Minimum Legal Age of Marriage and Maslahah Mursalah in the Marriage Law in Indonesia

Chapter 7, verse (1) of the Marriage Law (UUP) in Indonesia formulates that the minimum age for marriage is 19 years for men and women. The basic consideration of the legislators forming the UUP is that the minimum limit is for the benefit (maslahat) of children. Nash (text) of the Qur'an and Hadith as the main sources of Islamic Law, do not set a minimum age limit for getting married, but only set conditions for having baligh (age of sexual maturity) for men and women. Then the focus of this research is to study the maslahat (the benefits) and its application in UUP legislation related to the minimum age of marriage. The research question to be examined is how to implement the concept of the maslahah mursalah (which is to get benefit from the stipulation of law from a particular case) in the legislation on Marriage Law in Indonesia, especially about setting the minimum age for marriage. The method used is literature research, using secondary data from legal sources and sources of Islamic law. The findings of this study conclude that the prosperity regulates the minimum age limit for marriage at the level of Hajiyyah that is not in tahsiniyyah condition: therefore, it is justified to set the marriage age limit in the perspective of the maslahah mursalah. This maslahat (benefit) is in line with the purpose of the establishment of Islamic law, which is to bring maslahah or benefit, and to avoid mafsadat or damage due to the bad thing. The existence of rules about the minimum age for marriage can minimize marriages at the young age. The mafsadat of marriage at the young age is greater than its maslahat, because those aged less than 19 years are not yet mature physically and mentally.