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Let courts decide on children’s unilateral conversion, says law minister

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Law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar stressed that religion is a state matter and that their mother should just let the court make a ruling.

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Free Malaysia Today
Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar says under Malaysia’s democratic process the final arbitrator is the court.

PETALING JAYA:
The court system is the best avenue for single mother Loh Siew Hong to find a solution to her three children’s unilateral conversion to Islam, law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said today.

Perlis mufti Asri Zainul Abidin yesterday confirmed that the state’s religious department had registered Loh’s three children as Muslims upon the request of their father three years ago, a move which has been decried by civil liberty groups and religious bodies.

“As far as I am concerned, the final arbitrator is the court,” Wan Junaidi told FMT.

“People can just go to court and ask for a court order. The court will listen to the argument of the Perlis mufti or the other side.

“That is the only way out. Because in Malaysia’s democratic process, arbitration is by the court (system).”

Wan Junaidi was asked what steps the federal government would take to ensure state laws are consistent with a 2018 Federal Court landmark ruling that consent from both parents was mandatory when it came to the conversion of minors.

Wan Junaidi was speaking to FMT on the sidelines of a forum on the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the federal government and Pakatan Harapan (PH).

Stressing that religion is under the purview of states, Wan Junaidi said that “the only federal matter here” is the court system.

“So if they can go to court, the court will decide,” he said.

Asri yesterday said the conversion of Loh’s children is legal under Perlis law as under a 2016 Perlis Islamic enactment by the state assembly, either the father, mother, or a guardian can convert their minors to Islam.

“Other states might be different, but only one parent is enough in Perlis. And in this case, the children’s father wanted his kids to be converted to Islam,” the mufti said in an online ceramah last night.

Loh, who obtained sole custody and guardianship of the children from the Kuala Lumpur High Court last year, had not met her children for the past three years as she was recovering at a domestic abuse shelter.

After lodging a missing person’s report to ascertain her children’s whereabouts, police told her that the children were under the care of the religious authorities in Perlis.

While she was reunited with her children on Sunday, Loh decided to allow them to be under the care of the Perlis welfare department temporarily while she waits for her habeas corpus application to recover her children, which is to be heard at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Monday.

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