High Court turns down woman’s bid to challenge conversion

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has dismissed a legal attempt by a woman to question her conversion to Islam, carried out unilaterally by her father when she was a child.

Judge Noorin Badaruddin said the woman, now 42, should have gone to the shariah courts to seek a declaration that she is not a Muslim.

“In matters relating to Islam, the Federal Constitution has bestowed the shariah courts the powers to determine.

“Civil courts cannot make inroads to encroach into matters relating to Islam and it is highly inappropriate for civil courts to determine whether a person is Muslim or not,” she said.

The woman had commenced a judicial review, seeking an order against the Selangor muallaf registrar to cancel her conversion certificate.

She also wants the national registration department (JPN) to issue her a new MyKad without the word “Islam” on it.

She said her father converted her when she was 10 years old. At that time, her parents were in the midst of a divorce.

She claimed her mother had never embraced Islam and never consented to her conversion.

The woman also said she had never practised Islam, and had affirmed a statutory declaration to reject the use of her Muslim name.

She said she had previously gone to JPN to change her MyKad but the officers refused her request and asked her to produce a shariah court order to support her application. — Free Malaysia Today