Cross-Border Nikah Sirri between Malaysia and Indonesia: Contemporary Legal and Social Dynamics in Borneo

Sri Wahyuni; Ahmad Abdlkareem Sarairah; Mohamed W. Abouyounes

doi:10.32332/milrev.v5i1.11047

Authors

Sri Wahyuni Syariah and Law Faculty, UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Ahmad Abdlkareem Sarairah Faculty of Law, Ajloun National University, Jordan
Mohamed W. Abouyounes Jeddah College of Law, University of Business and Technology, Saudi Arabia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32332/milrev.v5i1.11047

Keywords:

Contemporary; Cross-border; Law; Nikah Sirri; Social Dynamic.

Abstract

This article examines the phenomenon of cross-border nikah sirri (unregistered marriage) between Malaysia and Indonesia in the Borneo region, particularly involving Malaysian Sarawakians and migrant labourers. The study aims to analyse the contemporary legal frameworks governing nikah sirri in both countries, explore the socio-cultural and structural factors that motivate cross-border marriage practices, and assess their implications for the protection of women’s and children’s rights. Employing a socio-legal approach, this research integrates primary data derived from in-depth interviews and field observations with secondary sources from relevant legal and academic literature. The findings reveal that undocumented migrant workers in Sarawak frequently cross into Indonesian border areas to conduct nikah sirri, facilitated by transnational kinship networks, including Dayak communities who provide social and ritual support. From a legal perspective, Malaysia strictly prohibits unregistered marriages and imposes administrative sanctions for them. In contrast, Indonesian law adopts a more accommodating stance by allowing post-facto legalisation through itsbat nikah (marriage confirmation) in the Religious Courts, alongside limited legal recognition for children. However, such cross-border practices are often treated in Malaysia as legal evasion and a violation of public order, rendering the marriages invalid and leaving women and children without formal legal protection, including issues related to lineage and civil status. From the perspective of maqāṣid al-sharīʿah, these practices tend to generate greater harm (maḍarat) than benefit (maṣlaḥah), particularly in failing to safeguard lineage (ḥifẓ al-nasl) and legal certainty. This study contributes to the discourse on transnational Islamic family law by offering a comparative and empirically grounded analysis of regulatory gaps and their social consequences. It further argues for an integrative approach to legal reform to strengthen cross-border protection mechanisms and ensure substantive justice for vulnerable groups.

References

Abouyounes, Mohamed. ‘The Legal Underpinnings of Jordanian and Iraqi Law’s Administrative Penalty Systems’. Al-Biruni Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2 September 2025, 1. https://doi.org/10.64440/BIRUNI/BIR003.

Agusta, Acendra, Mohammad Ali Sajjad, and Miftahudin Azmi. ‘Legal Issues of Ganti Tikar Marriage in Bugis Wajo Custom in East Tanjung Jabung Regency’. Trunojoyo Law Review (Madura) 6, no. 1 (February 2024): 142–158. https://doi.org/10.21107/tlr.v6i1.23947.

Ahmad, Ridho Sa’dillah. ‘Kebijakan Hukum Nasional Atas Perubahan Batas Minimal Umur Dalam Melakukan Pernikahan Secara Sah Terhadap Perspektif Hukum Islam di Indonesia’. Jurnal Penelitian Hukum Indonesia - JPeHI 4, no. 2 (2023): 50–64.

Bafadhal, Faizah. ‘Nikah Siri Dalam Perspektif Undang-Undang Perkawinan’. Jurnal Ilmu Hukum, n.d., 20–31.

Baharuddin, Wahdaniah. ‘Akibat Hukum Sipalaiang (Kawin Lari) Pada Suku Mandar Menurut Undang-Undang Perkawinan’. BAMETI Customary Law Review 1, no. 1 (2023): 1–5. https://doi.org/10.47268/bameti.v1i1.9806.

Borhanuddin, Siti Aishah, Mahamatayuding Samah, and Mohd Norhusairi Mat Hussin. ‘Kesalahan Berkahwin Tanpa Kebenaran Bagi Orang Islam di Malaysia: Tinjauan Berdasarkan Perspektif Syarak dan Undang-Undang’. Jurnal Pengajian Islam 16, no. 2 (2023): 1.

Bujang, Saimi B. I. N., and Noranizah Yusuf. ‘Impak Penjajahan Barat Terhadap Sistem Perundangan Dan Kehakiman Islam di Sarawak: The Impact Of Western Colonization On The Islamic Legal And Judicial System In Sarawak’. MANU Jurnal Pusat Penataran Ilmu Dan Bahasa 35, no. 2 (2024): 99–124.

Firdaus, Muhammad Rizal, and Ali Maskur. ‘Pernikahan Sirri Dalam Perspektif Hukum Islam Dan Pencatatan Perkawinan Menurut Ketentuan Yang Berlaku Di Indonesia (Hukum Positif)’. Isti`dal : Jurnal Studi Hukum Islam 11, no. 1 (2024): 52–72.

Gopal, Meerah Deiwi Raja. ‘Does Illegitimacy Status of Children Matter? A Review on Malaysian Perspectives. International Journal of Applied Psychology 5, no. 4 (2015): 109–114. https://doi.org/10.5923/j.ijap.20150504.05.

Hadi, M. Faiz Kurnia. ‘Konsepsi Hukum Nikah Siri Di Indonesia: Upaya Sinkronisasi Antara Living Laws Dengan Positive Laws’. Indonesian Journal of Islamic Law 1, no. 1 (2018): 18–40.

Hafidzi, Anwar, Bahran Bahran, Fuad Luthfi, Rusdiyah Rusdiyah, Mohd. Hatta Mohamed Ali, and Ali Banaeian Esfahani. ‘Sirri Marriage Celebration and Its Impact on Social Change in Banjarese Community, South Kalimantan’. Al-Ahkam Jurnal Pemikiran Hukum Islam 32, no. 2 (2022): 153–168. https://doi.org/10.21580/ahkam.2022.32.2.12789.

Hanum, Nur Latifah, Siah Khosyah, and Shania Anwar. ‘Penyelundupan Hukum Perkawinan di Bawah Umur Melalui Permohonan Itsbat Nikah di Pengadilan Agama’. Asy-Syari‘ah 25, no. 1 (2023): 51–64. https://doi.org/10.15575/as.v25i1.21142.

Hazali, Siti Aishah binti. ‘Bayan Linnas Siri Ke-280: Kedudukan Nikah Sirri (Secara Rahsia) Menurut Kacamata Perundangan Malaysia’. Pejabat Mufti Wilayah Persekutuan, 2023. https://muftiwp.gov.my/ms/artikel/bayan-linnas/5777-bayan-linnas-siri-ke-280-kedudukan-nikah-sirri-secara-rahsia-menurut-kacamata-perundangan-malaysia.

Ilham, Muhammad. ‘Nikah Sirri Perspektif Hukum Positif dan Hukum Islam’. Sangaji Jurnal Pemikiran Syariah Dan Hukum 1, no. 2 (2017): 179–189.

Instruksi Presiden Republik Indonesia Nomor 1 Tahun 1991 Tentang Kompilasi Hukum Islam, 1 (1991).

Jannah, Lulu Ul, Inna Fauziatal Ngazizah, and Abdurrohman Kasdi. ‘Social Legitimacy versus State Legal Certainty: The Dialectics of Kiai Marriages as Living Law in Dusun Pondok Asem, Kertasemaya, Indramayu’. Al-Mazaahib Jurnal Perbandingan Hukum 13, no. 2 (2025): 173–198. https://doi.org/10.14421/al-mazaahib.v13i2.4392.

Lumayag, Linda Alfarero. ‘Foreign Labour Migration in Sarawak, East Malaysia’. International Migration, 2020, 1. https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12707.

Mardiana, Juli, Ibnu Radwan Siddik Turnip, and Fikri Haekal. ‘Polygamy and Nikah Sirri Culture of Agen Thrifting Families in Teluk Nibung: An Islamic Family Law Perspective’. Jurisprudensi Jurnal Ilmu Syari’ah, Perundang-Undangan Dan Ekonomi Islam 16, no. 2 (2024): 321–335. https://doi.org/10.32505/jurisprudensi.v16i2.8981.

Ma’u, Dahlia Haliah. ‘Nikah Sirri Dan Perlindungan Hak-Hak Wanita Dan Anak (Analisis Dan Solusi Dalam Bingkai Syari’ah)’. Al-Ahkam Jurnal Ilmu Syari’ah dan Hukum 1, no. 1 (2016): 35–50.

Miles, Matthew B., and A. Michael Huberman. Analisis Data Kualitatif : Buku Sumber Tentang Metode-Metode Baru. Jakarta: Universitas Indonesia Press, 2014.

Muhammadi, Fauzan. ‘Legalitas Nikah Sirrî Ditinjau Dari Kaidah Fikih’. De Jure: Jurnal Hukum Dan Syari’ah 9, no. 1 (2017): 1–12.

Munawar, Faishal Agil Al. ‘Telaah Fatwa Tentang Nikah Siri’. Istidlal: Jurnal Ekonomi Dan Hukum Islam 4, no. 1 (2020): 55–63. https://doi.org/10.35316/istidlal.v4i1.210.

Musfira, Jamal Jamil, and Istiqamah. ‘Analisis Pelaksanaan Itsbat Nikah Terhadap Pernikahan Sirri di Pengadilan Agama Bantaeng’. Iqtishaduna: Jurnal Ilmiah Mahasiswa Jurusan Hukum Ekonomi Syariah 2, no. 2 (2021): 61–69.

Mutaqin, Zezen Zaenal, and Yayan Sopyan. ‘Forced Marriage and Sex Trafficking under the Guise of Nikah Siri in Indonesia’. Studia Islamika Indonesian Journal for Islamic Studies 31, no. 2 (2024): 221–249. https://doi.org/10.36712/sdi.v31i2.39198.

Ngesana, Nor Hikmah, and Othman Ab. Rahman. ‘The Effect of Early Marriage and Marital Stress Among University Students in USIM’. Journal Al-‘Abqari Journal of Islamic Social Sciences and Humanities 25, no. 2 (2021): 61–88. https://doi.org/10.33102/abqari.vol25no2.460.

Nopitasari, Kairuddin Karim, and Muhammad Akbar Fhad Syahril. ‘Isbat Nikah Dalam Undang-Undang Perkawinan’. Julia: Jurnal Litigasi Amsir 9, no. 2 (2022): 142–150.

Paryadi. ‘Maqashid Syariah : Definisi Dan Pendapat Para Ulama’. Cross-Border 4, no. 2 (2021): 201–216.

Persekutuan, Enakmen Wilayah. ‘Akta Undang-Undang Keluarga Islam (Wilayah-wilayahPersekutuan) 1984 (Akta 303)’. Abdul, Low & Partners, 2019. https://www.peguamsyarie.com.my/akta-undang-undang-keluarga-islam-wilayah-wilayahpersekutuan-1984-akta-303/.

Pratiwi, Dian Khoreanita. ‘Tinjauan Yuridis Penyelundupan Hukum Perkawinan Beda Agama Berdasarkan Undang-Undang Nomor 1 Tahun 1974 Tentang Perkawinan’. Jurnal Hukum Media Bhakti 2, no. 1 (2018): 1–11. https://doi.org/10.32501/jhmb.v2i1.15.

Purwadi, Ari. Dasar-Dasar Hukum Perdata Internasional. Surabaya: Pusat Pengkajian Hukum dan Pembangunan (PPHP) Fakultas Hukum Universitas Wijaya Kusuma Surabaya, 2016.

Rahmawati, Yeni. ‘Tinjauan Yuridis Status Dan Akibat Hukum Anak Yang Dilahirkan Dari Hasil Perkawinan Di Bawah Tangan’. Universitas Islam Sultan Agung, 2023.

Rahmawati, Yeni Tri Nur. ‘Tradisi Pernikahan Sirri : Sebuah Potret (Budaya) Islam Nusantara’. Islamic Akademika, 2016, 76–92.

Rifqi, Muhammad Jazil, Nurul Asiya Nadhifah, Mukhammad Nur Hadi, Abdul Basith Junaidy, and Agus Solikin. ‘Children’s Legal Identity at Stake: Reconstructing Maqasid al-Syari’ah through Marriage Isbat Applications by the Second Generation in Pasuruan’. El-Mashlahah 15, no. 1 (June 2025): 125–148. https://doi.org/10.23971/el-mashlahah.v15i1.9068.

Romli, Muhammad. ‘Smuggling Of Interfaith Marriage Law Under The International Civil Law Framework’. ISAR Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences 2, no. 11 (2024): 127–133.

Saleh, Nik Salida Suhaila Nik, Kamarul Adrian Akmar Noor Azmi, Nur Jihan Mardhiah Mohd. Nawi, Nur Yasmin Zawani Pakror Rozi, Siti Nurfaqihah Syafiqah Mustafa Kamal, and Amar Haziq Abd Shukur. ‘Legal Procedure and Formalities of Marriage Application in the State of Selangor: A Way Forward’. An-Nisa: Journal of Islamic Family Law 2, no. 1 (2025): 27–35. https://doi.org/10.63142/an-nisa.v2i1.111.

Santosa, Imam, Ali Rokhman, Ahmad Sabiq, and Ida Yuliana Hutasuhut. ‘Empowering Undocumented Indonesian Migrant Workers in Sarawak through Social Capital Enhancement’. Pakistan Journal of Life and Social Sciences 22, no. 2 (2024): 1. https://doi.org/10.57239/PJLSS-2024-22.2.00905.

Seto, Bayu. Dasar-Dasar Hukum Perdata Internasional Buku Kesatu. Ketiga. Bandung: PT. Citra Aditya Bakti, 2001.

Siddik, Ibnu Radwan. ‘Studi Pebandingan Ketentuan Pencatatan Perkawinan Di Indonesia Dan Malaysia’. Al-Muqaranah Jurnal Perbandingan Hukum Dan Mazhab 1, no. 1 (2017): 118–136.

Sufyan, Akhmad Farid Mawardi. ‘Analisis Terhadap Tingginya Nikah Siri Di Kabupaten Pamekasan’. Al-Manhaj: Journal of Indonesian Islamic Family Law 1, no. 2 (2019): 161–195. https://doi.org/10.19105/al-manhaj.v1i2.3234.

Supaat, Dina Imam, Abidah Abdul Ghafar, and Nurfadhilah Che Amani. ‘Kerentanan dan Perlindungan Undang-Undang: Meneroka Undang-Undang Keluarga Islam di Malaysia (Vulnerabilities and Legal Protection: Exploring Islamic Family Law in Malaysia)’. Kanun: Jurnal Undang-Undang Malaysia 36, no. 2 (2024): 181–212. https://doi.org/10.37052/kanun.36(2)no2.

Syafi’i, Imam, Ramdan Wagianto, Hawa’ Hidayatul Hikmiyah, Irzak Yuliardy Nugroho, and Syaikhoni. ‘Harmonisation of Islamic Law and Local Wisdom: A Methodological Reconstruction of Ijtihad in Family Law Based on Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s Istinbāṭ Approach’. Nusantara: Journal of Law Studies 5, no. 1 (January 2026): 25–43. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18359276.

Syahputera, Akhmad Fadly, and Ferdiyan. ‘Konsep Wali Hakim dalam Pembaruan Hukum Keluarga Islam di Malaysia Dan Indonesia’. Asy-Syari‘ah 24, no. 2 (2022): 179–192. https://doi.org/10.15575/as.v24i2.17735.

Syamdan, Addin Daniar, and Djumadi Purwoatmodjo. ‘Aspek Hukum Perkawinan Siri Dan Akibat Hukumnya’. Notarius 12, no. 1 (2019): 452–466.

Undang-Undang Malaysia Akta 164 Akta Membaharui Undang- Undang (Perkahwinan Dan Perceraian) 1976 Tahun 2015 (2015).

Undang-Undang Republik Indonesia Nomor 1 Tahun 1974 Tentang Perkawinan, 1 (1974).

Utami, Dwi, and Astika Nurul Hidayah. ‘Perbandingan Kebijakan Hukum Terhadap Perkawinan Anak Dari Perspektif Hukum Perkawinan Di Indonesia Dan Malaysia’. Jurnal Hukum in Concreto 3, no. 1 (2024): 1–14.

Wahyuni, Sri. ‘Legal Transplant: Influence of The Western Legal System in The Muslim Countries’. Justicia Islamica 19, no. 1 (2022): 21–37. https://doi.org/10.21154/justicia.v19i1.2756.

Yulia. Hukum Perdata Internasional. 1st edn. Lhokseumawe: Unimal Press, 2016.

Zainuddin and Zaki Ulya. ‘Recording Siri ’ S Marriages In Obtaining Legal Certainty (Reflections on the Rise of Siri Marriages in Aceh )’. SYARIAH : Jurnal Hukum Dan Pemikiran 21, no. 1 (2021): 1–16. https://doi.org/10.18592/sjhp.v1i1.3276.

Zakaria, Endang, and Muhammad Saad. ‘Nikah Sirri Menurut Hukum Islam dan Hukum Positif’. Kordinat 20, no. 2 (2021).

Zumrotun, Siti, Ilyya Muhsin, Adang Kuswaya, and Sukron Ma’mun. ‘Islamic Family Law in Diaspora: Negotiating Gender and Marital Authority among Indonesian Muslim Immigrants in Sydney’. Journal of Islamic Law (JIL) (Pontianak) 7, no. 1 (221 193 AD). https://doi.org/10.24260/jil.v7i1.5687.