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This statute defines and regulates the institution of marriage in Indonesia.

This presidential decree implements the provisions of Law No. 18 of 2001 on Special Autonomy for the Special Province of Aceh. The decree covers the name, jurisdiction, and authority, of the shari'a courts, as well as the status of employees, infrastructure, and financial resources. Notably, the increase in the courts' authority extended to criminal and public law, as well as worship (ibadat) and Islamic symbolism (syiar).

This statute streamlines, unifies, and regulates, the Indonesian religious (Islamic) courts and officials. It was subsequently amended by Law No. 3 of 2006 and Law No. 50 of 2009.

This statute grants special autonomy to the province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (Aceh) from the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia. It provides new financial regulations relating to the taxation of the Acehnese people, as well as in regards to the proceeds of Aceh's natural resources. It grants legislative power to the People's Representative Council of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, in which it vests legislative, budgetary, and policy surveillance powers. It provides scope for the election of a governor and executive, as well as the establishment of a regional police force and shari'a court system. Interestingly, rather than describing the Acehnese people as rebellious, the statute refers to their great resilience and fighting spirit, as well as having become an inspiration for those striving to achieve and preserve Indonesian independence.

This statute regulates the implementation of Aceh's special status, which it defines as covering the implementation of religious life, customary life, education, and the role of the ulama, in determining regional policy.

This provincial regulation obliges the regional government of Aceh to develop, guide, and monitor, the implementation of shari'a to the best of its abilities. The regulation defines implementation as including, among other things, aqidah (correct doctrine), ibadah (ritual worship), mu'amalah (commercial and civil matters), akhlak (goodness), Islamic education and the defence of Islam.

Chapter V of the regulation specifies punishments, including imprisonment, fines, and adat sanctions (art 19), but hudud penalties are not included.

This qanun regulates the shari'a courts (Mahkamah Syar'iyah) of Aceh, as well as the personnel and hierarchy therein. It also defines the areas of law over which the courts have jurisdiction, those being al-syakhshiyah (family law), mu'amalah (civil and commercial law), and jinayat (criminal law). The elucidation of the qanun defines jinayat as including offences such as zina (extra-marital sex), accusation of zina, murder, physical abuse, alcohol consumption, gambling, and failure to abide by prayer and fasting requirements.

This qanun is the Acehnese criminal procedure code. Article 5 states that it applies to all law enforcement agencies and persons in Aceh. It regulates the manner in which law enforcement officers conduct criminal investigations, the rights of the accused, the appropriate judicial forums for criminal trials, the manner in which prosecutors may prosecute a case, as well as the punitive measures a court may enforce, including caning, monetary fines, and imprisonment.

This qanun constitutes the Aceh Islamic Criminal Code. It prohibits jarimah (conduct prohibited under Islamic law, or sharīʿa) and imposes hudud and ta'zir punitive measures ('uqubat) as deterrents for committing jarimah. Specifically, the qanun prohibits khamar (alcohol), maisir (gambling), khalwat (close proximity in private), ikhtilath (non-sexual, pre-marital intimacy), zina (adultery), sexual abuse, rape, qadzaf (false accusation), liwath (sodomy), and musahaqah (lesbian relations).

Article 4(2) of the qanun defines hudud punishment as caning, while ta'zir, according to arts 4(3) and 4(4), is caning, monetary fines, imprisonment, and restitution.

Pursuant to art 5, persons subject to the qanun are:

1. all Muslim offenders in Aceh;
2. all non-Muslim offenders who commit an offence togther with another Muslim and voluntarily submit to the qanun;
3. all non-Muslims who commit an offence not covered in the Indonesian Criminal Code (Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Pidana) or that is outside the Indonesian Criminal Code, but regulated in the qanun; and
4. legal entities carrying out operations in Aceh.

This statute provides a second set of amendments to Law No. 7 of 1989 on the Religious Judiciary, as initially amended by Law No. 3 of 2006.

Originally sourced from the Dutch colonial criminal code (Wetboek van Strafrecht voor Nederlandsh-Indie), the Criminal Code's relevance to the application of shari'a in Indonesia, among others, lies in the wording of art 156a. Article 156a prescribes up to five years' imprisonment for any person who intentionally, in public, expresses a feeling or conducts themselves in a way that:

1. is hostile, abusive, or defamatory towards a religion followed in Indonesia; or
2. intends to discourage persons from embracing a religion based on the belief in One Almighty God.

The Criminal Code is also referred to in some religious court (pengadilan agama) decisions, and already covers certain parts of the criminal law that Acehnese regional legislation (qanun) seeks to regulate.

This fatwa defines underhanded marriage (nikah di bawan tangan) as 'a marriage that meets all the pillars and requirements stipulated at fiqh (Islamic law), but without being officially registered with the authorised agency as regulated in legislation.' The fatwa states that underhanded marriage is lawful because it meets the requirements and pillars of marriage, but haram (forbidden) insofar as it creates a problem or loss. Therefore, marriage must be officially registered to prevent such a problem or loss.

In this indictment, MS and MA were found sitting together in a shack in Keudah Station, Banda Aceh. Both of them were planning to go to a concert together but decided to stop by Keudah Station before heading to the concert. Suspicious of their act, the witness named Efriyadi approached MS and MA asking the nature of their gathering. MS and MA insisted that they were only sitting around without any intention to do more than that. Failing to show their marriage certificate on the scene, Efriyadi called the sharīʿa police.

After investigating the case, the prosecutor indicted them for committing khalwat (close proximity between an unmarried man and woman) which violates Aceh Qanun No. 6 of 2014 article 23 (1). Pursuant to this law, the prosecutor demanded both MS and MA to be punished with eight public lashes.

Evidence presented by the prosecutor:

• One pair of jeans
• One blouse
• A pillow
• Blue tarpaulin

MS and MA were found sitting together in a shack in Keudah Station, Banda Aceh. Both of them were planning to go to a concert together but decided to stop by Keudah Station before heading to the concert. Suspicious of their act, the witness named Efriyadi approached Marzuki and Marlina asking the nature of their gathering. MA and MA insisted that they were only sitting around without any intention to do more than that. Failing to show their marriage certificate on the scene, Efriyadi called the sharīʿa police.

In response to the indictment of the prosecutor on the case of MS and MA, the judge ruled against the defendants and pronounced both of them guilty of khalwat (close proximity between an unmarried man and woman). For this, both defendants are to be punished with seven public lashes.

Evidence used in the court:

• One pair of jeans
• One blouse
• A pillow
• Blue tarpaulin

This recapitulation is written based on the indictments and verdicts of cases of khalwat in Sabang, Nangroe Aceh Darussalam between January to February 2017. All information was gathered directly from the official Mahkamah Syar’iyah (sharīʿa court)’s website http://www.ms-aceh.go.id

All seventeen cases were filed on the same day by the same public prosecutor. Even though the indictments of these cases do not specify the details of the events leading to the arrest of the defendants it is likely that these cases refer to the raid of twenty-three young people in Sabang in January 2017. The raid happened after the surrounding neighborhood of the hotels where twenty-three young people stayed the night to celebrate the end of school semester reported them to the Shari’a police. They were apprehended in five different hotels.[1] Out of these twenty-three people, only seventeen of them were formally charged with khalwat and brought to the Mahkamah Syar’iyah (Shari’a court) in Sabang.

[1] Irwan Saputra, "Libur Semester, 11 Pasang Muda-mudi Digaruk WH di Sejumlah Hotel di Sabang - Aceh - BERITAKINI - Media Online," BERITAKINI.CO, December 27, 2016, accessed October 02, 2017, http://www.beritakini.co/news/libur-semester-11-pasang-muda-mudi-digaruk-wh-di-sejumlah-hotel-di-sabang/index.html

The expansion of the authority of the Court of Religion in Aceh and the subsequent change of its name to Mahkamah Syar’iyah has created an overlap of jurisdiction in the processing of civil and criminal cases. This was due to the granting of the special province status for Aceh in 1999 which entails the right for Aceh to implement Islamic law in the region. Mahkamah Syar’iyah was then granted the authority to process both civil and criminal cases for Aceh’s Muslim citizens, a jurisdiction previously shared between the Indonesian General Courts (Peradilan Umum) and the Courts of Religion (Pengadilan Agama). 

The decision of the Chief Justice of the Indonesian Supreme Court signifies the relegation of authority previously held by the Indonesian General Court to Mahkamah Syar’iyah in Aceh.

The relegated authorities are as follow:

1. Muamalah (civil law) cases of Muslim citizens of Aceh regulated in Aceh Qanun
2. Jinayah (Islamic criminal law) cases regulated in Aceh Qanun

This indictment relates to a case involving a defendant with the initials AM who was accused of committing khalwat (being in a close proximity with a man unrelated to her by blood or marriage) and ikhtilath (physical intimacy between an unmarried man and woman). Her neighbors found her to be in close proximity in her home with a man, RS. AM insisted that RS was, in fact, her legitimate husband and that they were married by way of nikah dibawah tangan, a marriage officiated by a local imam and not registered in the civil registry. The prosecutor rejected the legitimacy of her marriage with RS by claiming that such unregistered marriage violated the Indonesian Marriage Law of 1974. Accordingly, AM’s act of being in close proximity with RS was considered unlawful.

The police raided Remita Sinaga's house in early 2016 where they found 70 bottles of alcohol. Subsequently, the prosecutor indicted her for selling alcohol to her neighbors, a criminal act punishable with up to 30 public lashes under the Acehnese Qanun Jinayat. The prosecutor demanded for her to be punished in the form of 6 lashes in public but the court decided to punish her with 30 lashes. Sinaga became the first non-Muslim who was prosecuted and punished under the Acehnese Islamic criminal law.