Muslims urged to defend their faith and child conversion bill

Muslims have been urged to make their stand and ensure the Administration of Islamic Law (Federal Territories) Amendment Bill 2013, now on hold, is tabled and passed by Parliament.

Sukarelawan Peguam (SukaGuam) chairman Datuk Khairul Anwar Rahmat, who called on Muslims to unite and defend their faith on this issue, told Mingguan Malaysia the act of defending the faith was jihad (holy war).

"What is the point of acknowledging Islam as Malaysia's official religion when a bill which upholds the faith of Islamic children can't be tabled and passed in Parliament?"

On Friday, after a flood of criticism from both BN and opposition figures, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced that the bill had been withdrawn for review.

The proposed tabling of the bill, which allowed for the conversion of minors to Islam by a single parent, had drawn flak from non-Muslims from both sides of the political divide.

Khairul said the unilateral conversion issue had already been explained clearly and at length in the case of R. Subashini v T. Saravanan in Dec 2007. In that case, the Federal court said Subashini’s husband, T. Saravanan, had the right to convert their four-year-old son to Islam without the knowledge of the mother.

However, in April 2009, the Cabinet decided that children should remain in the religion of their parents at the time of the latter’s marriage if one of the parents decided to convert.

The government also declared that it would ban parents from secretly converting children. This was to ensure that outstanding issues in a marriage would be settled to prevent children from becoming victims of a conversion battle.

However, Khairul’s view is that “there is no need for both parents to consent to their children's conversion if one of the parents has already embraced the Islamic faith."

He urged the government to engage MPs, lawyers, Islamic non-government organisations and Islamic scholars to find a consensus on the issue.

"These dialogues are necessary so that the bill can be reviewed and tabled in Parliament again, following Friday's events.

"This issue will also ascertain how far MPs, especially those who are Muslim, are willing to observe their oath to uphold the law and Islam as the official religion.

"There is no need to admit defeat without first going to battle."

Meanwhile, Coalition of Malaysian Islamic non-governmental organisations (Pembela) chairman Dr Yusri Mohamad hopes the review of the bill will proceed smoothly without pressure from any quarters.

"We hope that the final decision will be accepted by all parties even if it is not completely in their favour.

"I feel that it is impossible to find a formula which all parties will find agreeable but we must be ready to compromise."