Syariah Court Ruling on Siti Fatimah Tan 
Is A Step In The Right Direction
Oleh: Abdul Rahman Abdul Talib (http://www.malaysiawaves.com/)  - Laman M@RHAEN

 
 

Dear editor,
I read the Malaysiakini report on Siti Fatimah revert back to her original religion and I feel I am compelled to write. (http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/82522)

I also managed to watch the interview with the Syariah lawyer representing Siti Fatimah, Mr. Ahmad Jailani. It can be viewed at these addresses below:


What I’ve learnt from the interview can be summed up in these points:

a. Siti Fatimah applied for her Islamic Faith status to be annulled on the grounds that she never practiced Islam and never believed in the Islamic faith
b. Siti Fatimah took the right step by referring to the Syariah Court
c. There was no malice on the part of Siti Fatimah or the Syariah court. The case was decided on merits
d. The Penang Syariah court decided that Siti Fatimah was never a Muslim, to start off with, and that her conversion did not meet the standard of a Muslim
e. Never is this a decision by the Syariah court to support apostasy or a change of religion.
I see this as a major step forward and the precedence can be applied to solve many of the “apostasy” problems in Malaysia. In my analysis, most of the application for “apostasy” is made by converts who converted on the basis of marriage only.

Many of these converts never practiced or never believed in the Islamic faith. Their respective spouse was also irresponsible as they did not make any effort to educate or train their spouses in the Islamic faith.

In the event of a divorce, these “converts” were left in a limbo. They don’t believe in their newly converted religion, but at the same time, they cannot go back to their original faith.

The Penang court decision provides a legal exit for these converts. This would mean that they can go to their respective Shariah courts and get their Islamic declaration annulled.

If any, the Shariah Court should punish their respective ex-spouse for not taking care of their newly converted ex-wives/husbands.
 

DISRESPECTING THE SHARIAH COURT IS NOT THE SOLUTION

There are those in our community, namely “Muslim” individuals like Malik Imtiaz and Haris Ibrahim and organizations like the Bar Council, who thinks that the solution to this problem is by disrespecting the Shariah Courts.

May I remind them that the Shariah courts in Malaysia still maintain the respect and trust of the Muslim population of Malaysia. None can equate them with the corrupted judiciary of the Malaysian civil courts where judges are up for sale at the highest bidder.
(http://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/7234/1/)

The statement from Bar Council Vice President, Mr. Ragunath Kesavan, and I quote:

"It should be the high court which decides on this issue as some states in Malaysia do not provide for converting out so the high court remains the best place to sort this out,"
is not only arrogant, but also ignorant.

Why do I use the word ignorant? Until and when the Syariah courts issues a decree nullifying the Islamic faith of an individual, that particular “Muslim” is subjected to the Islamc laws and regulations, thus the Syariah courts.

As for “Muslim” individuals like Malik Imtiaz and Haris Ibrahim, my only advice is for them to start realizing that Muslims have sought independence from their respective ex-western colonial powers.

It will be a major step back is Muslims have to go back and adopt beliefs and ideologies espoused by former Western colonial powers. Especially when they themselves are also guilty of breaking the same rules. For instance, the US who goes around blacklisting people for violating “human rights” are themselves guilty of committing torture.

And not to mention the countless Human Rights violation committed by their allies. The closest that I can quote from memory is the massacre committed by the Uzbekistan regime against demonstrators which is reported by all international media. The US chose to remain quiet and because Uzbekistan helped them in removing the Taliban from Afghanistan.

So much for upholding Human Rights. Western powers are as hypocrites and we, as Muslims, should not uphold their hypocrisy.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the “abandoned-convert” problem is a real problem. And the Penang Shariah court ruling provides a practical solution to a real problem. The call to battle made by Haris Ibrahim or Malik Imtiaz or their likes are nothing more than maneuverings by ideologues trying to capitalize on public insecurity in their effort to promote their secular liberalism ideology. Mind you that Secular Liberalist stand on religion is 100% contradictory to Islam. This is a fact.

Malaysians should be made wary of the small minority effort to undermine Islam. Their intention is never to solve a real problem plaguing real Malaysians. Their so-call solutions will only lead to more problems thus compromising the social fabric of this country.

The Penang Shariah court ruling also proves that Malaysian Shariah court, while maintaining their discipline to the Islamic teachings, is also flexible and able to solve real problems of the day.  It’s actually the function of ijtihad.
 

(Taken from http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/82522)
Syariah Court allows convert to renounce Islam May 8, 08 1:51pm
The Syariah Court in Penang has allowed a Chinese convert to renounce Islam in a rare decision today.

Apostasy, or renouncing the faith, is one of the gravest sins in Islam and a very sensitive issue in Malaysia where the Islamic courts have rarely allowed such renunciations and have also jailed apostates.

Syariah Court judge Othman Ibrahim said he had no choice but to allow an application by cook Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah to renounce her faith and return to Buddhism.

"The court has no choice but to declare that Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah is no longer a Muslim as she has never practised the teachings of Islam," Othman told a packed courtroom.

"I order the conversion certificate to be nullified," he added.

Siti Fatimah or Tan Ean Huang, 38, said she had never practised Islamic teachings since she converted in 1998 and only did so to enable her to marry Iranian Ferdoun Ashanian.

The couple married in 2004 but since then her husband has left her following which she filed for the renunciation.

Siti happy with the outcome

Othman said it was clear from witnesses and the evidence presented that Siti had continued to practise Buddhism even after her conversion.

He rebuked the state Islamic religious council for not counselling and looking after the welfare of new converts.

"In this case, it is clear that the council has failed to live up to its responsibilities and the outcome is clear for all to see," he said.
Siti said she was happy with the court's decision.

"I'm relieved that the matter is finally settled after two years and I am now looking forward to doing something with my life again," she said.

The Islamic syariah courts operate in parallel to civil courts here but apply specifically to Muslims.

Bar Council vice-president Ragunath Kesavan said Sharia courts should not be the final arbiters in deciding cases of renunciation.

"It should be the high court which decides on this issue as some states in Malaysia do not provide for converting out so the high court remains the best place to sort this out," he said.

The court's verdict comes amid racial and religious tensions in multiracial Malaysia, where minority religious groups fear their rights are being undermined, even though the country is traditionally seen as moderate.

Siti now has one more hurdle ahead of her, which is to remove the word 'Islam' from her national identity card.


By:
Abdul Rahman Abdul Talib

11.05.2008


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