Section 2. Interpretation. (ISLAMIC FAMILY LAW ENACTMENT 1992

ENACTMENT NO. 15 OF 1992
ISLAMIC FAMILY LAW ENACTMENT 1992

PART I - PRELIMINARY

Section 2. Interpretation.

(1) In this Enactment, unless the context otherwise requires –

“anak dara” means a woman who has not had sexual intercourse, whether she has been married or not;

“appointed date” means the date appointed under section 1(2) for the coming into operation of this Enactment;

“Chairman” shall have the same meaning as assigned thereto in the Administration of Muslim Law Enactment 1992;

“Chief Registrar” means a Chief Registrar of Muslim Marriages, Divorces and Ruju’ appointed under section 28;

“Chief Prosecutor” shall have the same meaning as assigned thereto in the Syariah Courts Enactment 1992;

“Court” means the Syariah Lower Court, Syariah High Court, or Syariah Appeal Court;

“darar syar’ie” means harm, according to what is normally recognized by Islamic Law, affecting a wife in respect of religion, life, body, mind, or property;

“fasakh” means the annulment of a marriage by reason of any circumstance permitted by Hukum Syarak in accordance with section 53;

“fosterage” means the suckling of a baby up to sufficiency by a woman who is not its natural mother for at least five times during the first two years of its life;

“Hukum Syarak” means the laws of Islam in any recognized sects;

“harta sepencarian” means property jointly acquired by husband and wife during the subsistence of marriage in accordance with the conditions stipulated by Hukum Syarak;

“illegitimate” in relation to a child means born out of wedlock and not as a result of syubhah intercourse;

“janda” means a woman who has been married and divorced after consummation;

“kariah”, in relation to a mosque, means the area, the boundaries of which are determined by the Majlis, in which the mosque is situated;

“Kitabiyah” means –

(a) a woman whose ancestors were from the Bani Ya’qub; or

(b) a Christian woman whose ancestors were Christians before the prophethood of the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.; or

(c) a Jewess whose ancestors were Jews before the prophethood of Prophet ‘Isa;

“Muslim” has the same meaning as assigned thereto in the Administration of Muslim Law Enactment 1992;

“Majlis” has the same meaning as assigned thereto by the Administration of Muslim Law Enactment 1992;

“mas kahwin” means the obligatory marriage payment due under Hukum Syarak by the husband to the wife at the time the marriage is solemnized, whether in the form of money actually paid or acknowledged as a debt with or without security, or in the form of something that, according to Hukum Syarak, is capable of being valued in terms of money;

“mut’ah” means a consolatory gift that is reasonable according to Hukum Syarak, given to a divorced wife;

“nasab” means descent based on lawful blood relationship;

“Registrar” means a Registrar of Marriages Divorces, Ruju’ appointed under section 28, and includes a Deputy Registrar and an Assistant Registrar;

“resident” means permanently or ordinarily living in a particular area;

“ruju” means a return to the original marriage state;

“Syarie Judge” means a Judge appointed under section 6 of the Syariah Courts Enactment 1992, and includes Chief Syarie Judge;

“Syarie Lawyer” shall have the same meaning as assigned thereto in the Syariah Courts Enactment 1992;

“syubhah intercourse” means intercourse performed on erroneous impression that the marriage was valid (fasid) or intercourse by mistake and includes any intercourse not punishable by Had in Islam;

“ta’liq” means a promise expressed by the husband after the solemnization of marriage in accordance with Hukum Syarak and the provisions of this Enactment;

“thayyib” means a woman who has had sexual intercourse;

“wali Hakim” means a wali appointed and commissioned under subsection (3) of section 7;

“widow” means a woman whose husband has died;

“widower” means a man whose wife has died;

(2) All words and expressions used in this Enactment and not herein defined but defined in the Interpretation and General Clauses 1963 [En. No. 34/63.] shall have the meanings thereby assigned to them respectively by that Enactment to the extent which do not conflict with Hukum Syarak.

(3) For the avoidance of doubt as to the identity or interpretation of the words and expression used in this Enactment that are listed in the Schedule, reference may be made to the Arabic script form for those words and expressions shown against them therein.

(4) The Yang di-Pertua Negeri may form time to time amend, delete from or add to the Schedule.