciary Department (full Malay text); English text from the web-archive copy of the e-Syariah portal, capture 2022
Accessed on
14 October 2026 (GST; 13 October 2026 UTC)
Languages held
Malay and English
How much was read
Full text: 137 of 137 numbered sections held
Key sections
Polygamy section
Polygamy without permission
s.124: a fine not exceeding RM1,000 or imprisonment not exceeding six months or both
Minimum age
s.8: 18 for a man and 16 for a woman, except with the written permission of the Syarie Judge, as in the text held
Registration of marriage
Harta sepencarian on divorce
Definition of “Court”
What this text shows
- Section 23 in this text has ten subsections: the application and iqrar at s.23(4), the four conditions at s.23(5)(a)–(d), service of the application on each existing wife and the woman to be wedded at s.23(6), and the power to order maintenance or the division of jointly acquired assets at s.23(10). In Act 303 the same matters sit at s.23(3), s.23(4), s.23(5) and s.23(9).
- The offence of polygamy without permission is s.124, not s.123, because s.123 in this enactment is the appeals section. Its maximum penalty is the same as Act 303 s.123.
- Section 23 says only “the Court”. Section 2 defines it as the Syariah Subordinate Court or the Syariah High Court, as the case may be. The enactment itself does not fix the level of court for a polygamy application.
- The same PDF contains the 2015 amending enactment (Enakmen A22: assent 1 April 2015, gazetted 23 April 2015), which amends ss.2, 18, 23(7), 48, 49, 52, 53, 55, 103, 133, 135 and 136. The 2008 text and those 2015 amendments are held separately and have not been consolidated here: the Malay text below is the 2008 gazette text.
- Polygamy applications are heard in the Syariah High Court because of JKSM Practice Direction No. 14 of 2006 (in effect from 1 June 2006), not because of this enactment; the text of that practice direction was read on 14 October 2026.
Verified against a primary source
- An official English text exists: the gazette of 27 March 2008 (Kedah Government Gazette, Vol. 51 No. 7, Supplement No. 2) prints this enactment in both languages, the Malay text at page 305 and the English text at page 393. The list of enactments and every page number it “No. 7”. Source: the JKSN Kedah copy, via the web archive; checked 14 Oct 2026.
- Section 39 (unauthorised solemnization): the difference is in the gazette itself, not a portal error. The Malay gazette text: “denda tidak melebihi satu ribu ringgit atau penjara tidak melebihi enam bulan atau kedua-duanya”. The English gazette text: “a fine not exceeding two thousand ringgit or with imprisonment not exceeding six months or to both”. Checked 14 Oct 2026.
- Harta sepencarian (s.122): in the bilingual gazette, both texts of s.122(2) end at paragraph (c) with no direction to divide equally and no “equality” phrase. Checked 14 Oct 2026.
- Amendments after 2015: the Islamic Family Law (Kedah Darul Aman) (Amendment) Enactment 2022 and (Amendment) Enactment 2024 both came into force on 1 August 2025, under K.P.U. 13 and K.P.U. 17 (Kedah Government Gazette, Vol. 68, Supplement No. 12, 14 August 2025; dated 2 July 2025). Source: the JKSN Kedah copy, via the web archive; checked 14 Oct 2026.
- Which text is authoritative when the Malay and English gazette texts differ: the National Language Acts 1963/67 [Act 32], section 6(c), provides that the texts “of all Enactments and subsidiary legislation issued by any State Government” shall be in the national language and in the English language, “the former being authoritative unless the Yang di-Pertuan Agong otherwise prescribes”. So for s.39 of this enactment, the Malay text (“satu ribu ringgit”, one thousand ringgit) is authoritative. No contrary prescription for this enactment was found, but the prescriptions made under section 6 were not searched one by one. Source: the National Language Acts 1963/67 [Act 32], reprint incorporating amendments up to 1 January 2006, the Attorney General’s Chambers copy (agc.gov.my) via the web archive; read 14 Oct 2026.
To be checked for this State
- Instrument number: the gazette of 27 March 2008 prints “No. 7 tahun 2008” (checked again on 14 Oct 2026); the State itself, on the JKSN Kedah cover and in the 2015 amending enactment, cites it as “No. 11 tahun 2008”, and the e-Syariah portal mentions Pembetulan K.P.U. 31/2008. The text of that correction has not been found, so this site states both numbers and does not pick one.
- Minimum age: s.8 in the 2008 gazette text reads 18 for a man and 16 for a woman. The 2022 and 2024 amendments have been in force since 1 August 2025, and press reports link the amendment of around 2022 to a minimum age of 18 for women. The text of both amendments has not been read, so this site does not yet state either figure as the current law of Kedah, and the other sections they amend are not known either.
The text held
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The text above is a copy for reference, copied unchanged from the source stated; spelling errors in the source are kept. The binding text is the one gazetted by this State, including the latest amendments. This page is not legal advice.
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