KUALA LUMPUR: A woman has filed for judicial review in a bid to renounce Islam and return to Christianity after she and her Muslim fiance parted ways.
The woman reportedly converted to Islam in 2017 in anticipation of marrying her fiance, but the two split up without getting married.
The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) objected to the Sarawak woman’s request that the Federal Territory’s muallaf registrar strike her name off its register, Bernama reported.
Federal counsel Sallehuddin Ali told the High Court that the application was not amenable to judicial review under Article 121(1A) of the Federal Constitution.
He said it was “frivolous and vexatious and should be dismissed by the court”.
The woman’s counsel, Iqbal Harith Liang, argued that the application was not barred by Article 121(1A) of the Federal Constitution.
He said the muallaf registrar’s legal duty to decide on the woman’s application to renounce Islam was implicit in Section 89 of the Administration of Islamic Law (Federal Territories) Act 1993.
“The applicant prays for leave to be granted for judicial review proceedings to be commenced against the respondents,” he added.
After hearing submissions from both parties, Justice Ahmad Kamal Shahid fixed Sept 21 to deliver his decision.
The 26-year-old woman filed the application on April 20 and named the Federal Territory’s muallaf registrar, its Islamic religious council (MAIWP) and the government as the respondents.
Born to Christian parents, she sought a declaration that the muallaf registrar has jurisdiction under the Act to declare that a person is no longer a Muslim.
She also requested that her name be struck off the muallaf register immediately, adding that the registrar’s refusal to decide on her applications, filed on Jan 30, Feb 20 and March 17, 2023, was irrational and unreasonable.
In her supporting affidavit, the woman said that she had on Aug 18, 2017, converted to Islam and registered as a muallaf after a Malay-Muslim man asked to marry her.
She said she wanted to leave Islam and return to Christianity, and applied to have her name removed from the register, but received no reply. - FMT
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