Federal Court reserves judgment on woman's bid to be declared non-Muslim

 

The Shah Alam High Court had erred when it dismissed a legal bid by a woman born to a Muslim father but raised as a Buddhist by her Buddhist mother, a lawyer submitted.

The apex court proceedings today is on the hearing of Rosliza Ibrahim's appeal against the rulings of the Shah Alam High Court and Court of Appeal that disallowed her legal bid to be declared a non-Muslim.

Gopal Sri Ram told the Federal Court today that his client was never a part of Islam or a practising Muslim.

He said the High Court had erred by relying on the case of Lina Joy, which was a case involving a person seeking to exit the religion of Islam.

On May 30, 2007, the Federal Court dismissed Joy's appeal, ruling that the Islam religious status remains on her identification card (IC) and that only the Syariah Court has jurisdiction to hear the issue of a Muslim seeking to leave the faith.

"We submit that this is not a case of exit from religion, but rather a case where the applicant (Rosliza) alleged and contended she never belonged to the religion of Islam.

"This classification led to a fundamental error on the part of the courts below (High Court and Court of Appeal) in refusing to seize themselves of jurisdiction and holding the Syariah court as having seized jurisdiction based on the facts," Sri Ram said.

"The reliance on the courts below on the Lina Joy case (where the Syariah Court has full jurisdiction) is wrong.

"The courts below failed to properly characterise the case (of Rosliza) they had before them. Thus the appellant is entitled to the declaration (that she was never a Muslim from the outset)," Sri Ram submitted.

Following brief submissions by the two respondents in the matter which supported the contention that the High Court had made a correct decision, the nine-person Federal Court bench reserved decision today.

The first respondent is the Selangor state government, and the second respondent is the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais).

Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat

"We adjourn this matter to a date to be fixed," said Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, who chaired today's bench.

The other members of the bench are Court of Appeal president Rohana Yusuf, Chief Judge of Malaya Azahar Mohamed, and Federal Court judges P Nallini, Abdul Rahman Sebli, Zabariah Mohd Yusof, Hasnah Mohammed Hashim, Mary Lim Thiam Suan, and Rhodzariah Bujang.

State legal advisor Salim Soib acted for the Selangor state government while counsel Abdul Rahim Sinwan represented Mais.

On April 25 ,2018, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal by Rosliza, 38, who wanted a declaration that she was born as the illegitimate child of a Chinese mother and a Chinese Muslim father.

The Court of Appeal's ruling upheld the Shah Alam High Court decision to dismiss her legal bid.

In her originating summons, Rosliza claimed she was born in 1981 and was raised by her mother as a Buddhist.

Previously, her lawyer Aston Paiva reportedly said that after being issued with an identity listing her as a Muslim, she filed for a judicial review in 2009 against the National Registration Department but failed.

Following that, she filed an originating summons in 2015.

In the summons, she obtained affidavits from 11 states - Selangor, Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Perlis, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Penang, Perak and Terengganu - to verify that her mother never converted to Islam or had entered a Muslim marriage.

However, Rosliza's application was dismissed by the Shah Alam High Court in 2017.

On Jan 20 this year, the Federal Court granted leave to Rosliza to proceed with the appeal against the rulings of the Court of Appeal and the High Court. - Mkini