<![CDATA[This study is undergirded by a divergence in judicial reasoning within the Religious Court of Tanjung Pati in adjudicating two substantially analogous petitions for the legalisation of underage unregistered marriages (isbat nikah siri). Case Number 92/Pdt.P/2025/PA.LK was granted, whereas Case Number 51/Pdt.P/2025/PA.LK was dismissed. The inquiry is directed toward excavating the ratio decidendi underlying these discrepant determinations and subjecting them to scrutiny through the prism of maqāṣid al-sharīʿah.This investigation is conducted through direct field-based inquiry employing an intensive, case-centred qualitative strategy. Data are elicited through in-depth interlocution with judicial authorities, complemented by a comprehensive exegesis of pertinent case dossiers and adjudicative records.The findings disclose that the decision allowing the petition foregrounds substantive equity, tangible social utility, and the safeguarding of vulnerable parties, particularly spouses and children. Conversely, the decision rejecting the petition is anchored in strict juridical formalism, administrative regularity, the deterrence of circumvention of the statutory minimum age requirement for marriage as stipulated in Law Number 16 of 2019 concerning amendments to Law Number 1 of 1974 on Marriage, and the absence of prior dispensation authorisation.From a broader normative vantage point, the granting judgment is perceived as more closely aligned with the preservation of progeny (ḥifẓ al-nasl). In contrast, the refusal is regarded as not yet fully actualising holistic beneficence (maṣlaḥah), given its potential to engender administrative encumbrances and psychological burdens upon children born from such unions.]]>
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