Proposed Amendments to the Administration of Muslim Law Act to Better Serve the Community Needs

The Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) introduced amendments to the Administration of Muslim Law Act 1966 (AMLA) for First Reading in Parliament today.

2. The proposed amendments aim to strengthen Singapore’s Muslim institutions, and ensure that they remain responsive to the community’s evolving needs. The amendments relate to two key areas as follows:
   
   a. Establish that the governance and oversight of the Singapore College of Islamic Studies (SCIS) is part of MUIS’ statutory functions, in line with its role in developing future religious leaders for the Singapore Muslim community;
   
   b. Enhance Muslim marriage and divorce provisions to strengthen the focus on the care for the family and welfare of the child in marriage and divorce processes.

Establish governance and oversight of the Singapore College of Islamic Studies

3. In 2024, SCIS was announced as Singapore’s first Islamic college dedicated to nurturing the next generation of asatizah, or Islamic religious teachers, who can provide religious guidance contextualised to Singapore’s multi-racial and multi-religious society.

4. In preparation for the establishment of SCIS, the amendments will provide clear accountability and appropriate oversight of the SCIS, while maintaining the College’s academic independence and scholarly rigour.

5. The proposed amendments will:
   
   a. Include the oversight of SCIS as part of MUIS’ statutory functions. MUIS will oversee SCIS in its mission to develop religious talent and provide funding from existing community sources that MUIS administers, including the Mosque Building and MENDAKI Fund (MBMF), Zakat and Wakaf.
   
   b. Legally recognise SCIS and allow it to confer and award degrees. SCIS will be able to award degrees, diplomas and certificates in tertiary religious education, including the undergraduate degree in Islamic Studies. This will reinforce its standing as a credible institution of higher education, strengthening its ability to attract local talent and expand the career pathways for its graduates.
   
   c. Give the Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs oversight of selected administrative and financial matters. The Minister will oversee SCIS’ accountability and quality assurance frameworks, have access to its financial records, make appointments to its Board of Governors, and approve key decisions such as changes to its constitution. This will support sound governance, particularly as the college will receive government and community funds.

Supporting Muslim families through marriage and divorce

6. Marriage is the foundation of strong and resilient families. The Registry of Muslim Marriages (ROMM) provides support for couples in their marriage journey through the Bersamamu programme.

Enhancing Muslim marriage processes

7. The proposed amendment will prescribe a minimum period of physical presence in Singapore before a marriage application can be made, where at least one party is neither a Singapore Citizen nor a Permanent Resident. This ensures that foreigners who marry here have an established presence in the country or a meaningful connection to Singapore.

Enhancing care for divorcing couples in Muslim divorce processes

8. In cases where marriages cannot be reconciled, the Syariah Court (SYC) adjudicates marital or family disputes, guided by the principles of therapeutic justice for all parties involved. Since 2018, all parties must attend SYC’s Marriage Counselling Programme (MCP) before filing for divorce. The MCP supports the couples to explore reconciliation or, when necessary, to facilitate an amicable divorce. The proposed amendments seek to reduce administrative burden or unnecessary acrimony in the divorce processes, allowing divorcing couples and their family to focus on healing.

9. The proposed amendments will:
   
   a. Empower SYC to simplify procedural requirements for divorce proceedings. Parties will no longer need to first appoint hakam, or marital conciliators, where both parties agree to end the marriage by talak tafwidh^[1].
   
   b. SYC may also waive the need for sworn testimony from two witnesses in suitable fasakh^[2] applications where the grounds can be proven by other means, such as documentary evidence, or where obtaining two witnesses is impractical or would cause further hardship to the applicant. These proposed amendments are in line with existing Islamic law principles, and SYC must be satisfied that the grounds for divorce are proven and valid under Muslim law.
   
   c. Empower SYC to make financial-related orders and child-related orders, such as custody, care and control, and access upon a foreign Muslim divorce. This applies where either party is domiciled in Singapore or has lived in Singapore for at least three years before the application. This change will allow Muslim families who have obtained a divorce overseas to start proceedings related to the aforementioned matters at SYC, instead of starting separate proceedings in the High Court or Family Justice Courts. This is expected to save time and costs. Existing safeguards will remain. Parties must first obtain SYC’s permission to file the application, and SYC will consider factors such as whether Singapore is the most appropriate place to hear the matter before granting permission. 

Strengthening care child-centricity in Muslim divorce cases

10. The proposed amendments will:
    
    a. Articulate that the paramount consideration of the Court is the welfare of the child. AMLA will also make clear that a child’s welfare remains SYC’s most important consideration in matters involving children. This is aligned to SYC’s current practice, and is in line with principles of Muslim law.
    
    b. Empower SYC to make orders to allow or prevent a child under a custody, care or control order to be relocated outside Singapore. AMLA will formally set out SYC’s power to allow a child to relocate overseas with a parent or prevent a child from being taken out of Singapore by a parent. This responds to growing demands to do so, arising from transnational marriages and overseas work relocations, and will ensure that these Muslim families benefit from similar legal protections under Muslim law, in line with relevant sections of the Women’s Charter.

11. The proposed amendments build on SYC’s ongoing efforts to advance therapeutic, child-centred approach to family justice for Muslim families in divorce. Recent efforts include making MCP mandatory in 2018, the introduction of the Court Therapeutic Specialists through the Court Counselling Framework (now called the Therapeutic Specialist Services) in 2022, the implementation of the Child Representative Scheme in 2023, and the co-mediation pilot in 2025.

ANNEX A: LIST OF PROPOSED AMENDMENTS [PDF, 86.11 KB] ↗ (opens in new tab)

ANNEX B: ABOUT THE SINGAPORE COLLEGE OF ISLAMIC STUDIES (SCIS) [PDF, 90.08 KB] ↗ (opens in new tab)

ANNEX C: SUPPORT FOR MUSLIM MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE [PDF, 107.62 KB] ↗ (opens in new tab)

^[1] Talak tafwidh is the dissolution of Muslim marriages in which the husband delegates pronouncement of divorce to the wife.

^[2] Fasakh is the annulment of Muslim marriages due to harm or breach of marital obligations.