The Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act proposes 18 as the age of marriage

An advisory committee to propose amendments to the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) has recommended abolishing polygamy and raising the minimum age of marriage to 18 for both sexes.

The report proposed that the minimum age for marriage should be 18 for both sexes and that a provision should be included in the Act.

Section 363(e) of the Penal Code shall be amended to include the second part of the said section.

While the Cabinet has decided to ban polygamous marriages of Muslim men, it has also been recommended to abolish polygamy altogether.

The Muslim Personal Law Reform Action Group (MPLRAG) welcomes the release of this report as an important step towards ensuring transparency and accessibility of the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) reform process for all Sri Lankan Muslim communities. MPLRAG member Nadia Ismail called on the government to speed up the implementation of the recommended reforms, noting that the cost of delay was immeasurable.

The then Justice Minister and current External Affairs Minister M.M. The report was compiled by a nine-member advisory committee headed by lawyer Shabri Halimdeen appointed by Ali Sabri.