Jais admits that the bride detained at her temple wedding is only a Muslim in name but not in practice.
PETALING JAYA: The Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) has told the bride who was detained at a raid on her Hindu temple wedding on Sunday to use the legal channels to change her religious status on her identification documents.
The department’s deputy director Ahmad Zaki Arshad told Malay daily, Harian Metro that the bride, identified as Zarena Abdul Majid, should appoint a lawyer and submit an application to change her name and religion, while they investigate the case of her unilateral conversion made by her absent father.
Ahmad clarified that the case has not been classified as apostasy but has been filed under Section 10 of the Syariah Criminal Enactment (Selangor) 1995 citing it as an offence to insult or bring disrepute to Islam.
He also admitted that the bride had never practiced Islam and was only a Muslim in name.
“What has happened is that the woman and her siblings are using Muslim names, but they have never practiced or been exposed to Islamic teachings as they should have,” he was quoted as saying.
On Sunday, Jais stopped a Hindu wedding in Petaling Jaya and detained the 32 year old bride.
Jais are investigating the case under the 1988 Enactment (Control of Propagation Amongst Muslims), which cites it as an offense to persuade, influence or incite any Muslim to change their faith.
According to a Jais official, the bride’s identity card identifies her as a Muslim.
Yesterday Hindraf chairman P Waythamoorthy said that the Jais actions were against the law.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.