Rhoma Irama & Marriage

For more than 35 years, Rhoma Irama has been very popularly known in Indonesia as a Malayan Dangdut singer and movie actor.

According to Kapanlagi, this controversial man was born in Tasikmalaya, West Java, on 11 December 1946, was legitimately married based on Marriage Law No.1/1974, but at the same time practiced Sirri i.e a marriage based on the Islamic Law, with several other women.

On Tuesday (14 April) evening, Rhoma Irama appeared as guest speaker in ANTV’s Talk Show 4 LAWAN 1 (4 Against 1), hosted by four ladies i.e Lula Kamal, Meisya Siregar, Fira Basuki and Rahma Aulia.
Various topics were discussed, but the most interesting part was when they discussed about Rhoma's opinion on Marriage. In this case he admitted that he led a polygamous life, but he refused to answer when the ladies asked him how many wives he has today.
He said that Marriage, Divorce and Polygamy are determined by God, and Polygamy does not bring disgrace to women, as a matter of fact it bring honor to women. He explained that before Islam came to this world, men did not honor women. He gave an example that at those times, holy men/kings/ leaders in many countries of the world have many wives, not just tens but also hundreds and even thousands, thus there is no limitation at all.
After Islam came to this world, a man is limited to have not more than 4 wives, on the condition that he must be capable to treat his wives fairly, otherwise he should only have 1 wife.

Further, he said that he sympathize with Syekh Puji, i.e. a 43 years old man who married Ulfa, a 12 years old girl according to Sirri. He said that Syekh Puji is a victim of our society’s unfair treatment. Because Rhoma thinks that Syekh Puji’s marriage was legitimate according to the Islamic Law which defined that an adult female as one who has menstruates, and since Ulfa has already menstruate, therefore their marriage has been legitimate according to Islamic Law.

Furthermore, he said that Sirri Marriage would prevent men from committing adultery.

Rhoma Irama’s above opinion is contradictory to our country’s Marriage Law i.e. a female should be at least 16 to get married; and a married man can only take another wife if his first wife permit him to do so. And as a public figure his words could mislead other people especially his fans into thinking that he is right.
In order to avoid confusion, the government should therefore clarify this by always socializing the principles adopted by our National Marriage Law.