MAIS: Woman willingly converted to Islam

Contrary to Madinah Kanniamah's claim, Majlis Agama Islam Selangor clarifies that she had converted to Islam on her own free will

PETALING JAYA: Majlis Agama Islam Selangor (MAIS) secretary Misri Idris said today that Madinah Kanniamah had voluntarily embraced Islam, shooting down claims that she was converted without her knowledge.

Misri said that the Muslim Welfare Organisation Malaysia (Perkim) had proof that she had gone through the necessary procedures to convert to Islam.

“Records show that she had embraced Islam at Perkim in Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur. MAIS had officially registered her as a Muslim on Aug 3, 1983,” said Misri.

On Sept 5, FMT reported that an illiterate Hindu woman had been converted to Islam without her knowledge and only found out about it through the National Registration Department (NRD).

Madinah said she was in a relationship with an Indian national, at the age of 19, who claimed to be a Hindu. She lived with him and later found out he was a Muslim.

He had taken her identification card (IC) on the pretext of opening a bank account for her and later returned it with a Muslim name.

The man absconded and Madinah found out later that her IC indicated her as a Muslim.

Years later, she married a Hindu man in a customary wedding as the later feared that he would have to convert to Islam if the marriage was registered.

She now has five children from her marriage, four of them without MyKads as she feared that they might be registered as Muslims. Only the eldest has a MyKad and registered as a Muslim.

‘We follow procedures’

Misri said that it is part of the legislation to explain the two ‘kalimah syahadah’ to the person wanting to convert to Islam.

The syahadah is is an Islamic creed which declares belief in the oneness of God and acceptance of Muhammad as God’s prophet.

“It is part of the legislation, it must be done. The person in charge of the conversion bears the responsibility to explain the two ‘kalimah syahadah’.

“The person converting to Islam will then have to read it out themselves willingly,” he said.

Misri claims that Madinah had performed the mentioned acts and put her thumbprint on the required documents, agreeing to convert to Islam willingly in the presence of two witnesses.

“This is a standard procedure at MAIS and other institutions which convert individuals to Islam, it’s very uniform.

“We therefore deny all allegations by Madinah and assure the people that we follow all procedures as set by the law of the land and ‘Syarak’ law,” he added.

Misri said he hopes this clarification will give a clearer picture to the public that MAIS will not force a person to convert to Islam and that all standard procedures are adhered to.

“This is our stand and we hope this will clear all the confusion on this issue,” he said.