The Application of Reconciliation in Muslim Divorce Cases Caused by the Domestic Violence: An Analysis Between Islamic and Malaysian Law

Abstract

Recently, there has been an increase in cases of domestic violence in Malaysia especially during the enforcement of the Movement Control Order (MCO) following the Covid-19 pandemic. In most cases, the marriage abused with domestic violence will usually end up with divorce. However, in Islamic law, there is a concept of reconciliation and the issue arises if the divorce is due to domestic violence, is the wife i.e the victim obliged to follow her husband if the husband wants to reconcile to them in a state of iddah? Therefore, this research seeks to identify the issue of reconciliation in divorce caused by domestic violence cases based on Islamic and Malaysian law. Hence, using qualitative methods of research, the issues are examined from the relevant literature including primary and secondary materials, governing statutes in Malaysia and from the Islamic perspective based on Qur’an, Sunnah, and views of Muslim jurists as well as contemporary Islamic scholars. The research finds that the main objective of reconciliation is to rehabilitate the relationship between husband and wife and the principle of reconciliation in Malaysian law is in line with the principle of Islamic law. However, in the case of divorce due to a case of domestic violence, the wife can reject the reconciliation from the husband if she is worried that the said reconciliation will bring darar (harm) to her. The research also identifies the need for further research for a better platform mechanism that enable the women in knowing their right, remedies, seeks assistance and functioning as a complete information for reference for them to initiate the legal process and uphold their rights towards the domestic abuse.