‘Police must abide by Syariah and Civil law’

Ex-president of the Syariah Lawyers Association Mohamad Buruk says two parallel legal systems have put the police in a dilemma.

PETALING JAYA: The Syariah court and the respective religious authority were urged to give non-Muslims an avenue to get equal justice in Syariah courts.

Former Syariah Lawyers Association of Malaysia president, Mohamad Buruk, said this in reference to custody battle involving S Deepa, 30, and Izwan Viran Abdullah, 31, from Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan.

Deepa alleged Izwan abducted her son Mithran, six, on Wednesday morning although the Seremban High Court had on Monday granted the children’s custody to her.

Deepa lodged a police report on the same day at the Jelebu police headquarters.

“Currently any dispute between a Muslim spouse, especially involving marriage and child custody, both parties (husband and wife) must be present in court. We call it as ‘inter-parte’.

“However in a case where only one of the spouse is Muslim, only the Muslim spouse needs to be present at the court, which is ‘ex-parte’.

“That’s why I feel the court and religious authority must give room for a non-Muslim spouse to be present in court and give her a chance to present her case or arguments or points she wants to raise.

“And the court should give due consideration to the mother even though she is a non-Muslim,” said Mohamad.

“Before giving custody of the children to a Muslim spouse, the court must examine and investigate if the Muslim convert is really sincere or just using the Islam to achieve his personal agenda.

“If I was helming the religious department, I will make sure a convert is a quality Muslim and not admit a person who wants to abuse the religion for a personal hidden agenda,” added Mohamad.

Children must follow father’s religion

Mohamad who is still practicing law, both as Syarie and civil lawyer said, according to Islam, when the father converts to Islam, the children must follow the path of the father.

“Yes, it’s true according to Islam’s teaching, when the father converts to Islam, the children must follow suit. But in multiracial country like our, we must consider the compassion factor as well.

“It’s really unfair when the father converted the children to Islam without the knowledge and consent of the mother. So there is crisis between Islamic teachings and the constitution.

“Islam is fair to everybody, so it must be practiced fairly,” said Mohamad.

However, he said he has no sympathy for Izwan, who violated the Interim Protection Order that Deepa obtained against him from the Seremban Magistrate’s Court on Aug 30 last year for domestic violence.

“Izwan is not supposed to go to Deepa’s home or get near her,” said Mohamad.

Mohamad also defended the police as the they are bound to both civil and Syariah court orders.

“People have criticised the police and alleged they didn’t abide by the ruling of the Seremban High Court. However, all must realise the Syariah court is also an authority that police must respect.

“It’s unfair to blame them for not taking action as the police force is stuck between two law systems in the country,” said Mohamad.