No Joy for Lina ?
Malaysia's best known Christian convert, Lina Joy, lost a six-year battle on Wednesday to have the word "Islam" removed from her identity card, after the country's highest court rejected the change......... Read Further.
Talking from experiences, I have a large family of siblings and relatives. Honestly, I am very sad to note that almost half of my family members has converted out from my religion of birth to other religions such as Christianity, Islam, Hindu, etc. As an educated man, I have no alternative but to respect and support their decision. As far as I am concern, their choices of faiths are their personal choices, and these are God's will. I honestly believe, it really doesn't matter which religious path we pursue in our life, the bottom line, all of us are still God fearing and still believed in the same universal God.
Personally, I still find it very sad that a person's personal choice of faiths has to be refer to legal court for determination. But I also take note that, in Malaysia, it is not practical for a Muslim to convert into other religions. One has to understand that, In Islam, there is no "exit" point. Conversion out of Islam is and will always be a very sensitive matter and can give rise to extraordinary emotional stress to other faithful Muslims. A person's intent to convert from one religion to another is not a personal choice in any tightly knitted religious community. It is akined to betrayal of their own God, showing disrespect to their religion, and brought shame to their community. I am sorry to note this, but this has always been my personal perceptions.
With regards to Lina Joy case, I guess if she still insist on not renouncing Christianity and revert back to her religion of birth, she should appeal to the religion authorities and accept whatever rehabilitations and punishments that will be meted by the religion authority. Or alternatively, Lina should consider migrating to other countries. Cruel it may seemed, but I guess this is the most practical way to resolve this difficult issue.
I am not a legal expert and will never understand the intricacies of our constitutions. But on a practical side, if it is the role of government to regulate religious matters, then I do hope the government can adopt a more "sporting approach" to amend the constitution to make it illegal for all kinds of religious conversions such as from Christianity to Muslim, Muslim to Christianity, Hindu to Muslim, Muslim to Hindu, and all the various permutations. In simple term, making it illegal for any person to convert out from his religion of birth irregardless of religions. I know, I may be accused of disrespecting human rights, but in the first place, do we sincerely and honestly have any intent to respect human rights when element of biases are in our favours ? I do think it is worth the price to pay to avoid any possibility of emotionally incited confrontations. After all, I do personally believe that we are all praying to the same GOD. Why bother so much about the different religious procedure of presenting our faith to GOD ? Why is it so difficult for us to accept others's religions ? Why is it so difficult for us to respect others' preferences of renouncing their own religions ?
With no insinuations intended, I always believe that a parrot that can imitate a dog's barks will always remained a parrot, no matter how good the parrot is in imitating the dog. And likewise, the opposite applies. So, as long as we believe in God, it doen't matter what religious path we take. God always know, and if other strayed, wouldn't it be morally righteous for us to leave it to God to decide their salvations and damnations.
I walked the middle path, and will always remain so...........
Talking from experiences, I have a large family of siblings and relatives. Honestly, I am very sad to note that almost half of my family members has converted out from my religion of birth to other religions such as Christianity, Islam, Hindu, etc. As an educated man, I have no alternative but to respect and support their decision. As far as I am concern, their choices of faiths are their personal choices, and these are God's will. I honestly believe, it really doesn't matter which religious path we pursue in our life, the bottom line, all of us are still God fearing and still believed in the same universal God.
Personally, I still find it very sad that a person's personal choice of faiths has to be refer to legal court for determination. But I also take note that, in Malaysia, it is not practical for a Muslim to convert into other religions. One has to understand that, In Islam, there is no "exit" point. Conversion out of Islam is and will always be a very sensitive matter and can give rise to extraordinary emotional stress to other faithful Muslims. A person's intent to convert from one religion to another is not a personal choice in any tightly knitted religious community. It is akined to betrayal of their own God, showing disrespect to their religion, and brought shame to their community. I am sorry to note this, but this has always been my personal perceptions.
With regards to Lina Joy case, I guess if she still insist on not renouncing Christianity and revert back to her religion of birth, she should appeal to the religion authorities and accept whatever rehabilitations and punishments that will be meted by the religion authority. Or alternatively, Lina should consider migrating to other countries. Cruel it may seemed, but I guess this is the most practical way to resolve this difficult issue.
I am not a legal expert and will never understand the intricacies of our constitutions. But on a practical side, if it is the role of government to regulate religious matters, then I do hope the government can adopt a more "sporting approach" to amend the constitution to make it illegal for all kinds of religious conversions such as from Christianity to Muslim, Muslim to Christianity, Hindu to Muslim, Muslim to Hindu, and all the various permutations. In simple term, making it illegal for any person to convert out from his religion of birth irregardless of religions. I know, I may be accused of disrespecting human rights, but in the first place, do we sincerely and honestly have any intent to respect human rights when element of biases are in our favours ? I do think it is worth the price to pay to avoid any possibility of emotionally incited confrontations. After all, I do personally believe that we are all praying to the same GOD. Why bother so much about the different religious procedure of presenting our faith to GOD ? Why is it so difficult for us to accept others's religions ? Why is it so difficult for us to respect others' preferences of renouncing their own religions ?
With no insinuations intended, I always believe that a parrot that can imitate a dog's barks will always remained a parrot, no matter how good the parrot is in imitating the dog. And likewise, the opposite applies. So, as long as we believe in God, it doen't matter what religious path we take. God always know, and if other strayed, wouldn't it be morally righteous for us to leave it to God to decide their salvations and damnations.
I walked the middle path, and will always remain so...........
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No Freedom of Worship for Muslims Says Court
Baradan Kuppusamy
KUALA LUMPUR, May 31 (IPS) - The stunning decision by Malaysia's highest secular court this week that freedom of worship, a constitutional guarantee, does not apply to Malay Muslims is a major blow to freedom and constitutional democracy, lawyers and human rights activists say.
The Federal Court also reaffirmed that the civil court had no jurisdiction over any Islamic matters, even when non-Muslims are involved.
Wednesday's verdict does not end the Muslim, non-Muslim divide, but may cause it to worsen as the tussle for primacy between inherited secular guarantees and a resurgent Islam demanding pre-eminence for Shariah laws continues, said observers.
Non-Muslim leaders -- both political and religious -- reacted with shock and disbelief after the apex court ruled in a majority 2-1 decision that a Muslim cannot rely on Article 11 that guarantees freedom of worship to leave Islam but must go to a Shariah court to get a certificate to turn apostate.
Ironically, Shariah law does not permit Muslims to become apostate but instead prescribes punishment with fines, forced rehabilitation or jail term.
"Muslims going to Shariah court would incriminate themselves, invite prosecution," said Justice Richard Malajum, the dissenting judge, in the verdict who held that Article 11 applies to all citizens alike without discrimination.
The ruling, which is binding on all lower civil courts, will affect at least a dozen cases of apostasy pending in civil courts, mainly involving Muslim converts who want to return to their former religions.
It will also impact negatively on many cases where non-Muslims are fighting for justice such as custody of children, sharing of matrimonial wealth, maintenance and dissolution of civil marriage -- after one partner converts to Islam and relies on Shariah law to settle contentious issues.
"The judgment does not end the Muslim, non-Muslim divide but has instead widened it by introducing Islamic principles into secular, constitutional matters," opposition leader Lim Kit Siang in an IPS interview.
"A political solution is urgently needed to resolve this potentially dangerous disquiet," he told IPS. ‘'It is necessary for the government to take immediate steps to promote and protect the supremacy of the constitution," Lim said.
Sisters in Islam, a prominent rights group for Muslim women, said it was disappointed the constitution had not been upheld. "For us, the dissenting judgment is significant," said Zainah Anwar, executive director. "The Federal Court, the apex court of the country, is divided over this issue, as the country is divided on it."
‘'There is a strong dissenting judgmentàthis issue is not over yet,'' said Malik Imtiaz Sarvar who handled several apostasy and other related cases in court.
‘'This decision reflects a growing trend of decisions in the courts where civil courts are abdicating their responsibility of providing legal redress to individuals who only seek to profess and live their religion according to their conscience,'' said Bishop Paul Tan of the Christian Federation of Malaysia.
‘'It is pressing for the government and lawmakers to revisit the relevant legislation and to reinstate the jurisdiction of the civil courts so that equal protection of the right to choose and express one's religion is accorded to all Malaysians, as enshrined in Article 11,'' he said in a statement.
The ruling threatens to polarise an already polarised society with non-Muslims seeing the verdict as a confirmation that "creeping Islam" is eating into constitutional guarantees to religious freedom.
Muslims however see the verdict as a victory and final confirmation that Shariah is superior to secular laws that are based on English common law foundation.
Yusri Mohamad, the head of a coalition of about 80 Muslim NGOs called Pembela (Protector) that strongly campaigned for supremacy of Shariah, said justice had been served by the verdict. "The verdict is just and a relief to all Malaysians, Muslims and non-Muslims," Yusri told about 300 Muslims gathered outside the court. "It should not be perceived as a victory for Muslims and a loss to non-Muslims," he said.
The verdict centred on a Malay woman, Azlina Jailani, 43, born a Muslim, who converted to Christianity in 1989 and changed her name to Lina Joy. She fell in love with an Indian Christian cook and wanted to marry in a civil ceremony and raise a family of her own.
But Joy's national identity card referred to her as a Muslim although she had embraced Christianity. She fought the Islamic authorities and the national registration department for nine years to change her religious identity officially and move on.
Joy's struggle became a test case for religious freedom in Malaysia with Muslims and non-Muslims rallying to her cause, especially her right to freedom of worship.
"There was widespread hope that the Federal Court would stand firm and uphold the constitution especially Article 11, but that is not the case," said a prominent human rights activist who did not want to be identified fearing persecution. "It is a sad day for freedom and judicial independence," she said.
Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Abdul Halim, who delivered the main judgment, held that Muslims cannot join or leave a religion according to their "whims and fancies.''
Muslims, he said, ‘'have to follow the requirements of their religion which is a complete religionàa way of life."
Joy, who is believed to be in hiding, through her lawyer Benjamin Dawson expressed deep dissatisfaction at the verdict.
"I am disappointed that the Federal Court is not able to vindicate a simple but important fundamental right that exists for all persons; namely, the right to believe in the religion of one's choice and equally important, the right to marry a person of one's choice and to raise a family," she said.
"The Court has not only denied me that right but to all Malaysians who value fundamental freedoms," she said. "It is extremely difficult to exercise freedom of conscience here now."
"Freedom of religion here is an illusion," said Leonard Teoh, a lawyer for the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism which also campaigned to protect Article 11.
Lawyers feel that outside of a political solution, there is little else that activists can do after the court ruling. "A political solution has to come from the office of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawiàhe has to lead the way to protect the constitution and the rule of law," said Lim Guan Eng, secretary general of the Democratic Action party, the biggest opposition party in parliament.
"When the courts have failed, parliament has to step in and make legislative changes to clarify issues and uphold secular rights which are the basis for a legal and modern society," Lim told IPS.
But Badawi's ruling National Front government has a stranglehold on parliament controlling 90 percent of the 217 seats -- a massive majority that can steamroll any opposition.
"Ultimately the solution is in the hands of the voters," Lim said. "Whether they speak up or remain silent."
Malaysia woman loses appeal on religion
Ivy Sam
AFP
May 30, 2007
SHOUTING SLOGANS: Malaysian Muslims shout slogans as they wait outside the courthouse in Putrajaya near Kuala Lumpur May 30. Malaysia's best known Christian convert, Lina Joy, lost a six-year battle Wednesday to have the word 'Islam' removed from her identity card.
(REUTERS)
PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia -- Malaysia's top secular court Wednesday rejected a woman's bid to be legally recognized as Christian after converting from Islam, saying that the matter must be decided by a religious court.
Lina Joy, 43, had sought to have the word "Islam" removed from her national identity card but the Federal Court threw out her case, deciding that only an Islamic Sharia tribunal could legally certify her conversion.
Renouncing the faith is one of the gravest sins in Islam, and Joy's case has raised questions about religious freedom here as well as the exact legal relationship between the mainly Muslim country's secular and religious courts.
"Apostasy is within the powers of the Islamic law and the Sharia courts. Civil courts cannot interfere," Federal Court Chief Judge Ahmad Fairuz said in the majority decision. "In short, she cannot, at her own whim, simply enter or leave her religion ... She must follow rules."
Joy, an ethnic Muslim Malay born Azlina Jailani, had argued that she should not be bound by the Islamic courts because she is now a Christian.
The ruling comes amid mounting racial and religious tensions in multiracial Malaysia, where minority religious groups fear that their rights are being undermined, even though the country is traditionally seen as moderate.
"God is great!" a crowd of about 200 people, who had been holding a mass prayer, shouted in unison outside the court complex when they learned of the verdict.
Islam is Malaysia's official religion. More than 60 percent of the nation's 27 million people are Muslim Malays.
But while the constitution defines the ethnic majority Malays as Muslims it also guarantees freedom of religion. The country's minority Chinese and Indians are mostly Buddhists, Hindus, or Christians.
Joy's appeal to the Federal Court centered on whether she must go to a Sharia court to have her renunciation recognized before authorities delete the word "Islam" from her identity card.
The chief judge said that the National Registration Department (NRD), in charge of issuing identity cards, had the right to demand that the Sharia court certify Joy's conversion.
But the only non-Muslim judge on the three-member judicial panel disagreed.
Judge Richard Malanjum said that the NRD's demand was "discriminatory and unconstitutional," and it was unreasonable to expect a person to "self-incriminate" herself before a Sharia court.
"In some states in Malaysia, apostasy is a criminality," Malanjum said.
Sharia courts have been loath to approve apostasy.
Malaysia's civil courts operate in parallel to Sharia courts for Muslims in areas of family law including divorce, child custody, and inheritance.
But the question of which takes precedence has been unclear in cases that involve both Muslims and non-Muslims, who have little say in Sharia courts.
Joy fears retaliation from Muslim groups and was not present in court.
Her lawyers refused comment on the verdict but one of them, Benjamin Dawson, recently expressed concern about the Sharia courts' growing prominence.
"The country has to be ruled by the constitution but we seem to have lost it," Dawson said.
Yusri Mohamad, president of the Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement, said that Joy's appeal to the Federal Court should be seen as part of an effort to revamp the balance between Muslims and non-Muslims in the country.
"We hope that we have seen the last of such an attempt," he said, welcoming the verdict. "This decision should not be perceived as a victory for Muslims and a loss to non-Muslims."
Lawyers and human rights activists who monitored the decision said that it has not settled anything.
"The Federal Court, the apex court of the country, is divided over this issue, as the country is divided on this issue," said Zainah Anwar, executive director of Sisters in Islam, a rights group for Muslim women.
Christian Convert May Leave Malaysia
By EILEEN NG, AP
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (Map, News) - A woman who lost a court battle to change her religion from Islam to Christianity suggested she might leave Malaysia rather than stay without the right to practice the religion of her choice, her lawyer said Thursday.
Malaysia's highest civil court on Wednesday rejected Lina Joy's appeal to have the word "Islam" stricken from her national identity card. The verdict was seen as a blow to religious freedom in this ethnically diverse country made up of Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs.
"I am disappointed that the Federal Court is not able to vindicate a simple but important fundamental right that exists in all persons: Namely, the right to believe in the religion of one's choice," Joy said in a statement released through her lawyer, Benjamin Dawson.
"The Federal Court has not only denied me that right but (denied it) to all Malaysians who value fundamental freedoms," she said.
About 60 percent of Malaysia's 26 million people are Malay Muslims, whose civil, family, marriage and personal rights are decided by Shariah courts. The minorities - the ethnic Chinese, Indians and other smaller communities - are governed by civil courts.
But the constitution does not say who has the final say in cases such as Joy's when Islam confronts Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism or other religions.
The founding fathers of Malaysia left the constitution deliberately vague, unwilling to upset any of the three ethnic groups dominant at the time of independence from Britain 50 years ago, when building a peaceful multiracial nation was more important.
The situation was muddied further with the constitution describing Malaysia as a secular state but recognizing Islam as the official religion.
In its verdict Wednesday, the Federal Court said Joy - who was born to Muslim parents and began attending church in 1990 - should seek permission to renounce Islam from Islamic Shariah courts.
Joy, however, has refused to seek the Shariah court's permission, saying she is a Christian and should not be bound by Islamic laws. If she continues to practice Christianity, she faces being charged with apostasy, which is punishable by a jail sentence and fine. She also has the option to leave the country.
Asked if she will take that option, Joy, 43, said in her statement: "It would be extremely difficult to exercise freedom of conscience in the present environment." Dawson, her lawyer, said the media are free to draw their conclusion from the statement.
Joy, who was baptized in 1998, was successful in getting the National Registration Department to change her name to Lina Joy on her identity card. But the department refused to drop Muslim from the religion column of the card. A series of rejected appeals from 2000 onward brought her case to the Federal Court.
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