A Eurasian woman’s legal journey of over six years to leave Islam and embrace Confucianism and Buddhism came to a halt before the apex court.
In a split 2-1 verdict today, the three-person Federal Court bench chaired by Hasnah Mohammed Hashim denied leave for the 34-year-old to proceed with her appeal.
When contacted, the appellant’s counsel Fahri Azzat confirmed that the majority decision by bench chairperson Hasnah and panel member Rhodzariah Bujang did not allow the woman to get leave.
The lawyer said the sole dissenting ruling was by apex bench member Mary Lim Thiam Suan, who agreed to the woman’s appeal leave bid.
Fahri said the majority ruling was that his client did not clear the hurdle of Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964.
The section provides that the apex court only grants leave to appeal if the issue involved is one to be decided for the first time, and that the issue is of such importance that it would be to public advantage that the matter be heard.
Born to Muslim parents in Johor in 1990, the woman went to the civil court in March 2022, after two stages of the religious court - the Federal Territory Syariah High Court and the Federal Territory Syariah Appeal Court - denied her bid to renounce Islam.
‘Never practised Islam’
According to the civil action cause papers, the woman, born to a Muslim convert man and a Muslim-born woman on Feb 8, 1990, allegedly went through a multi-year failed bid at the syariah courts to leave the religion and officially take on Confucianism and Buddhism.
The woman claimed the Syariah High Court and Court of Appeal refused her bid as they held it would go against hukum syarak (Islamic principles) to allow a fellow Muslim to leave the faith.
The woman - whose parents have since divorced - claimed her Muslim mother never forced Islam on her and gave her free rein to determine her own faith.
She claimed her father only converted to Islam to marry her mother and that her parents never practised the faith.
Contending that she neither practised Islam nor even recited the kalimah syahadah, she initially went to the Federal Territory Syariah High Court to try to renounce Islam.
The kalimah syahadah - one of the five pillars of Islam - is an Islamic oath that reads “I bear witness that there is no deity but God (Allah), and I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God”.
Faith rehab
The woman alleged that on Dec 10, 2018, the Syariah High Court ordered her to attend 12 pre-trial aqidah (faith) counselling sessions for a six-month period beginning Jan 14, 2019.
She said she then took leave from her employment in Oman and flew back to Malaysia to attend the 12 sessions which, in the end, managed to be completed between Jan 14 and 25 that year.
The woman claimed her mother and her mother’s close friend testified before the Syariah High Court over her faith in Confucianism and Buddhism.
She alleged, however, that on July 27, 2020, the Syariah High Court dismissed her bid and instructed her to undergo istitabah under the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council or the “Mufti’s Office”.
Under the country’s syariah system, istitabah refers to faith rehabilitation.
She claimed that the court also ordered her to undergo continuous Islamic classes as well as more aqidah counselling.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court (civil jurisdiction) denied her legal challenge in June 2022. The Court of Appeal upheld this dismissal in August last year. - Mkini
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