A request of an Orang Asli woman to renounce her conversion to Islam and adhere to her tribe’s way of life was denied by Malaysia’s Kuantan High Court. Orang Asli is a heterogeneous indigenous population forming a national minority in Malaysia. They are the oldest inhabitants of Peninsular Malaysia. The 30-year-old member of the Jakun tribe said that when she was just two years old her mother converted her to the Abrahamic religion, and now she wants to leave Islam as she is not following the faith.
She asserted that when her mother recorded her conversion she was a baby and did not pronounce the “Kalima Shahadah” (declaration of faith). She was born into an unmarried couple on 27 November 1993. Her Orang Asli mother converted to Islam in November 1995, and she also converted the then-year-old girl along with her. The Pahang Religious and Malay Customs Council (MUIP) issued an Islamic conversion certificate to her mother on 4 November 1995. Her father is a Muslim.
It is notable that Orang Asli means “native people”, “original people”, or “aboriginal people” in Malay language, and they are an indigenous population who are now a minority in Malaysia, accounting for just 0.7% of the population in the country.
According to Justice Zainal Azman Ab Aziz, the plaintiff’s primary objective was to reject Islam which is outside the purview of civil courts. He proclaimed, “The subject matter (of the suit) falls under the exclusive jurisdiction of the sharia court.” She had been raised as a Muslim and in compliance with Islamic principles by her converted mother, the court decided, based on the evidence provided during the trial.
Furthermore, the court mentioned the Pahang Islamic Family Law Enactment which stipulates that children adopt the faith of the parent with legal custody. The judge declared that because the woman was brought up by her mother, she was obligated to follow her religious beliefs.
“Thus, the court ruled that the plaintiff is a Muslim as defined under Section 2(1)(d) of the Administration of Islamic Law Enactment 1991 (Pahang) read together with Section 103 of the same enactment as well as Section 86 of the Islamic Family Law Enactment 2005. The issue of consent from the plaintiff’s parents is not relevant because her father is a Muslim and she is under the custody of her mother who is also a Muslim.”
The judge decided that the case’s circumstances did not warrant consideration of either parent’s consent and stated that the issue ought to be separated from the Federal Court’s decision in the case of M. Indira Gandhi, whose children were forcibly converted by her spouse.
He noted, “In Indira’s case, she and her former husband registered their marriage under civil law but he converted the three children to Islam. In cases where one of the parents is not a Muslim, consent is needed. But for this case, the plaintiff (woman) was raised by her mother alone.”
The petitioner argued that her parents never agreed to their daughter’s conversion, although she received an Islamic name and has Islam listed as her status in her MyKad. She contended that she regularly observed the Jakun tribe’s traditions and values. However, the judge remarked, “The plaintiff has failed to provide any evidence that she was raised in accordance with the customs and beliefs of the indigenous people.”
He added, “Therefore, the plaintiff’s application, which pertains to her request to leave the Islamic faith, falls within the jurisdiction of the Sharia Court. The Sharia Court has full jurisdiction in cases related to renunciation, and as such, this court has no jurisdiction to decide on the reliefs sought by the plaintiff.”
In 2021, the Malaysian Court of Appeal (COA) upheld the ruling of the Kuala Lumpur High Court over the conversion of two minor children by their mother without the father’s consent. The High Court invalidated the conversion of two juvenile children from Buddhism to Islam in an order rendered five years ago.
The Federal Constitution’s definition of “parent” in a religious conversion case refers to both parents, not simply one of them, as the court once again clarified. COA cited the historic Federal Court verdict in the M. Indira Gandhi case in which the highest court pronounced that a father’s unilateral choice to convert his children to Islam was illegal.
The three-judge bench declared, “We are of the opinion that the High Court judge and this Court of Appeal bench are bound by the Federal Court decision in the M Indira Gandhi case. There is no appealable error in this matter. We find there is no merit in the appeal. The decision of the High Court judge is affirmed.”
