Islamic Law in Malaysia: Issues and Developments

Abstract

1 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS One of the growing concerns of Malaysian administrators and Muslim leaders in the post-war period has been a marked marital instability among Malay Muslims that has been characterized by high rates of divorce and polygamy, especially in Kelantan and Kedah in the north and Melaka and Johore in the south. Numerous explana- tions were given, e.g. disparities between state legal and administrative systems, wide- ranging socio-economic differentials of the Malay Muslims encompassing bilateral and matrilineal systems of kinship, and disparities between poorly educated fishermen and farmers on one hand and urban professionals and business executives on