Sabah mufti Bungsu @ Aziz Jaafar has triggered a backlash with his proposal to have the marriageable age of Muslims lowered to 14 for females and 16 for males.

A lecturer and researcher at the Labuan International Campus of University Malaysia Sabah, Romzi Ationg, said implementing the idea would jeopardise efforts to address social ills and immoral activities.

The surge in the marriages of underage girls was slightly attributed to the cycle of poverty but, undeniably, a big chunk was due to immoral activities, he said.

"The idea of lowering the marriageable age to 14 clearly shows the ignorance of the parties involved on the importance of basic education at the early age," he said to Bernama today.

He said it could be a hasty decision amid the rising social ills and immoral cases nationwide.

"The views expressed on the issue do not represent the opinions of the majority of the people in view of the alarming immoral issues involving underage girls," Romzi said.

He cited the cases of many underage girls being forced to marry working adult men simply because they had become pregnant.

"The permission for underage girls to get married is very much likely to increase as the child marriages are not simply due to the pressure of poverty but largely due to uncontrollable immoral activities," he said.

The Health Ministry yesterday announced its opposition to the Sabah mufti proposal to lower the marriageable age.

Deputy Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye said this was because teens would not have reached physical and psychological maturity.

“In terms of health, it is not advisable as these teenagers will go through a pregnancy at a time when their uterus is not strong enough to sustain the baby and this is feared to be life-threatening to the mother and baby.

“Psychologically, they will face the challenges and pressure of running a household at a young age. They are still a child. You expect a child to bring up another child?” he asked.

Bungsu had said that early marriage should be allowed because "children are now very mature and are prone to sex earlier."

- Bernama