WHEN RELIGION AND CULTURE MEET ECONOMY Socio-legal Factors for the Early Marriages of Muslim Families in Cirebon

Abstract

Indonesian law has established the minimum age for marriage. However, this requirement is in fact largely disregarded by many Muslims in Cirebon. This is evidenced by the high rate of marriage dispensations recorded in Religious Courts and Population Control, Family Planning, Women's Empowerment, and Child Protection Office (DPPKBP3A) data. This study seeks to investigate the sociological cause of early marriages which seemingly contradicts legal efficacy. Data were classified and then analyzed through a socio-legal approach, then concluded. The result of this study shows that early marriage in Cirebon is the end of multi-facets of social burdens, including economic motives, cultural pressure, and religious legality. These factors drive Muslim people in Cirebon to ignore the legal provisions regarding the minimum age for marriage. This ineffectiveness of the state law is also inseparable from the religious views of the community, which recognizes that Islam does not impose the same minimum age requirement as the state.